Battle of the Bands
We pit three large-ensemble jazz bands in a Chicago versus Chicago versus New York face-off
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Three Things to Contemplate
while idiling on the Kennedy
Talk of Our Town
Two Chicago theatres have liberated Thornton Wilder’s warhorse of a play from its nostalgic conventions to deliver productions both radical and real. Why now?
Knight Moves: How Filmmakers Turned Chicago into Gotham City
FROM FEBRUARY 2009: With imagination, verve, and a hefty package of financial incentives, the makers of the latest Batman epic turned Chicago into Gotham City, giving our town a starring role in razzle-dazzle chases and heart-stopping stunts. Now, the movie stands as a contender for Academy Award hardware. What’s the payoff here?
Bird by Bird
On the eve of a major release (Noble Beast, out January 20th on Fat Possum), musician-on-the-verge Andrew Bird, 35, opens up about pseudo fame, bipolar lifestyles, and what it takes to write the perfect pop song
Ex-Rated
The Ex Files
Can’t agree on how to celebrate V Day? Split the difference between a romantic dinner and ignoring the holiday altogether with Letters/X 6, Groundup Theatre’s guffaw-worthy annual roundup of Dear John letters recast as monologues, sketches, and songs performed by both people and puppets (yes, puppets). Cheap-date warning: The performance is free, although donations are accepted. The show runs 8 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and…
The New Dating Game
We put to the test new research that reveals how people couple up. PLUS: Vote—whom should Milly have picked?
Action Heroes
26 people who make films happen in Chicago—plus three newcomers making their mark
The Blip
Bright spots on this month’s cultural radar
Gastro Tourism
During my recent travels abroad, I was obsessed with the otherness of products in foreign supermarkets. While freely opening myself to new cultures everywhere else, I couldn’t shake my deep-seated Ugly American tendencies in grocery stores, and got so carried away taking pictures and snickering that a security guard in Hanoi escorted me and my camera out the door. Here, at long last, is my complete gallery of snapshots.