16th Street Theater 6420 16th St., Berwyn, 708-795-6704, 16thstreettheater.org Under the artistic director Ann Filmer’s cultivation, this theatre has been slowly and steadily building a reputation for excellence since 2008. Its six-show Equity season regularly regales local audiences with outstanding work, including Michael Sidney Fosberg’s Incognito, Marilyn Campbell’s The Beats, and world premieres from Rohina … Read more
Aloft Chicago City Center 515 N. Clark St., 312-661-1000, aloftchicagocitycenter.com Best new: Opened in June at Clark Street and Grand Avenue, this is one of the city’s first hotels positioned to capitalize on a neighborhood of great dining. Part of a new complex that includes two other new hotels (Hyatt Place and Fairfield Inn and … Read more
Write Club The Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia Ave., writeclubrules.com Anchored by the mad villainy of its host, Ian Belknap, this competition-style reading pits writer against writer in a literary cage match: Each participant writes an essay defending one side of an assigned dichotomy (fight versus flight, land versus sea, nice versus naughty) and reads it … Read more
Little Known Facts Bloomsbury, $25 A Northwestern writing professor, Evanston resident, and accomplished short-story author, Christine Sneed published her first novel in February. The tale centers on an aging Hollywood leading man, Renn Ivins, whose celebrity is almost a living thing, a lurking monster constantly disrupting his family life. If anyone could inject subtlety into … Read more
Constellation 3111 N. Western Ave., constellation-chicago.com Best new: For years, the drummer and impresario about town Mike Reed has been Chicago’s wandering shepherd of avant-garde jazz. Wherever Reed went, sonically weird music followed. In May, after setting up at venues from the Hungry Brain to the Skylark, Reed finally settled down: He bought the warehouse-like … Read more
How to Do Everything howtodoeverything.org During the day, Mike Danforth and Ian Chillag produce NPR’s weekly quiz show Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me! In their off-hours, they create a weekly podcast called How to Do Everything. In it, the nasal-voiced hosts ask a variety of experts and famous people pressing how-to questions. Recent episodes … Read more
Chance the Rapper Download his free mix tape at chanceraps.com Chicago hip-hop is on fire—and Chance exemplifies the best qualities of the city’s DIY rap scene. In his colorful, exuberant mix tape Acid Rap, released in April, he is lyrically dexterous and by turns silly and poignant. Plus, he’s generous with the spotlight—his songs are … Read more
Meet Slo ’Mo—Slow Jams for Homos—Logan Square’s sultriest dance party.
Come enjoy a fast, clipped pace and a supportive vibe that allows performers to fail gracefully.
(Un)Familiar Music Series The Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western Ave., 773-276-3600 Best new: New music, as defined by Spektral Quartet violist Doyle Armbrust, has little in common with anything you might catch on Spotify. It’s more like frenetic performance pieces that range from two men shouting at the audience to the spoken-word monologues interwoven with … Read more
