Every year, we ask our opinionated readers to tell us about their favorite people, places and things in the Springfield area. Over the decades we’ve been doing this, we’ve continued to tweak both the process and the results issue to try to keep things fresh and interesting, and of course, the votes tend to reflect […]
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Posted inArts & Culture
Love is love, no matter what
Audiences are returning to live theater at a time of uncertainty and discord. Stop Kiss, Diana Son’s dark romantic comedy (and near-tragedy) speaks directly to the fears, anger and longing in our hearts. This fine UIS production under the capable direction of Missy Thibodeaux-Thompson – with a cast of exceptional actors from the theater program […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Fall Home & Garden 2021
While things have started to reopen, the extra time we spent at home last year made us more aware of improvements needed both inside and outside our homes. Extending our living space outdoors has become popular, especially with more entertaining and family gatherings now taking place outside. Urban rewilding is also a growing trend, as […]
Posted inNews
A league of their own
Baseball has always been America’s favorite pastime. Many Illinois Times readers have heard of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Ty Cobb, as they were household names in the 1920s and 1930s. The names James “Cool Papa” Bell, Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, Oscar Charleston and Satchel Paige were also household names, but in totally different households. […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Out of this world
There’s something strange growing at the University of Illinois Springfield Visual Arts Gallery. Fittingly, the gallery is attached to the Health and Sciences Building, because the current exhibit looks as though some wild experiments made their way into the art space. Only, these plants dance and sing. They are robotic. In fact, one resembles some […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Fall Guide 2021
There is no shortage of things to do in central Illinois this fall. Many of the fall festivals and regular events are returning, and we’ve included a roundup of theater and live music happenings. Traditional activities such as apple orchards and enjoying the outdoors are more popular than ever, but we’ve also highlighted some new […]
Posted inNews
Back to school
It’s the first school year since the pandemic began that all students are to be in classrooms full time. Schools have planned ways to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 and its potentially more contagious variants, as the delta version is proving to be. As of Aug. 18 the community transmission level was high in nearly […]
Posted inNews
Fair fanfare
The Illinois State Fair is back this year with the theme of One Illinois, designed to emphasize a need for unity during the pandemic’s challenges. Krista Lisser, Illinois Department of Agriculture’s public information officer, said that the fair’s organizers expect a similar attendance to previous years, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. An estimated 509,000 people […]
Posted inNews
Running against racism
The age of 33 is widely known as the Jesus year. It’s the age Jesus is considered to have ascended from his earthly body after crucifixion. As many have noted since, it’s also the age in which some adults start to get serious about their life’s purpose. Nattalyee Randall, who turned 33 in November of […]
Posted inNews
Will state workers come back to offices?
It happened in Chicago. Could it happen in Springfield? Governor JB Pritzker has taken the first steps to restructure the state’s real estate portfolio with an eye toward reducing the workplace cost for state employees. The governor announced in January that the state of Illinois will sell the James R. Thompson Center and place many […]
Posted inNews
Sky’s the limit
After a six-year term as the executive director for Downtown Springfield Inc. (DSI) Lisa Clemmons Stott is setting her sights on new ways to help Springfield grow. “I was always interested in relationships and therefore politics,” Clemmons Stott told Illinois Times. She graduated from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1994 with a journalism degree. […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Legacy Theatre’s The Music Man
Unabashedly nostalgic to the point of corniness yet at the same time emotionally complex, Meredith Willson‘s The Music Man is a masterpiece. This wonderful new production at The Legacy Theatre (through Aug. 1) will sweep you away. It is exactly what we need right now, a rebirth of community through theater. Director Scott Richardson and […]
