Buzz Magazine - Chicago Entertainment, News, Sports & Blogs

As some Americans look just for the simple food dishes to make them happy, others are looking for something extravagant. Some people are driven by seafood, others by pizza, but for quite some time the burger, for so many, has been comfortable All American food.

Hamburgers have long been consumed by Americans for years, but the wonderful ground meat delight didn’t start to become a staple in the American diet right away. At first when the hamburger was introduced, it was commonly served as fair food at county fairs. As we have come a long way with the burger, some Americans are still searching for the ultimate burger.

On our quest we entered the heavy metal realm of Kuma’s Corner at 2900 W. Belmont in Chicago, Illinois. The atmosphere is a corner bar that serves burgers with a nice little theme. The place is small for the business that Kuma’s attracts, so the wait can be long at times. As we arrived in mid-afternoon the place was packed and had to wait for about an hour for a seat as expected.

Once seated, you couldn’t help but to let your eyes wander at the way this place was decorated. Music memorabilia was all over the place! Album covers, pictures, and even a B.C. Rich bass guitar was up on the wall above the bar. Hard rock and heavy metal music is played during your dinner at a level that can be a little loud for some. If you are looking for a nice quiet place for conversation, Kuma’s may not be exactly for everyone. The music isn’t over powering where you can’t hear anything, but if trying to have a conversation, you may have to repeat yourself a couple of times. It really is a nice place to go on a date.

Every sandwich is named after a band, or song or something related to hard rock and heavy metal theme. The burgers at Kuma’s Corner all start out the same way, a 10 oz. burger on a pretzel roll. All of the burger creations can be served with either a chicken breast, a garden burger, or chicken tenders in place of the burger, but why would you want to do that at a burger place? They come with names like; Led Zepplin, Pantera, Megadeth, and Slayer. They have numerous choices on the menu, but the toppings are far beyond mustard and ketchup.

The Plague Bringer is topped with roasted garlic mayo, tortilla strips, a nice house made hot sauce, fresh garlic, pepper jack cheese, and sliced jalapenos. The garlic within this burger is guaranteed to ward off vampires; combined with heat from the bowels of hell, it makes a good burger. The zing of the hot sauce mixes well with the garlic in the mayo to cool it off a bit creating a lot of flavor. So much is going on in this burger it’s almost scary delicious.

The Kuma burger has a classic All American breakfast on top of it. Bacon, cheddar cheese, and a sunny-side up fried egg complete this trendy masterpiece. Putting it all together makes some nice comfort food. Biting through the pretzel roll and tasting the bacon, the meat, and the yoke from the egg mixed with everything; this is quite a tasty sandwich.

The Black Oak Arkansas burger is topped with a thick red wine BBQ sauce, bacon, aged white cheddar, and fried shallot rings. The burger was cooked to perfect temperature, the BBQ sauce is very thick almost like a paste rather than a sauce, but is unique and full of flavor. This is a fancy version of the bacon cheeseburger. The fried shallot rings topped off the burger nicely complementing all the other flavors well with a little sweetness.

Another favorite at Kuma’s is the macaroni and cheese. This is not the stuff out of the box and there is a long list of ingredients that can be added to this pasta dish. The options to your to add to your mac and cheese vary from meats like prosciutto and chicken to veggies like mushrooms and sundried tomatoes. Cooked in a nice creamy cheese sauce - a broiler crusted casserole style top gives this dish a nice all around taste and texture that couldn’t be better.

The portions are huge with all the dishes, burgers, or appetizers. A burger and fries from Kuma’s is enough to fill you up all day and at a fairly reasonable value maxing out at $13 for these delicious burger creations.  The beef patty can be cooked to your liking of rare, medium rare, or well done. It’s a nice sized burger that needs some spices. The burger itself was just a beef patty and didn’t seem to have any seasoning in it at all. Only complaint at all was the lack of seasoning to enhance the flavor, which is a big complaint when talking about food.

The wait staff is always very polite. It’s a small place and they need the customers to eat and clear the way.  Overall Kuma’s Corner is an excellent place to go and eat. The atmosphere is a delight to see for the head bangers of the world. The food is excellent and overall the wait staff is a class act.

In the quest for the ultimate burger, it has not been found yet and our search continues. Kuma’s Corner ranked high on the list and they make a delicious burger. Good quality ingredients, huge portions, and overall a good experience.  Between two burger critics Kuma’s ranked the place as a solid eight on the scale of one to ten, with ten being the highest. It’s definitely a worthy burger that with a little seasoning inside the meat, could easily reach eleven. We will be going back!

Irish playwright Martin McDonagh’s newest play, “A Behanding in Spokane” is his first set in America. It’s still one of his characteristic black comedies – a label that means it okay to laugh at others’ pain and suffering – but it comes across the pond and centers on a one-handed man. The sweaty-headed Carmichael lost his hand to a bunch of hillbillies in Spokane, Washington, and he’s been searching for it for the past 27 years. The hillbillies he long ago found and disposed of, but his hand still eludes him. Profile’s production of the play, similarly, seems to be searching for something; it has many of the essential parts – a smart head and occasional heart – but it’s missing something I can’t quite put my finger on.

 The unfinished business of Carmichael (broodingly played by Darell W. Cox) brings him to a decrepit hotel for a promised transaction. An enterprising young couple (Levenix Riddle and Sara Greenfield tell Carmichael they have his hand, but they underestimate his intolerance for trickery and his capacity for violence. The hand-off plays out in real-time, with the young couple disagreeing on the con and ending up playing a twisted carnival game for their lives – tossing severed hands at a candle that is burning down to a bucket of gasoline. Caught in the middle is a delightfully naïve, but still flawed, receptionist, given a playful characterization by Eric Burgher.

At its core, A Behanding in Spokane is about justice and how it plays out between these four individuals – a man seeking revenge disregards the law, a young couple unethically try to swindle him, and a receptionist serves as an accidental judge with his own grievances. In the plot-heavy piece, McDonagh digs into how a grudge can consume and destroy a life, leaving it more mangled and blackened than a 27-year-old severed hand. But from a man obsessed with location (his play titles almost always include a geography: The Beauty Queen of Leenane, A Skull in Connemara, The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Banshees of Inisheer), the placement of the play in America is not accidental. In his black comedy, he features a black character (the young Toby) and satirizes political correctness and confronts America’s racist past. Toby’s girlfriend Marilyn reprimands her captor, while he wields a gun, for his homophobia and use of racial epithets.  Her boyfriend is a bit more practical about the situation.  In short, he doesn’t mind being called a name if it means he doesn’t get murdered.

The relationship between this pair is what makes the piece lose its early momentum. Once Carmichael leaves the pair alone, the piece dips in intensity, focusing on the yelling of two young folks. Their screams and banter become a bit monotonous, although I/m not sure exactly I would react in the face of impending death. The layout of the Profiles Theatre storefront puts the audience close to the actors and on both sides of the stage. The effect is Brechtian – you’re never lost in the dream of a story, you’re constantly aware that the other half of the audience– and intimate – you’re close to the characters, which can be frightening with a villain like Carmichael or disappointing when a moment isn’t properly directed.

McDonagh’s repetitive dialogue, rhythmically perfected by a talented cast of 4, is a strong source of humor, but occasionally Snyder has directed his cast toward pathos rather than the laughs the author intended. In the face of such dark and tragic comedy, sometimes the only response is laughter – aided by the fact that these are fictional characters in an imagined situation. Even still, McDonagh’s impression of the United States are as dark as his comedy – we’re a violent, homophobic, racist people that have overcorrected by becoming PC and sensitive to the point of nonsense. How far off is his assessment? I had never heard of Spokane, Washington until McDonagh’s play, but I recently received an e-mail which referenced the city three times. In a list of recent LGBT hate crimes were the following:

- September 21, 2011: Steve Pfefferle, 38, was choked with a rope and repeatedly struck with a piece of metal by a man in Spokane, Washington after leaving Dempsey’s, a local gay bar.

- September 28, 2011: Michael Jepsen, 45, was hit, pushed, and called a “faggot” by a group of people outside Irv’s, a bar in Spokane, Washington.

- October 7, 2011: Danny Hawkins, a gay rights advocate, was asked if he was gay before being beaten by an unnamed man in Spokane, Washington after leaving a local gay bar.

And that’s nothing to laugh about.

I actually started cutting my teeth as a booking agent 20 years ago. by booking my own band into nightclubs. It seemed straightforward at first, there was a contact name and number and process for submitting your band's music but then I found out each club had a huge stack of unopened music and it was difficult to get the manager on the phone. If the manager wasn't a friend or at least a friend of a friend who liked your band you may get the runaround for months or wind up being given an opening slot at 6:30 PM on a Tuesday night that you can't possibly get your fans to show up at, let alone make any money playing. After a few rounds of this time wasting futility, I learned that by booking other bands along with my own for a whole night of music or a festival, I could get a lot more respect from the club, and more control over the split of funds from the door and which band got the prime slot- mine.

 *(above) Kimberly Katz with Taylor Negron

Theatrical booking by comparison is about 100 times more selective, complex, political, and cliquish than club/musical booking.

For ease of explanation, I group theatrical bookings in three tiers, based on length of run, not size of venue. For example a Tier One booking is for one or two nights max including speaking engagements. It doesn't matter if the theater is 300 hundred seats or 3000. A Tier Two engagement is a week or longer up to two weeks max. A Tier Three is the most intensive booking logistically; it lasts for two weeks or longer and may include a run extension of several months in the same venue.

After 25 years in the New York and Chicago theater scene, I know exactly what each theater or venue is like to see a show in from top to bottom. I know what type of experience theater goers and my productions' members will have right down to the restrooms, bar area, parking options, and disabled access. I am aware of the general age and personality of the theaters' subscriber audience as a whole and I am aware of the success or failure of each of their past productions season to season.  The artistic directors and general managers who decide which productions to run, know me from reviewing their shows for Buzz and are friends from college or just respect my taste in theater and talent.

Booking a theater for a production is a lot like hosting an important party. I have to find the best room with the best vibe for that style and size party, with all the right amenities, ample parking and bar/restaurant foot traffic in the right neighborhood.  Then if there is competition for that venue, and those dates, I have to really sell my production to a number of company heads based on what I project will be it's success and get the best deal financially for my clients.

Of the three aspects, the vision, the budget and the schedule, the schedule is actually the most pivotal. The vision for a show changes and evolves. The budget or lack thereof, also changes over time and alters the execution of the vision but not necessarily in a bad way.  You may have a large budget and pump a lot of money into a play with big sets, lighting design, and costumes but it doesn't mean the show will be successful in proportion to the money you have spent. Bigger isn't always better, in fact, it may gild the lily to the point where the show is ruined.  For example, actor, writer, Jeff Garlin from Curb Your Enthusiasm did a successful two-week run at Steppenwolf this past summer with no set at all. Garlin performed his piece “No Sugar Tonight” with just an old ladder, some scaffolding strewn about and a plastic pumpkin with ladle full of water and a ukulele he said he would not play but was there for visual suspense. Garlin said he thought the ladder, etc. would indicate that this was a “work in progress” and that he did not even have a name for the show until the theater pressed him for one.

When I look at the calendar as a booking agent I see years flying by, not weeks or days because in a sense the best dates of the theatrical calendar year are already booked well before it begins.

Imagine the entire theater community on a big Monopoly board of the United States.  On the board there is a fixed number of major theaters in each of the major cities. Every agent or producer already knows which venues and which dates they need for their production’s tour schedule that year.

The in- house subscriber series are locked in a full year in advance.  Major Holidays like Christmas are always in the same place and have either a good effect on your particular show (A Christmas Carol) or a dead zone effect that you want to avoid, etc.  Booking is done as far in advance as possible to get the best slots and have ample time to promote the show and fill seats.

For more information visit www.KimberlyKatzPR.com   

Carrie Fishers' one woman show is a delightful piece of theater and makes you feel you are spending an evening with this witty, intelligent star in the cozy comfort of her own posh living room. I don't always make note of set design, but this set by David Korins, was a warmly lit, richly colorful, multidimensional representation of a southwestern styled den and screening room which really drew me in and showcased Carrie's casual, energetic style of storytelling perfectly.

When Fisher puffs on her electronic cigarette speaking excitedly about her days as cultural icon, Princess Leia, while perched on the edge of a comfy leather sofa or tiptoes right off the proscenium into the audience to hand out free drink coupons to the front row, you feel that she has actually brought her home to you. You feel that Carrie wants you to join her for some Hollywood gossip and a cup of tea - well not tea exactly, maybe some Vicodin and a tumbler of martinis.

Carrie Fisher has a laugh at her own unique childhood growing up as the daughter of stars Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. She has a fantastic line about when Elizabeth Taylor’s husband, Mike Todd, died in a plane crash, Carrie's father “Eddie rushed to Elizabeth's' side to comfort her in her grief ...and eventually worked his way around to Elizabeth Taylor's front.”

Carrie tells the younger audiences members who might not know the history of her superstar parents that the huge amount of publicity from this dramatic love triangle would be cast today with Brad Pitt, Jennifer Anniston and Angelina Jolie.

Carrie Fisher pokes fun at and tries to come to terms with the supper massive success of her character Princess Leia and the Star Wars Trilogy at age 19, describing how George Lucas convinced her not to wear a bra under her Princess costume stating that it was necessary for realism because “there is no underwear in outer space”. She also has fun onstage with some of the seemingly endless series of toys, memorabilia and merchandise that came out of the role including a life size Princess Leia' Love Doll,

a “Mr. Potato Head Princess Leia” and a PEZ dispenser. My prayer for Carrie Fisher is that she got a piece of the billion dollars in merchandising that is still being earned on all these licenses written into her contract at some point.

I remember standing in a long line to see the first Star Wars with my family as an impressionable eleven-year-old and although I had a crush on Harrison Ford, I was deeply impressed by the appearance of a feisty, brown eyed, brown-haired royal princess who was pensive instead of bubbly and a little bit smarter than she was pretty.

I think Carrie Fisher’s casting as Princess Leia back in 1976 was one of the first times I remember seeing a young, powerful woman cast as a lead in her own right and not just as the lead males' love interest. In other words Carrie Fisher's character at age 19, was written with enough meat and intelligence to be placed in the center of the giant Star Wars movie poster, not just working her cleavage “off to the left”.

I also remember first hand when Carrie Fishers' best selling book “Postcards from the Edge” came out and was made into a hit movie that Fisher also wrote the screenplay for starring Meryl Streep and Shirley Maclaine. At the time I was so inspired and influenced by her candor and acerbic wit regarding the entertainment industry at large and that she was able to parlay an acting career into a writing career with huge success.

Like Karen Carpenter who first made the disease of anorexia a household term, or Rita Hayworth, whose public illness pioneered the way for Alzheimer's patients, I also remember firsthand how important and groundbreaking it was when Carrie Fisher came out in the press about being Bi- Polar.

There is a great moment in the show when Carrie talks about the new electro shock treatment and her

“invitation” to stay in a mental hospital. She asks the audience if any of them have ever been “invited” to stay at a mental hospital, and only one brave soul raised his hand.  My grandmother Lillian was a classic Bi Polar, with very high highs and predictable plunging lows in her thinking patterns and speech.. I grew up knowing that she was undergoing the early form of electro-shock treatment, which erases several months of memory and watching her succumb in misery to the various heavy-duty drugs available at the time like Lithium. It was very difficult to witness let alone explain to my friends what she was going through partly because at that time very few public figures, if any, had spoken openly about their struggles with manic depression in the press.

Fisher has since appeared on the Senate floor to urge state legislators to increase government funding on medication for people living with mental health issues. Carrie is very courageous to have written openly about her own illness and drug dependencies because through her wonderful and witty sense of humor she has helped pave the way to removing the stigma still associated with mental illness in our society.

Of course, Carrie's show has some interesting tidbits about her marriage and divorce from singer Paul

Simon, including some of the lyrics he wrote about her describing her “cold coffee eyes” and from Hearts and Bones “One and one-half wandering Jews, (Carrie being the “half Jew”) returned to their natural coasts...to speculate who had been damaged the most.”

Carrie Fishers casting as the fictional Princess Leia in the Star Wars Trilogy may have both

“made her” and broken her at the same time, but as an activist, and an accomplished writer - a  Critics Circle' Award winning, New York Times best-selling , Grammy and Emmy nominated author in her own right, Carrie Fishers'  identity as genuine Hollywood royalty is not a work of fiction.

I only wish I had watched the film “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” the night before seeing this hilarious and touching send up because “Pussy on the House”, written by Ryan Landry, really hit the parody right on the head with huge laughs scene by scene and line for line.

In “Pussy on the House”, the failed ex-TV star Brick Pollup, and his stunningly gorgeous, sexually frustrated wife, Maggie Pollup, emotionally battle it out around the bed Maggie has dragged up to the roof where she is finally gratified when the full truth comes out about recent tragic events in the family.

Jeremy Myers in Elizabeth Taylor's role as “Maggie the Cat”, was absolutely beautiful to look at, very sexy and convincing. I loved that Jeremy achieved a strikingly natural resemblance to Taylor in his costume and makeup because his interpretation of her was as multi layered and dramatically rich as it was funny.

David Cerda as the very pregnant, money hungry sister-in-law and house-frau, Mae Pollup, was hysterical, often bringing the full house to a stop with laughter with just a single word or a smirking spot on look from under his false eyelashes.

The whole cast was dynamite and Honey West as Big Mama Pollup, “the richest, butchest lesbian in six counties who built the biggest polyester plantation the South has ever seen” gave the show some drama and weight with a rich voice and straight delivery that lifted this piece above great parody and into great melodrama.

Director Matthew Gunnels, who previously did such a smash up job directing “POSEIDON: An Upside Down Musical” stated about “Pussy on the House”, “Tennessee Williams is one of my favorite all-time playwrights and I have a special place in my heart for Cat. Mr. Landry’s play is clearly a love letter to the original material, but adds tons of campy fun and touches upon current events such as gay marriage, the effects of cancer on family members and same-sex adoption. Since being diagnosed with cancer this spring, it has changed the way I view characters in the play and has added importance and a sense of urgency to present this amazing script to Chicago.”

What I loved about this play and see in every play that David Cerda produces for his company, Hell in a Handbag, is a strong passion and devotion for keeping truly great drag alive. Great drag doesn't make fun of women, or make clowns of men, it elucidates and glamorously celebrates women’s' social condition in life and relationships.

Great drag, which Hell in a Handbag consistently delivers, makes you laugh and sympathize with grand dames like Elizabeth Taylor and Joan Crawford. A great drag performer uses humor and compassion to also celebrate the men who would like to embody great women.

“Pussy on the House” is playing at The Atheneum Theatre through October 30^th. For more information visit www.hellinahandbag.org.

I remember reading about the turn of the century medical trend that attempted to cure “hysteria” in women (and men) by stimulating them to orgasm or “paroxysm” by a doctor using manual or electrical (vibrator) stimulation and thinking that this would make a fascinating subject for film or stage. 

The reason I found this subject matter so important to explore and rediscover is because at the turn of the century the only other treatment options for mental illness, depression, and actual hysteria in women involved, toxic drugs like laudanum, the barbaric practice of partial lobotomy, ice baths, shock therapy and routine involuntary committal to an insane asylum.
Playwright, Sarah Ruhl, has brought out all of the many facets of this important subject and time period in a funny, touching, and liberating way right down to the restrictive nature of the clothes the women had to wear including bustles, steel corsets, and heavy high necked dresses tightly secured with a multitude of tiny buttons.

In the play, the appropriately named, Dr. Givings, a well to do physician in a spa town in New York, is pioneering the intimate new therapy in his home “operating theater”, which along with his parlor room has just had the magical glow of electricity installed for the first time.

Dr. Givings' young wife, Catherine, has recently given birth and is unable to nurse her own child. As she sees patient after patient leave smiling and glowing, she feels more and more lonely and neglected and becomes curious about the treatment. While her husband is at a convention watching the experimental electrocution of dogs, she secretly tries the therapy on herself with the help of a female patient, Sabrina Daldry.

Sarah Ruhl makes many wonderful feminist points in this play without ever losing the light, airy sense of humor, playfulness and poetic wonder that she is so good at infusing into her plays. 
It is interesting that even though Dr. Givings is a forward thinking pioneer, at first he refuses to give the therapy to the one person in his life who most obviously needs it, his own wife. He refuses her the treatment on the basis that it might make her “ more excitable” as he fears that this will empower her sexual nature too much. Dr Givings fears that he personally will be unable to satisfy her normal sexual urges and the resulting emotional desires once they are restored.  The first time he relents and begins applying the vibrator treatment to his wife, Catherine, she begs and cries out for him to kiss her as she builds towards “paroxysm” but he vehemently refuses, as he is unwilling to combine natural sexuality with sympathetic emotionality. Her angry response is a simple, “YOU are inadequate.”

Ruhl also brings up many fascinating points about the restorative effect of the orgasm on men and women alike in terms of releasing creativity in their lives through music and art.  The character of Leo Irving, a painter from Paris, who is experiencing depression and inability to create new art, i.e. “painters block” finds his inspiration and enthusiasm for life completely restored after just one treatment.  

Ruhl also plays up to great effect the natural improvement in one's general sense of humor and well being that having sufficient orgasmic release causes in the human nervous system. Ruhl's characters show the orgasm triggers the release of psychological repression and frustration through tears and the loud cries of the breath.  I like how Ruhl shows that this “induced release” causes increased emotional flexibility and stability in female and male conscious awareness equally.

There is also an interesting sub plot that develops between one of the patients and the doctors nurse, Annie, in the play, regarding the homo erotic feelings that may come to surface between individuals when orgasm is achieved without the additional onus or burden at the time of actual sexual contact, especially during such a repressed Victorian time period. 
There is also a very funny and poignant scene where the doctor's wife and patient are describing the sensations of an orgasm to their black nursemaid, they mention the feelings of hot coals illuminating their feet, colored light flashing behind their eyelids etc, and when the maid suggests that they are possibly describing what occurs during “relations with their husbands” they both scream in laughter and disbelief that they have never experienced anything like the miraculous sensations they experienced  in the medical treatment. One tells that she has experienced nothing but physical pain and emotional distance during relations with her husband.

In the end, the women help each other and their husbands in some degree, to rediscover the power of friendship, and the giddy joyful freedom that comes when one is enabled to rule ones own sexual life and infuse it with the romance and healthy emotions of warmth and equality.

Ruhl also does not show the cure to be a “cure all”, that is, the vibrator' assisted orgasm as the answer to all marital misunderstanding.  Instead she shows how the satisfaction of the most basic and natural urge particularly in women is a first stepping point, that leads the women and their husbands right back into touch with the blocked love and emotional needs that they are unable to satisfy in each other without first releasing their own “excess” sexual energy or “fluids”.

I must say, I have never seen so many orgasms acted out on stage with such realism and humor. 

I enjoyed the entire cast in this piece, including the very funny, Kate Fry as Catherine Givings, Patricia Kane as Nurse Annie, the poignant, Tamberla Perry as Nursemaid Elizabeth and Lawrence Grimm as the hapless husband of Sabrina Daldrey.  

Polly Noonan as the patient, Sabrina Daldry, was very funny and really embodied the process of the path from depression and over sensitivity to healthy affection for life and sex. Joel Gross as Leo Irving, the inspiration blocked artist, resembles a young Robert Downey Jr. in his energy and presentation.  Gross has a great natural stage presence and stole many of the scenes he was in. 

I highly recommend seeing Tony nominated “In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play” as it is a funny and surprisingly important piece on a par with “The Vagina Monologues”. It includes some personally empowering messages for men and women alike in a humorous, light hearted and poetic way.

“In the Next Room” is playing at Victory Gardens Theatre through October 9th. For more information visit www.victorygardens.org.

When Blue Man Group invaded Chicago's Briar Street Theatre some 15 or so years ago, I would say it safe to say that no one expected the show to still be running strong to this day. But here we are in 2011 and Blue Man Group is still attracting new fans just as easily as years past and is healthily bringing back previous attendees with regularity. That said, Blue Man Group is still on top of their game. 

As with many longtime running shows, Blue Man Group is guilty of reinventing itself on occasion. Their latest metamorphosis keeps the ideal of the classic Blue Man Group intact, holding onto many show staples in which fluorescent paint is splattered with a most unique display of percussion and where objects are caught in each other’s mouths across the stage then transformed into distinctive art. Now enter the digital age. In the newest version of Blue Man Group, the creators have implemented the technology of smart phones, and without giving anything away outside the fact that three gigantic cellular devices are lowered above the stage, I’ll just say that the recently added props are brilliantly used with the originality and innovation one would expect from a show known for its inventiveness.

Of course comedy is also prevalent in Blue Man Group. It’s not easy to describe how three funny subtly-expressive, blue faces who appear to be in constant discovery mode can be, so I’ll just cop out with the cliché phrase, you have to be there. Volunteers are also selected from the audience for a variety of fun skits and there is a section in the first few rows that come with a plastic poncho to each seat to protect from the splattering paint and food – yes, food. 
The show comes to a climactic end in which the audience is covered in tissue dispensed from giant rolls in the rear of the theatre before humungous balls are batted around to heavy beats and dazzling lights. 

Blue Man Group has always been a fun show that one could see over and over again, but now that show just got even better.

The Milk Carton Kids, consisting of Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale, may only be similar to their name because their bios are virtually impossible to come across and know. I can tell you they are from LA, though, but probably would not buy one darn earring for a whopping $75,000 like LA area born and raised, Kim Kardashian, even if they did have that much dough.

During shows at Shubbas in Chicago with some old farts, I have been accustomed to rubbing elbows, boobies, booties, as well as, the likelihood of all other imaginable body parts. But, it was not a claustrophobe's nightmare a few nights ago, the venue had chairs and tables nicely set up for an evening of laid-back performing arts.
I found The Milk Carton Kids on stage right on time, and Joey Ryan had the audience cracking up at a drop of a dime.

While they were playing, I could not detect any flaws or wrongs. It was mainly intriguing how Ryan and Pattengale's singing voices sounded so delicate and in perfect harmony, like one singer actually, in many of their songs. I swear to you I had not taken any hits off of any bongs!

The Milk Carton Kids can also sing and play very loudly and infectiously rowdy. And, Ryan and Pattengale merely use their voices and acoustic guitars, that are not electronically tampered with or made cloudy.

The two attractive young guys exhibit seductive fingering of their instruments, during their performance of Americana, back-porch, flannel-folk arrangements. The Milk Carton Kid's heavily relatable lyrics about love can, additionally, make people's entireties transcend deeply into their tunes and onstage movements.

Plus, in breaks of playing, Ryan and Pattengale's shockingly blunt, non-politically correct and dry humor delivery, with natural comedic timing, proved they could also do well at Professional Comedy. Even if they did not have at least 98 percent of the audience laughing, and from their bellies, their music alone still would have made for a positively highly entertaining evening.

After having already just seen what to me, was the art of performing at its' best, during The Milk Carton Kid's second encore, Ryan asked the the crowd "Any requests?"

Members of the audience shouted out many, and the probably exhausted from traveling Ryan and Pattengale, played every single one and still whole-heartedly.

The Milk Carton Kids are clearly people pleasers and work hardy, for they also invited the audience to speak with them after the show and to party.

I approached two girls in the crowd, and Jean said "The show was phenomenal--great chemistry and stage presence," and Suzanne conveyed "The music made my toes tap, my heart swoon, and the banter made me laugh out loud."

So, I suggest people be on the lookout for The Milk Carton Kid's whereabouts, because you do not want to miss your chance to catch them! Also, it is recommended people buy The Milk Carton Kid's live album "Prologue," which is a fusion of each Ryan and Pattengale's solo material, and it is a rare gem.

Please visit: themilkcartonkids.com for info on their tour dates and albums. Oh, and The Milk Carton Kid's have so generously made some of their songs free to download from there!

It's been two years since the California band, Incubus, charmed Chicagoan's with a stellar performance on the scenic Charter One stage. For anybody who attended in 2009, the set was amazing - complete with a great light set, killer vocals, instrumental perfection, and an ensued misty rain that only enhanced the experience further. Fast forward to 2011 and Incubus is back with a new album, If Not Now, When? , and they are ready to grace the stage yet again for another incredible show. The set will include classic Incubus songs, as well as new material for hungry Chicago fans. Opening for Incubus is Tom Morello, former vocalist of Rage Against the Machine, making this show one worth catching. Everything kicks off at 7:30PM on Sunday, August 21st, 2011.

Tickets are still on sale for both general admission and the seating area, so grab yours before it's too late and I'll see you there!

Check Incubus out at www.enjoyincubus.com

Big Randy knows how to throw a party! Some of the best parties of the summer in recent years have been in Schiller Woods in the form of Woodsbash. For the tenth anniversary celebration it was a fantastic time. Woodsbash 2011 was a blast!

Sweet G has been a tremendous asset to Woodsbash as she has helped promote this event or the last five years. This was most likely her last year working on the committee for Woodsbash and is deciding to step down. This lady has helped out so much on these events over the years and not all the credit does go to Randy.

The day started out with the usual rain in the morning scaring a lot of music lovers away. As luck would have it, the skies cleared up and the sun came out for a bit to help out in having a better time. An abundance of the partiers that weren’t afraid to melt still showed up and didn’t mind the couple of raindrops that fell later in the day as it was quite refreshing.

The entertainment was awesome as always. Starting out the show was the band Sonic Pistol. The sweet sounding grooves provided by the tight rhythm section were very cool. These guys kicked off the show and helped to knock the sleep out of the eyes of the vampires within the crowd. If they didn’t wake you up, you might want to see a doctor because you might be dead.

Old Chicago area veterans Diamond Rexx came up next and jammed for your entertainment. The aging musicians within this band date back to a much simpler time for Chicago area musicians. Some of the old Thirsty Whale crowd showed up and it was definitely a nostalgic moment. The band played and had some cool tricks up their sleeves. They rocked!!

The up and coming Veilside came out and jammed their asses off. Very cool group with all the makings of a band that should succeed. Each one of the members in this band is a solid show themselves. Together? As a band? They are unstoppable!

The final act of Woodsbash 2011 was Loveblast and why not save the best for last. This guitar oriented band makes use of the talents within the hands of their guitar slinger. The rhythm section creates the templates for the guitarist to showboat his playing. With multiple influences driving this band from the hair metal days, this is one of the bands that got it right.

Woodsbash would not be complete without Jell-O shots, kickass music, and the heavy metal Godzilla. A guy dressed up in a Godzilla suit wearing a leather jacket walked around the crowd and posed for pictures. To be trapped within a hot suit during an above eighty degree day should make just about anyone pass out from the heat. Inside this custom suit are battery operated fans to help keep the guy inside cooler as he entertains the crowd.

The day after Woodsbash 2011, many heads needed aspirin, the woods needed to be cleaned, and Big Randy needs to start organizing Woodsbash 2012! He keeps saying that he isn’t going to do it again; that this year is the last year. He said it last year and the year before. It’s a lot of work for one person to organize and headaches come with it.

Funding is the hard part of the equation. To throw a party like this will cost an upward of a thousand dollars. In the last few years, Randy, Sweet G and a few others working behind the scenes have done a Winterbash that helps to fund the Woodsbash. It has been a successful idea for the last few years, but it is becoming tougher on the comittee. The obligation and commitment to run a show like this is huge and in future years, Randy may need to get some help with setting it up and with the funding the entire event. If he decides to put the torch down, someone else needs to pick it back up. Donations to the event are always welcome and that is what really helps to put on this party. Thank you Randy and Sweet G for doing this!!