The River Cities' Reader is looking to add two or three area-theatre reviewers to our team, so if you've ever read one of our stage critiques and thought, “Gee, I could do that … “, here's your chance!

It's time to commend Scott's achievement not merely for what it is, but for what it is in light of its circumstances: a freakin' miracle.

The last time Representative Dan Burke (D-Chicago) had a serious primary opponent, in 2010, the longtime Southwest Side legislator won by just 579 votes over activist Rudy Lozano. And it could’ve been a closer race had two Latino “candidates” not been put on the ballot to siphon away almost 400 votes from the progressive activist Lozano.

Few film stars ever look as happy as Hugh Jackman does when crooning and hoofing on award shows, or as he did playing Curley in that recorded-for-posterity production of Oklahoma! And when he's allowed to be that same sort of explosive musical-theatre charm bomb in The Greatest Showman, Jackman's enthusiasm is so infectious, and his talent so overwhelming, that for those few minutes, you can't imagine wanting to be anywhere else on Earth. Unfortunately, though, Jenny Bicks' and Bill Condon' script remains all-too-often earthbound.

In our Constitutional Republic, the citizenry still has the power and political tools to create whatever change we truly desire as a Republic. Alarmingly, however, we have lowered the bar for our participation so far that 'We the People”'s role in governance is almost obsolete. Coalescing now, to right our country's ship, is unachievable if we don't first acknowledge systematic displacement due to our willing abdication of our civic roles.

To download a PDF of the puzzle, click here.

Rauner does have three things going for him: Money, the income-tax hike passed over his veto, and Madigan himself.

Named in honor of the program's beloved founder who passed away last December, the River Music Experience's Ellis Kell Winter Blues Jam, taking place on December 30, will showcase the burgeoning talents of students who completed the venue's week-long Winter Blues Camp for area musicians ages eight to 18.