The SportsWise team discusses what teams could overtake the Cubs #1 standing.
Cover Story: Pride Month
Until the label "homosexual" was coined in 1869, same-sex desire was something you did, not necessarily who you were. StreetWise opens Pride Month with a look at a new art exhibit being shown only in Chicago, which backs this statement with works from all over the world.
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From the Streets
The work of botanical artist Rory McEwen is on display at the Driehaus Museum in the exhibition "A New Perspective on Nature" through August 17.
Julie Youngquist, Executive director jyoungquist@streetwise.org
Ph: 773-334-6600 Office: 2009 S. State St., Chicago, IL, 60616
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT RECOMMENDATIONS
Compiled by Dave Hamilton
Groovy, Baby!
‘Bea Hive Bash’ Bust out your mini-skirts, tie-dye, and go-go boots for the most far-out party of the summer, The Bea Hive Bash at The Auditorium, 50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive. Celebrating the legacy of Beatrice “Bea” Spachner, the patron respon sible for rescuing the historic building from being demolished in the 1960’s, this year’s iteration of The Audi torium’s annual summer party is a fab 60’s-themed bash paying homage to The Auditorium’s triumphant grand re-opening night in 1967. Held on the theater’s iconic stage, the party features creative cocktails, delicious food, an exclusive silent auction, and a live performance by the acclaimed Beatles cover band, Britain’s Finest. Can you dig it? The Bea Hive Bash is Friday, June 6 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $135 in recognition of The Auditorium’s 135th anniversary this year. Proceeds from the event will benefit The Auditorium’s three primary missions: restoring the historic Auditorium building, programming worldclass presentations on stage, and engaging with the greater Chicago community. Tickets are available at auditoriumtheatre.org
Homegrown Sounds!
‘Chicago!’
Nova Linea Musica (NLM), an innovative local chamber music series and new-music incubator, closes its inaugural season with “Chicago!,” a concert with a salute to our great city featuring Chicago-based performers and composers. “Chicago!” presents In Triplicate, a pioneering and locally-grown string trio of internationally acclaimed musicians, celebrated pianist Chelsea Wang (pictured), and NLM artist-in-residence violinist Rabia Brooke. The program includes the world premiere of “Smooth Pluck Whirl” by Shawn Okpebholo, named 2024 “Chicagoan of the Year in Classical Music” by the Chicago Tribune, and the world premiere of In Triplicate violinist and composer Jasmine Lin’s “Sumpin' About Chicago” - composed specifically for this event. The program also features a work by Chicago-based composer Clarice Assad. The concert is Wednesday, June 4 at 6:30 p.m. at Guarneri Hall, 11 E. Adams St. Tickets are $40 at novalineamusica.org and include access to a pre-concert discussion from The Society of Disobedient Listeners led by Doyle Armbrust at 5:30 p.m. and a catered post-concert reception with the artists.
Receiving Critical Praise!
‘You Will Get Sick’
Steppenwolf Theatre Company concludes its 49th Season with the whimsical, wild, unpredictable and deeply moving Chicago premiere of “You Will Get Sick,” June 5 – July 13 in Steppenwolf’s Downstairs Theater, 1650 N. Halsted St. A young man with a secret. An older woman who will listen. A predatory flock of birds. An upcoming audition for “The Wizard of Oz.” Welcome to “You Will Get Sick,” a wildly imaginative new play that traces the hilarious and deeply moving saga of one man’s illness and his unlikely caretaker’s pursuit of her dreams. Admired as “lively, surreal and surprising” by the New York Times, Noah Diaz’s Chicago debut is equal parts buddy-comedy, form-bending experiment and sober meditation on mortality. Tickets start at $20 at steppenwolf.org
Remembering History (Or Not)!
‘The Curious Circumstances of Louis Le Prince’ The Factory Theater, 1623 W. Howard St., presents the final production of its 30th season, “The Curious Circum stances of Louis Le Prince,” June 6 - July 19. On Sept. 16, 1890, inventor Louis Le Prince boarded a train bound for Paris, in preparation for a visit to the United States to demonstrate his single-lens motion picture camera. He never reached his destination. Seven years later, it falls to his widow and son to investigate his disappearance and fight for his legacy in this amazing story based on true events. Based on the true unsolved mystery of Louis Le Prince, this play follows Lizzie and Adolphe Le Prince as they track the inventor’s last known whereabouts and cross the Atlantic to a New York courtroom for a confrontation with legendary inventor Thomas Edison. Half Victorian-era mystery, half courtroom drama, the play explores how we struggle with unresolved tragedies, and how we remember (or don’t remember) the people in our history. Tickets are $30 at TheFactoryTheater.com.
Down the Rabbit Hole!
‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ The Joffrey Ballet concludes its 69th season with two-time Tony Award®-winning choreographer Christopher Wheeldon’s enchanting and family-friendly “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” Set to Joby Talbot’s hallucinatory sound world of sweeping melodies and ticking clocks, the production features vibrant stagecraft and puppetry by Tony Award®-winning designer Bob Crowley, transforming Lewis Carroll’s classic tale with a modern twist. The production run has been extended for the first time in the company’s history, with 14 performances across three weekends at the Lyric Opera House, 20 N. Upper Wacker Drive, from June 5 - 22 (originally scheduled to close June 15). Tickets start at $45 at joffrey.org
Dance + Rhythm -= Tap!
‘For All We Know’
Chicago Tap Theatre (CTT), completes its 22nd season with the world premiere of “For All We Know,” choreographed by Sterling Harris, June 5 & 6 at 7 p.m. and June 7 & 8 at 2 p.m., at The Edge Theater, 5451 N. Broadway Ave. “For All We Know” is an investigation of our understanding of love as reflected through the journey of pursuing tap dance. It asks audiences to view tap dance and jazz music from a new angle and will leave them asking, “W hat is the true meaning of love?” It is filled with original compositions, striking choreography and heartwarming resolutions. Tickets are $35 - $65 at chicagotaptheatre.com/see-a-show
Besties 4eva!
‘Black Best Friend’
This one-woman show hilariously dissects Black media tropes with satirical sketches, comedic songs and recognizable characters. Colette Gregory deconstructs sexuality, religion and everything from Black conservatives to “Love is Blind” contestants. Playing June 12 – 14 at 8 p.m. at Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St. Tickets are $25 at steppenwolf.org
Celebrating Latinx Diaspora!
Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre
Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre presents its Spring 2025 Concert Series, helmed by co-founder and artistic director Wilfredo Rivera, at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn St., on June 6 at 7:30 p.m. and June 7 at 2 p.m. Concerts will include performances of original dance and music by the company’s professional dance ensemble and jazz orchestra. Works by choreographers Wilfredo Rivera, Shannon Alvis and Michelle Manzanales and composers Joe Cerqua and James Sanders celebrate the Latinx diaspora, exploring the range of gender identity and the experience of metamorphosis, and reflecting the immigrant experience and our shared humanity. Tickets are $37 - $79 at CerquaRivera.org
Chicago Dance Month: Wave Wall Moves
See Chicago Dance Month!
In partnership with Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand Ave., dance comes to the Wave Wall stage, located across from the iconic Ferris Wheel grand staircase, with pop-up performances from a rotating roster of dance companies every Saturday in June. Companies and individuals participating in Wave Wall Moves are: June 7 at 4 p.m.: Dilshad Khan Kathak and Phillip "Phree" Wood; June 14 at 4 p.m.: Clinard Dance's Flamenco Project and Niko8; June 21 at 4 p.m.: Chicago Tap Theatre and Yielded Vessels; June 28 at 4 p.m. - part of Navy Pier Pride: Fever Dream Dance Collective and Queer Dance Freakout. FREE
Chicago Dance Month: Pier Dance
Enjoy free dance lessons on Navy Pier’s Wave Wall Platform, 600 E. Grand Ave., every Wednesday in June. These sessions are great for those who love socializing, learning new dances, and being outdoors. Make it a date night or social event by sticking around for Navy Pier’s iconic fireworks display every Wednesday night following these exciting dance classes. Companies and individuals participating in Pier Dance are: June 4 at 6:30 p.m.: Bollywood Culture and Groove; June 11 at 6:30 p.m.: Traffic Jam Swing; June 18 at 6:30 p.m.: Christopher “Mad Dog” Thomas; June 25 at 6:30 p.m.: Movement Revolution Dance Crew. FREE
Who can overtake the cubs?
John: The Chicago Cubs are in first place. Will they hold up or will someone overtake them in the National League Central?
Russell: I believe the Cubs will win the division, with Milwaukee a strong contender. The Cubs had a record last year of 83-79 and should win 90 games this year. The Brewers are projected to finish second. The Cubs acquired right fielder Kyle Tucker in the offseason but starting pitchers will be a problem. They lost starting pitcher Justin Steele, but they should still be strong.
Robert: I do believe it will be a two-team race, but I respectfully disagree with Russell. Right now, it’s the Cubs first, the Cardinals second and the Brewers third. The Brewers are falling behind because they made a lot of bad deals. They got rid of their star closer who temporarily pitched for the Cubs, and a couple of star hitters.
The Cardinals have improved and they are only one game behind the Cubs, as of May 16. The Cardinals have a better team than the Brewers. The Cubs have a better team than the Cardinals, though. They are capable of winning 93-94 games.
John: How about the Cincinnati Reds?
Robert: The Cincinnati Reds have been a great team for the last three years. They’ve been on the uprise, but this season, they’re tanking.
Allen: With the Cubs being in first place in the National League Central, it’s very important they keep Kyle Tucker. He’s a key player, because they have been playing some good offensive baseball. They have been struggling to finish off some series with a sweep, but they are still coming in strong, and I have confidence they will go to the playoffs.
John: Kyle Tucker is the key for the Cubs, like Orel Herchiser that one year for the Dodgers. As far as the Cubs, I think it’s a four-team race, it’s too soon to tell if they will be overtaken but I think they have a good chance of staying in first place.
Robert: The Pirates are completely out of it.
John: That’s like saying it will be 90 degrees on July 4 in Chicago or it’s going to snow in January. It’s obvious. Things can change between now and the trade deadline of July 31. You might have a fourteam race. If it’s Milwaukee, they might need a closer. If it’s Cincinnati, they might need a bat, especially at the park they play in, Great America ballpark. The Cardinals might get another left hander, because they can eat up a lot of innings. The Cubs should be favored to win NL Central, but every team except the Pirates could play a major part.
Robert: I agree with the majority of your comments. The Cincinnati Reds need stronger pitching; they already have the hitters. The Cubs need a better bullpen. Every time we take a loss, it’s always the bullpen that collapses. Milwaukee: they need a closer, they need hitting. They need it all-
around. I don’t see Milwaukee being a serious contender at the trade deadline. Cardinals: serious contender. Reds: serious contender. Padres and Dodgers: that is so close to call. They have been flipping back and forth between first place and second place all season, so they are both contenders.
Russell: It can be a two-team race, the Cubs and Milwaukee. St. Louis had their chance, didn’t do nothing. Reds are about due.
Allen: The Cubs are a Chicago team, even though I like the White Sox. The Cubs are known for their strong team chemistry and camaraderie, which contributes to a cohesive union, so I am going with the Cubs all the waaaay.….
Any comments, suggestions or topic ideas for the SportsWise team? Email StreetWise Editor Suzanne Hanney at suzannestreetwise@yahoo.com
Vendors (clockwise) Russell Adams, A. Allen, Robert Laine and John Hagan chat about the world of sports.
ART HIGHLIGHTS SOCIETAL VIEWS ON HOMOSEXUALITY AFTER THE TERM WAS FIRST CREATED
by Suzanne Hanney
Before there was the label, “homosexual,” the art world saw only the human body, whether thin or muscled, at rest or in motion, in every ethnicity and color. People engaged in both same-sex and opposite-sex encounters at different stages of life.
“Before the coinage of the word ‘homosexual,’ same-sex desire marked something you did, not necessarily who you were,” said art historian Jonathan D. Katz, curator of “The First Homosexuals: The Birth of a New Identity, 18691939” at the Wrightwood 659 gallery. "'The First Homosexuals’ examines how, after this watershed moment, for the first time homosexuals were cleaved from the rest of the population and given an identity which turned on their sexuality.”
Art is the perfect vehicle for exploring the nature of sexual feelings, because visuals express subtleties that escape terminology, as Katz wrote in the May-June 2025 issue of Gay & Lesbian Review. “It can show things without telling the viewer what they are, enabling art to speak out of both sides of its mouth.” Queer viewers may have a greater understanding, and for everyone else, it’s…history.
An early theory, according to exhibit material, was that gay men had male bodies but female souls, and lesbians had male souls in female bodies, so that modern gay and trans identity were actually born together. “It is our fervent hope this exhibition will aid in the reclamation of gender to the story of sexual difference,” according to exhibit material.
Comprised of more than 300 paintings, drawings, sculptures, prints, photographs and films from 125 artists and more than 100 museums and private collections around the world, the exhibit occupies all three floors of Wrightwood 659’s building, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Tadao Ando. Wrightwood 659 is the perfect venue for the exhibit, with its concrete corridors that go the depth of the building, its two-story rear wall that allows for expansive entry explanations to each section, and the three-story atrium that lends an airiness to the weighty exhibition.
On the top floor is the establishing section, “Before the Binary,” which shows how same-sex desire and differentsex were not always seen as distinct opposites until the 19th century. In 1835-37, George Catlin’s “Dance to the Berdash” portrayed Sac and Fox men (who lived in roughly the Mississippi River area around Wisconsin/Iowa/Illinois) surrounding a “Two-Spirit” or “third-gender” individual
dressed as a woman: a “berdache,” to use an outdated French term. Catlin described the scene as “very funny and amusing” and was bewildered that “a man dressed in woman’s clothes…driven to the most servile and degrading duties,” would be celebrated and “looked upon as medicine and sacred.” The oil-on-canvas work from the Smithsonian American Art Museum is also an example of how European settlers imposed their binary views of gender and sexuality upon indigenous Americans.
Yet Europeans had their own examples of people dressed against the norm. In 1778, Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, age 39 and 23 respectively, disguised themselves as men, fled their aristocratic homes, and then lived together for 50 years. James Henry Lynch’s 1830s/40s color lithograph from the National Library of Wales portrays them near the ends of their lives in men’s top hats. Meanwhile, the French Chevalier d’Eon, in a work from the National Portrait Gallery in London, began their career as a man sent to Russia disguised as a woman who persuaded the Empress Elizabeth I to ally with France against the English and Prussians.
More graphic examples are erotic Japanese prints, including two by Kitagawa Utamaro (1750-1806) and Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), which give equal emphasis to homosexual and heterosexual acts.
Descending one floor, one finds “Portraits”: works that display iconic 19th and 20th century persons who openly explored and sometimes lived according to a homosexual identity. Gertrude Stein was known for her French salon that hosted Picasso, Matisse and F. Scott Fitzgerald, as well as her book about her partner, “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas,” at the time of her 1907 portrait by Felix Vallotton. Stein didn’t like Vallotton’s commanding, (yet massive) portrayal, and sold the work in 1926.
The section also includes the only full-size portrait of Oscar Wilde painted in his lifetime; Thomas Eakin’s oil sketch of his older lover, Walt Whitman; James Baldwin; and the nattily-dressed French artist/poet/film director of the earlyto mid-20th century, Jean Cocteau.
According to the exhibit wall label, Cocteau acknowledged homosexual marginalization, yet described his feelings as
inherent to his being. “As far back as I can remember, and even at an age when the mind does not yet influence the senses, I find traces of my love of boys…My misfortunes come from a society that condemns the rare as a crime and forces us to reform our inclinations.”
Meanwhile, Rosa Bonheur, the most famous animal painter of the 19th century, won permission from Parisian police to wear men’s clothes on the grounds that women’s clothes would be impractical in stables, where she often worked. Bonheur’s family tried to say that she and her portraitist Anna Klumpke had just a mother-daughter relationship, but when Klumpke died in 1942, she was buried with Bonheur and Bonheur’s prior lover in Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
Closer to home, Glyn Philpot (1884-1937) moved from the United Kingdom to live for a time with Robert Allerton, a
major benefactor to the Art Institute of Chicago, the subject of Philpot’s “The Man in Black.”
The “homosexual” label dates to Germany in 1869. Karl Heinrich Ulrichs (1825-1895) was a lawyer and queer activist who published 12 pamphlets arguing for the rights of Urnings (men) and Urinden (women), in which a person’s body contained a “soul” of the opposite sex. Ulrichs’ concept was inspired by the Greek god of the heavens, Uranus, who had been portrayed as both father and mother of the goddess Aphrodite in Plato’s “Symposium.”
Hungarian German journalist Karl Maria Kertbeny (18241882) wrote a letter to Ulrichs containing the first appearance of the words “heterosexual” and “homosexual” and used them in two anonymous pamphlets in 1869. Kertbeny rejected the idea of a fixed minority identity. Rather, he saw sexual orientation as a “taste,” like mutton, that
people should have the right to choose – or not. Unlike Urning, the word “homosexual” did not pass into common usage, but into that of German-speaking psychiatrists regarding the same-sex men they were treating.
After 1870, the reunited Germany saw itself as the new classical Greece. Just as in antiquity, public nudity, or free body culture (FKK in German) was embraced as a sign not of prurient interest but of health and moral virtue. An oil on canvas painting by Ludwig von Hoffman (c. 1900) shows nude and nearly-nude fishermen and boys; while definitely homoerotic, its emphasis is a committed attention to labor.
By the end of the 19th century, two views of this nudity emerged: one progressive and another soon aligned with fascism. Both were destroyed with the Nazi Third Reich, hence the 1939 in the exhibit title.
The exhibit period also coincides with the Second Industrial Revolution, and the “Scramble for Africa” by Belgium, Germany and Italy. European artists saw same-sex desire in the Ottoman Empire, for example, as making them
weak and easy to conquer. But artists around the world resisted colonial domination and reclaimed the beauty of their bodies and the power of their histories. Two examples are the 1916 painting “Nuestros dioses antiquos” (Our ancient gods) by Saturnino Herran of Mexico and late 20s/ early 30s photos of Narcissus and Faun from Greek mythology – parallels to Indigenous Mexico -- by Luis Marquez Romay.
This floor of the exhibit also features a section on “Performing,” with Harlem Renaissance artists and entertainers, including “the first drag show” and Bessie Smith with the carved head of a grinning Black minstrel.
The final section is “Beyond the Binary:” 60 works that explore the mutuality of homosexual and trans identity in their earliest formations. Among them are Danish artist Gerda Wegener’s depictions of her partner, Lili Elbe, who was assigned male at birth but who wished to be portrayed as shifty, feminine and seductive.
An illustrated catalog of the exhibition was published by Monacelli Press, a Phaidon imprint, with 22 essays by
Top Row, from left: Pascal Adolphe Jean Dagnan-Bouveret, La Blanchisseuse (The Laundress), 1979, graphite, ink, and ink wash on paper. This is the first known image of a modern homosexual couple in the history of European Art.; Alice Austen, The Darned Club, 1891, Original glass plate negative, Collection of Historic Richmond Town.; Berenice Abbott, Jean Cocteau, 1927, gelatin silver print.; Tomioka Eisen, kuchi-e (frontispiece) with artist's seal Shisen, c. 1906, Woodblock print, 23.2 x 31.6 cm, Tirey-van Lohuizen Collection.
leading experts in art and queer history, including Katz, who is professor of practice in the history of art and gender, sexuality and women’s studies at the University of Pennsylvania and associate curator Johnny Willis, a curatorial fellow at Wrightwood 659. Each essay focuses on a geographic region – from Japan to Australia to indigenous South America. The catalogue publishes on July 23, but a limited quantity are available online (400 pages, 500 illustrations, $74.95) at https://wrightwood659.org/publications and at the venue.
Wrightwood 659 is also participating in Facets Film Forum’s “Film as a Cultural Bridge” programming, part of its 50th anniversary celebration, with LGBTQ-related screenings June 4, 11, 18 and 25.
“The First Homosexuals” was a multi-year, global endeavor that took a second look at the world’s masterpieces for their explicit, if unacknowledged, sexual significances. Twenty-two scholars met regularly to define the scope of work and select items for display.
Without Wrightwood 659, however, the exhibit would have been homeless, Katz wrote.
“Apparently, queer art shows remain something of a third rail in the American museum world, a situation that threatens to become even more dire under the current administration.”
But the Alphawood Foundation, which founded Wrightwood 659, was committed to the project from the very beginning, said Chirag G. Badlani, executive director. “We are proud to have supported it at the scale it required through more than six years of global research and are even more proud to support it now amidst a global wave of anti-LGBTQ actions.”
“The First Homosexuals: The Birth of a New Identity” runs to July 26 at 659 W. Wrightwood Ave. Admission is by advance ticket only ($15) at https://tickets.wrightwood659.org/events.
Pride_Events
Gender F*cked Productions Presents: “
Trans Scribe: A New Works Festival
June 6 & 7 at 8 pm; June 8 at 7 pm | $28+ at steppenwolf.org Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St. “Trans Scribe” is a new play festival like you've never seen before. This three-night event features 10-minute plays, new musical theatre songs, a new one-act musical, a new one-act play and a new full-length play all written by Trans playwrights who call Chicago home.
Andersonville Midsommarfest
June 13 at 5-10 pm; June 14 at noon-10 pm; June 15 at noon-9 pm | $10 suggested donation On Clark St. between Foster and Gregory Now in its 59th year, Midsommarfest celebrates the neighborhood’s Swedish origins, along with up-and-coming LGBTQIA+, artists. Admission is a $10 suggested donation. Proceeds from donations and beverage sales go directly back to the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce, a 501c6 non-profit organization to support festival expenses, neighborhood events, small business networking events, neighborhood beautification – and over a dozen local non-profits. andersonville.org/midsommarfest
Angels in America parts One & Two
June 13 - September 7 | $25+ at invictustheatreco.com
Invictus Theatre Company at the Windy City Playhouse, 3014 W. Irving Park Rd.
Tony Kushner’s two-part, Pulitzer Prize-winning expansive, poetic, and politically-charged look at the ‘80s in America. In the midst of the AIDS crisis and a conservative Reagan administration, New Yorkers grapple with life and death, love and sex, heaven and hell.
Pride Night at the Shedd
June 14 at 6 pm | $19.95 at sheddaquarium.org Shedd Aquarium, 1200 S. DuSable Lake Shore Drive
Immerse yourself in a vibrant Pride Night at Shedd, featuring high-energy DJs and a stunning ocean-themed drag showcase.
Artemis Singers
Pride Concert and Dance
June 14 at 7 pm | $25 at artemissingers.org
VanderCook College of Music, Great Hall, 3125 S. Federal St.
This show will celebrate women’s power. Women have always overcome, and they will continue to, through their anger over—and sense of humor about—the utter ridiculousness of it all.
Out and Proud:
A Rainbow Icon Celebration
June 19 & 20 at 7 pm | $31 at thedentheatre.com
The Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Celebrate Pride with Melissa Young and Nick Sula as they return with Young’s historical hit, Out and Proud: A Rainbow Celebration. Sixteen years ago, Melissa Young performed the music of the world’s most loved LGBTQ icons to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, June 28, 1969. She now returns to celebrate the progress our country has made with help from some of her friends!
Out and Amplified: Night of Queer Music
Riviera Theatre, 4746 N. Racine Ave.
June 20 at 7:30 pm | $33+ at moatsentertainment.com
A celebration of LGBTQ+ identity, artistry, and community that’s louder, prouder, and glammier than ever.
ForThem Presents: Very Pride!
June 20 at 9 pm | $59+ at http://very-pride.com
Morgan MFG, 401 N. Morgan St.
Bringing the beats, the energy, and the community together for a night of pure queer joy, music, and unapologetic self-expression.
Chicago Pride Fest
June 21 & 22 at 11 am - 10 pm | $20 suggested donation
On Halsted St. between Addison and Grace
Celebration of LGBTQ+ pride & community organized by Northalsted Business Alliance on the weekend before the Pride Parade features music on three stages, vendors, food, a Youth Pride Space for teens, best of Chicago drag performance, Miss Foozie’s Proud Pet Parade with prizes, dance exhibitions, Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus, guest speakers and 150+ food and merchandise vendors. A $20 suggested donation for entry helps pay performers and festival workers, and supports local nonprofits & community programs like the Chicago Pride Crosswalks: 14 rainbow-paved intersections installed in 2019 that make up the longest installation of its kind in the world. pridefestchicago.com
Compiled by Dave Hamilton
TransScribe:ANewWorksFestival
CircuitMOM presents Love Revolution
June 21 at 10 pm | $54.50 at circuitmom.com/events
House of Blues, 329 N. Dearborn St.
DJs Alex Lo and Ty Sunderland.
Betty Theft Presents: “CROOKED
June 26 at 8 pm | $23 at steppenwolf.org
Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St.
“CROOKED” is an alternative drag revue that celebrates the dark, bizarre and uncanny. Hosted by Betty Theft, CROOKED invites you to come take a peek at what lurks behind the curtain…
Windy City Performing Arts: “ Drag If You Dare
June 27 & 28 at 7 pm | $30 at windycitysings.org
Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St.
A fabulous fusion of choral power and drag excellence! Join our choirs and some of Chicago’s fiercest local drag performers for an unforgettable night of music, joy, and queer brilliance in the round, featuring iconic gay pop anthems.
Proud to Run 2025
June 28 at 7:30 am | $50+ at proudtorun.org
Montrose Grove 16, west of Montrose Beach, 4400 N. Lake Shore Drive
Featuring a 5K/10K run and a 5K walk. Every step supports organizations empowering Chicago’s LGBTQ+ community.
Navy Pier Pride
June 28 at 11 am - 9 pm | FREE Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand Ave.
Enjoy live music, performances by local LGBTQIA+ artists, educational programming, and resources from community partners.
Back Lot Bash
June 28 & 29 at 3 pm | $24.35+ at backlotbashchicago.com
Cheetah Gym Parking Lot, 5238 N. Clark St.
Where the girls come out to play – and to showcase female artists and community organizations -- during Pride Weekend.
Gay Pride Parade
June 30 at 11 am | FREE
Sheridan & Broadway - staging; viewing begins at Grace 54th annual parade proceeds south on Broadway, then Halsted, east on Belmont to Broadway, south to Diversey and east to Sheridan. Least crowded on Belmont between Halsted and Broadway; accessible viewing and restrooms 600 W. Diversey.
Theme “United in Pride” is not just a celebration but a call to action, for everyone to come together in building a world where authenticity is celebrated, individuality is honored, equality and justice are unwavering truths for all. Info and volunteer signups at pridechicago.org
Pride South Side 2025
July 5 at 11 am - 9 pm | FREE pridesouthside.org
DuSable Black History Museum, 740 E. 56th Place
The 7th annual Pride South Side Festival celebrates culture, education, community, and provides an empowering space for LGBTQ+ Black and Brown people.
Hell in a Handbag Productions: “ Queen for a Day
July 9 - August 3, Thurs-Sat at 7:30 pm; Sat & Sun at 4 pm | $25+ at handbagproductions.org
Bramble Arts Loft, 5545 N. Clark St.
A one-act comedy/drama/cry for help about a diva (Queen Elizabeth I), another diva (America's first superstar designer Halston) and a very sane normal person (Liza Minnelli).
Northalsted Market Days
August 8 at 5-10 pm; August 9 &10 at 11 am - 10 pm | $20 suggested donation
On Halsted St. between Belmont and Addison
Half-mile long lineup of live music on 5 stages, 250+ vendors, arts, crafts, food and drink, dance demos, drag performances. $20 suggested donation helps local nonprofits. northalsted.com/marketdays
Bambi Banks-Coule Presents: “
Clue a Drag Parody
August 28 – 30 at 8 pm | $28 at steppenwolf.org
Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St.
“Clue a Drag Parody” is a murder mystery farce starring some of Chicago's best and brightest queens. Whether it’s Mrs. White in the ballroom with the candlestick or Colonel Mustard in the library with the rope, come ready to solve the mystery of this whodunit!
"Clue "ADragParody
'A New Perspective on nature' at the driehaus museum
Chicago (and our own Driehaus Museum) is the last stop on the US tour of acclaimed 20th century botanical painter Rory McEwen.
McEwen was both a multi-talented artist and a folk musician superstar whose roots were deeply embedded in Scotland. He grew up in a culturally rich environment that greatly enhanced his creative journey, and his upbringing in the verdant Scottish Borders played a pivotal role in shaping his artistic sensibilities.
McEwen (1932-1982) began his artistic journey as a child, learning flower painting with his governess, followed by art studies at Eton with artist Wilfred Blunt. He learned to paint on vellum in 1948 “with the concentration of a watchmaker,” using a sheaf of the tiniest brushes and a delicate pen knife to scrape away errors. He painted individual flowers (from tulips to roses), leaves and vegetables in delicate and intricate detail, using cut specimens, laying them alongside the board on which he stretched the vellum “as tight as a drum.”
In the 1950’s and 1960’s McEwen combined artwork with folk and guitar music. He appeared twice on The Ed Sullivan Show, spent time with Pete Seeger and regularly hosted the music program Hullabaloo in the UK. During this time, he was best known as a guitarist and singer, performing at major music venues including the Edinburgh Festival, the Keele Folk Festival and Festival Hall. His house in Chelsea became a central hub of creativity, where George Harrison was given sitar lessons by Ravi Shankar and Bob Dylan was introduced to Robert Graves.
The exhibit at The Driehaus (on the corner of Rush and Erie Streets), explores the trailblazing legacy of this multitalented Renaissance man, whose work is considered one of the major turning points in the development of contemporary botanical art. Presenting over 100 works, including sculpture and manuscripts, the exhibition reveals how McEwen forged his own very personal interpretation of 20th century modernism, portraying flowers, leaves and vegetables as individual subjects worthy of their own portraits. Each work is a treasure, and you will look – and then look again – at the flower or leaf, centered or placed at an angle. It is almost as though they “speak” to you quietly
as you enjoy both the beauty and the technical expertise embedded in each portrait.
The Driehaus Museum (located just steps from the Magnificent Mile) is a perfect venue for this exhibition. It encompasses two historic landmark buildings, the 1883 Nickerson Mansion and the 1926 Murphy Auditorium. The exquisite building was saved twice, first by a collective of over 100 Chicago citizens in 1919 and then by philanthropist Richard H. Driehaus who sponsored its restoration from 2003-2008. Every room of the mansion with its antiques, restored furniture and period wallpaper creates a visual delight for viewing each piece of Rory’s art, the white vellum carefully framed against the contrasting wallpaper; and in learning about his life in both art and music until his untimely death at age 50.
“Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature” will be at the Driehaus Museum, 50 E. Erie St., to August 17. https://driehausmuseum.org/exhibition/rory-mcewen
Judi Strauss-Lipkin, PhD is an enrolled IRS agent and was a professor of management at Benedictine University and George Williams College. She is president emeritus of the Phi Beta Kappa Association of Chicago.
by Judi Strauss-Lipkin
The work of Rory McEwen at the Driehaus Mueseum (Judi Strauss-Lipkin photos).
