Incoming

See me, feel me, review me with four stars. Anyone who’s still on the fence about going to see The Who’s Tommy during its run at the Goodman Theatre, should check out today’s local newspapers. Chicago Tribune critic Chris Jones described writer Pete Townshend and writer-director Des McAnuff’s production as, “a ready-for-primetime stunner with enough assets to bring its Chicago audience to its feet well before its end.” Chicago Sun-Times critic Catey Sullivan noted, “From overture to finale, McAnuff’s three-dozen strong cast never lets up.” The run has already been extended twice, most recently to August 6.

Welcome back. Stephanie Kuehnert Lewis, who garnered national attention with her well-crafted and emotionally charged novels Ballads Of Suburbia (2009) and I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone (2008), has a different type of book coming out on March 26, 2024. Pieces Of A Girl centers on the author’s triumph over substance and relationship abuse.

By the time we got to Palatine (just a few stops before Woodstock on the Metra). Soundtracks of A Generation, LLC will present The Summer Of Love 1967 And Monterey Pop Tribute at Durty Nellie’s in Palatine this Friday from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. The event will feature tribute band(s?) renditions of classic hits by Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Monkees, The Buckinghams and other 1960s acts. Tickets are $25.

Pre-sale tickets are now on sale today for the Darker Waves festival taking place on November 18 in Huntington Beach, California. The lineup features several acts that launched successful careers in the 1980s and have maintained them over the decades. New Order, The B-52’s, Tears For Fears, X, The English Beat, Devo, Soft Cell, The Psychedelic Furs, Echo And The Bunnymen, OMD, and The Human League will be performing, along with other acts. If you can afford the airfare, tickets for Darker Waves start at a reasonable $19.99.

All four original members will be on board when legendary punk band X rocks The Old Town School Of Folk Music on July 6. Other acts coming up at the venue include Graham Parker on July 14, The Zombies on October 15, and Nick Lowe on November 20.

Tellin’ Tales Theatre’s founding member Tekki Lomnicki will be moonlighting at the IO Theater tomorrow night, June 29. She’ll be the featured guest monologist at The Armando Diaz Experience show. As noted on the IO website, “the Armando is an improvisational form where actors improvise a series of interconnected stories based on true events and life experiences of a featured celebrity guest.” 

Following up on an item in last Friday’s Slumgullion, I had no luck at a writing workshop in Chicago on Saturday. Sitting face to face with a literary agent to deliver a 10-minute pitch for a novel is a bit like speed dating, and sometimes the chemistry just isn’t there. This was my first immediate rejection in a few years; I had a winning streak of agents liking my pitch and asking to see a few sample chapters. I was hoping to advance to the next step of an agent being impressed with the sample chapters enough to request the entire novel, but wound up at square one instead. It’s all part of the process though, and one that I’m eager to continue. I have a Zoom meeting with another literary agent in a few weeks.

Over the past two days, health experts have warned Chicago residents not to spend much time outside. This is due to the poor air quality caused by smoke that has swept down from Canadian wildfires. Some outdoor events have been canceled. Here’s hoping the situation all around improves soon.