Broken souls grasp for meaning and connection in Samuel D. Hunter’s intense play that unfolds in a dreary church basement in the small town of Idaho Falls, Idaho.

A local institution holds handwritten lyric sheets belonging to the biggest-selling music artists of all time. We get a peek at this collection of cultural artifacts.

Some 20 years after they stampeded along Michigan Avenue, Chicagoans are still moo-ved by the memory of Cows on Parade. Geoffrey Baer revisits the 1999 art project in this encore edition of “Ask Geoffrey.”

Archaeologists are nearing the end of a monthlong dig in the city’s Old Irving Park neighborhood. What they’re looking for – and what they’ve turned up.

A massive music festival, local talent, craft brews and thought-provoking plays usher in the weekend. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago.

The annual music festival gets underway Thursday in Grant Park. Why this year’s four-day event comes with tightened security measures.

What a leading paleontologist in Chicago is doing to help the country of Niger save and display its rich cultural heritage.

A ProPublica Illinois investigation uncovers allegations of abuse, inappropriate relationships and threats at nonprofit shelters housing migrant children. We speak with reporter Melissa Sanchez.

One of the oldest forms of art is still practiced throughout the world, but there is only one school in the United States where it’s taught. We go for a visit.

As visitors to the Ravinia Festival well know, the picnics on the grass staged there tend to be legendary feasts. But it is the musical feasts that are the real food for thought.

Jamie Bernstein on her new book and Ravinia performance remembering her famous father, Leonard Bernstein.

In her deftly crafted new show, “Rick Stone the Blues Man,” writer/director Jackie Taylor has devised a wonderfully engaging way to explore the full spectrum of blues classics.

Street fests, sudsy beverages, acrobatic acts and printmaking usher in the weekend. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago.

It is perhaps Chicago’s most iconic roadway, and it’s certainly among the busiest. Could dedicating a lane to buses ease congestion on Lake Shore Drive?

In spinning the tale of Knute Rockne and his prize athlete, the creators of this terrific show have tapped into much grander themes than the nature of intensely competitive college football.

We visit the local gallery and museum that preserves and promotes unusual art made by unusual people.