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Columns & Opinion, On Politics Jan 13, 2021
The fight for the future

Congresswoman Mary Miller’s apology is almost as bad as her original “Hitler was right” remark.
- By Ben Joravsky
- Tags: On Politics, Mary Miller, Chris Miller, Donald Trump, Hitler, Cabaret, Save America rally, Nazis, Republicans, MAGA, Capitol siege, Moms for America

Arts & Culture, Theater Preview Aug 11, 2020
Video
Joel Grey (virtually) headlines PorchlightPalooza

The 88-year-old musical theater icon talks about staying home—and coming out.
- By Catey Sullivan
- Tags: Theater Preview, Joel Grey, Porchlight Music Theatre, Michael Weber, John Kander, Fred Ebb, Bob Fosse, Cabaret, Bill Kurtis, Elaine Cohen, Arlen D. Rubin, Mickey Katz, Larry Kramer, George C. Wolfe, Video

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Oct 9, 2019
Recommended
Desperate debauchery haunts this Cabaret

Encroaching fascism and gender fluidity make for a timely revival with Cowardly Scarecrow.
- By Dmitry Samarov
- Tags: Theater Review, Cabaret, Cowardly Scarecrow, Chief O'Neill's Pub, John Kander, Fred Ebb, Christopher Isherwood, Sam Mendes, Marc Lewallen, Brad Yount, Caitlin Jackson, Kevin Webb, Sydney Genco, Recommended

Music, The Secret History of Chicago Music Sep 11, 2018
Video
If you don’t know Megon McDonough, blame the maleness of Chicago’s 70s folk scene

Folk singer Megon McDonough made her 1972 debut LP while still in high school and in 1990 joined Christine Lavin's Four Bitchin' Babes.
- By Steve Krakow
- Tags: The Secret History of Chicago Music, Megon McDonough, Megan McDonough, Elgin, folk, Bonnie Koloc, pop, rock, cabaret, musicals, WLS, Mercury Records, RCA Records, Wooden Nickel, Styx, Don't Jump to Conclusions, Blue-Eyed Soul, Minnie Riperton, Megan Music, John Denver, Steve Martin, In the Megan Manner, Keepsake, Sketches, Earl of Old Town, Quiet Knight, Orphans, Ratso’s, Christine Lavin, Four Bitchin' Babes, Beehive, Always . . . Patsy Cline, Video

Blogs, Bleader Jan 17, 2018
Cabaret star Charles Busch relives his youth in My Kinda 60s

The performer behind Die, Mommie, Die! abandons drag for nostalgia.
- By Albert Williams
- Tags: Arts, Performing Arts, Charles Busch, cabaret, 60s music

Arts & Culture, Performing Arts Feature Jun 22, 2017
Bette Davis Ain’t for Sissies, Jacques Brel’s Lonesome Losers . . . , and nine more new stage shows

A one-woman show to buckle up for and an intimate, retro revue are among this week's best bets.
- Tags: Performing Arts Feature, Bette Davis, Bette Davis Ain't for Sissies, Joan Crawford, Jessica Sherr, Howard Hughes, Drag Party Party, Bina Martin, the Annoyance, Julia DeFerdinando, Hell in a Handbag Proudctions, The Golden Girls: The Lost Episodes, David Cerda, Lady X: The Musical, Adrian Hadlock, Jacques Brel's Lonesome Losers of the Night, Theo Ubique, No Exit Cafe, cabaret, Jeremy Ramey, Randolph Johnson, Joshua Stephen Kartes, Fred Anzevino, Arnold Johnston, The King and I, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Laura Michelle Kelly, Jose Llana, London Assurance, Dion Boucicoult, City Lit Theatre, Oscar Wilde, Terry McCabe, Oak Park Festival Theatre, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Matthey Fahey, Barbara Zahora, The Agency Theater Collective, Nautilina, Brian Foster, Sommer Austin, Anna Lucero, Brendan Duffy, Safe in My Own Head, Jenn Noyes, Natalie Moretti, Tempel Lizzipans, Tempel Farms, dressage, When the Fog Begins to Lift

Arts & Culture, Performing Arts Feature May 3, 2017
Chicago, Lady X: The Musical, and seven more new theater reviews

The hometown return of an iconic show and the tuneful reboot of a camp classic are among this week's best bets.
- Tags: Performing Arts Feature, Cabaret, Kander and Ebb, No Stakes Theater Project, Erin Shea Brady, Mollyanne Nunn, Emilie Modaff, Erick Rivera, Joe Masteroff, Cory Hardin, Chicago musical, Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace, William Osetek, Kelly Felthous, Aléna Watters, Rivendell Theatre, The Firebirds Take the Field, Lynn Rosen, Jessica Fisch, Forty-Two Stories, Douglas Post, City Lit Theatre, Scott Westerman, Gloria, Hell in a Handbag Productions, David Cerda, Scott Lamberty, Lady X: The Musical, Chazie Bly, Promethean Theatre Ensemble, The Liar, Pierre Corneille, Josh Hambrock, David Ives, Ed Rutherford, Underscore Theatre, My Name Is Annie King, Krista Pioppi, Alex Higgin-Houser, Aaron Albert, Katy Rea, Raven Theatre, Not About Nightingales, Tennessee Williams, Michael Menendian, Breon Arzell, Chuck Spencer, Brandon Greenhouse, Sophia Menendian, Curious Theatre Branch, Tattered and Wincing, Beau O'Reilly, Ryan Wright, Kelly Anchors

Arts & Culture, Performing Arts Feature Feb 18, 2016
Steppenwolf's The Flick, BoHo Theatre's Fugitive Songs, and 13 more new stage shows

Among the notables: limited runs of Cabaret and the one-man Sancho: An Act of Remembrance at Chicago Shakes
- Tags: Performing Arts Feature, Adoration of the Old Woman, José Rivera, UrbanTheatre Company, Juan Castañeda, Another Word for Beauty, Andrew Neftalí Perez, Melissa DuPrey, First Floor Theater, The Awake, Ken Urban, Chicago Dramatists, Scott Woldman, Beautiful Autistic, Blueberry Toast, Tympanic Theatre Company, Mary Laws, Cabaret, Kander and Ebb, Roundabout Theatre Company, Randy Harrison, Far From Heaven, Porchlight Music Theatre, Todd Haynes, Douglas Sirk, All That Heaven Allows, Summer Naomi Smart, The Flick, Annie Baker, Steppenwolf Theatre, Dexter Bullard, From These Fatal Loins, Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare, The Ruckus, Derek Van Barham, Christopher Waldron, Jillian Rea, Chris Miller and Nathan Tysen, Fugitive Songs, BoHo Theatre, Zachary L. Gray, Jeffrey Poindexter, Interrogation, Scott Westerman, The Artistic Home, Looking Over the President's Shoulder, Manny Buckley, Alonzo Fields, Lee Daniels, The Butler, James Still, Marc Salem, Marnie & Phil, Actors Gymnasium, Chris Mathews, House Theatre of Chicago, Jeremy Sonkin, Kevin O'Donnell, Malic White, Molly Brennan, Pop Waits, Iggy Pop, Tom Waits, Neo-Futurarium, Sancho: An Act of Remembrance, Paterson Joseph, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Shakespeare 400 Chicago

Blogs, Bleader Feb 18, 2016
Ten notes on Cabaret, playing through Sunday at PrivateBank Theatre

The 2014 Roundabout Theatre revival concludes its local run this weekend.
- By Jack Helbig
- Tags: Arts, Theater, Cabaret, John Kander, Fred Ebb, Bob Fosse

Arts & Culture, Comedy Critic's Choice Aug 30, 2014
Recommended
Bridget Everett and Ian Abramson, subtle comedy it ain't

The cabaret comedian Everett flaunts an over-the-top sultriness, while local eccentric Abramson plays a vaudevillian angle (pencil mustache included).
- By Molly Adams
- Tags: Comedy Critic's Choice, Bridget Everett, Dave Hill, Ian Abramson, cabaret, alt-cabaret, Seven Minutes in Purgatory, improv comedy, Recommended

Music, Music Feature Mar 20, 2014
An oral history of the Green Mill

The neon-lit bar at Lawrence and Broadway, now a legendary jazz club, has been around for 107 years—and has more stories than any tavern in town. Here are a few from the past three decades.
- By Patrick Sisson
- Tags: Music Feature, Green Mill, Uptown, bars, jazz clubs, history, oral history, Chicago Tribune, Phohibition, jazz, Pop Morse's Roadhouse, beer gardens, Tom Chamales, Green Mill Gardens, Moulin Rouge, Uptown Theatre, Jazz Age, Jack McGurn, Jack "Machine Gun" McGurn, Al Capone, tunnels, smuggling, Joseph Lewis, Rendezvous Cafe, comedy, The Joker Is Wild, movies, Billie Holiday, Al Jolson, Texas Guinan, cabaret, 300 Club, James Doherty, nightlife, Jason Cole, Batsis brothers, Steve Brend, Dave Jemilo, bar owners, American Indian Center, Patricia Barber, speakeasies, bartenders, Brad Goode, musicians, performers, halfway houses, hillbillies, Sharon's Hillbilly Heaven, liquor licenses, Marc Smith, Uptown Poetry Slam, paintings, statues, Jimmy Moscarello, plumbing, Aragon Ballroom, Ed Pedersen Quintet, Ed Pedersen, Brad Goode Qunitet, Vu Jazz Quintet, Susie Hansen Band, Deja Vu Big Band, Mike Finnerty, Mike Finnerty & the Heat Merchants, 4 AM bars, Neil Tesser, jazz critics, cocktails, Ted Sirota, Sabertooth Organ Quartet, Clifford Jordan, Jazz Showcase, Wilbur Campbell, Blackstone Hotel, Katerina's, The Jazz Bulls, Fred Anderson, London House, Mr. Kelly's, Von Freeman, Andy's, Elastic, poetry, poetry slams, football players, Chicago Fire, Chicago Poetry Ensemble, martinis, booking, Mighty Blue Kings, old-fashioneds, manhattans, classic cocktails, E2, Gold Star Sardine Bar, Sheila Jordan, accents, Starbucks, drinking, Malort, Malort face, Chicago Reader

Blogs, Bleader Jan 24, 2014
Nightclubbing your way to hell: Marriott's Cabaret

The Marriott Theatre delivers a knock-out version of the musical that puts you face-to-face with monstrous evil.
- By Deanna Isaacs
- Tags: Theater, Arts, Marriott Theatre, Cabaret, David H. Bell, Megan Sikora, Stephen Schellhardt, Annabel Armour, Craig Spidle, Jameson Cooper, Patrick Sarb, Nancy Missimi

Arts & Culture, Performing Arts Feature Dec 16, 2013
Too Much Light at 25: An oral history

The Neo-Futurists reflect on a quarter century of their forever-running show, Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind.
- By Janet Potter
- Tags: Performing Arts Feature, Neo-Futurists, Neo-Futurarium, oral history, history, ensembles, theater, actors, plays, audiences, performance, Greg Allen, Oberlin College, Phil Auslander, Futurism, experimental theater, Stage Left Theatre, Phil Ridarelli, spontaneity, improvisation, cabaret, scripts, nudity, Chicago Reader, Tony Adler, reviews, King Lear, Gene Dillenburg, Live Bait Theater, John Pierson, auditioning, Bilal Dardai, Megan Mercier, Trevor Dawkins, Kurt Chiang

Arts & Culture, Theater Review May 2, 2013
Image
Young guys attract old dolls in Pal Joey

Rodgers and Hart's 1940 musical, now in a new revival by Porchlight Music Theatre, pushed Broadway's buttons—and its boundaries.
- By Albert Williams
- Tags: Theater Review, Pal Joey, Rodgers and Hart, New York Times, Brooks Atkinson, Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, John O'Hara, Lake Shore Drive, Cabaret, Chicago, Porchlight Music Theatre, Michael Weber, I'm Talking to My Pal, Callie Johnson, Gypsy Rose Lee, Matt Orlando, Kiss Me, Kate, Doug Peck, Jeremy Kahn, Brenda Didier, Bill Morey, Flower Garden of My Heart, Ziegfeld Follies, Susie McMonagle, Laura Savage, Sharriese Hamilton, Steven Pringle, Steven Pringle, Anything Goes, Guys and Dolls, Gene Kelly, Adrian Aguilar, Jonathan Larson, Tick, Tick . . . Boom!, The Threepenny Opera, Paul Newman, The Hustler, Stage 773

Arts & Culture, Culture Vultures Jul 20, 2012
Video
This week's Culture Vultures recommend:

El Circo Cheapo, Joe Meno's Office Girl, and documentary Resurrect Dead
- By Allegra Kirkland
- Tags: Culture Vultures, Alison Fisher, El Circo Cheapo, cabaret, Duncan MacKenzie, Bad at Sports, Joe Meno, Office Girl, Molly Brennan, Barrel of Monkeys, Toynbee Tiles, Art Institute of Chicago, Video

Film, Movie Critic's Choice Feb 23, 2012
The naked truth

With Crazy Horse, Frederick Wiseman documents a legendary nude cabaret
- By J.R. Jones
- Tags: Movie Critic's Choice, Frederick Wiseman, Crazy Horse, cabaret, Paris

Arts & Culture, Performing Arts Review Apr 22, 2010
New Cabaret, Old Hell

The Hypocrites do a dark and ominous musical.
- By Albert Williams
- Tags: Performing Arts Review, Cabaret, Joe Masteroff, John Kander, Fred Ebb, Christopher Isherwood, Christopher Isherwood, Matt Hawkins, Marianna Csaszar, Berlin Stories, Cliff Bradshaw, Kit Kat Klub, Robert McLean, Tomorrow Belongs to Me, Storefront Theater

Blogs, Bleader Apr 7, 2009
Theo Bleckmann comes to town

Uncategorizable New York singer Theo Bleckmann performs with percussionist and composer John Hollenbeck on Wednesday at Heaven Gallery.
- By Peter Margasak
- Tags: Music, Post No Bills, Improvisation, John Hollenbeck, Heaven Gallery, Theo Bleckmann, Refuge Trio, Kneebody, Fumio Yasuda, cabaret, Charles Ives

Music, Music Review Jan 22, 2009
Leaving Camp

Antony Hegarty sings earnest torch songs for the natural world.
- By Noah Berlatsky
- Tags: Music Review, Antony and the Johnsons, The Crying Light, Antony Hegarty, queer, camp, cabaret, Julia Serano, gender, Boy George

Music, Critic's Choice Aug 22, 2002
Across a Crowded Room
- By Neil Tesser
- Tags: Critic's Choice, Richard Rodgers, Celebration, Tribute, Centennial, Jazz, Cabaret, Music

Arts & Culture, Theater Critic's Choice Jun 1, 1995
Absolut Kiss
- By Albert Williams
- Tags: Theater Critic's Choice, William S. Burroughs, Tony Kushner, Carol Lawrence, Rita Gardner, Cabaret, Musical

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Congresswoman Mary Miller’s apology is almost as bad as her original “Hitler was right” remark.

The 88-year-old musical theater icon talks about staying home—and coming out.

Encroaching fascism and gender fluidity make for a timely revival with Cowardly Scarecrow.

Folk singer Megon McDonough made her 1972 debut LP while still in high school and in 1990 joined Christine Lavin's Four Bitchin' Babes.

The performer behind Die, Mommie, Die! abandons drag for nostalgia.

A one-woman show to buckle up for and an intimate, retro revue are among this week's best bets.

The hometown return of an iconic show and the tuneful reboot of a camp classic are among this week's best bets.

Among the notables: limited runs of Cabaret and the one-man Sancho: An Act of Remembrance at Chicago Shakes

The 2014 Roundabout Theatre revival concludes its local run this weekend.

The cabaret comedian Everett flaunts an over-the-top sultriness, while local eccentric Abramson plays a vaudevillian angle (pencil mustache included).

The neon-lit bar at Lawrence and Broadway, now a legendary jazz club, has been around for 107 years—and has more stories than any tavern in town. Here are a few from the past three decades.

The Marriott Theatre delivers a knock-out version of the musical that puts you face-to-face with monstrous evil.

The Neo-Futurists reflect on a quarter century of their forever-running show, Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind.

Rodgers and Hart's 1940 musical, now in a new revival by Porchlight Music Theatre, pushed Broadway's buttons—and its boundaries.

El Circo Cheapo, Joe Meno's Office Girl, and documentary Resurrect Dead

With Crazy Horse, Frederick Wiseman documents a legendary nude cabaret

The Hypocrites do a dark and ominous musical.

Uncategorizable New York singer Theo Bleckmann performs with percussionist and composer John Hollenbeck on Wednesday at Heaven Gallery.

Antony Hegarty sings earnest torch songs for the natural world.

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