IT Picks

The place to be this weekend is downtown for Springfield’s popular, annual Fat Ass 5K & Street Party for Charity. This hilarious downtown spectacle, born in 2008, just keeps getting better, donating more than $2 million to area charities. The event begins Friday with the Craft Beer and Cigar Festival featuring food, drinks and music […]

This event is the Animal Protective League’s largest and longest-running fundraiser and offers a chance to find some upscale goods for a good price and also help animals in APL’s care at the same time. For sale will be donated items collected through April 26. The event includes a bake sale, silent auction and prizes […]

Local performer John O’Connor stars in this one-person play written by Herbert Mitgang. The show relies heavily on Lincoln’s own words and, according to the Hoogland Center, “features the folksy wisdom of Lincoln’s biography and the transcendent grandeur of his nation-healing words as president, healing that was cut short by an assassin’s bullet.” Mitgang is […]

Three women bring icon’s story, songs to the stage Some say superstars come and go but Cher is forever. So it certainly appears. In this Tony Award-winning musical, three women portray different phases of the iconic singer’s life: “the kid starting out, the glam pop star and the icon.” They’ll bring 35 hit songs from […]

Next to Normal is a musical drama that chronicles how a suburban family copes with the unpredictability of a mother’s worsening bipolar disorder. Written by Brian Yorkey, the play won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for drama and three 2009 Tony Awards. It takes audiences into the minds and hearts of each character during the crisis, […]

In 1949, Death of a Salesman won the Pulitzer Prize for drama and a Tony Award for best play. This weekend, the Spencer Theatre Company brings the classic tale to Springfield. Directed by John Sivak, Death of a Salesman stars Jim Leach as traveling salesman William “Willy” Loman. The play is set in the last […]

Here’s something a little different. On Friday, an art exhibit will open with a free public reception at the Kidzeum, the downtown museum for children. According to the Kidzeum, the exhibit features works by professional artists in “fiber, handmade paper, animation, sculpture, painting and installation to examine healing in its many forms – physical, emotional […]

When one thinks of organized crime, the activities of past criminals in the big cities of New York and Chicago spring to mind first – names of infamous criminals such as Al Capone, Bugsy Segal, Lucky Luciano, John Dillinger and Meyer Lansky, for example. But southern Illinois also had its fair share of crime and […]

This weekend, visit the fictional almost-town of Almost, Maine, where one mid-winter night the town’s residents will “fall in and out of love in the strangest ways” while northern lights glow in the sky. The play, written in 2004 by John Cariani, explores love and loss in the small town. Since it hit the stage, […]

Magic Music of Harry Potter Friday, March 7 7:30 p.m. UIS Performing Arts Center 217-206-6160 ilsymphony.org/harrypotter “Ah, music. A magic beyond all we do here,” said Albus Dumbledore, the fictional headmaster of the school for young wizards and witches, in author J.K. Rowling’s novel Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Tomorrow and Saturday, Harry Potter […]

The Taste of Black Springfield Thursday, Feb. 27 5-8:30 p.m. Salvation Army 1600 Clear Lake Ave. Celebrate Black History Month and experience the best of local Black-owned food, music and fun at the same time. This event’s menu ranges from barbecue to soul food to sweet treats. Entry is free but event attendees are urged […]

This event could be life-changing in many ways. It will feature informational booths including Pretrial Fairness Act sessions, legal aid such as expungement and sealing information and intake, Youth Court fines and fees information, license renewals, a housing equity booth, voter registration booth and additional community resources. The Secretary of State – DMV Mobile Unit […]