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Your up-to-the-minute guide to Chicago events, restaurants, bars and nightlife
Original Rainbow Cone re-opens for the season this weekend.
Scooter's Frozen Custard and Original Rainbow Cone to reopen
Posted by Amy Cavanaugh on Mar 6, 2014 at 4:50pm
The end of winter is in sight! Not only is it supposed to near 40 degrees tomorrow, but this weekend marks two annual harbingers of spring: the reopening of Scooter's Frozen Custard and Original Rainbow Cone.
Samuel D. Hunter Photograph: John Baker
Victory Gardens Theater announces 2014-15 season
Posted by Kris Vire on Mar 6, 2014 at 3:41pm
Victory Gardens Theater has revealed a slate of five plays for its 2014-15 season, back up from the current season's truncated three titles. The company will stage world premieres by Lauren Yee and Marcus Gardley, along with Chicago premieres of works by Samuel D. Hunter, Colm Tóibín and Ayad Akhtar.
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Dana Black, Pamela Mae Davis, Justine C. Turner and Matt Holzfeind in Miss Marx: or, The Involuntary Side Effect of Living at Strawdog Theatre Company Photograph: Chris Ocken
Strawdog Theatre plans accessible performance of Miss Marx
Posted by Kris Vire on Mar 6, 2014 at 3:10pm
Strawdog Theatre Company plans to move its current production of Philip Dawkins's Miss Marx: or The Involuntary Side Effect of Living offsite to Victory Gardens for one night, Thursday, March 13, so it can offer a fully accessible experience for audience members. Unlike Strawdog's longtime Lakeview home, at the top of a steep set of stairs above an Italian restaurant and a liquor store, Victory Gardens' Prince Charitable Trust Rehearsal Room is accessible to wheelchair users by ramp and elevator.
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Leghorn Chicken opens tomorrow
Posted by Amy Cavanaugh on Mar 5, 2014 at 3:15pm
Maxed out on fried chicken yet? Good. At long last, Leghorn Chicken (959 N Western Ave), a new chicken sandwich spot from Element Collective, opens tomorrow at 11am.
The menu, from Jared Van Camp and Sieger Bayer, is pretty simple: There are two $6 chicken sandwich styles (Nashville hot or pickle brined), which are available in breast or leg pieces on a buttermilk biscuit or house bun.
Lisa D'Amour Photograph: Zack Smith
Steppenwolf Theatre Company announces 2014-15 season
Posted by Kris Vire on Mar 5, 2014 at 11:53am
Steppenwolf Theatre Company has revealed four of the five plays in its next subscription season, all of them new to Chicago. The season opens with the Chicago premiere of Conor McPherson's The Night Alive, with director Henry Wishcamper making his Steppenwolf debut (September 18–November 16). It's followed by Airline Highway, a world premiere from Lisa D'Amour (pictured) about a New Orleans burlesque performer who holds her own funeral…
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Our skyline is beautiful, but it's not enough to keep us here.
16 reasons why we can't leave Chicago, even after this evil winter
Posted by Laura Baginski on Mar 4, 2014 at 2:17pm
You're not human if, after the third polar vortex, the hundreth snowfall, the bazillionth delayed El train, you haven't considered leaving this city. It's been a winter that's tested our will to live, much less our willingness to live in Chicago.
So on this, the 177th anniversary of Chicago's incorporation as a city, we've compiled the reasons why we at Time Out Chicago are committed to this city.
Paczki
Uber will deliver paczki tomorrow
Posted by Amy Cavanaugh on Mar 3, 2014 at 4:05pm
You'll need to line up at some local bakeries starting at 5am tomorrow if you want paczki, but if you'd rather sleep in, just open your Uber app. For $20, they'll deliver six paczki from Do-Rite Donuts, some Mardi Gras swag, and passes to Go Cycle so you can burn off all the fat and sugar.
Oscars 2014: 10 things we learned
Posted by Jake Malooley on Mar 3, 2014 at 4:02pm
The months of speculation are over, the speeches have been uncorked and the parties have ended (though we'll never know with that Jared Leto guy). What went down at last night's Academy Awards? In short, a whole lotta sincerity.
Subterranean Photograph: Martha Williams
Lincoln Lodge quickly settles into new Subterranean home
Posted by Jake Malooley on Mar 3, 2014 at 3:01pm
The new Wicker Park address suits the long-running comedy show "This is a new era for the Lincoln Lodge," stand-up comedian Ricky Gonzalez announced Friday evening from the small stage in the ground-floor bar of Subterranean. The host's excitement was palpable, but his words were hard to hear, owing to the fact that his microphone wasn't on. The brief technical difficulty was the only apparent hiccup as Lincoln Lodge made a strong debut at its boozy new home.
The funniest Oscars tweets
Posted by Laura Baginski on Mar 3, 2014 at 1:51pm
The 2014 Oscars happened. Gravity grabbed the most statues, Pharrell's hat came back, and host Ellen DeGeneres posted a selfie that became the most retweeted tweet off all time in just over 30 minutes. Also, pizza. From the moment Jennifer Lawrence tripped before even making it inside the building to Steve McQueen's victory dance when 12 Years a Slave took the award for Best Picture, comedians, critics and commenters were keeping track of every high and low of the evening.
Michael Urie in Buyer & Cellar Photograph: Sandra Coudert
Broadway in Chicago sets Fall 2014 subscription season
Posted by Kris Vire on Mar 3, 2014 at 12:20pm
Fall starts in the spring this year for Broadway in Chicago. The presenters said today that the Fall 2014 subscription season will kick off in May with Buyer & Cellar. Most of the lineup, including Buyer & Cellar, has been announced separately already, including the October premiere of Amazing Grace, Dee Snider's Rock and Roll Christmas Tale, Newsies and Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella.
Audience members enjoyed an evening of sultry burlesque and circus acts at Moonlight Studios on March 1 as part of The Tease, a benefit for Chicago House. Photograph: Ashlee Rezin
The Tease benefit for Chicago House
Posted by Kris Vire on Mar 3, 2014 at 10:10am
A cast of more than 80 performers, including dancers, acrobats, jugglers, burlesque artists and more, packed the house at the new West Town event venue Moonlight Studios on Saturday night for The Tease, a seductive new performance benefit for Chicago House and its social service programs for LGBTQ individuals and families.
James Mercer and Brian Burton of Broken Bells bring the sci-fi pop of After the Disco to the Vic on March 1, 2014. Photograph:
Broken Bells at Vic Theatre
Posted by Brent DiCrescenzo on Mar 2, 2014 at 2:55pm
A fantastic slate of March concerts got off to a great start Broken Bells brought its second album to the Vic Theatre on Saturday 1. The new record is called After the Disco, but its offers its over mellow dance kicks—especially live. James Mercer started messing with groove on the Shins' Wincing the Night Away, and super-producer bandmate Brian "Danger Mouse" Burton has only help honed those skills
Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Jimmy Fallon and other brave souls take a dip in the icy Lake Michigan waters during the Polar Plunge, which raises money for the Special Olympics, on March 2, 2014. Photograph: Max Herman
Polar Plunge at North Avenue Beach
Posted by Laura Baginski on Mar 2, 2014 at 2:49pm
We'd call the people jumping in the lake today crazy if they weren't doing it for such a crazy-good cause. Throngs of scantily clad Polar Plungers, including Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Jimmy Fallon, braved the icy-cold water to raise money for the Special Olympics. Some just ran through the water while others submerged their whole bodies in the frigid lake. Fallon, for the record, wore a suit and tie, and gamely dived in.
Chiditarod IX teams donned costumes to take part in the shopping cart race and mobile food drive in West Town. Photograph: Bekki Y Wasmuth
Chiditarod contestants collect food, wear crazy costumes
Posted by Laura Baginski on Mar 2, 2014 at 2:14pm
Chiditarod, now in its ninth year, coincides with Alaska's Iditarod (which started today). What's the difference between the two? Well, first, Chiditarod uses shopping carts, not sleds. No huskies are involved in Chiditarod; instead, four people dressed in nutty costumes and one "musher" drag the cart from checkpoint (usually a bar) to checkpoint (bar).
Chicago Blackhawks square off against the Pittsburgh Penguins as part of the NHL Stadium Series at Soldier Field, March 1, 2014. Photograph: Joshua Mellin
Blackhawks vs. Penguins (photos)
Posted by Brent DiCrescenzo on Mar 2, 2014 at 12:18pm
Just a week ago Jonathan Toews and Sidney Crosby were teammates, biting into gold medals in Sochi, Russia. Last night in Soldier Field, you'd hardly know it, as the two jawed at each other in the middle of Soldier Field, when the Blackhawks hosted the Penguins as part of the NHL's outdoor Stadium Series.
Photo: Andrew Nawrocki
Public Eye: Addie Schmidt, 23, stylist
Posted by Jake Malooley on Feb 28, 2014 at 5:00pm
Is blue the warmest color?
Oh, this isn't hair color. It's just from my shampoo. It's not actually dye. I buy old-lady shampoo, the generic version of Clairol Shimmer Lights, that makes my hair this color. Gray hair can turn yellow, so they use a purple-tinted shampoo. The name brand smells like bug spray, but the generic one smells like violets.
This shot is Time Out Chicago's photo of the week, Feb 28, 2014. Photograph: @chicagomatt
Photo of the week for Feb 28, 2014
Posted by Laura Baginski on Feb 28, 2014 at 1:00pm
To close out the last week of February (thank baby Jesus), we chose this gorgeous shot by @chicagomatt. Taken from Northery Island, this photo shows a view of our lovely skyline we don't often get to see. In the foreground is one of three sculptures by Chicago artist Dessa Kirk called Daphne Garden, made from old car parts.
Heard on the street: February 27, 2014, edition
Posted by Jake Malooley on Feb 27, 2014 at 4:46pm
"Riding the 147 bus is like spending every commute sitting next to the mom from The Goonies."
"You know, that Dominick's actually looks pretty nice with no food in it."
"It tastes chemically moist."
Jonathan Hoenig, circa 1996, in "Pit Trading 101"
'Pit Trading 101' documentary a snapshot of Chicago's bygone trading pits
Posted by Jake Malooley on Feb 27, 2014 at 3:00pm
In 18-year-old footage from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange's University of Trading, students learn a now-dead language. The peculiar sign language (immortalized in Ferris Bueller's Day Off) allowed brokers to buy or sell specific numbers of contracts. Three fingers above your head means 30; wiggle those fingers, and it's 35. Palms in, you're buying; palms out, you're selling. "You can see twice as fast as you hear," an instructor at the University of Trading tells his students in "Pit Trading 101," a documentary that just became available on demand.
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