How did Sarah Grueneberg do in last night's finale? Read on. more ›

Let's hope this week's Top Chef isn't not some sort of weird replay of Extreme Chef. more ›

We are entering this week with high hopes that this episode will be more cooking competition and less Japanese game show. Let's see! more ›

The final four is set. Who will take it all next week? more ›

Eric Ripert shows up this week. So does Charlize Theron, as the chefs prepare Snow White-themed dishes. more ›

It's "Restaurant Wars" week on "Top Chef: Texas." All the previews for this week's episode imply that the women cave in on themselves, crash and burn. We suspect a fake-out. But maybe it's a double fake-out and we're about to watch their destruction. more ›

Time for some Texas BBQ at the Salt Lick! more ›

And karma draws a bead on one of our local chefs. more ›

Get your game face on because things are about to get ugly. more ›

We catch you up on the past three episodes in this recap. more ›

The final 16 contestants have to deal with rattlesnakes and cooking for a quinceanera. more ›

The field for Top Chef Texas will now been narrowed down to 16. Let the games begin! more ›

The latest season of Top Chef kicked off last night, with a strong showing from the six Chicago "cheftestants." more ›

Learn about our hometown contestants, the show's new features and more - and be sure to watch tonight! more ›

We don't know what possesses the Griffin folk to stage scripts with such enormous casts - this production has 27 actors - but we're always excited for a show with a big female contingent. In fact, Kris Vire notes that the company has "engaged so many of the city’s talented young actresses that you begin to wonder how any other theater has a show running right now." more ›

Leaving the Viaduct Theatre following Dog & Pony Theatre Company’s production of God’s Ear, we were in a bit of a daze. We knew we’d seen something good, but couldn’t decide how to explain it to you. This 90 minute one-act, centered around a couple who has lost their young son in an accident, is more like an epic poem disguised as a play with odd musical numbers, but is much better than that sounds. We decided to see what Chris Jones, critic for the Trib, had to say about it. At the very least, we were sure his opinion, to which our reaction generally ranges from slight to complete disagreement, would provide a good jumping-off point for argument. Wrong. more ›

">he also smokes! He even believes the smoking ban was never "intended to limit artistic expression. It would be wise for us to ... allow theater productions to obtain a special waiver when smoking is a critical component of their performance." While Reilly wants the cast of to be able to light up, as scripted, Alderman Ed Smith (28th) disagrees, and the council specifically did not approve an exemption to the ban for live theater. more ›

On Tuesday, Chris Jones reported in the Trib that David Schwimmer was coming to Chicago to do at Lookingglass. Turns out...not so much. As apparently Schwimmer himself posted in the comments for the story. more ›

The Tribune would like to remind you that we live in a state where, sometimes, people hunt and eat raccoons. It's forms the basis of their story today regarding the "word-of-mouth raccoon meat market" in Illinois, Wisconsin and Missouri, and how people across the state are turning their appetites to the critters. Can't say as we blame them; raccoon is pretty tasty as a stew meat. more ›

Want to go to a play--but you don't know how? The Trib has you covered. This "Theater 101" article is full of such helpful tips as "If the show starts at 8:00, get there at 7:50." Honest to God, we can't tell if the item "Applause: When the play ends, there's a blackout, then the lights come back on and all the actors come on stage to take a bow. This is when you should... more ›

The Chicago Theatre is being sold to Madison Square Garden. At least that's what Chris Jones is saying. According to the article, Madison Square Garden Entertainment has agreed to purchase the downtown landmark and is just waiting for a few formalities — like the City signing off on the sale — before closing the deal. MSGE owns — duh — Madison Square Garden, plus Radio City Music Hall and the Beacon Theater in NY. It's... more ›

Here's what happened while you were chasing The King: The Trib’s Chris Jones profiles local playwright Marisa Wegryzn, whose latest show Killing Women opens Friday night, and addresses larger concerns about whether young talent is being properly nurtured and how the economics of Chicago theater tend to drive talented playwrights to the coasts. A booth filled with Jack Nixon’s “super-realist” penciled renderings of Chicago landmarks was the most unexpected sight at Northhalsted Market Days (and... more ›

Today’s your last chance to visit ARTropolis. It’s “Student Day” at Art Chicago, where students, professors, and professionals discuss the basics of an arts career. A pass admitting two people to five fairs is $15. The Illinois Bureau of Tourism has announced its Seven Wonders of Illinois, the top regional attractions selected by popular vote. Cubs fans hit the polls early and often, naming Wrigley Field Chicago’s top attraction. Wilmette’s gorgeous Baha'i Temple represents... more ›

Five Second City theaters around the country, including Chicago, will now serve as a comedy testing ground for NBC/Universal TV as part of a two-year deal. NBC writers will be allowed to visit any Second City theater to see performances of scripts they have in development or watch as characters they’ve created get workshopped for the best way to deliver a funny catchphrase that everyone will be sick of in six months. NBC will also... more ›

It’s just an address—2851 North Halsted—that a few Lakeview condo owners will soon call home. The post office, utility companies, and most of Chicago are fairly indifferent to the new construction and what it displaced. But dedicated theatergoers and Chicago history buffs will need a moment to compose themselves as the wrecking ball meets the building once home to the Steppenwolf Theatre, the Organic Touchstone, and the St. Nicholas Players (the launching pad for some kid named David Mamet). Steppenwolf has moved on and current tenant ComedySportz will transfer to nifty new facilities, but that doesn’t diminish the spiritual importance of this scruffy Lakeview space. more ›

Say what you will about Oprah but the woman is a media genius. more ›

Movie accounting practices are clear as mud in the best of circumstances but mix in the mob and thinks get decidedly murkier. Yesterday’s Movie Answer Man column tackled the nerdiest aspect of the movie Deep Throat: the math. Specifically, did the movie really make $600 million? Ebert says signs point to no (plus, it gives us another chance to mention that The Chicagoist Inside Deep Throat Contest ends tonight at midnight. Click the link for more details). more ›