Beyond The Mic

The strongest political statement being made...

By: Don Hall | Oct. 11, 2011

Oct. 11, 2011

While I am the Events Coordinator for your favorite neighborhood public radio station, I am also a theater geek. Live theater is a passion of mine and, whenever I can convince Breeze and Daniel (Vice President of Strategic Communications and our boss) to do an event using and promoting theater, I'm gonna.

Last year we presented The Alternative History of Chicago Theater (Abridged) and it was a huge success.  But one thing bothered me (and it bothered both of our Dueling Critics as well) - in all of the discussion of our rich history as a theater city, there was very little talk of anything that wasn't about white artists.

"All theater is political and sometimes what isn't being produced is the strongest political statement being made."

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Ken Nordine, 91, honored at Chicago Film Fest

By: Steve Edwards | Oct. 10, 2011

Oct. 10, 2011

If you're Ken Nordine and you've spent a lifetime producing iconic TV commercials, writing poetry, publishing books, creating art, inventing Word Jazz (broadcast Sundays at Midnight on WBEZ) and otherwise blowing our minds through path-breaking aural riffs, what do you do for an encore?

You bask in the spotlight of the 47th Annual Chicago International Film Festival.

This year, the fest will honor the 91-year-old Word Jazz host and creator Tuesday evening during a special on-stage interview and film screening with festival director Michael Kutza.

The event, dubbed An Evening with Ken Nordine, is open to the public and will feature Nordine's reflections about his lengthy career, as well as an audience Q&A.  In addition, the event promises to screen some of Nordine's video works, including his memorable Levi's ads as well as some of the many acclaimed trailers he's produced for the festival over the years.

"I'm really flattered," said Nordine during a phone conversation Monday.

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Can the Theater work for change?

By: Don Hall | Oct. 2, 2011

Oct. 2, 2011

"I want to ride without suspicion in national parks. I want to get seated at chain restaurants without waiting 25 minutes or longer. I want to give people the visual comfort of harmonious, racial integration without engaging in inane chit chat. Just like we see on TV. I want to have a white man by my side to back me up in academic, political and economic arguments." - from "Purchasing Power" by Ben Marshall 

The assignment was pretty simple and open-ended.

For the WBEZ Off-Air event The Art of the Political: Can the Stage Be More Than Entertainment?, we decided to hold a panel discussion on the topic and include (in the spirit of keeping the event lively AND my own personal passion for finding ways to use my gig to help support my theatrical brothers and sisters) three ten-minute plays dealing with race and class.

The All Call went out:

All plays must be limited by the following criteria:

• Playwright must self-identify as an artist of color
• Play must be ten-minutes or less in length

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Backstage buzz at Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!

By: Don Hall | Sep. 30, 2011

Sep. 30, 2011

Hey blog readers! It's been awhile since we went behind the scenes of your favorite public radio news quiz, so let's catch up.

WHAT'S THE SAME?

The show still sells out every Chicago performance.  We still keep rocking' it in locales far and wide (from Portland to Nashville to Fairbanks, Alaska!).  Peter is still a cranky comic genius; Carl is still the most genial, lovely man on the planet; Paula still cracks everyone up.

This past year, the show has chugged along as NPR's most popular show and every week a little over 3 million people (I'm thinking it's like 3 million people and an eight year old nerdy kid who answers every question in class) tune in and laugh out loud in their cars as motorists around them think they've lost their minds.

Ah!  but...

WHAT'S NEW?

The year has brought in some new panelists - Maz Jobrani, Alonzo Bodden, Faith Salie, Jessi Klein and my man, Brian Babylon.  They all have their own personal style and flair and the hazing has included Amy Dickinson forcing them all to take her advice, Roy Blount, Jr.

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WBEZ's Chicago Chef Battle recap

By: Don Hall | Sep. 26, 2011

Sep. 26, 2011

Yesterday, we launched the Off-Air season with Chicago Chef Battle 2011 at the Goose Island Brewery Dock.  The weather held out and the music (spun by Radio M's Tony Sarabia) was festive, the Goose Island beer and root beer was flowing, the Intelligentsia coffee was piping hot, and the food (OH! the FOOD!) was absolutely delicious.  We packed the place with WBEZ listeners and their friends and it was a gas.

But what you don't know is all the moving parts - all the ingredients that come into play to make that simple, delectable plate of pork belly taco or braised goat with your cup of Matilda - are not simple at all.


 

Recipe for the Chicago Chef Battle 2011

Ingredients:
An Artistic Director for the Event
Five Chefs
A Venue
Promotional Materials
Volunteer Staff
Sponsors

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The fourth season of WBEZ's Off-Air series cranks it up

By: Don Hall | Sep. 16, 2011

Sep. 16, 2011

WBEZ, Off-Air, Chef Battle

Before I get into blatantly teasing you, let me thank all of our listening and web audience who managed to squeeze in to one of our capacity crowd events last season.  Whether you came out to the Goose Island Brewery Dock for Chicago Chef Battle 2010, the hysterical Alternative History of Chicago Theater (Abridged), or the thought provoking Mutants, Androids, and Cyborgs discussion at Northwestern University, your presence is what makes all the planning worthwhile.  And, if you hadn't shown up, Breeze and I would be working at a local Kinko's producing copies.  So, thanks.

Also, I'd like to welcome to our little team Jessica McCloud, the new Assistant Events Coordinator.  You'll see her at Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! as well as the Off-Air events and at our three WBEZ Community Bureaus this year.  She rocks!

As always, with Off-Air there's something for everyone (except for, perhaps, fans of NASCAR, Burning Man or Rick Perry) - the return of the Chicago Chef Battle 2011 (tickets are going FAST for this one so step it up!), The Fourth Annual Winter Block Par

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Phillip Marlowe, Jeffrey Lebowski and BINGO!

By: Don Hall | Oct. 26, 2010

Oct. 26, 2010

I've rented apartments. I've rented equipment (once, I even rented a portable slushie machine for a party). In college, I rented my entire apartment's furniture (including the coffee maker) on a Rent-to-Own option from a local store.

Until this summer, I had never rented a 1200 car Drive-In Movie Theater.

The first time I saw a movie was at a drive-in. It was a double bill of Harold and Maude and The Gambler. I was six. Consider that when you wonder how movie choices can warp your children's minds.

On Sunday, November 7, starting 4:30PM, you will hop into your ride and head out to West Chicago to the Cascade Drive-in Cinema and get to see two incredible noir films courtesy of your favorite public radio station because WE RENTED A 1200 CAR DRIVE-IN!

OK. Breathing again...

Matty and Adam over at Filmspotting are our curators and decided to pair The Big Sleep and The Big Lebowski. Unfortunately it turned out that, after two months of searching and asking and calling, there is only one print of The Big Sleep in the entire country that works on the specific projectors at Cascade.

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WWDTM 2011 Schedule

By: The Archives | Sep. 27, 2010

Sep. 27, 2010

Like Silly Putty, the WWDTM schedule is stretchy and subject to change (and can also take the images from the comics and make them squishy).

With that in mind, below is the current calendar of our Chicago appearances, subject to change at a moment's notice.  Also be advised that tickets go on sale app. six weeks in advance but you should check our Online Store frequently -- these shows sell out FAST. 

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