All stories by Hannah Edgar on BroadwayStars

Thursday, November 16, 2023

Review: Cast lights up Lyric’s especially bleak ‘Jenůfa’ — and that’s saying something by Hannah Edgar

This opera premiered in 1904, a year after the death of Czech composer Leoš Janáček’s daughter. That trauma seeped into every brutal detail.

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 02:31PM
Monday, November 6, 2023

Review: ‘The Daughter of the Regiment’ at Lyric Opera is fun, fizzy and 50 years overdue by Hannah Edgar

And was that the first ever Lyric encore? Tenor Lawrence Brownlee stops the show on opening night.

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 12:00PM
Thursday, March 16, 2023

Review: With a cast like this, ‘Carmen’ at Lyric Opera is a sure thing by Hannah Edgar

J’Nai Bridges and Charles Castronovo are the central lovers, telling a rich and densely layered story.

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 02:42PM
Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Separation of church and stage? Athenaeum Center’s mission shift divides former tenants and employees by Hannah Edgar

Newly renamed and the lobby renovated, the Athenaeum, owned by the neighboring St. Alphonsus parish, has moved toward more religious programming and keeps closer watch on the shows being sta…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 06:45AM
Friday, November 11, 2022

Review: Lyric Opera’s ‘Don Carlos’ gains momentum as it goes on — all five acts of it by Hannah Edgar

Chicago's Lyric marched to its own drumbeat for this French “Don Carlos.” This is not the Italian “Don Carlo,” as Giuseppe Verdi’s opera is usually performed.

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 06:30AM
Wednesday, September 28, 2022

With Natural Brown Prom Queen, experimental pop fiddler Sudan Archives looks inward by Hannah Edgar

When she filmed the music video for “OMG BRITT,” a trap anthem off of her new record, Natural Brown Prom Queen, Brittney Parks was determined to smash a violin on […] The post With <…

SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM
Tuesday, September 27, 2022

The Reader’s guide to World Music Festival Chicago 2022 by Philip Montoro, Leslie Allison, Leor Galil, Aaron Cohen, Jamie Ludwig, Sandra Treviño, Catalina Maria Johnson, Monica Kendrick, Joshua Minsoo Kim, James Porter, Hannah Edgar, Steve Krakow, Bill Meyer, Jacob Arnold, Noah Berlatsky, Kelley Tatro and Mark G

The term “world music” has never been adequate to the task we’ve set it—even in its most benign reading, it implies a division between the listener and the rest of […] The post The…

SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 09:15PM
Thursday, September 15, 2022

Nicole Mitchell and Fabio Paolizzo’s Medusae brokers a truce between man and machine by Hannah Edgar

Flutist Nicole Mitchell and composer Fabio Paolizzo first performed together live in 2018, in a concert at the University of California, Irvine. More accurately, Mitchell played a duo set wi…

SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM
Wednesday, August 31, 2022

The Reader’s Jazz Festival jukebox by Hannah Edgar

Like any music fest, the Chicago Jazz Festival is basically a Choose Your Own Adventure that you listen to. It’s even more multifarious than most—not only does it take over […] The pos…

SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 10:56AM
Thursday, August 25, 2022

Matt Ulery’s Become Giant is a towering addition to the bassist-composer’s catalog by Hannah Edgar

Most bassists have to be chameleons. It’s more or less in the job description when your instrument can be played upright or electric, be bowed or plucked, and appear in […] The post Matt…

SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM
Friday, August 5, 2022

From the husk of the old Morton Salt factory, a new music venue rises by Hannah Edgar

For as long as Bruce Finkelman can remember, the Morton Salt factory has set his heart racing. It’s not that he gets salt cravings any worse than the next guy. Rather, he remembers that wh…

SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 11:08AM
Monday, August 1, 2022

Back Alley Jazz renews a south-side tradition by Hannah Edgar

In 2018, Back Alley Jazz, an offshoot of the Hyde Park Jazz Festival, thrummed the heartstrings of nostalgic south-siders when it resuscitated the popular neighborhood-alley jams that took p…

SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 05:30PM
Wednesday, July 6, 2022

Moor Mother’s Jazz Codes needs little decoding by Hannah Edgar

Camae Ayewa, aka Moor Mother, has always been one to cite her sources. In addition to performing as a member of Philly-based free-jazz collective Irreversible Entanglements, the contralto wo…

SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 01:00PM
Sunday, June 19, 2022

Review: Haymarket Opera’s fun ‘L’Amant anonyme’ makes history, with a wink by Hannah Edgar

Joseph Bologne, the son of a Senegalese woman and her French enslaver, was nothing short of a Parisian celebrity in his time. This is his only surviving opera, and it's great fun.

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 12:25PM
Monday, June 13, 2022

With the spiritual jazz of I AM, Isaiah Collier and Michael Shekwoaga Ode go Beyond the cosmos by Hannah Edgar

Saxophonist Isaiah Collier and his celebrated quartet, the Chosen Few, are among our city’s mightiest conduits of spiritual jazz. So when Collier and Chosen Few percussionist Michael Shekw…

SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM
Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Makaya McCraven doubly decodes Blue Note classics with Deciphering the Message live shows by Hannah Edgar

Drummer Makaya McCraven has always been a bit of a rabble-rouser. He mixes audio from his live gigs with studio overdubs in intricately layered tracks that feel like jazz approached with a D…

SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM
Monday, May 16, 2022

Elastic Arts’ AfriClassical Futures series continues with the Honourable Elizabeth A. Baker by Hannah Edgar

Since January 2020, vocalist Julian Otis and Elastic Arts executive director Adam Zanolini have programmed AfriClassical Futures, a series offering an antidote to the overwhelming whiteness …

SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 01:00PM
Tuesday, December 8, 2020

The remarkable life of Art Castillo and Moulin Jimmy’s by Hannah Edgar

Tacked to the wall of a beloved Hyde Park dive, a time capsule hides in plain sight. "Looking for someone?"…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 04:20PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards