Recent Posts

Raven Theatre Presents “Undeniably” Good Play

Raven Theatre Presents “Undeniably” Good Play

“THE UNDENIABLE SOUND OF RIGHT NOW” at the Raven Theatre really resonated with me. Maybe it was because of the business point-of-view representing an aging business owner reluctant to pass the baton to the younger generation or maybe because of the all to close-to-home conflicts …

Two Days in Court is an Entertaining Match of Two One Act Plays

Two Days in Court is an Entertaining Match of Two One Act Plays

City Lit in Edgewater is winding up their 39th theatrical season pitching  “Two Days in Court: A Double-Header of Classic One Acts.” The two one-acts played back-to-back are “The Devil and Daniel Webster” a soulful drama by Stephen Vincent Benet, and a farcical operetta “Trial …

New Chicago Reggae Release FAMINE

New Chicago Reggae Release FAMINE

Chicago has had a long relationship with reggae music most notably at clubs like the Wild Hare (formerly the Wild Hare and Singing Armadillo in Wrigleyville) now resurrected with food and drink near Halsted and Diversey, about a block south of Guitar Center.

This release of FAMINE distributed worldwide by VPAL Music is written by Balford Breadwood featuring Chicago musicians, lead vocalist, arranger and executive producer Tony Aiken with Stann Champion on lead guitar and backup vocals, bassist Robert Burchell and Leslie Ming singing additional vocals.

Find FAMINE at your favorite digital download platforms like Spotify, iTunes, and GooglePlay.

Music video production is by Reno Lovison and shot on location at Delmark Records Studio on Rockwell celebrating its 65th Anniversary this year.

“Anastasia” on Tour in Chicago is Pure Fantasy | Review

“Anastasia” on Tour in Chicago is Pure Fantasy | Review

There’s plenty to like about this Broadway in Chicago road tour theatrical extravaganza loosely based on the true-life story of a woman claiming to be the surviving daughter of Czar Nicholas II of Russia. Running now through April 7, 2019 at the Nederlander Theater on …

APOTHECARY’S CURSE | Book Reading by Chicago Author Barbara Barnett

APOTHECARY’S CURSE | Book Reading by Chicago Author Barbara Barnett

  This episode of Authors Showcase features author Barbara Barnett speaking about and reading from her novel “Apothecary’s Curse” set partly on the Chicago area and partly n Victorian London. Listen to the podcast above or watch the video recorded version below. The Chicago version …

A Bronx Tale Choosing Fear or Love

A Bronx Tale Choosing Fear or Love

This version of  “A Bronx Tale” based on an off-Broadway one-man play by Chazz Palmintiri and later turned into the popular 1993 Robert De Niro movie of the same name has added music by Alan Menken and Lyrics by Glenn Slater to produce a very successful adaptation appearing in Chicago through March 24, 2019 at the Nederlander Theater as part of the National Touring Company.

Read the entire review by Reno Lovison at Chicago Theater and Arts or listen to the podcast version above.

THE CHOIR OF MAN Serves Up 90 Minutes of Pop

THE CHOIR OF MAN Serves Up 90 Minutes of Pop

Review Summary: “The Choir of Man” at the Broadway Playhouse at Chicago’s Water Tower Place mall on Michigan Avenue is more boy band concert than Broadway musical. Featuring nine very energetic, vocally talented, male singers purported to be “regulars” at a traditional Irish Pub named …

Wrap-up of Chicago Theater Reviews in 2018

Wrap-up of Chicago Theater Reviews in 2018

Jodie Jacobs of ChicagoTheaterandArts.com and Reno Lovison of ChicagoBroadcastingNetwork.com got together to produce a podcast about the plays they reviewed in 2018. Including those plays they found to be intelligent and thought-provoking as well as those that were just fun and entertaining.

The Realistic Joneses Review

The Realistic Joneses Review

Bob (H.B. Ward) and Jennifer (Linda Reiter) Jones are surprised to meet their new neighbors, Pony (Cortney McKenna), and John ( Joseph Wiens) who also share the same last name.

The two couples have an ongoing series of absurd conversations that actually do get to the core of what they want to express while avoiding or at least minimizing any straightforward communication.

Listen to the entire audio / podcast review by Reno Lovison in the pod-o-matic player above or visit ChicagoTheaterandArts.com to read this and other Chicago theater reviews. (Photo by Evan Hanover)

Lunar New Year Celebration

Lunar New Year Celebration

Chicago is home to approximately 150,000 individuals who identify as Asian. This February was the beginning of the Lunar New Year hailed as The Year of the Pig according to the Chinese Zodiac. According to TheChineseZodiac.org, this is a great year to make money, and …

Two February 2019 Chicago Theater Reviews

Two February 2019 Chicago Theater Reviews

Until now I have generally dedicated one podcast to one review. In this episode, I thought I would do something a little different and talk about two plays I recently reviewed for ChicagoTheaterandArts.com. The first is “Dead Man’s Cell Phone” at the Greenhouse Theatre Center …

Photograph 51 | Chicago Theater Review

Photograph 51 | Chicago Theater Review

Until recently Rosalind Franklin had gone virtually un-credited for her contribution to the discovery revealing the structure of DNA to be a double helix.

The discovery ultimately earned Franklin’s research colleague Maurice Wilkins and two rival collaborators James Watson and Francis Crick the Nobel Prize.

“Photograph 51” onstage at the Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis, Chicago, through Feb. 23, 2019 written by Anna Ziegler and Directed by Vanessa Stalling at the Court Theatre is a snapshot of the circumstance that led to what has been hailed as one of the greatest discoveries all time.

Listen to the entire review by Reno Lovison above or read it at ChicagoTheaterandArts.com

Stage Trailer for “Photograph 51” at the Court Theatre.