3+ hour, 36+ min ago  (289+ words) Visiting Second Story Bar is like stepping into a time machine that takes you somewhere that shouldn't exist at the place and time that it does. Its low-key Streeterville entrance feels like a secret'yes, it's up those dingy, carpeted stairs'and…...

8+ hour, 36+ min ago  (44+ words) Best new club for queer and trans people getting started with strength training'Chicago Reader Above the Bar 2000 N. Western, abovethebarlife.com Devyn-Marshall Brown (DMB) (he/him) is a Black trans-masculine journalist employed as the social justice reporter at the Chicago Reader....

3+ mon, 1+ week ago  (146+ words) So in March, when Corgan announced a string of performances to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Mellon Collie by reimagining its music in collaboration with Lyric Opera of Chicago, the predictable fanfare came with some questions. Would the opera format elevate…...

8+ mon, 3+ day ago  (1015+ words) Invictus Theatre's revival of Tony Kushner's "Gay Fantasia on National Themes" is entertaining, moving, and intellectually stimulating. With pitch-perfect performances and top-drawer design, Invictus Theatre Company's production of Angels in America is bold, vivid theatrical storytelling. Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize'winning…...

8+ mon, 1+ week ago  (1041+ words) John Peller's two decades as an AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) staff member have been marked by highs and lows. In 2010, after President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, millions of people living with HIV or vulnerable…...

8+ mon, 2+ week ago  (191+ words) Icons" temporarily imagines a different world, in which the familiar dreams of individuals with Down syndrome become palpable to all. Hey. We see you. Look too quickly at Icons: An Exhibition About the Right to Exist" and you might think…...

9+ mon, 4+ hour ago  (430+ words) At nearly every drag and burlesque show, I get asked the same question: How long have you been doing this? I never really know how to respond. The easy, sort of official answer is that I had my draglesque debut…...

9+ mon, 8+ hour ago  (116+ words) What's now and what's next in visual arts, architecture, literature, and more. Chicago Reader staff writer Micco Caporale (they/them) is an award-winning journalist and Korn-fed midwesterner bouncing their way through basement shows, warehouse parties, and art galleries. They're interested…...

11+ mon, 3+ day ago  (611+ words) Shawn Mulcahy (he/him) is the Chicago Reader's news editor. He joined the Reader in 2023. He previously worked at the Texas Tribune and WFSU News, and his writing has appeared in the Washington Post, Bolts, the Guardian, and others. Mulcahy…...