Concerts

Producing a commentary on the Internet is typically an exercise in redundancy, tasked with avoiding tropes beaten into media by shows like Black Mirror or 13 Reasons Why. At this point, we clearly understand that we live inseparably from our digital footprints as we inadvertently document our own legacies. Despite the risk of redundancy, the Raven Theatre’s Right To Be Forgotten delivers a compelling perspective on our right to control our privacy, narrowing in on a single story about forgiveness.

Right To Be Forgotten Through 3/26: Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 3 PM; closed captions Sun 3/5, touch tour Sun 3/12 1:30 PM (prior to 3 PM show); Raven Theatre, 6157 N. Clark, 773-338-2177, raventheatre.com, $40 (students, active military, and veterans $15)

Derril Lark, played by Adam Shalzi, made a mistake at 17 when he persistently pursued and borderline stalked his high school crush. His indiscretion is documented by an Internet blog that mutates his legacy for years, cementing his name as the scapegoat for a much larger problem. Over a decade later, Lark feels desperate to escape his digital footprint—the version of himself that lives online—but cannot overcome the tech giants’ policies against the right to be forgotten. 

To clear his name, Lark implores energized, cynical lawyer Marta Lee, brilliantly played by Susaan Jamshidi, to support his case. However, Marta’s battle extends beyond Lark. Unwittingly, Lark becomes Marta’s key player in finally defeating the tech giants, represented by her ideological nemesis Annie Zahirovic, played by Lucy Carapetyan. Suddenly, the frame of the play widens, and Right To Be Forgotten captures a titanic clash between opposing tech lawyers, whose battle only marginally concerns Lark (to his detriment). 

With secrets, twists, and complex questions, Sharyn Rothstein’s script (directed by Sarah Gitenstein) feels more inspired by 70s paranoia thrillers than contemporary Internet dramas as Lark moves helplessly against the nameless tech giants. Despite losing momentum during its final moments, Right To Be Forgotten is likely to be remembered, especially thanks to the cast’s captivating performances. 

Read More

Like most speculative fiction (and every original Star Trek episode), Ezekiel’s Wheel is a fable: a story whose moral applies to circumstances other than those being described. Determining whether that moral is “Absolute power corrupts absolutely,” or “You’ve got to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything,” or even “We have met the enemy and he is us” is one of the many pleasures of MPAACT’s world premiere of Addae Moon’s play.

Ezekiel’s Wheel Through 3/5: Thu-Sat 8 PM, Sun 3 PM, Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln, greenhousetheater.org, $34-$37

“Pleasure” might seem an odd descriptor for the piece, whose dystopian premise is that a conflagration has left Georgia divided into The Province, a 1984-style dictatorship, and the Insurgents, who maintain the customs and beliefs of a past The Province denies ever existed.  Those beliefs include faith in prophecy by any person born with a caul over his face, including our titular character. 

To say more about the plot would spoil the fun, but director Lauren “LL” Lundy manages to create a world well worth immersing yourself in. Her casting is impeccable: the evil Chancellor is portrayed by Andrew Malone with a creepy bonhomie featuring a Mao-like smile that has nothing to do with good humor. As Baba, the father of Ezekiel and his unprophetic brother Andrew, Darren Jones embodies all the earned wisdom of a lifetime, while Noelle Klyce as the sergeant who keeps him captive beautifully conveys the ambivalence of every prison guard who is still a human being. Jordan Gleaves, as the prophet who doesn’t understand his own visions, and Tamarus Harvell, as the brother who doesn’t believe them until it’s too late, round out the excellent cast.

Read More

Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s musical Into the Woods premiered three years before Robert Bly’s Iron John sent men into the wilderness as part of the “mythopoetic men’s movement,” complete with sweat lodges, drum circles, chanting, and other rituals designed to restore a pre-industrialization notion of masculinity, combined with Joseph Campbell’s “hero’s journey” narratives. The musical seems to have outlasted the Iron John fad, and I don’t think it’s just because it’s one of the more accessible works in the Sondheim canon.

Sure, it’s based on familiar fairy tales, including the stories of Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Cinderella, and Jack and the Beanstalk, into which book writer Lapine wove the original story of a childless couple: the Baker and the Baker’s Wife. The couple’s desire to placate the next-door witch by obtaining four items (a red cloak, hair as gold as cornsilk, a silver slipper . . . well, you see where this is going) is what sends them to the forest, where—at least in the first act—permanent magic seems to overcome temporary darkness. Grandmothers pop up out of the innards of wolves, none the worse for wear. Princesses find their princes. A simple lad slays a giant after stealing his gold (and gets his dead cow restored to him, to boot). And a man and a woman finally get a baby.

Then the second act happens, and all hell (embodied as the widow of the slain giant) breaks loose.

Into the Woods Through 3/19: Wed 1:30 and 7 PM, Thu 7 PM, Fri 8 PM, Sat 3 and 8 PM, Sun 1 and 5:30 PM; open and closed captions Wed 3/15 7 PM, ASL interpretation Fri 3/17; Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora, 630-896-6666, paramountaurora.com, $28-$79

But in watching the gorgeous revival of Into the Woods now onstage at Paramount Theatre in Aurora, new resonances and nuances I’ve not fully appreciated before came into view. Codirectors Jim Corti and Trent Stork certainly use the large stage and 16-piece orchestra to good effect: Jeffrey D. Kmiec’s scenic design, José Santiago’s lights, Paul Deziel’s projections, and Jordan Ross’s costumes look lush and fantastical (with special kudos to puppet designer Jesse Mooney-Bullock for creating Milky White, Jack’s beloved cow, and an astonishing horse ridden by Cinderella’s Prince). Kory Danielson’s musical direction is crisp, and Kasey Alfonso’s choreography manages to be both intimate and expansive as needed.

So on one level, it’s a cunning riposte to fairy-tale notions of happily ever after. But that’s far too easy a bar to clear. What I felt bubbling along under the surface throughout Paramount’s production was a quiet but urgent question that has only grown more important in recent years: in a society addicted to individualism, what do we owe to each other as members of a community, even when overcome with personal grief and loss?

Natalie Weiss’s Witch, whose long-ago curse is the catalyst for the journeys all the other characters take, is also the harsh conscience of the tale, particularly in “The Last Midnight” and “Children Will Listen.” In the former, she challenges the survivors of the giantess to face their own greed and selfishness. “No, of course what really matters/Is the blame/Somebody to blame.” (In the case of the Iron John movement, contemporary feminism came under attack as depriving men of their primordial purpose.)

A community built on transactionality, as we see in the first act, is ill-equipped for altruism. Or, as Larry Yando’s wry Narrator tells us, “These were not people familiar with making choices.” I know it’s cliche as hell to keep viewing theater through a pandemic lens, but that line hit me, as did so many other moments, as an encapsulation of what happens when people’s comfortable assumptions about how life should unfold run headfirst into unpleasant realities beyond their control.

This isn’t an overtly political rendering of the musical—that would be entirely tedious and tendentious. But it is a staging that, through both the strength of the performances and the spectacle of the setting, asks us to consider who we are in relation to each other, even (or especially) when we’ve been traumatized. There isn’t a weak link in the cast, but I especially enjoyed newcomer Will Koski’s naive Jack, Stephen Schellhardt and Sarah Bockel’s Baker and Baker’s Wife (so infused with a love that has matured into something neither quite recognizes until too late), Lucy Panush’s tough-girl Little Red, and (for pure comic relief) Alex Syiek’s glam-rock Wolf. Syiek is also excellent as Cinderella’s Prince, a fatuous man whose habit of looking backward before exiting the stage quietly illustrates how he’s torn between the comforts he knows and the new infatuations he craves. 

Into the Woods reminds us that we don’t need to go out of our way to find rituals for growth. The woods are everywhere. Getting through life is its own ritual. At some point, we decide if we’re the infallible heroes of our own story, bent on our mortal ambitions, or part of a larger ecosystem of flawed people coming to realize that “No One Is Alone.”

Read More

Producing a commentary on the Internet is typically an exercise in redundancy, tasked with avoiding tropes beaten into media by shows like Black Mirror or 13 Reasons Why. At this point, we clearly understand that we live inseparably from our digital footprints as we inadvertently document our own legacies. Despite the risk of redundancy, the Raven Theatre’s Right To Be Forgotten delivers a compelling perspective on our right to control our privacy, narrowing in on a single story about forgiveness.

Right To Be Forgotten Through 3/26: Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 3 PM; closed captions Sun 3/5, touch tour Sun 3/12 1:30 PM (prior to 3 PM show); Raven Theatre, 6157 N. Clark, 773-338-2177, raventheatre.com, $40 (students, active military, and veterans $15)

Derril Lark, played by Adam Shalzi, made a mistake at 17 when he persistently pursued and borderline stalked his high school crush. His indiscretion is documented by an Internet blog that mutates his legacy for years, cementing his name as the scapegoat for a much larger problem. Over a decade later, Lark feels desperate to escape his digital footprint—the version of himself that lives online—but cannot overcome the tech giants’ policies against the right to be forgotten. 

To clear his name, Lark implores energized, cynical lawyer Marta Lee, brilliantly played by Susaan Jamshidi, to support his case. However, Marta’s battle extends beyond Lark. Unwittingly, Lark becomes Marta’s key player in finally defeating the tech giants, represented by her ideological nemesis Annie Zahirovic, played by Lucy Carapetyan. Suddenly, the frame of the play widens, and Right To Be Forgotten captures a titanic clash between opposing tech lawyers, whose battle only marginally concerns Lark (to his detriment). 

With secrets, twists, and complex questions, Sharyn Rothstein’s script (directed by Sarah Gitenstein) feels more inspired by 70s paranoia thrillers than contemporary Internet dramas as Lark moves helplessly against the nameless tech giants. Despite losing momentum during its final moments, Right To Be Forgotten is likely to be remembered, especially thanks to the cast’s captivating performances. 

Read More

Like most speculative fiction (and every original Star Trek episode), Ezekiel’s Wheel is a fable: a story whose moral applies to circumstances other than those being described. Determining whether that moral is “Absolute power corrupts absolutely,” or “You’ve got to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything,” or even “We have met the enemy and he is us” is one of the many pleasures of MPAACT’s world premiere of Addae Moon’s play.

Ezekiel’s Wheel Through 3/5: Thu-Sat 8 PM, Sun 3 PM, Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln, greenhousetheater.org, $34-$37

“Pleasure” might seem an odd descriptor for the piece, whose dystopian premise is that a conflagration has left Georgia divided into The Province, a 1984-style dictatorship, and the Insurgents, who maintain the customs and beliefs of a past The Province denies ever existed.  Those beliefs include faith in prophecy by any person born with a caul over his face, including our titular character. 

To say more about the plot would spoil the fun, but director Lauren “LL” Lundy manages to create a world well worth immersing yourself in. Her casting is impeccable: the evil Chancellor is portrayed by Andrew Malone with a creepy bonhomie featuring a Mao-like smile that has nothing to do with good humor. As Baba, the father of Ezekiel and his unprophetic brother Andrew, Darren Jones embodies all the earned wisdom of a lifetime, while Noelle Klyce as the sergeant who keeps him captive beautifully conveys the ambivalence of every prison guard who is still a human being. Jordan Gleaves, as the prophet who doesn’t understand his own visions, and Tamarus Harvell, as the brother who doesn’t believe them until it’s too late, round out the excellent cast.

Read More

The vibes are immaculate, joked one of my friends as we walked into the new Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Wrigleyville, which opened a few weeks ago. I’d been to only one other location, which had been retrofitted inside the over 100-year-old Mission Theatre in San Francisco. Those vibes weren’t so immaculate; the Mission is an old theater, so no amount of restoration can make it shine like a new penny. But I liked that, so I’d had a relatively good impression of the fabled movie theater chain.

The first Alamo Drafthouse opened in 1997 in Austin, Texas. Since then the company has grown profusely, with 39 locations nationwide. The lore around the chain centered on its vaguely nontraditional programming; the extensive food and beverage menus; limited-edition movie posters; and—most famously or infamously, depending on what kind of movie watcher you are—their draconian rules around theater etiquette.

In 2011, Tim League, the theater’s cofounder, former CEO, and now executive chairman, received an irate voicemail from a customer who’d been kicked out for texting. The company then began using it as a pre-show advisory commercial and uploaded the bit to YouTube, where the customer’s Karen-esque rant promptly went viral. Some of the Alamo’s other conditions are not allowing infants or small children (except at special kid-friendly screenings), requiring that guests under 18 be accompanied by an adult, and not showing advertisements before movies. 

Going into this new Alamo Drafthouse in Wrigleyville (its location either an attraction or a deterrent, again depending on what kind of moviegoer you are), I felt neutral in terms of what to expect. Some things I’d experienced or heard about in the past had been good, but some others, like the absence of celluloid projection at this particular location and early suggestions of overly nostalgic programming, had me wondering.  

There’s little to discern that the theater is where it actually is, with no marquee or obvious signage to denote its presence. It’s on the third floor of the building, right above a UFC Gym. (Should you want to violently debate someone about whatever film you just saw, I imagine that’d be the place to do it.) When the elevator doors open, one immediately gets a holistic view of the theater’s offerings, from the bar and seating area to Video Vortex, an in-house video rental store (more on that later).

The pièce de résistance of the theater’s decor is a to-scale model of the backside of the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder that crashes out a window in John Hughes’s 1986 comedy Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, complete with the NRVOUS license plate and fake shards of glass hanging from the ceiling that appear to be flying out amidst the wreckage. It’s impressive but also kitschy, and unapologetically so. (Below it on the floor is a decal that quotes Ferris’s famous line: “If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”) It’s also a testament to the impersonal, “Instagrammable” branding style that’s come to dominate social media in recent years, existing to be propagated into the ether.

Video Vortex, the video rental inside the theater, is modest, though it apparently contains more than 10,000 Blu-rays, DVDs, and even VHS tapes that people can rent—for free. Listen, something being free is never a bad thing. Something being free often allows it to be accessible, which is a net-positive in the grand scheme of things. Still, it’s lamentable that stores like Odd Obsession Movies have been forced to close in recent years, while the same business model is being used essentially as a gimmick by a corporate chain. (Thankfully, FACETS’s video rental store soldiers on.) To give a little more credit where it’s due, Video Vortex also rents out DVD and VHS players for a small fee, so those without this sadly outmoded technology can enjoy the thrill of physical media.

An installation made of old-school television sets, reminiscent of a Nam June Paik sculpture, adorns the eating area, where the tables are topped with vintage B movie lobby cards. Decorations in the style of VHS labels—Comedy! Drama! Adult! 3-Day Rental! Be Kind Please Rewind!—cover the walls. The bar next to it boasts a full menu, complete with movie-themed cocktails. A good theme is my Achilles’ heel, so I couldn’t help but to admire the list: Y Tú Margarita También; Third-Rate Vaudevillians, a rye-based cocktail for the 1936 W.C. Fields film The Old Fashioned Way; and the classic mint julep and Mississippi punch for Baz Luhrman’s The Great Gatsby and  Blake Edwards’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s, respectively. I opted for the Tokyo Drifter, named after Seijun Suzuki’s 1966 film. Mixed with whiskey and bourbon, it was pretty damn good. There are other libations, of course, craft beer initially being a thing for which the Alamo Drafthouse was known. But like much else with the theater chain, they seemed to have moved past the homier stalwarts into fancier fare.

Like with the food. The concept of eating an actual meal at a movie theater is no longer the novelty it once was, with several AMC Dine-In theaters dominating the concept in and around the Chicagoland area. The Alamo Drafthouse follows the same idea, with moviegoers (or is it diners?) being able to order complete meals from their seats by writing one’s order down on a slip of paper and remotely signaling a waiter (apparently “ninja-trained,” as they don all black and crouch down low so as not to impede anyone’s view of the movie), who then takes the paper and returns summarily with food and drink. 

Alamo Drafthouse Wrigleyville$11.99-$14.99, discounts available for kids, students, seniors, military, police, fire, EMS, and guests with disabilities3519 N. Clark, Suite C301872-298-3961

I wanted to try an array of options, so my friends and I started with the loaded fries and a limited-time menu item, the brussels sprouts pizza. (In addition to such items, the theater also offers special menus themed with certain movies.) Some of the appetizers fall under the nebulous category of being southwestern, and the fries were one of those. Topped with Hatch green chile queso, Tillamook cheddar, cotija, bacon, and sriracha sour cream, among other garnishes, the fries were easily my favorite thing I ate. The pizza was fine, though nothing to write home about and certainly not as substantial as pizza from a regular restaurant. 

I’d done some research beforehand to determine what was popular on their menu, so seeing that moviegoers liked their fried pickles, we selected what seemed like their current corollary, the pickle fries. I like regular fried pickles, so I expected to like them in this unusual variation. Alas, it remains true that you can’t improve upon perfection; the pickle fries exceed the pickle-to-fry ratio that makes the originals so delicious. And the ranch dipping sauce just made them worse, at least to me, as I’m particularly bothered by putting a wet thing (the ranch) on another wet thing (the pickle). Does that make sense? Probably not. Still, did it impede my enjoyment of the pickle fries? Yes, yes it did. 

The hand-breaded chicken tenders were similarly disappointing, with the breading falling off almost immediately. It’d been a while since I’d had chicken tenders served with gravy on the side, so I was looking forward to the Hatch green chile version that accompanied them. It was bland, not adding much to the dish at all. It may be worth noting the ketchup that came on the side of the fries that came with the tenders was the reddest I’d ever seen. 

And what’s a movie without popcorn? Initially we intended to forgo their regular popcorn and try the churro popcorn, which has pieces of churro in it, as well as a blend of cinnamon, sugar, maple, and vanilla, but they were out. So we got the regular bottomless popcorn—the bottomless here being wishful thinking, as we were full from the heavier fare and didn’t even finish it, even with truffle parmesan seasoning.

I’ve come this far and not even revealed what I was seeing. I chose a repertory screening (which the theater offers in addition to newer movies, along with special screenings ranging from sneak peeks to brunches and movie parties, like the upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania cosplay screening) of John Hughes’s aforementioned teen classic, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, in part because the theater has been christened the John Hughes Cinema in tribute to the filmmaker who spent several of his formative years growing up in Northbrook and several of whose films are set in and around Chicago. A special plaque at the theater’s entrance, next to the Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder, declares that, in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Hughes “perfectly captured the mischievous and carefree spirit of youth . . . cementing Chicago as a cinematic playground in the process.”

The movie, like much else about the overall experience, was fine. I’d seen it before, but it never resonated with me, even though it’s indisputably a love letter to one of the greatest cities in the world. The experience of seeing it was about as good as seeing any other movie at a multiplex, with big screens, comfortable chairs, and crisp digital projection. I don’t doubt that the folks over at Alamo Drafthouse love cinema and aspire for their Chicago location to become an integral part of the city’s moviegoing fabric. But like Hughes’s movie, it’s a love letter to a different kind of Chicago, one where the vibes are immaculate and the real city—with grit, grime, uncomfortable chairs, and crunchy film stock—is nowhere to be found.

Read More

This past fall, TimeLine offered a blistering revival of Alice Childress’s Trouble in Mind, in which a Black actress in a 1950s Broadway play about lynching (penned and directed by white men, naturally) takes a stand against the insulting stereotypes in the script and the microaggressions in the rehearsal room. They’ve followed that up with what feels like a natural progression—even if the story takes place around 15 years earlier.

In Boulevard of Bold Dreams, playwright LaDarrion Williams imagines an encounter two Black employees at the Ambassador Hotel have on February 29, 1940, with Hattie McDaniel. It’s the night of the Academy Awards, held in the hotel’s Cocoanut Grove nightclub. McDaniel (Gabrielle Lott-Rogers) is the odds-on favorite to make history and win the Oscar as best supporting actress for playing Mammy in Gone With the Wind—which would make her the first Black performer to take home the golden man. But she’s not allowed to sit with the rest of the cast, because the Cocoanut Grove is segregated. The best they’ll do for her is provide a small table at the back of the bus, er, room, where she can sit with her companion. 

Boulevard of Bold Dreams Through 3/19: Wed-Thu 7:30 PM, Fri 8 PM, Sat 4 and 8 PM, Sun 2 PM; distanced performance Wed 3/1, open captions Fri 3/10 and Sat 3/11 4 PM, audio description Fri 3/17; TimeLine Theatre, 615 W. Wellington, 773-281-8463, ext. 6, timelinetheatre.com, $42-$57 (students 35 percent off with valid ID; $25 tickets to U.S. military personnel, veterans, first responders, and their spouses and family)

McDaniel isn’t just facing white supremacy within her industry. She’s also facing criticism for taking the role of Mammy in the first place from civil rights organizations, such as the NAACP, and some members of the Black press. William L. Patterson, reviewing GWTW in the Chicago Defender, called it “a weapon of terror against black America.”

He wasn’t wrong. (McDaniel wasn’t allowed to attend the film’s Atlanta premiere at all, so by comparison, the Academy is being “generous” in its accommodations.) But what Williams’s play, directed in its world premiere here by Malkia Stampley, accomplishes (sometimes a little too neatly) is to dissect the ways in which a performer like McDaniel has to negotiate between surviving in the industry and keeping her dignity and her soul. 

Those are lessons that also unfold over the 100-minute course of the play for aspiring director/bartender Arthur (Charles Andrew Gardner) and his best friend and sounding board Dottie (Mildred Marie Langford), who came to Hollywood with him from their small town in Alabama. Dottie is a singer and actress, but her job as a maid at the Ambassador and the double whammy of sexual and racial harassment seems to have killed her dreams. Arthur, though, is still holding fast to the goal of directing his own film and is waiting for a call from someone who’s promised to sell him the equipment to help make that happen.

It’s a taut and absorbing show for the most part, punctuated with some stellar fireworks, particularly between Langford’s Dottie and Lott-Rogers’s Hattie. And yes, the latter does utter one of the classic lines often attributed to McDaniel: “I’d rather play a maid than be one,” which of course hits harder when she says it to another Black woman who actually is a maid. Ryan Emens’s cozy set captures the feeling of both a temporary sanctuary for McDaniel (who comes in while the bar is closed, saying “I won’t be no trouble to nobody”) and a private club where the three characters can speak freely of their creative passions and personal pain in ways they can’t in front of the white hotel guests and Hollywood bigwigs.

Williams himself is a son of Alabama who wrote this play while living in his car. (He and Stampley also collaborated on a couple of original songs we hear in the show.) Boulevard of Bold Dreams taps into both the larger-than-life visions offered on the silver screen, and an astringent view of what it takes to get up there without losing everything that makes you who you are in the first place. By the time we see a video montage (created by Rasean Davonté Johnson) of all the Black women who followed McDaniel into the Oscar spotlight, it’s easy to feel both fresh appreciation for McDaniel’s achievement and sorrowful anger for those who were denied even the limited opportunities she received.

Read More

The vibes are immaculate, joked one of my friends as we walked into the new Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Wrigleyville, which opened a few weeks ago. I’d been to only one other location, which had been retrofitted inside the over 100-year-old Mission Theatre in San Francisco. Those vibes weren’t so immaculate; the Mission is an old theater, so no amount of restoration can make it shine like a new penny. But I liked that, so I’d had a relatively good impression of the fabled movie theater chain.

The first Alamo Drafthouse opened in 1997 in Austin, Texas. Since then the company has grown profusely, with 39 locations nationwide. The lore around the chain centered on its vaguely nontraditional programming; the extensive food and beverage menus; limited-edition movie posters; and—most famously or infamously, depending on what kind of movie watcher you are—their draconian rules around theater etiquette.

In 2011, Tim League, the theater’s cofounder, former CEO, and now executive chairman, received an irate voicemail from a customer who’d been kicked out for texting. The company then began using it as a pre-show advisory commercial and uploaded the bit to YouTube, where the customer’s Karen-esque rant promptly went viral. Some of the Alamo’s other conditions are not allowing infants or small children (except at special kid-friendly screenings), requiring that guests under 18 be accompanied by an adult, and not showing advertisements before movies. 

Going into this new Alamo Drafthouse in Wrigleyville (its location either an attraction or a deterrent, again depending on what kind of moviegoer you are), I felt neutral in terms of what to expect. Some things I’d experienced or heard about in the past had been good, but some others, like the absence of celluloid projection at this particular location and early suggestions of overly nostalgic programming, had me wondering.  

There’s little to discern that the theater is where it actually is, with no marquee or obvious signage to denote its presence. It’s on the third floor of the building, right above a UFC Gym. (Should you want to violently debate someone about whatever film you just saw, I imagine that’d be the place to do it.) When the elevator doors open, one immediately gets a holistic view of the theater’s offerings, from the bar and seating area to Video Vortex, an in-house video rental store (more on that later).

The pièce de résistance of the theater’s decor is a to-scale model of the backside of the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder that crashes out a window in John Hughes’s 1986 comedy Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, complete with the NRVOUS license plate and fake shards of glass hanging from the ceiling that appear to be flying out amidst the wreckage. It’s impressive but also kitschy, and unapologetically so. (Below it on the floor is a decal that quotes Ferris’s famous line: “If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”) It’s also a testament to the impersonal, “Instagrammable” branding style that’s come to dominate social media in recent years, existing to be propagated into the ether.

Video Vortex, the video rental inside the theater, is modest, though it apparently contains more than 10,000 Blu-rays, DVDs, and even VHS tapes that people can rent—for free. Listen, something being free is never a bad thing. Something being free often allows it to be accessible, which is a net-positive in the grand scheme of things. Still, it’s lamentable that stores like Odd Obsession Movies have been forced to close in recent years, while the same business model is being used essentially as a gimmick by a corporate chain. (Thankfully, FACETS’s video rental store soldiers on.) To give a little more credit where it’s due, Video Vortex also rents out DVD and VHS players for a small fee, so those without this sadly outmoded technology can enjoy the thrill of physical media.

An installation made of old-school television sets, reminiscent of a Nam June Paik sculpture, adorns the eating area, where the tables are topped with vintage B movie lobby cards. Decorations in the style of VHS labels—Comedy! Drama! Adult! 3-Day Rental! Be Kind Please Rewind!—cover the walls. The bar next to it boasts a full menu, complete with movie-themed cocktails. A good theme is my Achilles’ heel, so I couldn’t help but to admire the list: Y Tú Margarita También; Third-Rate Vaudevillians, a rye-based cocktail for the 1936 W.C. Fields film The Old Fashioned Way; and the classic mint julep and Mississippi punch for Baz Luhrman’s The Great Gatsby and  Blake Edwards’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s, respectively. I opted for the Tokyo Drifter, named after Seijun Suzuki’s 1966 film. Mixed with whiskey and bourbon, it was pretty damn good. There are other libations, of course, craft beer initially being a thing for which the Alamo Drafthouse was known. But like much else with the theater chain, they seemed to have moved past the homier stalwarts into fancier fare.

Like with the food. The concept of eating an actual meal at a movie theater is no longer the novelty it once was, with several AMC Dine-In theaters dominating the concept in and around the Chicagoland area. The Alamo Drafthouse follows the same idea, with moviegoers (or is it diners?) being able to order complete meals from their seats by writing one’s order down on a slip of paper and remotely signaling a waiter (apparently “ninja-trained,” as they don all black and crouch down low so as not to impede anyone’s view of the movie), who then takes the paper and returns summarily with food and drink. 

Alamo Drafthouse Wrigleyville$11.99-$14.99, discounts available for kids, students, seniors, military, police, fire, EMS, and guests with disabilities3519 N. Clark, Suite C301872-298-3961

I wanted to try an array of options, so my friends and I started with the loaded fries and a limited-time menu item, the brussels sprouts pizza. (In addition to such items, the theater also offers special menus themed with certain movies.) Some of the appetizers fall under the nebulous category of being southwestern, and the fries were one of those. Topped with Hatch green chile queso, Tillamook cheddar, cotija, bacon, and sriracha sour cream, among other garnishes, the fries were easily my favorite thing I ate. The pizza was fine, though nothing to write home about and certainly not as substantial as pizza from a regular restaurant. 

I’d done some research beforehand to determine what was popular on their menu, so seeing that moviegoers liked their fried pickles, we selected what seemed like their current corollary, the pickle fries. I like regular fried pickles, so I expected to like them in this unusual variation. Alas, it remains true that you can’t improve upon perfection; the pickle fries exceed the pickle-to-fry ratio that makes the originals so delicious. And the ranch dipping sauce just made them worse, at least to me, as I’m particularly bothered by putting a wet thing (the ranch) on another wet thing (the pickle). Does that make sense? Probably not. Still, did it impede my enjoyment of the pickle fries? Yes, yes it did. 

The hand-breaded chicken tenders were similarly disappointing, with the breading falling off almost immediately. It’d been a while since I’d had chicken tenders served with gravy on the side, so I was looking forward to the Hatch green chile version that accompanied them. It was bland, not adding much to the dish at all. It may be worth noting the ketchup that came on the side of the fries that came with the tenders was the reddest I’d ever seen. 

And what’s a movie without popcorn? Initially we intended to forgo their regular popcorn and try the churro popcorn, which has pieces of churro in it, as well as a blend of cinnamon, sugar, maple, and vanilla, but they were out. So we got the regular bottomless popcorn—the bottomless here being wishful thinking, as we were full from the heavier fare and didn’t even finish it, even with truffle parmesan seasoning.

I’ve come this far and not even revealed what I was seeing. I chose a repertory screening (which the theater offers in addition to newer movies, along with special screenings ranging from sneak peeks to brunches and movie parties, like the upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania cosplay screening) of John Hughes’s aforementioned teen classic, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, in part because the theater has been christened the John Hughes Cinema in tribute to the filmmaker who spent several of his formative years growing up in Northbrook and several of whose films are set in and around Chicago. A special plaque at the theater’s entrance, next to the Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder, declares that, in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Hughes “perfectly captured the mischievous and carefree spirit of youth . . . cementing Chicago as a cinematic playground in the process.”

The movie, like much else about the overall experience, was fine. I’d seen it before, but it never resonated with me, even though it’s indisputably a love letter to one of the greatest cities in the world. The experience of seeing it was about as good as seeing any other movie at a multiplex, with big screens, comfortable chairs, and crisp digital projection. I don’t doubt that the folks over at Alamo Drafthouse love cinema and aspire for their Chicago location to become an integral part of the city’s moviegoing fabric. But like Hughes’s movie, it’s a love letter to a different kind of Chicago, one where the vibes are immaculate and the real city—with grit, grime, uncomfortable chairs, and crunchy film stock—is nowhere to be found.

Read More

This past fall, TimeLine offered a blistering revival of Alice Childress’s Trouble in Mind, in which a Black actress in a 1950s Broadway play about lynching (penned and directed by white men, naturally) takes a stand against the insulting stereotypes in the script and the microaggressions in the rehearsal room. They’ve followed that up with what feels like a natural progression—even if the story takes place around 15 years earlier.

In Boulevard of Bold Dreams, playwright LaDarrion Williams imagines an encounter two Black employees at the Ambassador Hotel have on February 29, 1940, with Hattie McDaniel. It’s the night of the Academy Awards, held in the hotel’s Cocoanut Grove nightclub. McDaniel (Gabrielle Lott-Rogers) is the odds-on favorite to make history and win the Oscar as best supporting actress for playing Mammy in Gone With the Wind—which would make her the first Black performer to take home the golden man. But she’s not allowed to sit with the rest of the cast, because the Cocoanut Grove is segregated. The best they’ll do for her is provide a small table at the back of the bus, er, room, where she can sit with her companion. 

Boulevard of Bold Dreams Through 3/19: Wed-Thu 7:30 PM, Fri 8 PM, Sat 4 and 8 PM, Sun 2 PM; distanced performance Wed 3/1, open captions Fri 3/10 and Sat 3/11 4 PM, audio description Fri 3/17; TimeLine Theatre, 615 W. Wellington, 773-281-8463, ext. 6, timelinetheatre.com, $42-$57 (students 35 percent off with valid ID; $25 tickets to U.S. military personnel, veterans, first responders, and their spouses and family)

McDaniel isn’t just facing white supremacy within her industry. She’s also facing criticism for taking the role of Mammy in the first place from civil rights organizations, such as the NAACP, and some members of the Black press. William L. Patterson, reviewing GWTW in the Chicago Defender, called it “a weapon of terror against black America.”

He wasn’t wrong. (McDaniel wasn’t allowed to attend the film’s Atlanta premiere at all, so by comparison, the Academy is being “generous” in its accommodations.) But what Williams’s play, directed in its world premiere here by Malkia Stampley, accomplishes (sometimes a little too neatly) is to dissect the ways in which a performer like McDaniel has to negotiate between surviving in the industry and keeping her dignity and her soul. 

Those are lessons that also unfold over the 100-minute course of the play for aspiring director/bartender Arthur (Charles Andrew Gardner) and his best friend and sounding board Dottie (Mildred Marie Langford), who came to Hollywood with him from their small town in Alabama. Dottie is a singer and actress, but her job as a maid at the Ambassador and the double whammy of sexual and racial harassment seems to have killed her dreams. Arthur, though, is still holding fast to the goal of directing his own film and is waiting for a call from someone who’s promised to sell him the equipment to help make that happen.

It’s a taut and absorbing show for the most part, punctuated with some stellar fireworks, particularly between Langford’s Dottie and Lott-Rogers’s Hattie. And yes, the latter does utter one of the classic lines often attributed to McDaniel: “I’d rather play a maid than be one,” which of course hits harder when she says it to another Black woman who actually is a maid. Ryan Emens’s cozy set captures the feeling of both a temporary sanctuary for McDaniel (who comes in while the bar is closed, saying “I won’t be no trouble to nobody”) and a private club where the three characters can speak freely of their creative passions and personal pain in ways they can’t in front of the white hotel guests and Hollywood bigwigs.

Williams himself is a son of Alabama who wrote this play while living in his car. (He and Stampley also collaborated on a couple of original songs we hear in the show.) Boulevard of Bold Dreams taps into both the larger-than-life visions offered on the silver screen, and an astringent view of what it takes to get up there without losing everything that makes you who you are in the first place. By the time we see a video montage (created by Rasean Davonté Johnson) of all the Black women who followed McDaniel into the Oscar spotlight, it’s easy to feel both fresh appreciation for McDaniel’s achievement and sorrowful anger for those who were denied even the limited opportunities she received.

Read More

Phone sex numbers are the quickest way to connect with adults in sexy conversation. When you’re in the mood to have a sizzling conversation with a stranger, there are so many numbers to choose from. Some numbers are chat lines, which introduce you to like-minded people in your area. Others are classic numbers with professional operators.

Whichever version of phone sex you crave, there are plenty of numbers available. Instead of spending all the time dialing, trying to figure out which number is worth your time, we’ve compiled a list of the best phone sex numbers available. And yes, all of these numbers offer free trials. Technically, you can call each of these lines, use the trial, and enjoy totally free!

The numbers in the table below are the cream of the crop. The remaining phone numbers are below the table. Call them all!

Best Free Phone Sex Numbers in 2023

RankBrandPhone NumberFree TrialBest For1.1-800-PHONESEX1-800-PHONESEX5 minutesBest overall number2.LiveLinks1-855-948-478860 minutesRunner-up best3.1-800 Sex Chat1-800-375-22235 minutesBest late night callers4.1-844 Phone Sex1-844-746-63735 minutesMost experienced PSOs5.Taboo Chat1-855-50-TABOO5 minutesBest for chatting taboo topics6.Phone Sex Chat Line1-844-955-011530 minutesBest day time number7.Free Chat Girls1-866-995-533130 minutesBest free trial8.Nightline1-877-834-404460 minutesRunner-up best late night number9.Night Exchange1-866-917-832860 minutesBest for first time callers10.Talk To Me1-800-452-606730 minutesBest mainstream number11.Jet Doll1-800-538-365530 minutesBest for diverse PSOs

Here are even more phone sex numbers that offer free minutes categorized by type:

Late NightDesire’s Chat: 1-888-598-83361-800-SEXTALK: 1-800-SEX-TALKAdult Talk: 1-833-937-ADULTNight Exchange: 1-866-917-83281-800-SEX-LINE: 1-800-739-5463Sexy Live Connections: 1-800-317-4475FreeChatGirls: 1-866-995-5331Redhot Dateline: 1-877-626-8194Two Talked: 1-800-963-7792Nightline: 1-877-834-4044Night Exchange: 1-866-917-8328

PartyCollege Party Line: 1-888-598-3927Girls Party Line: 1-800-307-2625Girls Flirt Free: 1-800-364-4757

KinkExotic Chat Line: 1-888-633-9453Adam and Eve Chat: 1-800-278-5181Kink Connections: 1-855-949-KINKTalk Dirty Chat Line: 1-800-410-2742Kinky Convo: 1-855-936-KINK

LatinaHot Latinas Chat: 1-800-309-9388Beeper Love: 1-855-972-7944Axxess Latino: 1-702-966-2200Hot Latinas Chat: 1-800-309-9388

BlackBlack Phone Chat: 1-800-319-7277Yummyvibe: 1-888-907-0202Howl Line: 1-888-655-6366

Here are in-depth reviews of our top 10 picks:

1. 18000 PHONESEX: Oldest and most reliable phone sex experience – 1-800-746-6373

1-800-PHONESEX has been in operation since the 1980’s and it continues to deliver the most quality, authentic phone sex experience. You speak to paid operators, but these girls know what they’re doing. They guide you through your fantasies and get you off in no time. The free 5 minutes goes by quickly, but the per minute price of $.89/min is reasonable compared to other numbers on the market.

2.  Livelinks: Runner-up best phone sex number – 1-855-948-4788

Livelinks is the number one erotic chat line in the U.S. and Canada, making it the ultimate breeding ground for an intense pleasurable experience. You never have to wonder if you’ll be connected with someone on Livelinks because the number is ringing off the hook constantly. You can enjoy some free phone sex by taking advantage of their free trial, but just know that there’s a good chance you’ll get hooked. The packages are affordable, though, and the raunchy sex chat you’ll be having with hot locals is pretty much priceless.

3.  1-800 Sex Chat: Classic number – 1-800-375-2223

1-800 Sex Chat is a classic sex line number that connects you with live actresses. These women are professionals, so they know how to get you off. These experienced gems are interested in talking about anything and everything you can fathom. No fetish is too kinky, no kink too naughty. You will be asked early on for credit card information (whereas other lines on this list let you have a few free minutes before paying up). If you are wary about the lack of free trial, you can check out the numerous positive reviews online of 1-800 Sex Chat from guys who have called in and had great experiences with the people on the line.

4.  1-844 Phone Sex: The name says it all – 1-844-746-6373

This phone sex number does offer a free trial, but it’s very short (only five minutes). That said, 1-844 Phone Sex is a unique one on this list because it’s the one most similar to a classic late night number. There are so many sizzling conversations to be had on this line with the experienced women who run the show. 1-844 Phone Sex will ask you for payment information pretty early on, so that’s one of the only qualms we have with this number. What we can tell you is that an experience over at this phone sex line is always satisfying and often exceeds our expectations!

5.  Taboo Chat: Discuss your kinks – 1-855-50-TABOO

Taboo Chat is an adult fantasy line for people who want to share their erotic fantasies with each other. This phone sex number is unique because it gives you the chance to choose from fetish categories, such as bondage chat, voyeurism chat, and more. It advertises itself as a safe place where people can talk about their “forbidden fantasies” and secret sexual desires. Many callers choose to remain anonymous on this line because it makes them feel more comfortable expressing their most vulnerable secrets to strangers. Discretion and privacy is taken very seriously over at Taboo Chat.

6.  Phone Sex Chat Line: Perfect chat line/phone sex hybrid – 1-844-955-0115

This number doubles as a chat line, making it the perfect place to dish your naughty fantasies to a local stranger. Everyone who calls Phone Sex Chatline is there because they want naughty phone chat, so there’s no guessing when you call this erotic line. Women can call this number for free, but men will have to pay to chat with someone live. However, before paying, men are able to send hot messages to other members and see who finds them appealing. This can be a good way to decide whether or not Phone Sex Chat Line is right for you.

7.  Free Chat Girls: Affordable – 1-866-995-5331

Free Chat Girls is not an entirely free phone sex number. It does offer a free trial if you choose to give it a test run. Free Chat Girls is an older number, but it’s one that is used pretty frequently. You can choose from different fetishes, fantasies, ethnicities, and experiences. They have an option to call a Phone Sex Virgin, but we are a little skeptical as to how new these girls really are to this world. They are good at acting very innocent, though, if that’s the sort of thing you’re into. You can also call a local city number if you want to talk to someone who is not a PSO. These are just horny locals who want to engage in naughty chat with a stranger!

7.  Nightline: Kinkiest callers – 1-877-834-4044

Nightline lets callers connect with each other for erotic or more hardcore sexual conversation. They have a customizable feature that makes it stand out from other lines. When you dial into Nightline, you have the option to select a chat category to make finding like-minded matches easier. Their name might have you believing that you can only call at night, but Nightline is available to users 24/7. Whenever you are in the mood, Nightline will be there for you. We will admit though that both the quantity and quality of callers improve as it gets later into the night. New users can enjoy a free trial.

9.  Night Exchange: Best for extreme kink – 1-866-917-8328

Night Exchange is an adult line that allows you to flirt with hot local singles, 24/7. There are peak hours that usually fall between 8 PM and 1 AM. The line itself connects you to flirty individuals who want to talk about their kinks to you. But if you hop onto their website, you’ll find that Night Exchange allows other forms of communication like direct messages. Plus, you can search by fetish on their homepage to find people who are into the same kinks as you.

10..  Talk To Me: Most unique options – 1-800-452-6067

This effective phone sex number has a unique model that tons of folks love. They offer a large variety in terms of communication methods. From calls, to cams, from texts, to Skype, there are endless ways to use Talk To Me. The women you will speak with are all rated (from one to five stars) by other callers, which gives you a chance to request only the best partner for your phone fun. Each has their own fantasies that they love to talk about. If their kinks match yours, give it a go. Customers usually report that Talk To Me is high quality.

11  1-800 Jet Doll: Seasoned professionals – 1-800-538-3655

Jet Doll has been in operation for more than 20 years now, giving it major chops in the phone sex industry. Though the webpage appears to be out of date, the line has managed to keep up with the times after all these years. When you dial the Jet Doll number, a rep will answer to set you up with your phone sex session. The women of Jet Doll are professionals, so this won’t be your run-of-the-mill phone chat experience with a local hottie. People who prefer Jet Doll to other platforms enjoy that there’s no question that the Jet Doll girls know what they are doing, and know how to do it well. They can satisfy any kink or fetish you can come up with, all directly through the phone.

How To Act on A Call

You might be nervous about your call, but there’s nothing to be worried about. When you call into these lines, you will be connected with people who are also down to have phone sex with you. There’s no need to fear rejection because whether the person is an operator or a local like you, they all know why they’re on the phone in the first place. As far as how to behave, acting respectful is key. Ask questions if you want to know what turns your phone sex partner on and tell them about your fantasies. When you are describing kinky things, try to be imaginative and descriptive. This will enhance the world of imagination that you’re creating on the line.

Phone Sex FAQs

Should I call a classic phone sex number or a chat line?Some folks love their old school lines. These are lines that you dial into. The person on the other line is a professional who is willing to talk about whatever you’re into! Meanwhile, chat lines connect you with regular people in your area. A late night line might not connect you to phone sex experts, but they will lend themselves to a more genuine and meaningful experience. It’s also exhilarating to meet new people over a sexy chat line. Plus, there’s always a chance to meet up in real life with the person you’ve met on a chat line. Other phone sex numbers don’t offer that possiblity. More than that, chat lines usually offer much longer free phone sex trial periods.

Is it possible to have phone sex for free?

Free phone sex is just a phone call away! The reason why it’s possible to have phone sex for free is because sex chat lines almost always offer free trials. There are always going to be so many numbers out there for you to try, so when you’ve used up your free minutes at one line, hop onto another! Each number offers a different amount of free minutes. Some lines only allow you to message other users with those minutes rather than chat with a live person. This is why free phone sex is possible, but can be tedious if you decide you never want to pay for your time.

What should I expect when calling a phone sex number?When you call a number for phone sex, you will be introduced to someone who works for the line or matched with other locals. Initially, you’ll be prompted to follow some basic instructions that will inform you on how to get started. Prepare for the automated voice on the line to be sultry and dramatic. On a sex chat line, you’ll have the chance to record a greeting and listen to other greetings. That’s how you’ll decide who you want to talk to! Let them know you’re interested by sending them a message or connecting live on the line!

Are phone sex numbers safe?There is a lot to consider when calling a phone sex line. You might worry about how it appears on your bill, fear for your privacy, or wonder if your conversations are being recorded. The lines on this list are discreet, private, and allow anonymity if that’s what you choose. They are usually run by large companies who make your safety a priority. They have reputations to uphold and don’t want to compromise that by compromising your security. Sex lines also often utilize secure billing systems and toll-free numbers (which are untraceable).

What kind of people call sex lines?People just like you! Tons and tons of people call phone sex numbers. They are often normal folks who are looking to spice up their sex lives. Phone sex is one of the quickest, easiest, and safest ways to do that with new people.

How Do Free Trial Sex Lines Work?

Most sex lines operate in the same fashion. The steps laid out for you below are applicable to most erotic chat line numbers.

State your chat line name: Most people want to remain anonymous on sex lines, so they’ll make up a nickname or pseudonym for the call.
Start your free trial: You will be instructed on how to begin using your free trial.
Record a greeting: A greeting is a quick recorded blurb about you. You can use your greeting as an opportunity to state what you are into and looking for. If another caller is into the same things you are, they’ll likely connect with you.
Match, message, meet: Once you record your greeting, you can listen to other greetings. Send users messages or meet them live for an erotic phone chat!

Safety Tips:

Phone sex is a thrilling experience. And, for the most part, it’s one of the safest ways to have sexual contact with someone you don’t already know. However, there are always risks involved with trying new things. That’s why you should always keep these safety tips in mind when calling a phone sex line:

Don’t share personal information.

This is the most important safety tip of all. Do not reveal identifying information about yourself to strangers on phone sex lines. That information includes but isn’t limited to: your full name, your banking information, your home address, social security number, or personal facts. You are speaking to someone on the line who you’ve never met before. There is no reason why they’d need any of this information.

Talk about your boundaries.

Phone sex requires consent from both parties. While calling a late night number implies that you are interested in having phone sex, it doesn’t tell your partner what your sexual boundaries are. Perhaps there is language you find offensive or subjects you don’t want to talk about. Be vocal about your boundaries so that your partner knows how to respect them.

Hang up if you feel uncomfortable.

Some bad apples can ruin it for everyone. Don’t let a bad person ruin your phone sex experience. If someone is being abusive to you on the line, you have the right to block that person, hang up, or report them to the phone sex company.

Trust your intuition.

If your gut is telling you that something isn’t right, trust that feeling. No amount of phone sex is ever worth jeopardizing your safety. Plus, there are always so many callers to choose from. It’s easy to hang up on someone who is making you feel strange and have it with someone else.

Read More