Gwendolyn Whiteside Archives

In the foreground is a man at the piano. Two women stand on either side of another man standing behind the pianist. In the background, we see a Christmas tree and another man and woman looking on.

American Blues plants a whole holiday garden

by Dan Jakes November 30, 2022November 30, 2022

Frank Capra’s 1946 Christmas classic film is packed frame-by-frame with small moments of storytelling perfection, and as I get older, there’s one that just guts me like a fish. Exhausted, panicked, and facing certain financial and reputational ruin, George Bailey tries in vain to cajole Zuzu, his littlest one, to bedtime. “I’m not sleepy,” she […]

Daytime rendering of planned exterior of new American Blues Theater space, with a man on bicycle across the street and people walking by the entrance.

Ghost Light

A new home for American Blues

by Kerry Reid March 23, 2022March 25, 2022

Like almost every long-running Chicago theater company, American Blues Theater has been through its share of ups and downs. Founded in 1985, ABT has long carried the banner for the classic Chicago-style ensemble, and they went Equity in 1988. They lost some money on a production of Keith Reddin’s Peacekeeper in 1990, but by 1993, […]

Theater Review

Bedford Falls is live in Chicago

by Kerry Reid December 8, 2021December 8, 2021

Who needs four ghosts to remind you of the meaning of life when one angel (second class) can do the job? Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life by now is right up there with A Christmas Carol as a holiday classic delivering lessons about the importance of love over money. (Well, a Sam Wainwright waiting […]