Performing Art | Thursday, June 16,2011

Springfield playwright brings ice cream to comedy

What could possibly be more fun than a Baskin-Robbins ice cream cake? How about two ice cream cakes and one wedding ring? Throw in a rich software developer named Alvin Chandler, a veterinarian named

Feature | Thursday, October 14,2004

Grace about town 10-14-04

By Grace Smith

I'm looking for Lisa Pauley's office, and she is giving me directions on the phone: "Go three miles, past a brown house, and then, on Bruns Lane, take a right." I try to envision this, but for

Feature | Thursday, October 7,2004

Grace about town 10-7-04

By Grace Smith

I broke my toe. OK, I'm not 100 percent sure that it's broken. All I know is, it happened a couple weeks of ago, the pain hasn't abated, and attempting to run on it makes the pain worse. Walkin

Feature | Thursday, September 30,2004

Grace about town 9-30-04

By Grace Smith

Cars have never been my thing. But last Friday night I got to ride in a Thing in the Route 66 Festival Cruise -- a Volkswagen Thing, to be exact. So that brings things (such as they are) full c

Feature | Thursday, September 23,2004

Grace about town 9-23-04

By Grace Smith

The last time I was in Denver, I helped with my friend Kelly's wedding. She was a week away from marrying a great guy named Rob, and they were frantically trying to pull this wedding off by the

Feature | Thursday, September 16,2004

Grace about town 9-16-04

By Grace Smith

When I was a kid, I suddenly realized that every other kid listened to music -- everybody had a favorite song, a favorite group he or she listened to. My head was always buried in books, and I'

Feature | Thursday, September 9,2004

Grace about town 9-9-04

By Grace Smith

Did you see that movie Pay It Forward? Kevin Spacey was in it, as were Haley Joel Osment and Jon Bon Jovi. Here's something funny about Jon Bon J. You're probably aware he's a big rock star. He used

Feature | Thursday, September 2,2004

Grace about town 9-2-04

By Grace Smith

"You can write about fall for this issue, if you want," said my editor. Fall? Fall? Is anybody thinking about fall right now? Are you kidding me? I mean, it was suddenly strangely chilly for a

Feature | Friday, August 27,2004

grace about town 8-26-04

By Grace Smith

You may have read last week that I claimed to love the fried cheese curds at the Illinois State Fair. I loved them on opening day, when I first sampled them. Because I wrote about them, I decid

Feature | Thursday, August 19,2004

A fair full of Grace

By Grace Smith

There are two kinds of people in this town: those who like the Illinois State Fair and those who don't. I have always loved the fair: The food. The rides. The Butter Cow. The Society Horse Show