Barbara Vitello
-
Best Bets: Dazzling light displays usher in the holiday seasonNov 18, 2025 1:56 pm - Christmas at Cantigny, Chicago’s Wintrust Magnificent Mile Lights Festival and Light Up the Park in Rosemont welcome the holidays, and Smashing Pumpkins co-founder Billy Corgan brings “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness” to the Lyric Opera.
-
Theater spotlight: Classic tales, seasonal reviews and cirque spectacularsNov 18, 2025 12:03 pm - Holiday theater heats up with American Blues Theater’s radio play “It's a Wonderful Life: Live in Chicago!,” Metropolis Performing Arts Centre’s “A Christmas Carol,” a cirque-style holiday spectacular and more.
-
Take what you need, leave what you can: Little free pantries help the hungryNov 17, 2025 6:39 pm - For years, suburban residents, libraries and houses of workshop have built and stocked little free pantries to assist people facing food insecurity.
-
Yuletide treat: Marriott Theatre kicks off holidays with high-voltage ‘Million Dollar Quartet Christmas’Nov 14, 2025 12:52 pm - For a rockin’ good time, check out Marriott Theatre’s Yuletide treat, “Million Dollar Quartet Christmas.”
-
Hoffman Estates man charged with possession, dissemination of child pornographyNov 14, 2025 10:35 am - Following a two-month investigation, authorities charged a 26-year-old Hoffman Estates man with possession and dissemination of child pornography.
-
Writers’ ‘As You Like It’ a pleasant introduction to well-loved Shakespeare confectionNov 12, 2025 5:07 pm - Writers Theatre’s Chicago-area premiere of Shaina Taub and Laurie Woolery’s merry musical adaptation of “As You Like It” embodies the spirit of the original and contains enough of Shakespeare’s text to appeal to aficionados and neophytes alike.
-
Best Bets: Illumination: Tree Lights at Morton Arboretum and Lightscape at Chicago Botanic GardenNov 11, 2025 11:20 am - Let there be light as Illumination: Tree Lights returns to Morton Arboretum in Lisle and Lightscape opens at Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe. Plus, Steve Cochran and friends perform stand-up in Aurora, and Metropolis hosts “Let’s Hang On: A Rock ’N Soul Party.”
-
Spotlight: Buffalo Theatre’s ‘Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley’ and Goodman’s ‘Christmas Carol’ take the stageNov 10, 2025 11:48 am - Holiday shows commencing this week include Buffalo Theatre Ensemble’s “Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley,” Goodman Theatre’s “A Christmas Carol” and The Second City’s “Jack Frost Roasting on an Open Fire” at Aurora’s Copley Theatre.
-
Service never ends: Volunteers help build, rehab homes for Illinois veteransNov 07, 2025 4:13 pm - An estimated 170 volunteers will participate this weekend in Chicagoland Habitat for Humanity’s Veterans Build to construct, rehab or make essential repairs on veterans’ homes in St. Charles, Aurora, Waukegan, Woodstock, Chicago and other municipalities.
-
Love, compassion, kindness: After 50 years, ‘Godspell’ messages still resonateNov 05, 2025 6:53 pm - At a time when love, compassion, respect and kindness seem in short supply, the time is right for Music Theater Works’ revival of the 1971 pop-rock musical “Godspell.”