The Hypocrites for The Tennessee Williams Project at the Chopin Theater…read more Great Actors. Beautiful set design. Full integration of audience into the play. Dedicated. Elaborate make-up and costumes. Detail oriented. Functional and era appropriate props. Passionate. I am now a groupie! ;-)

You will never go wrong seeing a Hypocrites show. You will never be disappointed. That's an…read moreamazing, but true statement. I've followed this theatre company for almost 20 years, so I should know. We saw "American Idiot" at The Den last night and loved it. I am not fluent in theatre criticism, but I can say there's great nonstop music, dance, energy, and feel good at the end of-it-ness.

I have always enjoyed this event. It reminds me of the old time dinner and entertainment scene that…read moreyou see in old movies. On stage is Elysabeth Alfano - Creator, Executive Producer, Producer & Host, and four guests, each with a specialty, usually related to the arts, and one of the guests is always a chef from a local establishment. My very first one, March 26, 2012, was with the Green Mill Poetry Slam founder Mark Smith ( who gave a wonderful performance), Chicago blues legend Billy Branch performing "Hoochie Coochie Man" on his harmonica, Naomi Beckwith Curator at the MCA, and Matt Troost from the restaurant Three Aces, making gnocchi and ribollita, and Guest artist Nicholas Barron performed that night as well! Elizabeth starts out interviewing each person, but also encourages conversation between the guests. In this case (March 2012) the guests got up and performed, and it was so wonderful. Then the chef gives a cooking lesson on the video monitor of the meal that he is preparing for the guests and then the meal is brought out with a tasting of wine to go with each and Voges Chocolates are served for dessert. It was a night to remember! So much fun, and interesting! PS - I posted the Fear No Art presents The Dinner Party's May event here on Yelp, not because I have anything to do with it, because I don't, but because they don't seem to have a presence on Yelp, and I was doing a review of it, so thought that I should give them a presence here.

Wow, not at all what we expected. City Winery is a great venue but the Fear No Art dinner party is…read morenot the best way to appreciate the space. The tickets were $40/pp (plus service charge) and promised wine tastings, dinner, dessert and great panelists. First of all there was 1 wine tasting (about an ounce of wine) other drinks need to be purchased. The food was tasty but very small & we had to wait and wait some more for it to be served. The panelists were entertaining but seemed much more interested in talking among themselves than to the audience. Tried to tweet in questions but they were not addressed. Not a great evening overall.

Four violins, two violas, 2 cellos, and a string bass later, Sarah and I decided that this was the…read moreperfect blend for the acoustics at the Art Institute Modern Wing. Our repertoire was most classical waltzes and Puccini scores, mixed with some Mancini. Symphony Sounds pulled it all off, much to the delight of some more serious classical buffs in our audience. It was a true pleasure to work with Sarah. She even recorded my bridal march, Un Bel Di, during practice and sent it to me so I could get a sense of timing. All our communications were long distance, yet the music and ceremony were executed beautifully. I only wish I could have heard all of the pre and post music myself. My guests continue to rave about the music and how lovely it sounded.

I admit that I had to do a little considering before adding the 5th star…read more There was a problem at our wedding in late August but the owner did the best she could and the performance was great. Thus, there was never any consideration for giving a bad review. The question was whether to give the "perfect" score. Sometimes bad things occur beyond someone's control. They did the best they could do under the circumstances, including the owner offering more than I could conscientiously accept. They performed spectacularly, despite the owner probably believing she would be paid nothing for her performance and hard work. None of the audience ever even knew there was a problem. In mulling it over, that ability to actually turn lemons into lemonade shows more professionalism than simply doing so under the best conditions. The best parts were the quality of the performers, their choice of music, and the cheerfulness of the performance. Every one of our guests were throughly entranced by the music! I therefore enthusiastically recommend Symphony Sounds for your wedding or other event.

I had such a fun time at the Printers Row Lit Fest. With so much going on in the city on Sunday as…read morewell as the weekend in general, I feel like it was such a great turnout. From the different authors at different stages as well as to even some booths having author signing.. I do think that there could've been more promo for as well as a better map system.

Most fabulous free event organized by the city of Chicago featuring many new and established…read morewriters . I love this literature fest and such an awesome experience for young kids and budding writers. Highly recommend!

Michael & UpBeat were EXACTLY what we needed for our wedding. Michael set up multiple phone calls…read morewith us before the wedding to go over details and understand what we wanted for our day. The band set up rehearsals just to practice our exact set list. We decided on Piano & Violin for the ceremony, with additional Piano for cocktail hour. The full band played a wonderful and creative 3 hour set during our reception. Upbeat set up all of our sound equipment and did a comprehensive sound check early that day. They even had a sound tech on their staff. Upbeat customized our wedding to our exact requests. They ensured to perfect our precessional, recessional, and prelude music. We requested contemporary love songs in which they rocked!! Our cocktail hour was perfect and the guests were complementing how talented the musicians were. Michael was our emcee for the nights events and ensured to follow my timeline to a T. He checked in multiple times with our wedding planner, as well as me and my husband. The 3-hour reception was full of energy, talent, and craftsmanship. Upbeat performed multiple medleys allowing songs to flow seamlessly into each other. The vocalists were top tier and were able to sing a wide variety of genres. The instrumentalists all played a critical role in the feel of the party! I 100% recommend adding the horn to your band! It made every song feel rich & full. Shout out to Reid Spears, piano & vocals, THE TALENT IS POURING OUT OF HIM. If you're thinking about a live band, DO IT. This band is worth every penny!!! We will forever be a fan of UpBeat! Maddy & Sean

After my sister had UpBeat at her wedding, it was a no-brainer that I would hire them for mine…read more Michael and the whole crew bring the kind of expertise, enthusiasm and energy that you want in a band. They have an extensive repertoire of music to choose from and are extremely accommodating to any requests outside of their lineup. Every phone call and email is extremely thorough so you know exactly what to expect and then some. If we had to do it all over again, we'd choose Upbeat in a heartbeat.

Thanks to Megan S., my friend and I were able to check out the preview of Everything Freezes on…read moreFriday night! Pretty cool stuff, if you ask me! It's supposed to be a take on Shakespeare's 'Winter's Tale', which I never read...but, nonetheless, I found it entertaining! The opening sequence was very intriguing and nicely staged. I loved the use of music and lighting in the sequence...All the actors were great and I loved the quick costume/hair changes. Super creative. When the actors had to play the role of babies or little children, those were the funniest moments. Great job to the cast! Sadly, we had to leave during intermission and I never found out what happens at the end. Anyone care to fill me in?? ;) The theater itself is pretty cozy, so you never have a bad seat. Plus, there's a free parking lot for the theater located on Milwaukee, a little north of Chicago. But, we found street parking to be pretty plentiful on a Friday night. Thanks again, Megan S.!

The production of "Dante Dies!! (and then things get wierd)" is a one man show that was well done…read more With over 10+ different characters, or so that I could track, portraited in addition to the main character, this surreal play is an interesting take on Dante's original Inferno. This isn't fine art as it is performing art and done well as I've already indicated. It is "loosely" based on Inferno and the 9 circles of hell...one of which is metaphorically played by a hoo la hoop. There is adult language so children should probably not attend this event if they are very young. I'd recommend this both in support of a new company in town and that the performance is solid from a young actor. The theater itself is small and there are 2 bars on the opposite of the building and across the street in case you want to eat and drink before or after the show. Transporation wise you take the Blue line up toward Ohare, getting off at the Chicago Stop....when you exit....you basically just got behind the building to your left and there you are.

fun time. I'll plan my visit better next year since this time I was only walking though for one of…read morethe stores on the block that this was happening. I didn't have time to really stop and enjoy all the vendors although I did make time to grab some business cards and food. very nice.

Fun little (and I do mean little) festival in Andersonville showcasing some cool local shops and…read moreartists. Sadly there aren't that many vendors, and it was quick to check all of them out within 15 minutes. I did appreciate the food trucks and local beer flowing freely. They had some local bands playing too. We got a beautiful day and discovered some great talents that are throughout the city. I would recommend to check it out, make an afternoon of it. Just get more vendors to make us stay longer!

Absolutely made our ceremony and cocktail hour so special! 10/10 communication and experienceread more

I booked the String Theory Chamber Ensemble for my grandmother's funeral service. When booking they…read morewere very empathic and easy to work with. They are were able to bring a portable piano and their equipment. I was very happy with their performance. They played beautifully and really added a nice touch to the service