Arts

Rochelle interviews the director of an upcoming opera production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Wary of an outsider's portrayal of the Midwest, Rebecca leaves Kingdom City very pleasantly surprised. 

Krannert will honor the local military community with Tuesday night's performance by the Band of the Royal Marines and the Pipes, Drums, and Highland Dancers of the Scots Guards.

Mara previews this weekend's edition of PechaKucha Night Champaign-Urbana and introduces you to the eleven speakers who will entertain, educate and inspire you in a mere six minutes and forty seconds each.

Meghan chats with director J.W. Morissette about the upcoming play Kingdom City at Krannert Center of Performing Arts. 

Last Thursday marked the opening of four new exhibitions at KAM, so Sarah attended the gala and gives us a glimpse of the exploration opportunities now available. 

Award winning composer and jazz musician Jeff Beal gives us insight on his guest performance at Krannert of his prior works in the CUSO orchestral series.

What do you get when you go home for your mother's funeral and bump into the local cupcake entrepreneur? Self-discovery, humor, and baked goods.

Jeff Nelson explores the unique experience of sitting on the stage to hear the rising stars of classical music at KCPA's Sunday Salons.

This weekend, Twin City Squared will be staging a moving and beautiful work, the dramatic poetry series For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf by Ntozake Shange. Rebecca speaks with the cast and crew to see what we can expect. 

Jimin talks with Jaclyn Loewenstein, director of the Station Theatre's upcoming play, American Wee-Pie.

The Moscow Festival Ballet offers three different different performances at the Krannert. Assistant Artistic Director Alexander Daev gives us the details.

A passel of Smile Politely writers interview and take a tour of a local company that makes both museum exhibits and a habit of hiring theatre majors. 

I sat down with Sara Paige, a local artist and graduate student to discuss her motivations and ideas behind her art.

Jimin reviews Jake Aurelian and Ripper the Clown's newest book, The Life & Mimes (& Various Times) of Ripper the Clown: The Autobiography of an Unconventional Time Traveler.

Meghan reviews Nunsense, a hilarious play complete with singing nuns, audience quizzes, and even a tap-dance routine. 

Stephen catches up with local artist Phil Strang to discuss the art walk he’s created across a variety of businesses in downtown Urbana.

A brand-new company is in town and staging a production during the downtime in the local theatre scene. Rebecca talks with director Garth Gersten about why people should take time out of their busy schedules for a little Nunsense!

Rebecca revisits The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds to see just what kind of growth has occurred since the preview. 

One of the North Pole's most popular residents visits Krannert Center on Thursday night as the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra presents a energetic evening of holiday music and fun.

Aaliyah attended Figure One art gallery's new exhibit, Beyond the Cup. Drinking was involved. Here's the scoop. 

Rochelle takes in the surreal but friendly spectacle of the Christmas ballet.

A microscopic part of a whole, Centum Cellulosa brings small talk to a big subject at Urbana's IMC. 

Latrelle Bright brings her production of a Pulitzer prize-winning play to the Station Theatre beginning this weekend. 

Meghan looks forward to the C-U production of The Nutcracker as a magical way to start off the hoiday season. 

The University of Illinois' chamber orchestra presents its holiday tradition of Mozart and Messiah.

Meghan learns more about the martial arts dojo in Downtown Urbana that has been serving the Champaign-Urbana community for over 40 years.

Jimin gets an inside look at the upcoming musical The Snow Queen, put on by the Champaign Park District Youth Theatre program.

Mara reviews Parkland Theatre's crowd-pleasing season opener.

Friday, November 14th, brought the CUDO Pro Show’s 2015 opening night reception to downtown Champaign. In addition to food, adult beverages, and live music, guests were treated to the opportunity to both view and learn more about a wide variety of local professional design work.

Consumed, a movie filmed locally, will be premiering at the Art Theater November 17th and 18th. Brett Hayes, the producer of the film and co-owner of Shatterglass Studios, had a few words to add on the process of making the film and the community that helped spawn it. 

Rochelle is (mostly) delighted by Dance at Illinois' fall concert.

The CUDO Pro Show, which highlights local professional design, opens this Friday.

Jimin sits down with some of the directors and cast of What You Will Shakespeare Company's upcoming Romeo and Juliet production.

Rebecca discusses impermanence with multiple-Grammy-nominated composer Darcy James Argue and Vertigo author/illustrator Danijel Zezelj, in preparation for Brooklyn Babylon. 

Sam caught the CUDO Plays event in Downtown Urbana last weekend, and recaps it here.

Meghan chats with Christine Sevec-Johnson, the director of Noises Off! being held at Parkland Theater about the ups, downs, and their own hilarious moments of putting on a satire about the craziness of theater.

Meghan chats with Chen about his upcoming gallery called The Garden Metro that explores the impacts of industrialization on a community and asks the question just how much should we give up in the name of progress?

Jimin attends the Station Theatre’s production of Mine and walks away examining the fragile line between madness and reality.

Berlioz's Beatrice & Benedict burnishes a beloved and boisterous “B-plot”, begetting beauty and barbed banter.

The Bollywood Masala Orchestra and Dancers of India will bring their exuberant musical celebration of India to Krannert this week.

There’s nothing like sitting around a campfire, trying to tell the scariest story possible. Saturday’s performance at Urbana Free library will be nothing like sitting around a campfire, but the chances for a scare are high.

The entire cast of Mine lends their thoughts to Rebecca in preparation for this new ensemble play being staged at the Station. 

Rochelle is excited to see James Brown honored by Phildanco's powerful and kinetic dance company.

We got the chance to see the Illinois Theatre's production of The Other Shore and it was a philosophical whirlwind. Here's a peek before you go check it out for yourself. 

Given the multitude of forms such an abstract experimental play could take, Bethany tries to give the production coming to Krannert a little shape. 

Rochelle goes to the Illinois Theater's production of 1984, and comes away thinking about state-sponsored torture and the nature of live performance.

It turns out that for something called “circus”, the Peking Dreams performance features drama, theatrics and dance as opposed to the plotless clowns and tricks to which Western audiences are accustomed.