Continuing on her journey through the decades, local playwright Courtney Wick brings the third story in her trilogy of plays to a colorful conclusion with Nightmare at Camp Killamanbimbo. Billed as “a gnarly prequel to her previous murder mysteries, Nightmare at the Sweet Dreams Inn and Nightmare at the Hot Mess Hair Salon, Camp Killamanbimbo […]
Arts Features
Posted inArts & Culture
Disaster!: A jukebox musical
Most people of a certain age can probably say they’ve at least heard of, if not watched many popular disaster films of the 1970s such as Airport, The Towering Inferno, Earthquake and The Poseidon Adventure. Personally, I couldn’t get enough when I was a kid. They were epic. These films boasted major special effects for […]
Posted inSpring Guide
“Seam to Shining Seam” Quilt Show
More than 400 colorful quilts, along with other quilt-related items, will fill the Orr Building at the Illinois State Fairgrounds on March 20 and 21. The 2026 “Seam to Shining Seam” show features quilts made by Springfield-area quilters who are part of Q.U.I.L.T.S – Quilters United in Learning, Teaching and Self-Improvement. Now held every two […]
Posted inArts Features
Moving forward, looking back
The Last Five Years is back and impressive as ever at The Hoogland Center for the Arts. After a seven-year hiatus, the two-person musical has returned with the same cast of Mary Kate Smith and Damien Kaplan, along with director Craig Williams. All parties involved wanted to rekindle their past show magic with a fresh […]
Posted inArts Features
The Trojan Women, a Greek tragedy
In one of those rare but welcome departures from local norms, a play is being performed in Springfield that probably hasn’t been done in years, if ever. While Greek tragedy might not be high up on everyone’s list, I hope you make the time to see this one. The story and the production expertly explore […]
Posted inArts & Culture
STC’s The Addams Family – An ooky love story
The Addams Family musical is based on a 1964 sitcom which was inspired by the cartoons of Charles Addams. All feature Gomez Addams, his wife Morticia and children Pugsley and Wednesday. They share their home on Cemetery Lane with Uncle Fester, butler Lurch, helping hand Thing and someone’s grandma. They are a close-knit family with […]
Posted inArts Features
Students compete in 2026 Poetry Out Loud
The Springfield Area Arts Council will host the Poetry Out Loud Central Illinois Regional Contest at 4 p.m. on Thursday, February 12, at the Hoogland Center for the Arts. The event is free and open to the public. Poetry Out Loud, a partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts and state and jurisdictional arts agencies, is […]
Posted inArts Features
The Muni’s season of love
The Springfield Muni Opera’s Season of Love theme promises to be another memorable summer under the stars with an expanded slate of offerings from four shows to five, including a junior production. The season kicks off with Mamma Mia! opening May 29, followed by All Shook Up opening June 19, The Prince of Egypt: The […]
Posted inArts Features
Something’s Afoot: A musical mystery spoof
Something’s Afoot, written by James McDonald, David Vos and Robert Gerlach, is a silly musical whodunit that lightheartedly pokes fun at, of all things, murder. Specifically, it makes light of the kind of murder mystery conceived in the mind of popular writer Agatha Christie. The show, with a direct nod to Christie’s novel And Then […]
Posted inArts Features
Evening fun at historic sites
This winter, area residents have opportunities to experience the Dana-Thomas House and Old State Capitol through a wide range of evening programs. These sites are popular tourist attractions in the capital city but are also offering programming designed to appeal to locals. Justin Blandford, superintendent of state historic sites in Springfield, told Illinois Times they […]
Posted inFilm
Best films of 2025
The major film studios are in a desperate spot, still not having recovered from the mass exodus to home viewing that began during the COVID-19 pandemic. Getting enough viewers to theaters to justify the huge budgets for tentpole movies has proven difficult. Once sure things, such as Marvel films or big-budget action movies, are no […]
Posted inArts Features
The real story of A Christmas Carol
The well-loved tale of redemption popular this time of year, A Christmas Carol, wasn’t sparked by joy, but sorrow. When London journalist and author Charles Dickens wrote what became the most copied secular Christmas fiction, he was dejected, financially stressed and fighting for societal reform. To publish Scrooge’s trials in time for Christmas, he had […]
