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Martha Graham Dance Doesn’t Show Its Age
By Wes Hessel with Flo Mano For one night only, the Martha Graham Dance Company ably demonstrated their signature style at the Auditorium Theatre to a full house. Part of the “Celebrating Women Leaders in Dance” series, this celebrated the centennial anniversary milestone of the oldest dance company in America, with the unique, innovative, avant-garde […]
Happy Anniversary Chicago’s Soul Children
By Cate Rees-Hessel The Soul Children of Chicago are celebrating 44 years of fabulous gospel music. This world-renowned children’s choir, under the direction of the energetic and enormously talented Dr. Walter Whitman for that entire time, have been blessing audiences for nearly four and a half decades. The Soul Children are Grammy award winning future […]
“Maybe Real Near By”
By Cate Rees-Hessel The finest in fun theatrical experience is “real near by” in Skokie – Musical Theater Works stellar production of Annie is innovative and energetic. The acting is quite good and vocals are strong; the orchestra top notch, full bodied and rich. The first act shows the darkness of the Great Depression with […]
Holiday in Pink
By Wes Hessel with Flo Mano The small-scale multi-genre orchestra with the big sound, Pink Martini, sold out their one-night holiday performance, “A Season of Stars”, at the Auditorium, a celebration by the global musicians’ group of a diverse cross-section of tunes for the season and other favorites. The unique jazz international interpretations were amazing… Edna […]
Manual Cinema’s “A Christmas Carol” Shadows the Classic in Another Light
By Wes Hessel with Beth Tomas Set during COVID, Christmas 2020, “Manual Cinema’s A Christmas Carol” at the Studebaker Theater brings the iconic tale to modern, parallel life, with the company’s signature use of puppetry, shadow play, live video, and other forms of media, coupled with a integral sound track. Though embittered by her grief […]
Ruth Page Center for the Arts Performs Milestone Anniversary Nutcracker
By Cate Rees-Hessel The iconic Ruth Page dance company celebrates sixty years of performing their well-reputed version of Tchaikovsky’s iconic holiday ballet, “The Nutcracker”. This Christmas classic has been enjoyed by a countless number of Chicago audiences through the decades. Shows were staged at two venues (Governors State University and Northeastern Illinois University) already this […]
Dickens Called On to Perform his Beloved Holiday Classic, Again…
By Cate Rees-Hessel Popular Chicago Theater Wit is staging a one-man show based upon an alive today Charles Dickens rather reluctantly performing yet another rendition of his classic “A Christmas Carol”. Please put this wonderful production in your Christmas stocking. Audiences can enjoy this new version of the iconic holiday classic, “Charles Dickens Begrudgingly Performs […]
December 2025 @ the Franklin Park Library
We are located at 10311 Grand Avenue in Franklin Park, IL and offer a range of services and programs for children, teens and adults. Further information is available at www.fppld.org or by calling 847-455-6016. Unless otherwise noted, registration is required for ALL library programs. Hours of Service:Monday-Wednesday 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM Thursday & Friday […]
Metropolis Family-Friendly “Christmas Carol” Delightful
By Wes Hessel with D’Arcy Mies Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights showcases a delightful, traditional presentation of the perennial holiday classic, “A Christmas Carol”. The Narrator (Fan) is excellent and Scrooge is quite well played; the entire cast truly does a good job, and the child actors are great, well rehearsed and talented. […]
Oil Lamp Presents Beloved Holiday Classic
By Cate Rees-Hessel Oil Lamp Theater’s rendition of “It’s a Wonderful Life, a Live Radio Play” is delightful. I love the realistic 1940’s radio studio, complete with believable quirks. Costumes are period-perfect and attractive – the innovative use of hats to define characters is extremely well executed, combined with an enormously talented cast that handles […]
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