Six Degrees of Ken Vandermark
We examine the sphere of influence of Ken Vandermark, Chicago’s hardest-working musician.
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You Should Know … DJ Colette
This Chicago-born talent comes out from behind the turntables sounding like Debbie Harry in her prime.
Design Within Her Reach
The Art Institute’s new design curator, Zoë Ryan, discusses her own art collection, good luck charms, current obsessions, and more
Southern Discomfort
Lucero and Bobby Bare Jr. play November 9th at 9 p.m. at Metro
Celebrity Sightings
I’ve had not one, but two good celebrity sightings in the past week. In Chicago, I saw Gary Sinise filming an episode of CSI: New York outside the Tribune Tower. I admit it, I didn’t have to work very hard for that one, since Chicago magazine offices are inside the building. Sinise didn’t want his picture snapped directly, but one of the directors agreed that he could “walk by me” and I could “happen to snap a picture.” Um, OK…
Art Imitates Death
Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler’s Wife, discusses art, writing, and her upcoming exhibition on Isabella Blow, the fashion icon who died last spring.
Chicagoween
Not too long ago, I called up the owner of Fantasy Costume Headquarters on Milwaukee Avenue and asked which costumes he predicted would sweep Chicago. His top picks for this year: caveman masks and pirate paraphernalia. He was riffing, of course, off the Geico cavemen character and the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.
Well, since Saturday, I’ve attended three Halloween parties and a pumpkin-carving fête, and I have not spotted any cavemen. I’ve seen a pirate or two. By far, the most popular costumes I’ve seen are Amy Winehouse (complete with the Blake tattoo over the bosom) and the “d*ck-in-the-box”…
Guest Blog: Jeff Awards Redux
My take on the Joseph Jefferson Awards, which happened last night at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie, is that the ceremony is pretty boring unless you are 1. a nominee; 2. an actor who was in or a person who worked on a nominated show; or 3. drunk. I drew my third conclusion from the mob scenes around the Grey Goose vodka free-martini bar, at which two bartendresses languidly shook cocktails for the restless throng, and the cash bar, where I found Jeff Award-nominee Jason Loewith standing with veteran actor Mary Ann Thebus…
A House Divided on Passion
Here at Chicago magazine headquarters, we’re divided about Passion, the Sondheim musical that’s playing upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre through Nov. 11.
Passion is one of the hot tickets for fall, partly because of its director (Gary Griffin) but mostly because of its star: Ana Gasteyer, the SNL alum. Gasteyer doesn’t live here, but one of her early ventures into musical theatre was opening Wicked for Broadway in Chicago. Now she’s back!…
Drawing a Crowd
The Art Institute’s astounding collection of prints and drawings deserves a closer look.