Newcity

There is not enough dramatic scaffolding to support the bulk of thematic materials in this world premiere from Promethean Theatre Ensemble.

Established in 1953, Delmark is the country’s oldest label exclusively devoted to jazz and the blues, and as such most of us would probably agree it’s worth saving. Julie A. Miller (president and CEO) and Elbio Barilari (vice-president and artistic director) are the ones who are actually making that happen.

Leo: You're in a phase of your cycle when you have maximum power to raise your appreciation of elegance.

Eat, drink and be merry has become a policy of mine since right about the time I stood in front of van der Weyden’s “Last Judgment.” A superficial response? Perhaps. But about tomorrow, who knows, many of us may begin doing time in a fire-fueled eternity. Just the thought of it makes me hungry.

The greatest cost of fear is the way it blots out everything it touches and drowns out the joys of parenthood.

A satire about precarity, family, memory and survival.

Look upon the face of a girl who intends to kill.

Nico turns fifty: what of the rest of her life?

Hollywood Boulevard's unspoken dreams.

Electric Light Orchestra was created expressly as a vehicle for music that would pick up where the Beatles had left off on “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “Magical Mystery Tour.” In those days, recreating complex, nuanced musical arrangements onstage was nearly impossible in a rock context. ELO sought to solve that problem by including a string section in the group right alongside the standard rock-band lineup.

Leo: It is a ripe time to formulate fresh intentions.

Poems about Partition and coming-of-age as a Pakistani Muslim in America after September 11, 2001.

Lil Uzi Vert seemed to hardly use his own voice at all. Instead, he let his backing track do the heavy lifting as he shoulder-shook his way across stage. The end of his set even saw him cut short his biggest hit, "XO Tour Life,” after only a few seconds, prompting a mass exodus from his crowd as frustrated fans setup for the final acts of the night.

There are few perfect films and fewer that are pure.

The Claudettes’ sound is hard to pin down; there’s a strong foundation of barrelhouse and stride piano jazz, but there’s plenty of boogie-woogie in there as well. And even on its first album, the band delivered its original music with a punk attitude.

Over at the Bud Light stage, Arizona felt the vibes of the city fully, making a point to say that they would carry Chicago in their memories for weeks afterwards. Their performance reflected that, one of the highlights of the day, they made a mark that moved the day forward significantly when it was feeling a bit stale.

Parquet Courts' no-frills style, as well as their obvious skepticism of Lollapalooza, meant they would never quite fill the shoes of the main stage they'd been scheduled to play. As banter, Savage offered a quip: "I dont care what they say. You're Lollapawinners to me!"

Slaves UK aren’t reinventing punk, but their songs are loud, compelling, tuneful and rocking, so much so that it would be tempting to see them at their Empty Bottle aftershow (which they plugged) if they weren’t going on so late. Slaves make an amazing amount of sound with just a stand up drummer and guitar or bass, and I can’t imagine how loud a show at the Empty Bottle would be.

The local premiere of this Samuel D. Hunter play at Griffin Theatre Company gives audience to the private suffering of its postulants.

Love, mourning, hope and loss are the legacies of a war-torn land.

With seven companies whose specialties range from pointe to head spins, the "Dance For Life" program promises to be not only a worthy fundraiser, but one of the most eclectic dance concerts of the year.

Newcity's Alan Pocaro talks with Robin Dluzen on curating, studio practice, boxing and the perks of making art in the Midwest.

There's lots to do in August in Chicago besides perish from heat stroke...though that's always an option.

Dance moves outdoors for the summer, from Dance Downs in the Parks to performances on the MCA grounds.

The objective is for the team in possession of the ball to attack its opponent’s territory and score. In this way, netball, similar to games such as soccer and hockey, is what is known as an “invasion game.”

Our highlights for August.

Jay-Z and Beyoncé's appearance possibly qualifies more as a royal progress than a musical event; but there’s no discounting the ample gifts of each, however much their personal lives tend to distract from it.

Inhumanity with impunity: at the end of World War II, an abandoned Nazi uniform makes a man.

Exceptional courtroom tension from master Hirokazu Koreeda: He did it, but whydunit?

The filmmakers see the art, the hand that made the art, the joker, the trickster, the savant of beauty, sage of shock.

Black Harvest turns twenty-four; a Nazi uniform transforms an escapee; a seventy-foot shark takes on Jason Statham; Spike Lee laughs at the Klan; and "Crazy Rich Asians" promises wild humor.

Leo: It's a favorable time for you to fully claim the glory of being right here, right now.

Plan your August in Chicago with our design-related calendar of the Top 5 best things to do.

August's shows are not to miss.

A summer group show picks up the perennial conversation around the indexicality of a photograph with some surprising counterclaims.

This Thai painter's first American solo exhibition meditates on gestural abstraction as poetic movements.

Everybody loves ice cream.

Looking ahead to a few of Chicago's theater highlights for August.

The open-house of the McCormick House at the Elmhurst Art Museum.

I look forward to spending days and nights in Grant Park.