Continuing an apparent tradition of sneaking quirky and / or acclaimed and / or independent movies onto and off of Springfield screens so stealthily that local cinephiles may never realize they were here at all, AMC Showplace 12 is currently showing The Bling Ring, Sofia Coppola’s (Lost in Translation, The Virgin Suicides, Marie Antoinette) latest […]
Scott Faingold
Scott Faingold is a journalist, educator and musician. He has been director of student media at University of Illinois Springfield, founding editor of Activator magazine, a staff reporter for Illinois Times and co-host of Old School Bleep, a music-centered podcast.
Posted inNews
Phasing into the future at the PCCC
Things had gotten pretty bad for the Prairie Capital Convention Center. “The building had 30-year-old galvanized plumbing,” recounts PCCC general manager Brian Oaks. “It was to the point where we would come into a room – or get a security report – and there would just be water dumping out of the ceiling, because a […]
Posted inArts & Culture
So Much Water (and music!) so Close To Home
It may be raining cats and dogs (or any other less cliched species) but there are still three – count ’em – music festivals happening in the Springfield area today. The Black Sheep (S. Grand & 11th) is playing host to DumbFest from 1-10PM featuring twenty (!) punk and alternative bands, including Tenement, Big Eyes, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Sangamon Auditorium expands its borders
Sangamon Auditorium’s upcoming season, starting in September, is a heady mix of surefire crowd-pleasers and boundary pushing one-offs, finding Broadway touring companies rubbing shoulders with classic rockers, country and folk virtuosos, jazz musicians, world music extravaganzas, operetta ensembles, family entertainers and the occasional uncategorizable act. The season’s theatrical musicals run the gamut from the New […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Between the Cracks: Big Storm tonight at Black Sheep
The perpetual lament of the local band has always and forever remained: Why won’t those bastards at the alt-weekly ever give us the time of day? Well, prepare to whine no more! Faingold at Large hereby presents Between the Cracks – a new feature designed to shine a light onto lesser-known, quite possibly up-and-coming Springfield-area […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Summer theatrical fare covers all the bases
No matter what your taste in theater might be, whether it’s light musical comedy, modern musical bombast, prize-winning drama, kid-friendly shows or Pythonesque parody, at least one of the regional theaters has you covered. Here is a rundown of some of the shows on offer this summer. New Salem’s Theatre in the Park will kick […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Torch Tuesday concert series tonight: Scribbling Idiots
Tonight, Oho-bred, ironically monikered hip-hop collective Scribbling Idiots will headline the Torch Tuesday stage. They’ve been compared to a nascent Wu-Tang Clan and have opened shows for The Pharcyde and Witchdoctor. […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Pharmacy offering summer art classes for kids
Artwork in progress by the Pharmacy’s Janet Sgro For the first time, the Pharmacy Studio and Gallery (corner of South Grand and Pasfield) will be offering art classes this summer for children ages 5-10. Janet Sgro, a member artist of the Pharmacy collective, will be teaching the course, which will introduce budding young artists to […]
Posted inNews
ARTIFICATION of Springfield
“It used to be scary down this way.” Barry Friedman, owner of the Alamo, 115 N. Fifth St., is reminiscing about conditions in downtown Springfield prior to the 2005 opening of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, situated on Sixth Street near his establishment. “Things are so much better than they used to be. […]
Posted inMusic
Symphony season goes out on a high note
This past weekend marked the end of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra’s 20th anniversary season, which was the first under the musical direction of Maestro Alastair Willis. Willis did not conduct Saturday’s program, however, handing the baton to renowned conductor Stefan Sanderling of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra. The deliberately paced concert began with the atmospheric, nearly […]
Posted inArts & Culture
This afternoon: Owen x Dooley = Rock and Roll
What do Owen and Dooley present? I would submit that this multi-generational duo presents blues-based, balls-out rock on a level rarely achieved. Tom Dooley Woolsey has been the guitar player to beat on the Springfield rock scene pretty much as long as there has been a Springfield rock scene. He hits the strings with authority […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Special guests for symphony finale tonight
ISO guest pianist Martina Filjak Guest conductor Stefan Sanderling The Illinois Symphony Orchestra will be closing out its 20th anniversary season (and first under the musical direction of Maestro Alastair Willis) in just a few hours with the appropriately named Fabulous Finale. Tonight’s program will be led by guest conductor Stefan Sanderling, and includes Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony […]
