Each Wednesday, Via Chicago presents five must-see shows from indie rock to jazz, country, hip-hop and more. 

John Amos played James Evans Sr. on “Good Times,” which featured one of television’s first Black two-parent families. Produced by Norman Lear and co-created by actor Mike Evans, who co-starred on “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons,” it ran from 1974-79 on CBS.

Chicago has a pair of newly minted geniuses. Multimedia artist Ebony G. Patterson and fiction writer Ling Ma are among 22 scientists, artists and scholars who have been awarded the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation fellowship.

Readers of the lifestyle travel magazine Condé Nast Traveler voted Chicago as the best big city in the U.S. for the eighth year in a row, as part of the magazine’s annual readers’ choice awards. Chicago has been named best big city in the U.S. every year since 2017.

The Chicago White Sox may have won five of their last six games, but it was all too little, too late. The 2024 White Sox officially set a new record for Major League Baseball futility Friday in their 4-1 loss to Detroit, which became their 121st loss of the season.

American Blues Theater sets the bar high for Halloween season, delivering a tightly focused fever dream version of Stephen King’s novel “Misery.” The psychological thriller is made more unnerving by the humorous touches in this stage adaptation by William Goldman (“Marathon Man,” “The Princess Bride”).

“America. Oasis is coming. You have one last chance to prove that you loved us all along,” the Britpop band known for timeless hits like “Wonderwall” and “Don’t Look Back in Anger” shared in a statement.

Having missed the opening, I saw the glowing reviews for this Chicago-area premiere and trekked up to Writers Theatre in Glencoe. I went with a skeptic’s eye and my arms folded. “Critics think it’s good, huh? What do they know?” Well, they know enough to have the good sense to embrace this irresistible production.

Maggie Smith, the masterful, scene-stealing actor who won an Oscar for 1969 film “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” and gained new fans in the 21st century as the dowager Countess of Grantham in “ Downton Abbey” and Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter films, died Friday. She was 89.

A new mural is set to be unveiled at the Chicago Public Library’s Uptown Branch across the street from the now closed Gherkin Records.

Rose, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft by his hometown Chicago Bulls and the league’s MVP in 2011, announced his retirement on Thursday. He was, and still is, the youngest MVP winner in NBA history, claiming that award when he was just 22.

The 60th annual Chicago International Film Festival runs Oct. 16-27. Screenings and programs are set to take place at the festival’s hub theater in AMC NEWCITY 14 in addition to the Music Box Theatre, the Gene Siskel Film Center and more.

Elijah Jones must have impressed Chicago Shakespeare Theater with the same charisma he projects onstage as the titular king in “Henry V,” a lively production of Shakespeare’s history play about war between France and England. WTTW News spoke with the Juilliard-trained actor about his past, present and future.

“There wasn’t enough data there specifically about Mexicanos in Chicago,” said Jose Muñoz, CEO and executive director of La Casa Norte. “There were a lot of data sets about Latinos in general. But a lot of those conversations with the Mexican community were being lost.”

As Chicagoans celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, WTTW News wanted to hear from you about a Latino person who has influenced or inspired you.

It’s a Chicago music story for the ages. In 1983, four friends aged 11 to 15 years old formed a punk band and played the Cubby Bear and a few other shows before amicably breaking up — basically the oldest kid wanted to tour, but the youngest was told that he had to finish 6th grade.