My 16 year old son visited from NY for their summer jazz intensive, and it was the most incredible…read moreexperience for him! He was challenged with working with the best choreographers, and can't stop talking about it. He really felt like he was part of a family after the first day! He's already looking forward to next summer!!

My girls (now 8 and 4) absolutely LOVE dancing at Gus! They both started a little over a year ago…read moreand have learned so much and have so much fun in class. They like to have their own dance classes at home where they put on their shoes and practice what they learned in class with each other. My older daughter is now a company dancer and is there twice a week. The teachers are wonderful with the little kids and keeping their attention, which I just got to see first hand during parent observation week. I also like that Gus gives back to the community and puts on so many free performances for families and other members of the community throughout the year. They are family owned which you can truly feel in all aspects of their interactions and communication with the children and parents. Highly recommend!

Imagine you're at a party. Quirky theme. Fun vibe. All of a sudden, a woman kills the music and…read moretells everyone at the party that she miscarried a week ago. Before you have time to understand what just happened, the music clicks back on. Someone yells "let's do a line dance!" No one misses a beat. Everyone starts dancing. You are bewildered and vaguely upset. You consider joining the dance, but you can't because the music clicks off again. A guy grabs a mic talks about how his uncle assaulted him when he was 14. You begin to think that maybe this party isn't intended to be fun. But then, suddenly, the party music clicks back on and someone shouts "let's play musical chairs!" It goes on like this. If you ever begin to enjoy yourself, you know that at any second a partygoer will cut the electricity and monologue about gun violence or Palestine or climate change. You try to wrap your head around it. Maybe it's supposed to be a critique of parties in general? Before you can figure it out, the party is over. Everyone says they loved it. Anyway, that's what the Infinite Wrench feels like. $25 bucks. 5 stars I guess I don't know anymore.

This review is for the theater itself, not the performing group…read more The entrance to the Neo-Futurarium Theater is on Ashland Thrift the red doors in the middle of the building. Then you climb three flights of stairs (I did not see an elevator), down a long corridor to head into the waiting area. This has been the permanent performance space since 1992 of the Neo-Futurist Theater company. The theater is a comfortable size and seats from 140-154. We saw a performance of That's Weird Grandma's 25th Birthday. It's not the worst, and it's not the nicest theater that we've ever been in, but, it looks like the whole building is in sore need of refurbishment. It does seem to be the perfect venue for experimental theater.

Came here for their Saturday night show and had an absolute blast! The performances were full of…read moreawesome energy, with a great mix of comedy, artistry, and sexyness. All of the performers and crew were super nice and very approachable for photos after/kept a really great audience/performer vibe going the whole time. Perfect for a girls night out, bachelorette, or just a fun weekend thing to do! I registered the bachelorette party I was a part of beforehand and we were able to get VIP seating and a shoutout during the performance. They go the extra mile to make sure you are comfortable and have a great time. I really appreciated that the company was so inclusive of all gender identities, body types, and races. Burlesque is for all and Vaudezilla walks that talk!

After attending a student showcase one of our friends was in, my maid of honor organized a private…read moreclass for my bachelorette party here! It was a blast! We went to their studio Saturday afternoon around 12:30 and brought in mimosas before we began at 1pm. The class was about an hour and a half from what I can remember. We opted to learn a mini routine for fun. Our group had about 8 girls in total. Red hot Annie led the class, she was full of energy, positive, kept a great pace, and did an excellent job explaining the various dance moves. We would learn portions of the dance and then practice the whole thing to music. We really liked the song selected and the routine! It was prefect for a bachelorette party. Overall it was a fun unique activity to do to get everyone out of their comfort zones. A few girls were worried about feeling uncomfortable but everyone was able to quickly get really into it and feel open to fully embrace it! It was a great activity to start the day and get everyone talking! I would highly recommend for bachelorette parties!!! I'm definitely going to look into taking workshops since I'm tight on time right now but I'd also look into taking classes with Red Hot Annie again!

We've been to the Old Town School many times, but not for several years now. A close cousin was…read moreplaying, who teaches at the school. We had tickets to see him play. Not reviewing his music (which was fantastic), but the venue. The room we were in was like a black box theater. The room was fairly small and intimate. It was open seating and when we arrived it was pretty full. We were very fortunate that there were two seats open in the third row. The room is acoustically sound (pun intended)... Seriously, being small, they really don't need to amplify the sound, even though they did have a microphone set up. As we were leaving, we got to roam the halls around the school. There were a lot of fun, vintage posters that were a lot of fun to look at. We met quite a few people who either had been students there, or were current students who had nothing but good things to say about the caliber of the educators and the Old Town School. Based on the performances we've seen there of students and faculty, I'd say we agree.

This update is regarding a visit to OSF was to attend their Wiggleworms open house. I've left the…read moreoverall rating the same because OTSFM is still great for a lot of reasons, but the Wiggleworms class isn't one of them. I've heard of the class before and always thought if I had a kid I'd take them, but I think the age range starts at 6 months so we started with a class with a different provider, Music Playhouse of Chicago. I'm glad we came to this one to try it out. While the kids seemed to be having fun, I didn't like it as much as the Music Playhouse class. Wiggleworms doesn't seem to have a developed curriculum. This was just an activity where the kids can grab shakers and toys, and the leader will sing what they want or take requests from the kids, but not a class that has any kind of particular learning outcomes upon which children build. Maybe it was different because it was an open house but I'd have expected they would showcase what an actual class was, and I think it's just not what I prefer. There are some pluses, though. They have weekend classes, which can be hard to find with other music classes for kids. I think it may also be significantly less expensive than the one I take my kiddo to. And they may have a few more babies-only classes than where we go now, which usually has only one of any (depending upon enrollment). I didn't realize before I had a child but there's a huge difference between children of 0-18 months and those beyond, so mixed age classes wasn't my thing at the time. So Wiggleworms has its pros, but overall I'd visit Old Town SFM for the classes and concerts but choose another children's music class.

I would see anything by this company. Caged Dames at the Wit was hilarious The use of puppets was…read moreinnovative and endearing

I have a degree in English Literature. I took opera lessons as a child. I have been to the Prado…read moreand the Musee D'orsay. Yet somehow Hell in a Handbag Productions knows JUST what trashy and tacky pop culture button to press for my maximum lowbrow pleasure. I just attended their fourth annual screening The Poseidon Adventure at the Music Box for NYE. Best NYE ever! Great crowd, charmingly smarmy host (sloppy smooches to the one and only Dick O'Day), and signature outbursts of drunken public irreverence. My favorite part of the evening was the fact that the audience was encouraged to yell "Shut the f*ck up!" whenever a particular character said his lines. For some reason, bellowing "Shut the f*ck up!" at the top of my lungs with a bunch of other classless moviegoers cracked me up everytime. I also will say without a trace of irony that attending their "Sing Along Xanadu" was one of the greatest nights of my life. Say what you will, scoffers and haters, but Xanadu is AWESOME. The soundtrack is like sugar-spun clouds of sassy sunshine with a twist of fabulousless. And screeching the lyrics along with other inebriated Xanadu enthusiasts gave my life purpose and meaning. You deign to disagree? Shut the f*ck up! Other notable productions include an interactive Mommy Dearest (can you imagine the sheer joy of howling, "No wire hangers, EVER!") , as well as a staged version of The Poseidon Adventure. It's not Shakespeare, but so what? The HIAH crew hustles like a one-armed paper hanger to ensure everyone has a good time. And that, dear reader, is more than good enough for me.

Best customer service ever! Are fast friendly and generous! I was just there looking for a yoga…read moremat and they bent over backwards finding one for me and they were so very nice! If I was going to join a gym - this would be it!

I've been checking out classes here and everyone has been so friendly. One of the dance teachers…read morecame up to me after class and introduced herself. I'd highly recommend if you're looking for an inclusive environment

This is a review of the gift shop considering the museum was closed when we visited…read more But overall, it was such an enjoyable experience that I wanted to go ahead and write about this great spot -- with hopes of coming back to see the museum some day as well. My family and I made the trip to see the St. Lucia celebration that the Swedish American Museum puts on. My husband's family is part-Swedish, and it's been something we've always wanted to attend. Unfortunately, a snow storm on our way from Kentucky to Chicago added a few hours to our road trip, so we missed the processional. But we did get to check out the gift shop and ended up spending a lot of money there. We got my daughter, who is also named Lucia, a St. Lucia crown -- though with fake candles, not real ones. We also got my son a Star Boy hat and star scepter. This shop had a great selection of books and housewares, and we picked up some as gifts. It also had some lovely ornaments and food. We got some delicious bread, cheese and crackers. The clerks were very nice and patient as we browsed. We want to make attending the St. Lucia celebration and visiting family in the area an annual tradition. Next time, we'll check out the museum too!

I decided to visit the Swedish American Museum with my toddler one afternoon when we were looking…read moreto get out of the house. I've heard so many great things about Brunk's Children Museum and we were excited to check it out! We live down the street so it's been on our list to check out for a while now. When got there on a Saturday afternoon and it was really quiet inside. We paid $6 for admissions and I can confirm it was totally worth the 6 bucks! The children's museum is located on the third floor. We were the only ones there for the first 30 minutes or so, and had fun exploring the space. The museum focuses on the journey of immigration from Sweden to the United States. It starts in a farmhouse in Sweden compete with a cow, hens, and lots of fun old-timey home items like a butter churner. That leads you to the ticket booth to board the large steam boat, which takes you to a log cabin in the US! There was a pretend garden, fishing rods, and lots of interactive fun for the kiddos. My son is only one and a half, but still had so much fun! Some older kids (around 6-7) came and also had a blast. It's the perfect place to come on a rainy day and you want to get out of the house.

I got introduced to Edgewater Athletic Club via a swim program they host…read more Pros: - They have a nice sized pool that has several swim lanes for beginner swimmers and more advanced swimmers. - The staff member at the entrance was very nice. He was always willing to loan me a towel every time I visited. - The swim program is setup every well! It took me a few rounds to land a spot because it's very competitive but it was worth the wait. The instructors are very knowledgeable and helped me feel more comfortable in the water. Cons: - The pool is cleaned monthly and you can really see the difference of it being recently cleaned vs collecting whatever in the pool. - The locker rooms could use an update and a deep cleaning. I wish they had a mix of short lockers with the full sized lockers so we don't have to stuff all of our items into multiple lockers when it gets colder outside.

I've been here a couple times for swim class for my infant. The facility is small but not bad. The…read morepool is good, and the equipment looked well-kept. The staff member who was there when we visited was always friendly and charmed by my little one (not the only reason I liked her!) and always had a mask--in June 2024 when most people have abandoned masking. The location made it near impossible for me to get to swim class so I'm going to have to look for another option, but if it had worked out I would have been happy to continue using this facility.

We had my daughter and her friends' birthday party at Fit City Kids, and it was absolutely…read morewonderful! The facility was super clean, with something for kids of all ages to enjoy, and the staff was amazing from start to finish. A special shoutout to Aya, Saraid, and Melanie--they truly went above and beyond! They helped us set up a beautiful balloon arch, served the kids, kept everything organized, and even handled all the cleanup afterward. They made the entire party feel so easy and stress-free for us. We had such a great experience and will definitely be hosting another party at Fit City Kids! Highly recommend!

We had our son's 5th birthday party at Fit City Kids, and it was such an amazing experience! From…read morethe moment we arrived, the staff and manager went above and beyond to make everything stress-free. They even helped us unload everything from the car and decorate. They kept the party running smoothly by making announcements over the intercom to let everyone know when it was time to eat and when we were cutting the cake. It made the whole event so organized. My son had the best birthday, and all of our family and friends told us how much fun they had. The facility was very clean, and the staff were incredibly friendly, helpful, and attentive throughout the entire party. I highly recommend Fit City Kids to anyone looking for a fun, organized, and stress-free place to host a birthday party. Thank you for making our son's special day so memorabl

Swift is remarkably special place. If you are looking at schools in the area, I strongly recommend…read moreyou reach out to Swift to learn more and maybe even take a tour! Its a specialty school. Pre-K through 8th grade with an integrated Fine and Performing Arts Magnet program. The fine arts program integrates music, art, dance and drama into the regular school day. The facilities include a pool and swimming lessons during PE. They are a school in good standing, and take tremendous pride as being one of the most diverse schools in all of CPS!

The staff are amazing and very professional. the principal…read moreand his assistant are great responsible people . our 2 boys are lucky to be there . just they need to control more seriously and strongly some bad behaviors from some kids so the school will be IDEAL. the school deserves to get 7 or 8 out of 10 . or 4 out of 5