Links Hall Archives - Chicago Reader

Five white people in 1960s cocktail attire stand around a dining room table filled with appetizers. They are toasting with champagne.

Windy City Playhouse goes on the market

by Kerry Reid May 12, 2023May 11, 2023

When Windy City Playhouse first opened on Irving Park Road in 2015, the company won nearly as much attention for its comfortable audience perks (swivel seats and food and beverage service, like a luxe movie theater) as it did for its programming, which for the most part focused on contemporary plays like Deborah Zoe Laufer’s […]

A group of performers stand onstage, mirrors behind them and metal lattices in front of them. Some of them are in lingerie. The performer on the right wears a dog nose.

Arts & Culture

Not your average camp

by JT Newman January 25, 2023February 22, 2023

It’s July 1990, and I am summoned to the corner of Newport and Sheffield over and over again by the lure of my friend Franz’s rooftop parties. But little do I know that just half a block away, Lower Links is beginning a summer of programming that solidifies that corner as a mini-epicenter of performance […]

Agenda

I Didn’t See You There, Priestess of Twerk, and more

by Kerry Reid, Micco Caporale and Taryn Allen December 9, 2022December 9, 2022

For one night only, catch a special screening of the I Didn’t See You There (2022) in the presence of director Reid Davenport. The award-winning disabled documentarian will attend the 6 PM screening of his film tonight at the Gene Siskel Film Center (164 N. State) and participate in a discussion moderated by disabled artist […]

Dance

Beyond The Nutcracker

by JT Newman December 9, 2022December 16, 2022

December is obviously the time when dance companies dust off the old chestnut that, according to a 2017 Dance/USA survey, accounts for around 48 percent of their annual revenues. If you’re interested in The Nutcracker, we’ve got a round-up here. But there’s also more afoot in Chicago dance this month than the beloved Tchaikovsky ballet […]

Agenda

Unfinished Business, dance, and music tonight

by Kerry Reid and Salem Collo-Julin October 21, 2022October 21, 2022

Former Neo-Futurist Kurt Chiang and current long-distance Lucky Plush ensemble member Mindy Myers have been hoping to collaborate on an original performance piece for years. They finally got around to it (mostly over Zoom) during the pandemic shutdown, and the result, Unfinished Business, continues tonight and tomorrow at 7 PM at Links Hall (3111 N. […]

A white woman in dark clothes stands left, her head bent one side and one arm upraised over her head. On the right in the background is an Asian man wearing a white shirt, holding a piece of paper in front of his face. It is a shadowy stage.

Ghost Light

Lucky Plush helps two artists deal with their Unfinished Business

by Kerry Reid October 18, 2022October 18, 2022

Kurt Chiang and Melinda Jean Myers (known to friends as Mindy) have wanted to collaborate for years. But it took a pandemic for the former Neo-Futurist artistic director and the Lucky Plush ensemble member to finally develop a full-length piece together. Unfinished Business, the fruit of that longed-for collaboration (much of it conducted remotely, and […]

Agenda

Gardens, free stuff, dancing, and laughs

by Micco Caporale and Kerry Reid August 13, 2022August 13, 2022

Get some fresh air today by joining a free garden tour at the Lincoln Park Zoo (2001 N. Clark). Every second Saturday, a staff horticulturist leads groups through the zoo’s gardens, identifying what’s in bloom, noting fauna attractive to pollinators and animals, and answering questions about our natural environment. Summer tours are focused on prairie […]

A South Asian woman in a dark top and light trousers kneels, lunging forward toward the right side of the photo, drenched in a blue light.

Arts & Culture

Springing ahead with live performance

by Kerry Reid, Deanna Isaacs and Irene Hsiao April 4, 2022April 6, 2022

While the BA.2 variant of COVID-19 looms as a possible impediment to attending live performances (even as some of us now qualify for a second booster), shows are booming. We’ve got a baker’s dozen of events to consider if you feel up to getting out and about in the next couple of months. We also suggest […]

City Life

Dante, shopping, and 70s grooves

by Salem Collo-Julin, Kerry Reid and Micco Caporale November 12, 2021November 12, 2021

Looking for some things to do this weekend and beyond? We’ve got you covered, whether you’re craving theater, dinner, comedy, or . . . stripper drag clowns? Read on, readers! Fri 11/12 Bridge Dance Festival returns to Links Hall (virtually!) tonight and tomorrow, with streamed performances beginning at 7 PM. A project of Asian Improv […]

A person lays on rocks by a shore in a white wig and a dress covered with currency

Dance

Bridge Festival returns (virtually) to Links Hall

by Irene Hsiao November 12, 2021November 12, 2021

Bridge Dance Festival returns to Links Hall November 12 and 13 with a digital program curated by Fujima Yoshinojo (Rika Lin) featuring works by artists from Sendai and Tsu, Japan, San Francisco, and Chicago that reflect their individual journeys through the pandemic, as well as themes of identity, aesthetics, and expression. The festival was established […]