Live Entertainment Blog

If you’re in Chicago in the next couple of years, you might find that you have entered a city of art. It’s a great place for you to be, with a lot of different kinds of artwork being tried out. After all, the city has had Picasso in between two buildings for decades. They have had a world-class art museum for many decades too. Now Jim Lasko will be expanding that. Lasko was most recently artistic director for the local Redmoon Theater Company, which has tried some of the most daring artistic events in recent years. You might have seen them put on a puppet show of Caligari, among other things. He’s going to be turning the city into an artistic canvas of sorts, merging architect and artist. It’s going to be beautiful and will probably be accompanied by a lot of plays, concerts and other events.

Ellie Greenwich has passed away. She was ill with pneumonia and then had a heart attack as a complication. She had collaborated with Phil Spector, Pete Norman, and Jeff Barry over the course of her career. She helped pen such top pop hits of the 60s as “Da Doo Ron Ron,” “Then He Kissed Me,” and “Hanky Panky.” Even though she might not have been as well known, a lot of her music is so iconic that you can hardly avoid hearing it, even now. If you listen to an “oldies” station, you’ll probably hear at least one of her songs within 2 hours. It would probably be even faster today, because of her passing. We remember her and we will enjoy some of her songs today in memory of her. Thanks for the great tunes Ellie!

Apparently the new production of The Bacchae is so strange as to be practically impossible to connect with. This show is about the animal that resides in man and that it’s impossible to get rid of it. But for some reason, the new production, though guided by JoAnne Akalaitis and Philip Glass, doesn’t quite hit the right marks for a lot of people. The New York Times reviewer took special exception to the music, which he said sounded like Gilbert and Sullivan in a minor key and “Abba, gone Indonesian.” I’ll leave it up to you to figure out what that actually means, but it’s always very interesting and fun to see a new production of something as old as Euripedes. When the show really gets off the ground, it will be a lot of fun to see, but for now it’s still finding traction and I’m sure a lot of the tweaks that they make in the next few weeks will be very helpful.

Now that it has been 40 years since the original Woodstock Festival happened in upstate New York and it is still recognized as one of the most important events in rock and roll history. This year, for the anniversary, there is a tour including some of the most iconic Woodstock bands who are still around and playing music together. It’s nice to see that kind of event, and people enjoy the music just as much as they did back then. But it’s such a different world so some of the music doesn’t fit in the way it used to. And some of the bands are missing a few of their best and most recognizable players. They are touring more than a dozen different places in the country and are bringing in some large crowds. It’s sad to see some of these people have aged so much, and some of them haven’t performed in quite awhile. But it’s a show worth seeing, believe me! Check out the Heroes of Woodstock tour if you get the chance!

What do you expect from a performance of Camelot? This is a musical that people are always quite excited to see and hear. The style of the show is different from what most people would happily watch today, but it’s not a bad show. It’s just more sentimental than the realism and ironic styles that we hear about now. The allusions to folk tales, however, seem like they could be straight out of the modern world. And the music is great. We’ve known that for years! If you like musicals, then you probably know Camelot already. If you don’t know it, then you’re in for a real treat because it’s one of the best musical to be composed in the last 50 years. So get yourself in and enjoy it!

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia tickets are available now for all their upcoming live shows. The show consists of the cast of the show singing songs from the musical ‘The Nightman Cometh’. People can enjoy this really quality cast doing what they’re good at. If you’ve seen the show, you might not know that they are that good at singing and dancing, but they definitely are. This is the kind of fun that you don’t want to miss, because it’s always entertaining. As you know, the show is really funny and follows “The Gang” as they run a pub in Philadelphia. It is one of the wittiest shows on television and you shouldn’t miss the cast when they come to your area live!

The Importance of Being Earnest has always been one of the world’s favorite pieces and it is one of Oscar Wilde’s best contributions to English language theater. The newest production at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival is one of the better productions in recent times. The director knows both the basic wit of the piece as well as the great aspects that show what the English world at that time was about and mocks it. It will remain in people’s minds as a great production of it that kept all the best style and class that this show is supposed to have. The actors have their characterizations figured out. It never hurts to have such a good script to work with or to understand it so well! Check it out!

Aerosmith star Steven Tyler was taken to a hospital by helicopter after a show this week. The sound system at the stadium had gone out and, waiting for it to be fixed, he decided to dance around the stage and have a good time. This would entertain the audience and keep it all fun. But the stage was wet and so he slipped and fell onto a couple of fans and ultimately onto the floor. He hurt his neck, head and shoulder, but it sounds like he will be ok in the end. His daughter announced to fans that he’s ok and thankful for their prayers and goodwill. He was joking and talking with the doctors as he left the place. Aerosmith obviously cancelled the rest of the show after the accident.

Sir Paul McCartney is back in the performing side of the world. McCartney has been working hard on his show for Flushing, Queens, NYC this year. He and Beatles performed there many years ago as one of their first American performances, in Shea Stadium. Now he’s one of the biggest people in the rock world and he’s getting back into action. When you want to see McCartney, he will be on tour for the near future and you’ll like his music even now. His 2.5 hour show was just as good as ever, with touching music and a great atmosphere. You wouldn’t think that one performer could hold attention that well, but his performances in New York were great! Surely the rest of his performances will be very nice too!