ARTS & (HOME) ENTERTAINMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

Since being stuck inside, which shows have you been watching? Which movies? Have you read any good books lately? Any new music releases have you dancing in your living room? StreetWise vendors, readers and staff are sharing what is occupying their attention during this unprecedented time.

To be featured in a future edition, send your recommendations of what to do at home and why you love them to: Creative Director / Publisher Dave Hamilton at dhamilton@streetwise.org

Crossing Borders Music presents "Music by Black Composers," which includes works by Chicago Black Renaissance composers Irene Britton Smith and Florence Price, as well as German-Haitian composer Werner Jaegerhuber, with works to come by Jessie Montgomery, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Gifrants (pictured) and William Grant Still. In response to the pandemic, Crossing Borders Music has shifted its musical output to online video series. You can watch anytime at https://www.facebook.com/watch/CrossingBordersMusic/274977843810080/

The Rock and Roll Playhouse is hosting a kid-friendly rock 'n’ roll sing-along every day at 2 p.m. at http://therockandrollplayhouse.com. Clap, sing along, and play dance games with their hosts for a half-hour session each day! Rock along with classic songs by artists such as the Beatles, Bill Withers, Bob Dylan, John Prine, Prince, the Grateful Dead and Phish, just to name a few! Monday through Friday the stream is on the Rock and Roll Playhouse’s Facebook page, Saturday it’s on Industry City’s Facebook, and Sundays it’s on the Rockefeller Center’s Facebook. If you don’t catch it live, no worries! All previous episodes are logged on their Facebook page to rock out on demand!

As part of its Chicago Stories initiative, Lookingglass Theatre Company will stream its award-winning 2012 production of “Eastland: A New Musical,” at 7 p.m. Thursday, August 20. Moored on the Chicago River between Clark and LaSalle Streets on July 24, 1915, the Eastland began boarding as thousands of Western Electric employees and their families climbed the ramp, excited for their annual company outing. Overflowing with passengers, the boat leaned further and further to port – and soon tipped entirely on its side. Within minutes, cries filled the air, families were torn apart and unexpected heroes emerged to rescue dozens of Chicagoans. With 844 deaths, it is Chicago’s biggest loss-of-life tragedy. Playwright Andrew White says “Everyone knows about The Titanic, but comparatively few know of the Eastland disaster, even though it took place right in downtown Chicago. One reason may be that the Eastland passengers were working-class, first-generation immigrants who, like today, kept the country going but were too easily overlooked, discarded, and forgotten.” Lookingglass Artistic Director Heidi Stillman says, “So much of the story of the Eastland disaster feels deeply resonant with the current moment: how ordinary people are swept up in an historic event not of their making; how some respond with callousness and others with kindness and courage; and throughout it all, the need to preserve and tell our stories.”RSVP at https:// lookingglasstheatre.org/event/eastland-watch-party/ This virtual event will be streamed on YouTube and Facebook. Check back on the night of the event for the link! Proceeds will directly support the Looking Forward Campaign, a fundraising effort to sustain Lookingglass Theatre Company and its artists through the pandemic.