The Moving Vessel is a project that explores several facets of pregnancy and motherhood in relation to maintaining a dance career. As I write this, there is a baby boom occurring in the Chicago dance community. I have an opportunity to work with a wide variety of pregnant dancers this year. In exploring this growing population of dancers, I hope to learn more about what drives us to continue to dance and how our families motivate our work. more...

Sometimes artists become so focused in searching for galleries to exhibit their artwork that they often become blind to the most obvious showcase location—their home. Alternative spaces that showcase artwork abound in our city. Recently my wife and I have attended openings at a restaurant, a coffeehouse, the hallway of a 1960s office building, a library, an antique store, a bookstore, a bar, a mechanics garage, an old abandoned warehouse, and a condo. more...

An interview with CAR Theater Researcher Dan Granata

Molly Brennan is a singular performer—both in her animate, physical presence onstage and in the unique swath of Chicago theater experiences she has amassed. Though many know her name from her much-talked-about (and to some “controversial”) turn as Harpo in the Goodman’s staging of Animal Crackers, Chicago audiences have come to know her through a host of dynamic roles on storefront stages across the city, more...

I arrive an hour early to the show. I have to set up equipment and merchandise and schmooze with the bartender for extra drink tickets. My ensemble doesn’t usually play with other bands, so the room is quiet this early in the evening. I’ve intentionally stopped playing at bars. Instead, I’ve been making my own venues: studios, lofts, cabarets. The idea is to offer an “intimate, boutique” experience. That’s the established marketing model for singer/songwriters, I think.
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