Chicago has great actors. This truism means that even the most negative review generally contains some version of ". . . but the acting is great," which makes it all the more surprising that Lifeline Theatre's new production of The Three Musketeers falls short on account of its...

The prolific songwriter Cole Porter may be a dim memory from another century; but, as Theo Ubique shows in its new revue, his songs are both timelessly melodic and remarkably contemporary. While there are references in his famously verbose comic songs which will go right past anyone born...

I went to Blood and Gifts with all the enthusiasm of a conscripted soldier. I wasn't in a big hurry to return to the locale I'd last visited in Tony Kushner's Homebody/Kabul, one of the most excruciating evenings I've spent in the theater. And honestly after 10 years of...

It's impossible to know why a Chicago theater season features concentrated attention on certain playwrights. But a pair of Neil LaBute plays and a cluster of Molieres (current and imminent) have given me an idea.

David Prete's fine production of LaBute's Fat Pig, one of the three shows in

A five-day visit to New York. Six shows, half good and half not-so. Three museums. Some of this is utterly evanescent; a few items might travel if you're patient; but some of it requires you to jump on a plane and go. Herewith a guide to your trip.

What to...

I was in Russia when a tourist from New York turned to me and said, "Whatever happened to Chicago?" To this mysterious question he added, "I kept thinking it was going to break through, but it never did." Nonplussed, I tried to think of a Chicago breakthrough. Eventually I must...

I got a ticket on Wednesday for changing lanes without signaling. (Yes, Chicago's coffers are in need of a refill.) Because I'm no longer a motor club member, I no longer have a bond card, the thing you can give the cop instead of your license. So she took my...

Most reports of Alex Karras's death noted that he had dementia, but not that he attributed his dementia to his years playing in the NFL. Nor did they mention that he was one of the players suing the League for concealing what it knew about the long-term effects of concussion....

Though he attracted ridicule from the right for saying it (and what could he say that wouldn't attract ridicule from the right?), the president is correct: the private sector is okay, creating jobs at a respectable clip. The weakness in job creation comes primarily from the public sector, where states...

Plenty of attention has been paid recently to splits on the Supreme Court: Who will divide with whom on the Affordable Care Act? Will the existence of a 5-4 split between Democrats and Republicans on the Court mean a permanent judicial assault on the New Deal? And so on.

But...

The lesson from this past week's Komen/Planned Parenthood contretemps is that when women make our voices heard in defense of the health care we need, we win the argument.

So let's not hesitate to make just as much noise in response to the hysteria now being whipped up about the...

If the conversation about the end of the U.S. Postal Service sounds familiar, it's not just because we've heard variations of it since 1970, when the old Post Office Department became a separate business. It's also because the destruction of mail delivery closely parallels the wrecking of American...

In fundraising there's an old saw that if you want someone's money, you ask for his advice. Leave it to the ever-innovative Rahm Emanuel to turn this observation into an ultimatum, telling people equipped with useful advice that it won't be heard unless it comes wrapped in money.

That, in...

The people who've spent the past several seasons calling for the head of Coach Lovie Smith on the grounds that he's "ignorant and weak" and "emotionless" (among many less printable adjectives) are nowhere to be found now that the Chicago Bears are...

The Women's Philanthropy Institute at Indiana University's Center on Philanthropy just released a study showing that women give more to charity than men -- both more frequently and more generously when controlled for income.

Specifically, women who make $23,509 or less (Q1) are 28 percent more likely to...

The outsized attention given to Rahm Emanuel's decision to return to Chicago reflects the most troubling aspect of Chicago politics: the notion that the city needs a dictator and the only important challenge is finding a new one. Ever since Daley announced he wouldn't seek a 7th term as mayor,...

Jane Mayer's excellent piece in this past week's New Yorker about the brothers Koch, oil billionaires who've donated hundreds of millions to nonprofits promoting right-wing causes, finally clarified my unease at Bill Gates's campaign to persuade billionaires to donate half their estates to charity.

It's not a...

While it's not yet true that "Illinois Does A Few Adult Films To Make Ends Meet", the state has begun to cast lascivious glances at its nonprofits. Those property-tax exemptions look mighty comfortable. Why don't you push that cushion over to my side of the bed? And with...

The Chicago Tribune's Chris Jones notwithstanding, the problem with the Chase Community Giving program isn't that it lets "civilians" -- non-expert, non-critics -- decide which theater companies deserve a $20,000 one-time no-strings grant. The problem is that it pretends to do that -- Let the People Decide! --...

Apropos today's introduction of full-body scanners at Logan Field in Boston:

These machines, which provide naked images of travelers, will soon operate at the nation's
largest airports. But I refuse to go through a full-body scan. When the scanners arrive at O'Hare, I'll start...