CHICAGO – If you’ve never seen the farcical ensemble theater chestnut “Noises Off,” you will see no better version than on the Steppenwolf Theatre stage, now at their northside Chicago venue through November 3rd. For tickets and details for this riotous theater experience, click NOISES OFF.
African American
Theater Review: Raven Theatre’s ‘The Prodigal Daughter’ is HerStory
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 9, 2024 - 10:41amCHICAGO – One of the open secrets of Chicago is its horrible racist past, which remains like an echo. Playwright Joshua Allen has been exploring this theme in his Grand Boulevard Trilogy – the last chapter talking place during the infamous 1919 race riots – in Raven Theatre’s “The Prodigal Daughter.” For tickets and info, click TPD.
Audio Theater Review: 'Joe Turner’s Come and Gone’ at the Goodman
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 28, 2024 - 9:23am- A.C. Smith
- African American
- American Century Cycle
- Anthony Fleming III
- Audio
- August Wilson
- Black Experience
- Dexter Zollicoffer
- Goodman Theatre
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
- Kylah Jones
- Pat Über TV
- Patrick McDonald
- TayLar
- Theater Review
- Tim Rhoze
- YouTube
- Theater, TV, DVD & Blu-Ray
CHICAGO – The late playwright August Wilson left a gift to the world in the form of his “American Century Cycle,” a series of plays each individually set in a decade of the 20th Century, focusing on the black experience. Chicago’s Goodman Theatre presents Wilson’s “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone,” now through May 19th, 2024 (click here).
Podtalk: Filmmaker Raven Jackson for ‘All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 9, 2023 - 2:03pmCHICAGO – Reflective and observational films … as if the audience is inside looking out along with the the characters … are very rare and takes a quality creator to pull off. One such film is “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt” and it is written and directed by a quality creator, the poet-turned-filmmaker Raven Jackson.!—break—>
Audio Film Review: Wartime Flyboys in Black & White in ‘Devotion’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 24, 2022 - 9:03pmCHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review for “Devotion,” a based-on-truth scenario regarding Jesse Brown, a Navy black aviator who broke through barriers during the 1950s Korean War, in theaters on November 23rd.!—break—>
Podtalk: Kevin Shaw on HIs Documentary ‘Let the Little Light Shine’ at Gene Siskel Film Center
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 15, 2022 - 5:37pmCHICAGO – The City of Chicago, like a number of American cities, has gone through incredible transformations in the last 25 years. Whole neighborhoods left for dead during the white flight of the 1950s-70s have been gentrified and re-settled with luxury housing … often to the detriment of those who remained there throughout many difficult years.
In Memoriam: Merri Dee, Chicago Broadcasting Legend, Dies at 85
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 19, 2022 - 10:29pmCHICAGO – She was a pioneer in a broadcasting business at a time when it was mostly white and male. The incomparable Merri Dee was a fixture in Chicago media beginning in the 1960s, breaking barriers as a black woman TV personality and newscaster. She passed away in Chicago on March 16th, 2022, at age 85.
Flashback: Daphne Maxwell Reid, Aunt Vivian of ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 21, 2020 - 11:29pmCHICAGO – On November 18th, 2020, the streaming service HBO Max premiered “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion.” 30 years after the popular sitcom debuted, the primary cast got together to talk about the joys and foibles of developing family ties while creating and performing their characters in the show.
Film Reviews: HollywoodChicago.com On-Air Reviews of ‘7500’ & ‘Da 5 Bloods’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 23, 2020 - 9:59amCHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on June 11th, 2020, discussing new VOD releases “The King of Staten Island” and “Working Man.” !—break—>
Podtalk: Director Trey Edward Shults and Cast on Making ‘Waves’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 21, 2019 - 10:42amCHICAGO – One of the best and more emotional films of 2019 is “Waves,” the third film of director Trey Edward Shults (“It Comes at Night”). The eclectic filmmaker explores the viability of family when a crisis occurs, especially through the young actors portraying brother and sister, Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Taylor Russell.
Podtalk: Writer/Producer Alice Austen on ‘Give Me Liberty,’ in Chicago through Sept. 26, 2019
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 19, 2019 - 6:22pmCHICAGO – Moving from writing plays for the stage to writing for film may seem like a natural transition. But at the roots in each of these separate storytelling forms there are different ways of formulating the connection between dialogue and visuals. Alice Austen made this transition when she wrote – with director Kirill Mikhanovsky – the story and screenplay for “Give Me Liberty.”