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The Chicago Reader

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Blogs, Bleader Jun 4, 2018
Chicago Underground Film Festival at 25: A look back

As the 25th Chicago Underground Film Festival approaches, here are ten stand-out features from festivals past.
- By Patrick Friel
- Tags: Film, Comedy, LGBTQ+, Music, On Video, Chicago Underground Film Festival, CUFF, underground, Half-Cocked, Suki Hawley, Michael Galinsky, Horns and Halos, Freakwater, Sleepyhead, Grifters, J.R. Jones, The Delicate Art of the Rifle, D.W. Harper, Charles Whitman, Stephen Grant, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Straightman, Ben Berkowitz, Benjamin Redgrave, John Cassavetes, Shadows, The Target Shoots First, Christopher Wilcha, Columbia Record and Tape Club, 60 Minutes, Migrating Forms, James Fotopoulos, Fred Camper, Benjamin Smoke, Jem Cohen, Peter Sillen, Robert Dickerson, Smoke, AIDS, Patti Smith, Nice Bombs, Usama Alshaibi, Baghdad, Iraq, Putty Hill, Hamilton, Matthew Porterfield, David Gordon Green, George Washington, Your Highness, The Color Wheel, Alex Ross Perry, Ronald Bronstein, Frownland, Carlen Altman, Two Years at Sea, Ben Rivers, Jake Williams, This Is My Land, Ben Sachs

Blogs, Bleader Dec 1, 2017
Video
National Review names Rauner 'the worst Republican governor in America,' and other Chicago news

Also, Bernie Sanders endorses Jesus "Chuy" Garcia for Congress.
- By Kate Shepherd
- Tags: News, Did You Read __________?, Chicago, Illinois, Bruce Rauner, National Review, abortion, Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, Luis Gutierrez, Bernie Sanders, Election 2018, Elon Musk, The Boring Company, O'Hare express train, Rahm Emanuel, serial killers, unsolved murders, Stumptown Coffee, Ace Hotel, Portland, Hamilton, Video

Blogs, Bleader Aug 24, 2017
Video
Report: Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda may not perform as Alexander Hamilton in Chicago, and other news

Also, parolees can no longer be arrested for being spotted with a gang member in Illinois.
- By Kate Shepherd
- Tags: News, Did You Read __________?, Chicago, Illinois, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton, Broadway, Oscar López Rivera, Bruce Rauner, gangs, Kelly Cassidy, Illinois General Assembly, Illinois house, Illinois senate, Chicago Police Department, Eddie Johnson, Jesse White, J.B. Pritzker, Election 2018, immigration issues, ICE, deportation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Adalberto United Methodist Church, Obama Presidential Center, Obama Foundation, Barack Obama, Midway Plaisance, Video

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Aug 23, 2017
There's no audience takedown in The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity

Like Hamilton, Kristoffer Diaz's Pulitzer nominee softens its skewering.
- By Justin Hayford
- Tags: Theater Review, Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda, The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, Kristoffer Diaz, Red Theater, Jeremy Aluma, pro wrestling, otherization

Blogs, Bleader Jul 21, 2017
Video
More than 1.2 million people could be getting partial refunds for red light tickets, and other Chicago news

Also, CPS is expecting about 8,000 fewer students for the 2017-2018 school year.
- By Kate Shepherd
- Tags: News, Did You Read __________?, Chicago, Illinois, red light cameras, red light tickets, lawsuit settlements, Rahm Emanuel, Chicago Public Schools, Forrest Claypool, Steve Koch, Bob Rivkin, Chicago Transit Authority, City Hall, Roberto Maldonado, Chicago Police Department, police body cameras, Hamilton, Miguel Cervantes, epilepsy, Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy, CURE, Matthias Merges, Yusho, Yusho Hyde Park, Charlie Trotter's, Folkart Restaurant Management, Billy Sunday, A10, restaurant closings, Video

Blogs, Bleader Jun 15, 2017
Video
Black Lives Matters sues Chicago Police Department over reform consent decree, and other news

Also, Lin-Manuel Miranda might star in a Chicago Hamilton performance during the last week of August.
- By Kate Shepherd
- Tags: News, Did You Read __________?, Chicago, Illinois, Black Lives Matter, Chicago Police Department, Eddie Johnson, police brutality, police reform, consent decree, gun violence, Congress, Rodney Davis, David Orr, property taxes, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton, Broadway, Oscar Lopez Rivera, FALN, Barack Obama, budget impasse, Illinois Senate, Illinois House of Representatives, Matthias Merges, Stephanie Izard, Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field, Video

Blogs, Bleader Mar 14, 2017
Video
Congressman Luis Gutierrez handcuffed during sit-in at ICE office, and other Chicago news

Also, one state legislator is getting death threats after proposing a state holiday in honor of former President Obama.
- By Kate Shepherd
- Tags: News, Did You Read __________?, Chicago, immigration issues, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Luis Gutierrez, Rahm Emanuel, FOIA, City Hall, Jewish Community Centers of Chicago, anti-Semitism, Andrew Thapedi, Barack Obama, Illinois General Assembly, Pat Brady, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Phillipa Soo, Libertyville, Broadway, theater, musical theater, Hamilton, Amélie, Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, Video

Blogs, Bleader Mar 13, 2017
Rahm has been making a comeback as a ‘national political operator’ since Trump’s election, and other Chicago news

Also, local immigration officials are now detaining deportees in Kankakee County instead of suburban Broadview.
- By Kate Shepherd
- Tags: News, Did You Read __________?, Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, Donald Trump, City Hall, immigration issues, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Kankakee County, Zach Fardon, Jeff Sessions, Dennis Hastert, Dean Angelo, Chicago Police Department, Fraternal Order of Police, Chance the Rapper, SocialWorks, Hamilton, Spamilton, play openings

Blogs, Bleader Mar 3, 2017
Video
Kim Foxx working to release nonviolent offenders who can't afford bond, and other Chicago news

Also, Chance the Rapper and Governor Rauner rescheduled their meeting for Friday.
- By Kate Shepherd
- Tags: News, Did You Read __________?, Chicago, Kim Foxx, Cook County Jail, criminal justice, Cook County state's attorney, Chance the Rapper, Bruce Rauner, Caterpillar, Women's March on Chicago, women's issues, feminism, activism, Hamilton, Aaron Burr, Tony Awards, Wayne Brady, Broadway in Chicago, John Cullerton, Illinois, Illinois senate, budget impasse, Illinois General Assembly, Video

Blogs, Bleader Feb 22, 2017
Video
Unseasonably warm February weather explained, and other Chicago news

Also, the City Council will vote on a proposed downtown street performance crackdown Wednesday.
- By Kate Shepherd
- Tags: News, Did You Read __________?, Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, City Council, Raymond Lopez, anti-violence, gun violence, property taxes, Brendan Reilly, street performers, Drew Peterson, Stacy Peterson, Kathleen Savio, criminal justice, Hamilton, Rockefeller Foundation, winter weather, warm weather, National Weather Service, bar openings, Video

Blogs, Bleader Jan 19, 2017
Video
Former CPD chief Garry McCarthy gets a surprise subpoena in the Sandi Jackson-Jesse Jackson Jr. divorce case, and other Chicago news

Also, a lot of Illinois elected officials are skipping the Trump inauguration.
- By Kate Shepherd
- Tags: News, Did You Read __________?, Chicago, Sandi Jackson, Garry McCarthy, Chicago Police Department, Jesse Jackson Jr., Bruce Rauner, Mike Quigley, Luis Gutierrez, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton, Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional, Oscar Lopez Rivera, PrivateBank Theatre, Independent Police Review Authority, police shootings, homelessness, television, NBC, Dick Wolf, Chicago P.D., Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Chicago Justice, Video

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Jan 18, 2017
Recommended
There’s not a single WASP penis in the pants of Men on Boats

American Theater Company shoots the Colorado River in this drama set in 1869.
- By Tony Adler
- Tags: Theater Review, American Theater Company, Will Davis, Men on Boats, Jaclyn Backhaus, John Wesley Powell, Grand Canyon, Colorado River, Green River, Chicago Inclusion Project, Stephanie Diaz, Emjoy Gavino, Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Nina Turner, William Boles, Recommended

Blogs, Bleader Jan 10, 2017
Video
Illinois Republicans and Democrats actually worked together on state budget proposal, and other Chicago news

Also, Trump's Twitter rant about Meryl Streep has some local elected officials newly concerned about his temperament.
- By Kate Shepherd
- Tags: News, Did You Read __________?, John Cullerton, Christine Radogno, Mike Madigan, Bruce Rauner, Illinois Senate, Illinois General Assembly, Barack Obama, Obama farewell speech, McCormick Place, Chicago, Facebook, social media, Twitter, Mike Quigley, Jan Schakowsky, Meryl Streep, Donald Trump, Golden Globes, Red Line, CTA, Rahm Emanuel, Hamilton, Wayne Brady, theater, comedy, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Video

Arts & Culture, Performing Arts Feature Dec 21, 2016
2016 in theater was wildly convulsive on- and offstage

Controversies over abuse, alleged druggings, and “whitewashing” roiled even as Shakespeare 400 Chicago soared.
- By Tony Adler
- Tags: Performing Arts Feature, Profiles Theatre, Darrell Cox, Joe Jahraus, Aimee Levitt, Christopher Piatt, Brianna Wellen, Peter Kim, Chicago magazine, Second City E.T.C., Second City, Porchlight Music Theatre, Usnavi, Lin-Manuel Miranda, In the Heights, Hamilton, Victory Gardens Theater, ALTA, Alliance of Latinx Theater Artists of Chicago, Actors' Equity, Women in Comedy, Not in Our House, Theater Wit, Annus Mirabilis Award, Shakespeare 400 Chicago, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Company Theatre Mumbai, Piya Beharupiya, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, Belarus Free Theatre, King Lear, Alex Weisman, Hand to God, the Gift Theatre, Michael Patrick Thornton, Richard III, Rough House Theater, Ubu the King, puppetry, Year in Review 2016

Blogs, Bleader Dec 16, 2016
Kim Foxx makes big change days after being sworn in as Cook County state's attorney, and other Chicago news

Also, a CNBC host and entrepreneur has purchased a majority stake in Bow Truss coffee.
- By Kate Shepherd
- Tags: News, Did You Read __________?, Kim Foxx, Cook County State's Attorney's Office, criminal justice reform, Cook County, Chicago, Bow Truss, Phil Tadros, Marcus Lemonis, CNBC, business, lead, lead poisoning, City Bureau, Hamilton, Alexander Hamilton, retail, Abraham Lincoln, cancer, Eddie Johnson, Chicago Police Department, Belmont Cragin, River West

Blogs, Bleader Nov 21, 2016
Man arrested at Hamilton performance after alleged pro-Trump rant, and other Chicago news

Also, Rahm Emanuel's brother met with president-elect Donald Trump in New Jersey over the weekend.
- By Kate Shepherd
- Tags: News, Did You Read __________?, Hamilton, Donald Trump, Mike Pence, Danny Davis, gun violence, Ari Emanuel, Rahm Emanuel, Entourage, Newt Gingrich, U.S. House of Representatives, Chicago, Chicago Bulls, Derrick Rose, NBA, Trump International Hotel and Tower, Hollywood

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Oct 25, 2016
Recommended
From the $10 bill to the multimillion-dollar musical

In an extraordinarily ugly election season, the rousing Hamilton shows us the light.
- By Tony Adler
- Tags: Theater Review, Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Alexander Hamilton, Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, Miguel Cervantes, Joshua Kirkland, Chris De'Sean Lee, Sally Hemings, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Aaron Burr, Stephen Schwartz, Stephen Sondheim, In the Heights, Porchlight Music Theatre, Recommended

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Sep 22, 2016
A dispute seems to have galvanized Porchlight's In the Heights

Ethnic wars—and a really good show
- By Tony Adler
- Tags: Theater Review, In the Heights, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Porchlight Music Theatre, Profiles Theatre, theater whitewashing, "The Color Game: Whitewashing Latinx Stories", Jack DeCesare, Hamilton, musical theater, Tony Award, Quiara Alegría Hudes, Washington Heights, Dominican Republic, Usnavi, Lucia Godinez, Brenda Didier, Cole Porter, Diana Lawrence, Frankie Leo Bennett, Isabel Quintero, Stan DeCwikiel Jr., Bowery Boys, Stage 773

Blogs, Bleader Sep 21, 2016
Rahm's working on the messaging of his delayed antiviolence address, and other Chicago news

Also, four snakes have been discovered in just a few months in a south-side home.
- By Kate Shepherd
- Tags: News, Did You Read __________?, Rahm Emanuel, Chicago Police Department, gun violence, gang violence, pensions, fiscal issues, Hamilton, Broadway in Chicago

Blogs, Bleader Sep 13, 2016
Grand jury will decide whether to indict cops for roles in alleged Laquan McDonald cover-up, and other Chicago news

Also, Rauner is spending millions to fund Republicans running for the Illinois General Assembly.
- By Kate Shepherd
- Tags: News, Did You Read __________?, Laquan McDonald, Jason Van Dyke, Chicago Police Department, homelessness, Bruce Rauner, Illinois General Assembly, Election 2016, Barbara Flynn Currie, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton, Broadway in Chicago, Miguel Cervantes, Redmoon Theater, NewMoon Chicago, Great Chicago Fire Festival

Arts & Culture, Performing Arts Feature Sep 8, 2016
1776, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and six more new theater reviews

Two well-loved musicals are among this week's onstage highlights.
- Tags: Performing Arts Feature, Amour, Michel Legrand, Black Button Eyes Productions, Jeremy Sams, Emily Goldberg, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The Black Slot, AstonRep Theatre Company, Warren Hoffman, Justin Wade Wilson, Brittany Stock, Distance, Strawdog Theatre Company, Janice O'Neill, Anita Deely, Loretta Rezos, Caleb Fullen, Stephen Rader, Erica Weiss, Marvin's Room, (Re)discover Theatre, Farewell My Friend: The Tragic Tale of Star-Crossed Lovers, Matt Wills, Janet Howe, Romeo and Juliet, The Heidi Chronicles, The Cuckoo's Theater Project, Wendy Wasserstein, Sara Carranza, Rebecca Sparks, Ari Butler, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Marriott Theatre, Don Stephenson, Melissa Zaremba, Catherine Zuber, Angela Ingersoll, Irrational Tales, David Denman, Clock Theater, "The Gorgon", Clark Ashton Smith, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Jennifer Cheung, Weird Tales, 1776, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton, John Adams, the Declaration of Independence, Philadelphia, Independence Hall, Sherman Edwards, Jonathan Crabtree

Arts & Culture, Fall Preview Aug 31, 2016
Hamilton: The latest case of tulip mania?

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s award-winning, box-office-breaking musical sells out the (smallish) house.
- By Tony Adler
- Tags: Fall Preview, Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Broadway musicals, Michelle Obama, The Book of Mormon, tulip mania, PrivateBank Theatre, Broadway in Chicago, Richard Rodgers Theatre, Ben Brantley, New York Times, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Marquis de Lafayette, Siege of Yorktown

Blogs, Bleader Aug 30, 2016
Rapper Rhymefest invites Trump to walk a Chicago block with him, and other news

Also, August is already the most violent month since 1996.
- By Kate Shepherd
- Tags: News, Did You Read __________?, gun violence, Rhymefest, Rahm Emanuel, Chicago Police Department, gang violence, Illinois State Board of Elections, hacking, cyber crime, Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda, theater, Chicago Humanities Festival

Blogs, Bleader Jul 14, 2016
Financial woes have Chicago State University worrying about its accreditation, and other news

Also, the Chicago Hamilton cast is full of Broadway stars.
- By Kate Shepherd
- Tags: News, Did You Read __________?, Chicago State University, state budget impasse, Donald Trump, gun violence, gang violence, Chicago crime, murder rate, U.S. House of Representatives, gun control, cycling, SRAM, Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tony Awards, Broadway, Miguel Cervantes

Blogs, Bleader Jul 1, 2016
Jurassic Jaws Double Feature, Windy City Ribfest, and more things to do in Chicago this weekend

Chicago Fire vs. San Jose Earthquakes, Fourth of July, and more happenings from July 1-4.
- Tags: Arts, Do This, Chicago Fire, San Jose Earthquakes, Toyota Park, Jurassic Park, Jaws, Thalia Hall, Erykah Badu, Beauty Bar, Windy City Ribfest, Mamby on the Beach, Oakwood Beach, Hamilton: The Revolution, Hamilton, Women & Children First, A Small Oak Tree Runs Red, Congo Square Theater, You Me Them Everybody, Hungry Brain, Fourth of July, Navy Pier

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