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Porchlight's Sweeney Todd puts the demon barber back in business
Porchlight Music Theatre's intimate Sweeney Todd adds pathos to the horror in Sondheim's masterpiece. by Albert Williams"For what's the sound of the world out there / Those crunching noises pervading...
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Did you read about Gamergate, Hitler on crystal meth, and Oregon Trail?
Reader staffers share stories that fascinate, amuse, or inspire us.Hey, did you read:• This in-depth history of Gamergate?…[ Read more ][ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
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Beau Wanzer's got a great, eerie dance cut for you to bust out during a...
Local electronic wiz and synth (and chili) enthusiast Beau Wanzer keeps turning out tracks as part of Streetwalker and Mutant Beat Dance, and he's always working away on his solo postindustrial dance...
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What to eat and see this weekend at Open House Chicago
As far as I'm concerned Open House Chicago, held this weekend, is one of the great events of the year for inveterate snoops and spies like myself. You get to go inside dozens of buildings all over the...
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Our guide to week two of the Chicago International Film Festival
Which movies to see—and which to skip—in week two of the Chicago International Film Festival by Drew Hunt, J.R. Jones, Tal Rosenberg and Ben Sachs A half century of CIFF milestones, from Scorsese's...
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An interview with Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Zanussi (part two)
Read part one of this interview.Krzysztof Zanussi: My personal preoccupation now is the question that Dostoevsky posed over a century ago, saying it's the only relevant question that humanity has: Does...
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British band Ultimate Painting kick off their American tour at Permanent...
Ultimate Painting—a new British duo featuring James Hoare of Veronica Falls and Jack Cooper of Mazes—have arrived stateside, and will be playing an in-store tonight at Permanent Records to kick off...
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Revenge of the pumpkin beer
After last year's pumpkin beer tastings, which quickly got out of hand and led to me trying more pumpkin beers than I'd ever wanted to, I was planning to skip the whole thing this year. Except I...
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Army of Shadows, Odds Against Tomorrow, and other Reader-recommended movies...
Each Friday, we recommend seven Old Movies to Watch Now, all of which come recommended by one of our critics and can currently be screened online. Read the review, watch the movie, feel accomplished.…[...
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Morton Grove's Tava has the Indian buffet you've been looking for
As a general rule, the Indian buffet exists as a kind of a challenge to your intestinal mettle. The promise of cheap, repeating shovel loads of chicken tikka masala, saag paneer, chana masala, and dal...
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Ten more CIFF reviews, and the rest of this week's screenings
Week one of the Chicago International Film Festival isn't even over yet, and already we've got ten more new reviews of movies screening during the second week, along with repeat screenings of movies...
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Did you read about Audio Card, The Wonder Years, and Wheaties?
Reader staffers share stories that fascinate, amuse, or inspire us.Hey, did you read• About what kind of job you're likely to have at each income level in the States?…[ Read more ][ Subscribe to the...
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Listen to stoney garage rock from Meatbodies, who're playing two shows in...
This week LA garage outfit Meatbodies released their debut record on In the Red and are already grinding on the road for it, playing two shows in town tonight. The band, fronted by Chad Ubovich, who...
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The Impossible Colors Club brings back the ritual of waiting for tapes in the...
Growing up, Adele Nichols loved getting tapes in the mail. She'd order them and wait, and eventually they'd come, sometimes packaged with extra stickers, buttons, or patches.…[ Read more ][ Subscribe...
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Tonight: Experience Two Years in the life of photographer Ryan Lowry
Gossip Wolf reported last month that Reader contributor and local punk stalwart Ryan Lowry (who currently plays in hardcore outfit Violent End) was putting the finishing touches on his first photo...
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Is texting making us more civilized?
A few days ago I wrote a Bleader post that spoke kindly of the written word as we find it these days—texted, e-mailed, embedded in social media sites . . . The telephone—not to mention eye-to-eye...
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There's plenty to see this weekend at the HotHouse's Old and New Dreams Festival
You might've been able to glean from some of my Soundboard items that this is a pretty busy weekend, jazzwise. On Saturday night trumpeter Russ Johnson brings his excellent Eric Dolphy project to...
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RPM Steak: The Melman kids' Rancic-branded meat market is their best...
RPM Steak: The Melman kids' Rancic-branded meat market is their best restaurant yet by Mike Sula Currently on Twitter, there are seven accounts for RPM Steak, the carnecentric analogue to nearby RPM...
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Hubbard Street and Second City are a match made in theatrical heaven
Hubbard Street Dance and the Second City are cultural institutions in Chicago. And, if you think about it, they're pretty similar at their cores—each uses improvisation and new ideas to create a...
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Hey, Karen Lewis: File those petitions for mayor!
A few days back, I had a conversation with a woman named Pat who was walking her north-side neighborhood, collecting signatures for Karen Lewis's mayoral campaign. The response, Pat said, was...
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