Arts Features

Chicago-based artist Bob Faust’s Ways & Means participatory public art initiative has been installed on the lawn of the Executive Mansion. He describes it as offering a message of non-partisan hope and a vision of patriotism. Installed Oct. 21, it will remain on display through Tuesday, Nov. 3.   The installation consists of a series […]

Directed by Leigh Steiner, Come From Away is a stunning and relentless, 100-minute spectacle that gives audiences no intermission — and no emotional reprieve. The production recounts the true story of the thousands of stranded airline passengers diverted to Gander, Newfoundland on 9/11— delivering a portrait of heroic hospitality that will leave even the most […]

The University of Illinois Springfield Theatre Program will present six performances of Rabbit Hole by David Lindsay-Abaire, winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The show will run for two weekends: Friday, Nov. 6, through Sunday, Nov. 8, and Thursday, Nov. 12, through Saturday, Nov. 14, in the Studio Theatre on the lower level […]

A truly great comedian is like an orchestra conductor. The instruments are not the jokes but the audience itself: the laughter of the crowd is what they conduct. Of course, people go to a comedy show wanting to laugh but genuine laughter is an involuntary physical response – and the stand-up comedian’s job is to […]

Cirque Italia Metropolis, the European-centric, aquatic circus, is coming to Springfield from Oct. 23-26 at White Oaks Mall. The animal-free circus features a 35,000-gallon water stage and several astonishing acrobatic performances. What makes Cirque Italia Metropolis unique is the fact that it is the only traveling water circus in the U.S. Generally, audiences are only […]

Arriving just in time for the spooky season, Spencer Theatre Company’s production of Misery, directed by John Sivak, delivers a taut, 105-minute psychological thriller without an intermission. It is adapted for the stage by William Goldman, who also penned the screenplay for the award-winning film based on Stephen King’s novel. The play keeps much of […]

What happens when someone seeks an abortion and is turned away, compared to someone who has access? The Turnaway Play addresses this question through the experiences of women who participated in the Turnaway Study, an investigation that recruited roughly 1,000 women across 30 facilities in the U.S. between 2008 and 2010. Written by Lesley Lisa […]

Sprightly co-directed by Jasmine French and Reggie Guyton for Springfield Theatre Centre, Seussical Jr. is a kinetic, family-friendly mash-up of Dr. Seuss’s popular rhymes and tales. Brought to life by a 40-member cast of children ages 5 to 17 from all across central Illinois, this production radiates whimsical energy. “Kids come into this with a […]

Kennedie Cearlock and Brandi Moore were already first in line outside the Illinois State Fair Grandstand at 11 a.m. — nine hours before Ella Langley’s scheduled 8 p.m. concert. Despite the long wait ahead, the two fans, from Tazewell and Christian counties, were in exceptionally positive moods. With Langley’s growing popularity and reputation for selling […]