News | Wednesday, April 15,2009

Fun at the drive-in

Popular attraction reopens for season

In the late 1950s, 4,000 drive-in movie theaters dotted America’s landscape. In that decade, 120 theaters, including The 66 Drive-In on Sixth Street and the Springfield Drive-In on D

Feature | Wednesday, April 1,2009

The Illinois that Lincoln knew

Illinois State Museum exhibit shows the growth of a state and a future president

By Zach Baliva

Abraham Lincoln surrounds visitors to and residents of central Illinois. The Lincoln image the region presents and sells to the world, however, is often a caricature. Tourists may encount

Performing Art | Wednesday, February 25,2009

A new musical spotlights those who knew Lincoln

Local playwright brings celebratory show to Springfield

By Zach Baliva

In the second act of Ken Bradbury’s The Spirit of Lincoln, musician Barry Cloyd, who serves as the show’s narrator, says that over 16,000 books have been written about our natio

Visual Art | Wednesday, February 18,2009

‘Power and Glory’ from China

St. Louis museum to display art from the Ming dynasty

By Zach Baliva

Beginning Feb. 22, people from across the nation will head to St. Louis for a chance to see a backgammon board. The gilded board, from Beijing’s Palace Museum,

Feature | Wednesday, February 11,2009

Prelude to the Presidency

Locally produced documentary chronicles Lincoln’s time in central Illinois

By Zach Baliva

Noted historian and author of the best-selling Team of Rivals, Doris Kearns Goodwin, says that Lincoln’s days in Illinois were “the root of his political education.” Kearn

Performing Art | Wednesday, February 11,2009

Dinner with the Mafia

Local actors present a Valentine’s Day dinner theater

By Zach Baliva

The Cubs-White Sox rivalry runs deep in Illinois, and plays a significant part in Bob Bartel’s Dinner with the Mafia, an interactive and locally produced show with two performances on Saturday,

Feature | Wednesday, January 28,2009

The Lebowski Experience

Springfield event celebrates Coen brothers’ cult film

By Zach Baliva

A decade before taking the stage at the Kodak Theater to accept Oscars for Best Writing, Best Directing, and Best Picture for No Country for Old Men, Joel and Ethan Coen were mak

Feature | Wednesday, January 7,2009

Foreign films coming to Springfield

Art Association announces festival lineup

By Zach Baliva

Voir Il y a Longtemps Que Je T’aime et Auf Der Anderen Seite à Springfield. Translation: See I’ve Loved You So Long and The Edge of Heaven in Springfield. The clo

Feature | Wednesday, December 31,2008

Show me the funny

Local comics hone their skills at monthly open-mic night

By Zach Baliva

Gov. Rod Blagojevich better run and hide. The comedians at Donnie B’s Funny Bone in Springfield have him in their sights. The Gov, the minimum wa

Feature | Wednesday, November 12,2008

Plug and play

Fun with an electric vehicle in Springfield

By Zach Baliva

David Brunson has grown accustomed to the staring, the pointing, the laughing, the questions, and the picture taking. When he bought his electric car three years ago, he had no idea it would command