Actor, singer, and all-around raconteur Jane Blass, who called Chicago home from 1988-2006 before she relocated to New York, where she performed on Broadway and in the touring companies of many shows, died at 59 after a long struggle with stomach cancer on August 6. Dorothy Milne, her friend and cofounder of the long-running women’s storytelling collective the Sweat Girls, compiled these remembrances from those who knew and loved her in Chicago and New York.
Tag: Hairspray
Posted inMusic
Chicago soul aficionado Darrell Gordon on the most underrated Motown singer of the 1960s
Current musical obsessions of VJ Darrell Gordon, DJ Ken Wong, and Reader listings coordinator Salem Collo-Julin
Posted inBlogs
Hairspray at Pritzker Pavilion and more of the best things to do in Chicago this week
The film A Quiet Place and more goings-on 6/4-6/7.
Posted inBlogs
Millennium Park free movie schedule announced: Here’s what’s playing
Read our reviews of every movie playing at the park on Tuesday nights this summer.
Posted inArts & Culture
John Waters wants you to Make Trouble
The filmmaker shares his advice to young artists in a new book ahead of his Chicago Humanities Festival appearance.
Posted inBlogs
The rise and fall of a techno DJ, plus more new reviews and notable screenings
New reviews and notable sceenings
Posted inArts & Culture
Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Road Show could be a star vehicle—if it ran better
Not even Gary Griffin can soup up Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Road Show.
Posted inBest of Chicago
Best Performance in a Fat Suit
This actor has some experience with padding.
Posted inBlogs
Phallic whale stories, superboobs, and Milli Vanilli: this week’s performing arts reviews
Fresh performing arts reviews from Reader critics
Posted inBlogs
Karen Mason returns
The Hairspray star comes back to the town that launched her career.
Posted inBlogs
7/7 — Movies in the Park
“Hairspray” and “The Great Debaters” screen free tonight at local parks.
Posted inBlogs
6/25 — Movies in the Park
“Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,” “Hairspray,” and “El Sueno del Paraiso” screen free at local parks.
Posted inBlogs
Make mine music
John C. Reilly plays the Cubby Bear to beat the drum for Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.