We're pretty obsessed with the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, not only because he looks good on our pennies but because he did some pretty cool stuff while he was in office, too. Academy-award winning actor Daniel Day-Lewis recently visited Springfield, Illinois and toured the Lincoln Presidential Museum, Lincoln's home, the Old State Capitol and the Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices to prepare for his next role as President Lincoln in a film directed by none other than movie giant, Steven Spielberg. more ›

In 17th century France, Pridamant has come to see Alcandre, an illusionist of sorts, in hopes that the necromancer (vocab word of the day!) will be able to find the son he banished years ago. With the help of his forcibly mute, troll-ish assistant Amanuensis, Alcandre conjures visions of Pridamant's son - the son's name is up for debate, in case you're wondering why we haven't named him. As Pridamant watches his son's misadventures (with us watching him watching - hey, we said it was meta), he grows increasingly confused about the kind of person his son has become, and guilty about their estrangement. The majority of the show's content is in these plays-within-a-play, so it's a good thing they're so much fun. The storylines are deceptively simple (boy falls in love with girl above his station, boy competes with wealthy suitors for her affection, maid meddles on girl's behalf for selfish reasons disguised as altruism); the emotions involved are complex. The Illusion's ensemble cast hits the right level of sincerity in its exploration of the script's many unanswerable questions, giving the audience flashes of clarity before turning everything upside down. more ›

Tickets might be going for $1800 on Craigslist for Second City, but you can still hear and see some funny (and cultural) things on the cheap at the Chicago Humanities Festival. From the dance lecture “Foot is a Funny Word” to the panel “Laughter and the First Amendment” and, a personal favorite, “Laughter Bollywood Style,” the final weekend seems to be full of reasons to chuckle. So what if Tony Kushner was a round last weekend and we missed it? more ›

Steppenwolf and Tracy Letts received their millionth award together - not really but it feels that way - for Superior Donuts, which takes August: Osage County’s place on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre in October. Superior Donuts won a citation, i.e. “runner up,” for the Harold and Mimi Steinberg New Play Award, administered by the American Theatre Critics Association. The award comes with $7,500, which isn’t a hefty sum considering Broadway tickets cost about half that. Lynn Nottage’s Ruined, which premiered at the Goodman last fall and won this year’s Pulitzer, was also named one of the 2008-2009 Best Plays by The Best Plays Theater Yearbook, an annual publication celebrating American theater. more ›