With the exception of some time in Paris and Florence, and graduate school in Arizona, I have lived in Chicago, working in the arts, all my life. Overall, I have lived or studied in nine different neighborhoods and have come to know the huge diversity and rich web that is this city. I don't think there is any other city in the world that would let me do what I do on Fear No ART Chicago: get up close and personal with people and artists that I don't know, and don't have any big pull with, and interview them, intimately, in their studios and homes. It is the single thing that I love most about this city: Chicago allows you the freedom and the accessibility to create.
Nothing highlights this characteristic of Chicago more than the Chicago Tribune's show, Chicago Live!, hosted by beloved journalist Rick Kogan. In this live, 90-minute show in the basement of the Chicago Theatre, Kogan and fellow Chicago Tribune journalists interview the vast number of creatives and politicians and undiscovered gems that make up the fabric of this city.
Sure, the show is entertaining. Billy Corgan played at the opening of the Summer run in July and Rahm Emanuel took a stand on where his children go to school on the stage of Chicago Live! first. However, more than theatrical, Chicago Live! takes a magnifying glass to the details of our city and brings the wonder of a major newspaper to life.
Chicago Live! happens on Thursday nights at 6:30 p.m. in the basement of the Chicago Theatre for four six-week runs a year. You can catch the last two shows of the Summer session on August 18 and August 25th. In the interim, check out this video interview in the basement of the Chicago Theatre with Rick Kogan, and see some past Chicago Live! clips to get a smidgeon of some the people that makes this city great.