Lauren W
Friendly and Fabulous Farmers Markets
Those of you who know me know that I’m not just all about the arts. I’m also a staunch localvore, and for me it’s the most wonderful time of the year! Asparagus and strawberries are in season, and farmers markets are slowly beginning to come out of hibernation. I’ve heard just about every excuse against […]
Q & A with Amanda Heuermann – Stage Manager at The Joffrey Ballet
Dance concerts aren’t just the job of dancers and choreographers. Costume designers, lighting designers, sound editors and composers, set designers, carpenters, stagehands and electricians, marketing and PR personnel, house managers… these are just some of the jobs that go into running a dance company. Every person involved, both onstage and off, is deeply invested in […]
Recommended Theater: Your Problem With Men at Stage 773
It’s the American dream: the husband, the dog, the 2.3 children, the white picket fence, the soccer practice. It’s what every woman wants, right? Not me and, assumedly, not most of our readers. Maybe not Asun, either. Asun (the main character in Teatro Luna’s Your Problem with Men), thought the dream was for her, and […]
Dance Moms this week was all about secrets…
Here’s mine: I watch Dance Moms. Sometimes I just can’t help myself. The drama, the dressing room insanity, the quest for that big fake metal trophy - it’s all so bad that it’s good. So when “Miss Abby” announced her theme for the week was Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, I was pretty sure we were […]
Top Five Reasons to See a Dance Show this Valentine’s Day
There are so many choices for Valentine’s Day celebrations: candlelight dinners, a movie, a night in with a bottle of wine and a deck of cards…. The possibilities are virtually endless. But maybe you’re craving something new and different this year? My win-win for a romantic night out is to see a dance concert. Chicago […]
Kelli Simpkins and the New Play Teddy Ferrara at the Goodman Theatre
“Big, heady, beautifully written, and complex” These are the words used by actress Kelli Simpkins during a phone interview with yours truly describing her latest project, Teddy Ferrara. Teddy Ferrara is a play about the queer college experience. A tragedy on campus thrusts the university into the national headlines, but ultimately Teddy Ferrara is about […]
Time For An Upgrade
Cold and important. These are the impressions I took from the Chicago Rally for Illinois Marriage Equality this afternoon at the Thompson Center. I have plenty of trepidation about writing about political events… The thing is: I’m a dance writer. I wouldn’t consider myself the most inspired of citizens. I’m not involved and not even […]
The Lesbian’s Guide to Watching the Nutcracker
The presents are open; the stockings are empty. Your belly is full from a delightful Christmas brunch and all that remains is a few more days of lounging in pajamas, noshing on leftovers and watching every Christmas movie in the inventory. Flipping through the cable channels, your Mom suddenly perks up… “Oh! Look, honey! The […]