Conversation ended the minute the Rachel Shteir turned a review of books about Chicago into a pan of the city itself. Which is a shame, because Shteir's review was a gigantic missed opportunity to investigate the fact that "Chicago" is a performance.

Story by Sam Cholke, via DNAinfo Chicago: WASHINGTON PARK — The University of Chicago celebrated the opening of its new Arts Incubator Friday mor...

When Jon Robin Baitz's searing family drama Other Desert Cities premiered at Lincoln Center in January 2011, it took the town by storm. I had the chance to speak with Tracy Michelle Arnold of the Goodman Theatre's production.

Chicago musician David Singer has made some of the most infectious indie pop music over the last several years. His debut film, the short Advantage: Weinberg, is no less appealing.

In the fantastically macabre Failure: A Love Story, playwright Philip Dawkins manages to find the quirky, heartwarming delight in the unavoidable.

If history class were like the rock musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, I might have fared better in school. It examines the life of Andrew Jackson, America's seventh president, through the lens of a wry, high-octane rock concert.

High fashion met high art as local Chicago designers paraded their latest collections, accompanied by sweeping arias from the world's most famous operas at The American Chamber Opera's Fashion of the Opera.

Paperweights? Yes, paperweights! If you can't really envision what they are (or why), you are in luck. The Art Institute of Chicago which houses one of the largest paperweight collections in the world, is more than doubling its collection.

After the cacophony of last week's season opening exhibitions across the city of Chicago, there are three impressive, divergent openings tonight.

Whenever I tell people about the Mayne Stage, I can't believe that they haven't been there yet. For me, it is the undiscovered gem of the city.

Michelle Boone and Lord Cultural Resources have defied the expectations of many Chicagoans by actually opening the Chicago Cultural Plan up for discussion and input. Now we hope to see the process into reality.

Redtwist Theatre's intimate, heartbreaking and darkly humorous production of Tennessee Williams' deeply personal masterpiece, A Glass Menagerie will haunt me for quite a while.

What is it about Steppenwolf's production of Anton Chekhov's The Three Sisters (Here, simply called Three Sisters) that left me mostly cold?

The summer is getting away from us! We've now entered August and the clock is ticking to get out and enjoy the great weather in this living and breathing city.

I sat in on an enthusiastic meeting Wednesday with Mayor Emanuel, NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman, and Ra Joy of the Illinois Arts Alliance among others. The discussion was about the just released draft of the Chicago Cultural Plan.

Inspired by Michael Cunningham and Craig Marberry's 2000 book that explores the rich history black women have with wearing ornate church hats, playwright Regina Taylor has crafted a joyful, colorful celebration with Crowns.

Chicago's beloved concert venue, the Metro, is turning 30 this month, and in honor of its contributions to music and art (through live performances an...

Flight flies veterans, at no cost to them, to Washington D.C. to see their war memorials. For many of the vets, this is the last chapter of their lives... for some, it is their final paragraph.

The Patio Theater, with its twinkling "night sky" ceiling and detailed Spanish and Italian architecture, is a unique Chicago landmark. Opened in 19...

It's a very rare thing when a beautiful and emotionally stirring new musical comes along. But with Eastland, about the overlooked tragedy of the capsizing of the SS Eastland in the Chicago River, the writers make a landmark debut.

Only in Chicago would a theater company actively seek out to produce a play that has more people onstage than in the audience. Yet that's exactly the case in The Right Brain Project's Marat/Sade.

Two theater pieces reminded me that the perennial "crisis of theater" as no longer relevant for art audiences -- let alone politics -- is once again easily defied. Sometimes being a theater audience is the only way to get at the truth of the "real" thing.