Barbara Vitello
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Fall theater preview: Plenty of intriguing musicals and plays coming to suburban, Chicago stagesSep 01, 2026 9:57 am - World and regional premieres are among the productions scheduled to run on suburban and Chicago stages this fall.
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Best bets: Paula Poundstone at Crystal Lake’s Raue Center; Cheap Trick in AuroraAug 31, 2026 2:00 pm - Tickets are still available for Paula Poundstone’s Raue Center show; Cheap Trick headlines RiverEdge Park; free museum admission this weekend for Bank of America cardholders.
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Illinois’ high vaccination rate has stemmed measles tide amid nationwide spikeAug 30, 2026 8:48 am - In the wake of an increase in measles cases across the U.S., including a reported exposure at Kaneland High School in Kane County, health officials recommend those who are eligible to get vaccinated with the MMR vaccine.
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Man seriously injured in Saturday morning crash in East DundeeAug 29, 2026 4:34 pm - An East Dundee crash between an SUV and a semitruck late Saturday morning required firefighters to extricate a seriously injured occupant of the SUV, authorities said.
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Magic man: For theater artist Dennis Watkins, magic was always in the cardsAug 26, 2026 10:42 am - Dennis Watkins, host of the long-running close-up magic show “The Magic Parlour” at Goodman Theatre, celebrates 25 years as a Chicago magician and theater artist.
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Best Bets: Elmhurst salutes Chicago Bears; Aurora showcases Mexican American masksAug 25, 2026 3:24 pm - What’s new at Chicago area museums and galleries: The Elmhurst History Museum opens an exhibition devoted to the Chicago Bears football and Aurora showcases Mexican American masks.
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Spotlight: Janus Theatre revives ever-timely ‘An Iliad’ with all-female castAug 25, 2026 10:59 am - Ten years after it staged Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare’s “An Iliad,” Elgin’s Janus Theatre remounts the play with an all-female cast; TimeLine launches its 30th season with the premiere of “The Birth of the Pill” about the development of the life-changing oral contraceptive; and Promethean Theatre Ensemble stages “Blood of the Lamb,” a Kafkaesque thrill about reproductive rights.
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The MAC at 40: Celebrating DuPage County’s ‘cultural town square’Aug 22, 2026 11:46 am - The McAninch Arts Center has emerged as a cultural hub in the 40 years since it opened on the College of DuPage campus where it typically attracts more than 100,000 visitors annually.
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Imperfect romance: Oil Lamp’s prettily sung ‘I Love You Because’ hindered by mediocre bookAug 19, 2026 12:02 pm - It's a truth universally acknowledged that laying claim to a Jane Austen classic as the inspiration for a rom-com tuner doesn’t make it so. Case in point, “I Love You Because,” a formulaic bit of fluff by writer/lyricist Ryan Cunningham and composer Joshua Salzman, running through Sept. 13, at Oil Lamp Theater in Glenview.
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Theater: Des Plaines native stars in Paramount’s regional ‘Mean Girls’ premiereAug 19, 2026 7:58 am - Paramount Theatre presents the regional premiere of the musical “Mean Girls;” Marriott Theatre revives the wrenching “Come From Away,” and City Lit Theater premieres “Shane,” adapted from the 1949 western novel.