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Medicine showKelly Kleimanon November 2, 2022 at 7:07 pm

It’s hard to write a play whose hero is the American Medical Association (AMA), even as embodied by crusading Dr. Morris Fishbein (the appealing Andrew Bosworth) and his equally earnest sidekick (Shawn Smith, without enough to do). The AMA’s erstwhile role as the scourge of quack medicine has been eclipsed by its more recent history of opposing every effort to expand access to health care.

So playwright Dolores Díaz has that obstacle to overcome. In her favor is our hunger to see a con man get his comeuppance, and especially to see him fail politically. Enter John Romulus (J.R.) Brinkley (the appropriately smarmy Michael Peters), an historical figure who got rich and famous claiming to cure impotence by implanting goat testicles. Who wouldn’t hate this guy who masters new communications techniques to spread lies? Who wouldn’t cheer his election loss, even when secured by fraud?

Man of the PeopleThrough 11/20: Thu-Sat 8 PM, Sun 2 PM; also Mon 11/7 (industry night) 8 PM and Mon 11/14 (understudy performance) 8 PM; Chicago Dramatists, 1105 W. Chicago, 773-883-8830, stagelefttheatre.com

A script tightly focused on the battle between Fishbein and Brinkley, between honesty and deceit, between good and evil—which the good guys win by cheating—could be a fine political thriller with satisfying moral heft. But that’s not the play Díaz has written or Anna C. Bahow has directed. Theirs is a story of parallel unhappy relationships (Brinkley’s with his wife, Fishbein’s with his mother) set against the backdrop of a battle between men who are only in the same room once. And while I’m as interested as Tolstoy in unhappy families, these two don’t have enough momentum or connection to sustain the piece’s two and a half hours length. There’s a play in there somewhere—probably more than one—but it will take a few more iterations to get to it. Fine performances and an evocative set aren’t enough to carry it in its current form.

Wednesday, November 30, 2022 at the Museum of Contemporary Art

Medicine showKelly Kleimanon November 2, 2022 at 7:07 pm Read More »

Dia de Muertos celebration, Shape Shifter Night Market, cat films, and Starcrawler

The Pilsen organization SGA Youth and Family Services hosts the annual Dia de Muertos parade and celebration this afternoon at Dvorak Park (1119 W. Cullerton), celebrating life and honoring the memories of community members and loved ones that have passed away. The event has been happening for 43 years, making it the longest-running free Dia de Muertos celebration in the city. It’s family-inclusive, and activities like face painting, performances from local artists, and a community procession will be on tap from 4-7 PM. Attendees are encouraged to wear Dia de Muertos-inspired attire and bring their own “mobile ofrenda”; hot chocolate and pan de muerto will be served. (SCJ)

From 6-9 PM, the LGBTQ+ artist group Shape Shifter Studios hosts a Night Market at Andersonville’s Meeting House Tavern (5025 N. Clark), bringing local makers and artists together to vend while enjoying a live music performance by Flunkie. Participating sellers include CandleTit (which creates candles molded in the style of human chests to celebrate the diversity of bodies across the gender spectrum) and Sideboard Stitch (who offer hand embroidery and catnip-filled cat toys). Head to Shape Shifter’s Instagram for more information. (SCJ)

Can’t get enough of that feline stuff? The 2022-2023 NY Cat Film Festival compilation presentation of short films featuring cats visits Landmark’s Century Centre Cinema (2828 N. Clark) for a one night only screening. Show starts at 7 PM, and tickets ($16.80) are available through the theater’s website. (SCJ)

Starcrawler headlines Schubas (3159 N. Southport) tonight at 7:30 PM. If you’re a fan of trashy glamor and classic rock ’n’ roll, they’re worth checking out. The band hails from the same L.A. scene as Surfbort, and everything about their sound screams seventies. What makes them unique is singer Arrow de Wilde’s knack for flailing her lean limbs in ways that gesture between vulnerability and invincibility. She’s like the corpse of decaying blonde glamour come to cause an earthquake; it is the music that awakens her, and for that reason, Starcrawler is best experienced live. Scarlet Demore opens. This all-ages show is currently sold out but check the venue’s website to see if any tickets open up before showtime. (MC)

Dia de Muertos celebration, Shape Shifter Night Market, cat films, and Starcrawler Read More »

Dia de Muertos celebration, Shape Shifter Night Market, cat films, and StarcrawlerMicco Caporale and Salem Collo-Julinon November 2, 2022 at 5:46 pm

Dia de Muertos celebration, Shape Shifter Night Market, cat films, and StarcrawlerMicco Caporale and Salem Collo-Julinon November 2, 2022 at 5:46 pm Read More »

Cody Estle flies north for his career’s Next ActKerry Reidon November 2, 2022 at 4:30 pm

The very first Ghost Light column I wrote back in summer of 2020, I interviewed Markie Gray, the incoming managing director for Raven Theatre. Gray was hired to work alongside artistic director Cody Estle, who assumed the job in November 2017 from founders (and married couple) Michael Menendian and JoAnn Montemurro. (The board’s decision to remove the original artistic leadership team, who started the company in 1983, led to residual bad feelings, as Deanna Isaacs wrote about in the Reader in 2019.)

Now Estle is heading off to Milwaukee to take over as artistic director for Next Act Theatre. He’s replacing David Cecsarini, who has headed up Next Act since it formed over 32 years ago from the merger of two other companies, Theatre Tesseract and Next Generation Theatre.

For Estle, leaving Raven now means that he and Gray have met many of the goals they set during the pandemic shutdown. In her first interview with me, Gray said, “To me, what I find actually really exciting about having this opportunity is that organizations like this very rarely have the chance to pause and think about the actual organization. And think about the things that are the foundation of all of the art that we make. And that is how we are treating our staff, how we are managing our boards, how we’re thinking about EDI, how we’re looking at ourselves as an organization. It so often gets pushed to the bottom of the list, especially in smaller companies.”

When we talked late last week, Estle noted, “I think one of the reasons I sort of felt like it would be an OK time to leave Raven—not that there’s ever an OK time or a good time—was that I’d done everything that I had said that I wanted to do. Except for the completion of the construction in the east stage. [That’s the larger of Raven’s two venues.] That’s going to start at the end of November after Private Lives. I had done everything that I set out to do, and the money has been raised for the project, or almost raised for the renovation project. When I came on, it was like, ‘We need to diversify the programming. We need to expand the staff, we need to get health insurance for the staff. We need to make sure that the theater is moving from non-Equity to Equity.’”

That last goal became a reality this year when Raven made the move to the Chicago Area Theatre (CAT) contract. In talking about that shift in July 2021, Gray noted to me, “One of the reasons why I was particularly well-suited for this position is that I have experience working in Equity theaters before. And so I was able to sort of help through the transition.”

Gray is staying on as managing director, and the board will announce a search for Estle’s successor shortly. He starts at Next Act in December. Though he’s never worked there before, Estle notes that he asked sound designer and composer Josh Schmidt, who has worked there and with whom he’s collaborated on productions at Northlight Theatre (Schmidt now lives in Milwaukee), about the job listing when it posted.

“He told me it’s been around a long time, it’s Equity, they have their own space, and it might be worthwhile to apply. So I did. Their programming is focused on things that are happening in our lives today, or things that are happening in our world today that may affect our lives. The last play that they did was Kill Move Paradise. [James Ijames’s play is about a purgatory for Black victims of police killings; Schmidt was sound designer for the Next Act production.] The programming that they’re doing is exciting and it’s fresh. They’re not doing Steel Magnolias.”

But Estle, an alum of Columbia College Chicago who has spent most of his professional life here, notes that he’s not abandoning Chicago completely. “I made sure in the contract up there that I can get out and direct one show a year.”

Swan song: 16th Street Theater’s current production of Siena Marilyn Ledger’s Man and Moon, starring Clare Wols and Peter Danger Wilde, will be their final show. Credit Glenn Felix Willoughby

16th Street closes up shopLate last week, the board of directors for Berwyn’s 16th Street Theater announced that they were suspending all operations at the end of this year. Their current production of Man and Moon by Siena Marilyn Ledger, running through November 13, will be their last full staging; the company’s Write Collective will say farewell with the final virtual play reading on Friday, December 2, at 7 PM, and there will be a closing-out party Saturday, December 3, 1-4 PM at the Outta Space in Berwyn.

16th Street was founded by longtime Chicago director Ann Filmer in 2007, after she and her husband, sound designer and composer Barry Bennett, moved to Berwyn with their daughter. Upon discovering that there was a 49-seat basement theater space available in the North Berwyn Cultural Center on 16th Street, Filmer worked with North Berwyn Park District’s executive director Joe Vallez to create 16th Street Theater, which operated on a CAT Equity contract and focused primarily on new plays, eventually becoming a member of the National New Play Network. In fall 2018, 16th Street announced that they were going to take over an old VFW hall on Harlem Avenue. But that never materialized.

The company returned from the pandemic with Natalie Y. Moore’s abortion drama, The Billboard, produced in an auditorium downtown at Northwestern University. That production won a Jeff Award last month in the short production category for best new work.

Filmer departed 16th Street last fall; longtime Chicago director Jean Gottlieb had been serving as interim artistic director. The board didn’t indicate the specific reasons behind the closing. In the announcement on the website, they stated: “We are no longer a program of, or in any way associated with, the North Berwyn Park District. The North Berwyn Park District is the sole owner of the name ’16th Street Theater,’ and plans to create a children’s theater with that name at some point in the future. Please direct all inquiries about the future 16th Street Theater to the North Berwyn Park District.”

Wednesday, November 30, 2022 at the Museum of Contemporary Art

Cody Estle flies north for his career’s Next ActKerry Reidon November 2, 2022 at 4:30 pm Read More »

Saxophonist Clifford Jordan epitomized the Chicago tenor soundSteve Krakowon November 2, 2022 at 4:34 pm

Since 2004 Plastic Crimewave (aka Steve Krakow) has used the Secret History of Chicago Music to shine a light on worthy artists with Chicago ties who’ve been forgotten, underrated, or never noticed in the first place.

When tenor saxophonist Clifford Jordan died in 1993, he hadn’t lived in Chicago for nearly 40 years, but he was still beloved here. “Clifford’s personality was warm and sincere, just like his tone on the saxophone,” Chicago tenor titan Von Freeman told Howard Reich at the Tribune. “He was a beautiful person—he helped me and a lot of other people get some recordings and gigs in New York.”

In the same obituary, Chicago drummer Wilbur Campbell called Jordan’s approach to music “incredibly serious and strong-willed.” One of Jordan’s longtime collaborators, trumpeter and flugelhorn player Art Farmer, reflected on their bond: “I think Clifford and I got on so well because we both liked to make [musical] statements, as opposed to playing bunches of notes,” he explained to the Trib. “Clifford developed an individual voice. He was one of the genuine jazz players. He had extremely sensitive ears—he could match his sound to whatever ensemble he was playing with.”

Reader critic Peter Margasak reviewed a Jordan box set in 2013, calling him “one of the most versatile representatives of the Chicago tenor sound that emerged from DuSable High School under the leadership of Captain Walter Dyett—other exponents included Gene Ammons, Von Freeman, Johnny Griffin, and John Gilmore.”

Jordan was celebrated during his life, and many of his albums remain highly regarded—in terms of recordings, he was one of the most prolific jazz artists of his era. But I don’t think he gets the shine he should, and Margasak agrees: “He doesn’t seem as revered as his cohorts these days,” he wrote. “I think part of the reason for that is that Jordan was a curious and elegant musician who tried on many hats during his career.”

Clifford Laconia Jordan was born in Chicago on September 2, 1931, and he began playing piano (after a fashion) when he was still a baby. “I’d sit on the pedals and holler,” he said in an interview for music publisher Concord, “with the loud pedal on.” He soon began taking music lessons, and he also became fascinated with the delivery men in his community, who drove horse-drawn carriages to move such goods as coal, milk, and ice.

Jordan would follow the drivers to their stables. “The black intelligentsia—doctors and lawyers who were sportsmen as well—frequented the stables,” he told Concord, “and that’s where you heard all the good music on the jukebox.” At age 13, Jordan took up the saxophone, and by 16, inspired by his hero Charlie Parker, he’d decided it was his life’s calling.

Jordan was lucky to study with the hard-as-nails Dyett at Bronzeville’s DuSable High, where the music program produced a steady stream of future legends. “A lot of people wanted to be in the band but the instructor wouldn’t let any bad apples in there,” he recalled. “Once he detected you couldn’t play he’d kick you out of the band room. He didn’t stand for any foolishness.”

Jordan’s first gig was at a dance where he led a band for five dollars per musician. Soon he was playing gritty R&B with the likes of bassist-songwriter Willie Dixon, jump-blues journeyman Joseph “Cool Breeze” Bell, and drummer-bandleaders Jack “Cowboy” Cooley (who’d played with Albert Ammons & His Rhythm Kings) and Armand “Jump” Jackson.

Saxophonists Johnny Griffin and John Gilmore, both classmates of Jordan’s at DuSable, hit the circuit with him. “We would play at the old Cotton Club, at 62nd and Cottage Grove,” Wilbur Campbell told the Trib. “We’d jam to all hours of the night, Clifford, Gilmore, Griffin and me.” Gilmore, a longtime Sun Ra sideman, would be crucial to Jordan’s next career phase in New York.

A full-album stream of Clifford Jordan’s first recording, Blowing in From Chicago

After Jordan moved to the Big Apple in 1956, he made his first recording with Gilmore: the 1957 Blue Note album Blowing in From Chicago, with liner notes by Jazz Showcase owner Joe Segal. For this fiery postbop date, the two saxophonists hooked up with a New York rhythm section that included pianist Horace Silver and drummer Art Blakey. (First pressings of the LP now command thousands of dollars, but luckily it’s been reissued.)

Jordan found he had to change gears after his relocation. “In New York I never could get the rock and roll gigs or commercial gigs I used to get in Chicago,” he told Concord, “so I was a little disappointed. They made me a specialist—a jazz saxophone player.”

Jordan made two more Blue Note LPs as a bandleader and a third with Silver. In his first few years in New York, he also began playing as a sideman with bassist Paul Chambers, pianists Sonny Clark and Cedar Walton, trumpeter Lee Morgan, and trombonist J.J. Johnson. Around the turn of the decade, he also started writing his own material. After he’d joined Silver’s band, the pianist had encouraged him to bring his own tunes. Jordan had doubted himself at first—he couldn’t even read music, and thought anything he might write would be too simple—but he quickly developed his own approach.

The title track from one of Jordan’s other Blue Note releases as a bandleader

“I didn’t try to follow anybody’s pattern,” he told Concord. “I just wrote what I felt. Some people could write to make it sound like Gil Evans, Duke Ellington, or Glenn Miller, but I always thought it was just better to write original music . . . I’m not one who just paints on music paper. I leave a lot of leeway for performing—if I were to tell players exactly what to do I’d hate the music.”

In 1960 Jordan formed a quartet with pianist Cedar Walton, who’d become a longtime collaborator. That band recorded the excellent LP Spellbound for Riverside, then jumped labels to Jazzland for 1962’s Bearcat.

Beginning in the early 60s, Jordan worked for several years with drummer Max Roach. He played in big bands with Lloyd Price (one of his few R&B gigs during this period) and Clark Terry. In 1963 he recorded with Eric Dolphy, and the following year they both joined the Charles Mingus Jazz Workshop sextet, which toured Europe. Jordan released These Are My Roots: Clifford Jordan Plays Leadbelly for Atlantic in 1965 and concurrently continued his busy sideman schedule, recording with the likes of Charles McPherson and Joe Zawinul.

Jordan had always enjoyed playing in Europe, and he moved to Belgium in 1969. America drew him back the following year, though. After Jordan made a failed attempt to start his own imprint, called Frontier, he struck a deal with Strata-East Records, owned by pianist Stanley Cowell and trumpeter Charles Tolliver. Margasak called it “one of the most prolific and highest quality artist-run labels in jazz history.”

Jordan debuted for Strata-East in 1972 with the 1969 recording Clifford Jordan in the World, using two different bands—their lineups included trumpeter Don Cherry, trombonist Julian Priester, trumpeter Kenny Dorham, and drummer Roy Haynes. In 1974 Strata-East released his revered modal-jazz LP Glass Bead Games.

The title track of Glass Bead Games, one of Clifford Jordan’s best-remembered albums

In the 60s, Jordan found an outlet for his strong interest in public service by devoting himself to music education. Over the years, his activities in that sphere included presenting concerts and lectures in New York public schools, serving as a music consultant for Bed-Stuy Youth in Action, giving flute and saxophone lessons for nonprofit arts organization Jazzmobile, teaching for the Henry Street Settlement (another nonprofit that offers social services and health care as well as arts programs), and working as the first musical director at Dancemobile.

Jordan’s discography alone could take up another entire Secret History column—he appeared on more than 100 recordings in his lifetime. I haven’t touched on most of his collaborators—Philly Joe Jones, Carol Sloane, John Hicks, Richard Davis, David “Fathead” Newman—but I have to mention two of the excellent albums he made for Chicago label Bee Hive, started in 1977 by Jim and Susan Neumann and named for a local club. In 1981 and 1984, respectively, Jordan recorded Hyde Park After Dark with Von Freeman and Cy Touff and Dr. Chicago with trumpeter Red Rodney.

The title track of the 1984 recording Dr. Chicago

In the 80s, Jordan started playing regularly with Art Farmer, renewing an acquaintance they’d begun during the saxophonist’s first years in New York. Their collaboration included several album releases, and it continued till the end of Jordan’s days. Jordan loved to play in large ensembles too—he’d been playing in radio orchestras in Europe for decades when he launched his own big band in New York in the 1990s. “Hopefully the big band will come back, because there are too many musicians out here for everybody to have little quartets and quintets,” he told Concord. “My band is three quintets, that’s the way I look at it.”

Clifford Jordan died of lung cancer on March 27, 1993, and he’s still being honored publicly. This past September 11, producer Arnie Perez and his company VTY Jazz Arts presented a quintet tribute to Jordan at the Cutting Room in New York City. Perhaps soon his name will begin appearing where it belongs—right alongside those of John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Lester Young, and Charlie Parker.

The radio version of the Secret History of Chicago Music airs on Outside the Loop on WGN Radio 720 AM, Saturdays at 5 AM with host Mike Stephen. Past shows are archived here.

Wednesday, November 30, 2022 at the Museum of Contemporary Art

Saxophonist Clifford Jordan epitomized the Chicago tenor soundSteve Krakowon November 2, 2022 at 4:34 pm Read More »

Fantasy basketball tips and NBA betting picks for Wednesdayon November 2, 2022 at 6:34 pm

1:30 PM ET

ESPN’s fantasy basketball and basketball betting tips cheat sheet is your pregame destination for basketball betting predictions and our best intel and data to help you make smart fantasy and wagering decisions. NBA game odds for November 2 are provided by Caesars Sportsbook, and fantasy advice is based on ESPN 10-team leagues.

What you need to know for Wednesday’s games

Betting The City Of Angels: The Clippers are a road favorite and the Lakers are a small underdog tonight, two situations that carry specific betting angles. Since the beginning of last season, when the Clips find themselves in such a spot, unders are 12-2. Over that same period of time, the Lakers are just 2-5 ATS when an underdog by fewer than five points in front of their home crowd.

Down With Dinwiddie: Players operating in the Luka Doncic zip code are going to get chances to produce and Spencer Dinwiddie‘s recent run hasn’t gotten enough love. Over 78% of his shots have either come at the rim or behind the 3-point line… he’s exactly what Dallas wants next to their star. Oh, and forget about simply chasing him off the 3-point line as he has five dimes in three of his past four games. He’s worth a look in DFS and all prop markets against a Jazz defense that is allowing 10.5% more points per possession on the road than at home.

Donovan Dimes Depend on Darius: Will Garland return tonight from an eye injury that happened on Opening night in Toronto? His status is up in the air, but you need to be ready to pounce when he returns, whether it is tonight or not. Through six games, Donovan Mitchell is averaging 39 minutes and 7.3 assists, neither of which is likely to sustain when his running mate returns. Due to the early pricing dynamic of DFS, Mitchell is going to be a near auto-fade whenever Garland returns and if sportsbooks are slow on adjusting for the news, we could find ourselves in a good spot to bet assist unders for Spida.

Finding Justise in Portland: Justise Winslow is available in over 98% of leagues and that’s just wrong. Sure, he’s yet to reach a dozen points, but in his five games he has …three multi-steal games, three games with at least five boards and four games with a block. Heck, the situation on Friday called for additional play-making in a shootout that saw 236 points scored and he filled the void with a team-high seven dimes in 24 minutes. The upside is a bit capped, but the floor for him in this role is about as friendly as you’ll find in a player available in such a high percentage of leagues.

Davion’s Day: The Kings won’t have De’Aaron Fox in the lineup tonight against the Heat due to a knee injury suffered in the team’s recent win over the Hornets. Sacramento’s star point guard played just eight minutes before being sidelined, leading to second-year guard Davion Mitchell (96% available in ESPN leagues) to handle lead creation duties in a rousing road win. Mitchell scored 25 points in 23 minutes and should see a full workload in Miami tonight, making him the premier plug-and-play option of the slate and a savvy target for scoring and passing props. Teammate Kevin Huerter (50%), meanwhile, posted 27 points with seven dimes against this same Miami team a few nights ago.

Wednesday Waivers: Several streaming and DFS values stand out for tonight’s slate, beginning with San Antonio’s Josh Richardson (95% available), who is no longer on the injury report and should play a sizable offensive role with Devin Vassell still sidelined with a knee ailment. Keep an eye on Richardson’s assist props, as he’s averaged eight dimes over his last two outings. Looking at the Pelicans, Brandon Ingram is still in concussion protocol, affording Trey Murphy III (73%) another game with heavy minutes and usage. Finally, we turn to the Hornets’ Dennis Smith Jr. (53%), who is due to start with LaMelo Ball and Terry Rozier on the mend. As confirmation of his recent success, “DSJ” is averaging 7.8 assists and 2.3 steals during the past week.

— Jim McCormick and Kyle Soppe

Games of the night

Boston Celtics at Cleveland Cavaliers7 p.m. ET on ESPN, Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, Ohio

Line: Celtics (-2)Money line: Celtics (-130), Cavaliers (+110)Total: 220 pointsBPI Projected Total: 225.1 pointsBPI Win%: Celtics (52.6%)

Questionable: Darius Garland (eye)Note: BPI numbers factored in players who are ruled out but assumes questionable players will play

Fantasy streamer: Kevin Love (available in 84.9% of leagues) is off to a strong start this season, particularly when the Cavaliers play against solid competition. In his last three games against teams currently .500 or better, Love is averaging 17.7 PPG, 8.3 RPG and 5.0 3PG in 22.0 MPG off the bench. The Cavs will need his production on Wednesday, against a tough Celtics squad that they just beat in Boston last week. — Andr? Snellings

Best bet: Jayson Tatum over 27.5 points. Tatum has scored at least 29 points in four of his six games this season, including 32 points the last time he faced these same Cavaliers last week. The Celtics start three scoring-neutral players whose main roles are defense and playmaking, concentrating their scoring into the hands of Tatum and Brown. Without having to carry as much of the team’s offense-creating load, Tatum has flourished with a career-best pace of 30.8 PPG and 55.7 FG% thus far on the season. — Snellings

New Orleans Pelicans at Los Angeles Lakers10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN, Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California

Line: Pelicans (-3)Money line: Pelicans (-155), Lakers (+130)Total: 229.5 pointsBPI Projected Total: 231.5 pointsBPI Win%: Pelicans (60.3%)

Questionable: Anthony Davis (back)Ruled out: Brandon Ingram (concussion)Note: BPI numbers factored in players who are ruled out but assumes questionable players will play

Fantasy streamer: Lonnie Walker IV (rostered in 15% of leagues). Walker IV has scored 15 or more points in four games this season. Additionally, he has averaged 3.3 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.2 SPG, and 1.0 BPG in 31.2 MPG. The defensive stats of Walker IV keep him on the radar for streaming. — Eric Moody

Best bet: Zion Williamson over 33.5 points + rebounds. Williamson returned from a two game absence an delivered a 21 point and 12 rebound performance against the Clippers. His usage rate this season is 32.3%, so he should have a busy game against a Lakers defense that has struggled all season, especially against power forwards. — Moody

Breaking down the rest of the slate

Washington Wizards at Philadelphia 76ers6 p.m. ET, Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennslyvania

Line: 76ers (-6.5)Money line: 76ers (-260), Wizards (+210)Total: 218 pointsBPI Projected Total: 224.2 pointsBPI Win%: 76ers (77%)

Questionable: Joel Embiid (illness)Ruled Out: Corey Kispert (ankle)Note: BPI numbers factored in players who are ruled out but assumes questionable players will play

Atlanta Hawks at New York Knicks7:30 p.m. ET, Madison Square Garden, New York

Line: Knicks (-2)Money line: Knicks (-130), Hawks (+110)Total: 233 pointsBPI Projected Total: 228.3 pointsBPI Win%: Hawks (52%)

Questionable: Onyeka Okongwu (shoulder)Ruled out: Quentin Grimes (foot), Cam Reddish (illness)Note: BPI numbers factored in players who are ruled out but assumes questionable players will play

Charlotte Hornets at Chicago Bulls7:30 p.m. ET, United Center, Chicago, Illinois

Line: Bulls (-5)Money line: Bulls (-210), Hornets (+175)Total: 224 pointsBPI Projected Total: 234.9 pointsBPI Win%: Bulls (51.3%)

Questionable: Andre Drummond (shoulder), Coby White (quad), Zach LaVine (knee)Doubtful: Terry Rozier (ankle), Cody Martin (quad)Ruled out: LaMelo Ball (ankle)Note: BPI numbers factored in players who are ruled out but assumes questionable players will play

Fantasy streamer: Dennis Smith Jr. (available in 48.9% of leagues) can still be streamed in almost half of ESPN’s leagues, despite his averages of 12.8 PPG, 7.4 APG, 5.0 RPG, 2.4 SPG and 0.8 3PG in his last five starts. With LaMelo Ball (ankle) out and Terry Rozier (ankle) doubtful again on Wednesday, Smith should be in for another strong game. — Snellings

Fantasy streamer: Ayo Dosnumu (available in 67.4% of leagues) is playing excellent ball to start his sophomore season, averaging 15.8 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 3.5 APG, 1.8 3PG and 1.5 SPG in 29.5 MPG over his last four outings. With Zach LaVine (knee) sitting on the second half of a back-to-back on Wednesday, Dosunmu should carry a heavier production load than usual. — Snellings

Best bet: P.J. Washington over 14.5 points. Washington is in the midst of a breakout season averaging 17.1 PPG and 31.1 MPG. Over the last two games, he has averaged 29.5 points per game while shooting 56.8% from the field. Power forwards have been tormenting the Bulls this season. — Moody

Sacramento Kings at Miami Heat7:30 p.m. ET, FTX Arena, Miami, Florida

Line: Heat (-6)Money line: Heat (-250), Kings (+205)Total: 220.5 pointsBPI Projected Total: 227.1 pointsBPI Win%: Heat (67.4%)

Questionable: Tyler Herro (eye)Ruled out: De’Aaron Fox (knee)Note: BPI numbers factored in players who are ruled out but assumes questionable players will play

LA Clippers at Houston Rockets8 p.m. ET, Toyota Center, Houston, Texas

Line: Clippers (-6)Money line: Clippers (-225), Rockets (+185)Total: 223 pointsBPI Projected Total: 234.5 pointsBPI Win%: Clippers (60.2%)

Ruled out: Kawhi Leonard (knee), Robert Covington (health and safety protocols), Jae’Sean Tate (ankle)Note: BPI numbers factored in players who are ruled out but assumes questionable players will play

Fantasy streamer: Eric Gordon (available in 95.2% of leagues) is a 33 year old veteran starting on a team where the average age of the other four starters is not old enough to drink. Not surprisingly, Gordon routinely gets load management games, particularly in back-to-backs. But, since the Rockets haven’t played since Monday and don’t play again until Saturday, Gordon should be good to go against his former team on Wednesday. And, in his starts, Gordon has produced fantasy-worthy stats, to the tune of 15.2 PPG (48.2 FG%, 78.6 FT%), 3.2 APG, 2.6 RPG, 2.2 3PG and 1.2 SPG in 32.0 MPG over his last five outings. — Snellings

Best bet: Paul George over 24.5 points. George came alive against this same Rockets team on Monday, scoring 35 points in 38 minutes of a 2-point victory, in Los Angeles. With this game in Houston, there’s a likelihood that this game is competitive as well, which would afford George a full allotment of minutes. The Rockets are among the weakest defenses in the NBA against shooting guards, allowing the position to score 26.0 PPG. — Snellings

Detroit Pistons at Milwaukee Bucks8 p.m. ET, Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Line: Bucks (-11.5)Money line: Bucks (-700), Pistons (+500)Total: 222.5 pointsBPI Projected Total: 231.9 pointsBPI Win%: Bucks (83.1%)

Fantasy streamer: Jrue Holiday over 33.5 points + assists + rebounds. Holiday is averaging 19.2 PPG, 5.0 RPG and a career high 8.3 APG. The Pistons have been generous to point guards all season, allowing 31.2 PPG, 9.3 APG and 6.8 RPG to point guards. Detroit also ranks 23rd in points allowed per 100 possessions. — Moody

Best bet: Brook Lopez over 2.5 blocks. Lopez has exceeded expectations so far this season. Over his last three games he’s averaged 19.7 PPG, 8.7 RPG and 2.3 BPG. This season, the Pistons have allowed opposition centers to accumulate a lot of blocks against them. The fourth most on a per game basis. — Moody

Toronto Raptors at San Antonio Spurs8 p.m. ET, AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas

Line: Raptors (-6.5)Money line: Raptors (-278), Spurs (+222)Total: 225 pointsBPI Projected Total: 229.6 pointsBPI Win%: Raptors (63.4%)

Questionable: Fred VanVleet (back)Probable: Otto Porter Jr. (personal)Ruled Out: Isaiah Roby (illness), Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell (knee)Note: BPI numbers factored in players who are ruled out but assumes questionable players will play

Utah Jazz at Dallas Mavericks8:30 p.m ET, American Airlines Center, Dallas

Line: Mavericks (-5.5)Money line: Mavericks (-225), Jazz (+185)Total: 221.5 pointsBPI Projected Total: 231.4 pointsBPI Win%: Mavericks (67.8%)

Questionable: Christian Wood (illness)Note: BPI numbers factored in players who are ruled out but assumes questionable players will play

Best bet: Mavericks -5.5. I’m taking the Mavericks. Despite a 6-2 record, the Jazz’s momentum has to end eventually. I envision Luka Doncic and the Mavericks stepping up in this matchup. Doncic has averaged 25.2 PPG, 7.6 RPG and 6.0 APG in 10 career games against the Jazz. Against the Mavericks, Utah is 1-10 against the spread in the last 11 games, and they are 1-5 against the spread in their last six meetings in Dallas. — Moody

Memphis Grizzlies at Portland Trail Blazers10 p.m. ET, Moda Center, Portland, Oregon

Line: Blazers (-4.5)Money line: Grizzlies (-190), Blazers (+158)Total: 226.5 pointsBPI Projected Total: 236.8 pointsBPI Win%: Grizzlies (60.5%)

Questionable: Desmond Bane (ankle), Jake LaRavia (illness), Steven Adams (jaw), Josh Hart (concussion)Ruled Out: Damian Lillard (calf), Gary Payton II (abdomen)Note: BPI numbers factored in players who are ruled out but assumes questionable players will play

Fantasy streamer: Shaedon Sharpe (available in 96.4% of leagues) is on a three-game double-digit scoring streak, averaging 13.3 PPG (53.3 FG%, 71.4 FT%), 3.3 RPG and 1.0 3PG in 22.0 MPG during that stretch. He moved into the starting line-up on Friday in place of the injured Damian Lillard (calf), and played 29 minutes in his first NBA start. With Lillard out again Wednesday, Sharpe could be in for another big minutes outing. — Snellings

Best bet: Anfernee Simons over 24.5 points. Simons has shifted to the point guard and lead offense-creating slot for the Trail Blazers with Damian Lillard out. In his first game in that role, he dropped 30 points in a 14-point win over the Rockets. He’s scored 29 or more points in two of his last three games, and seems to have his shot working in great form. The Grizzlies are also soft on opposing point guards, allowing the position to average 29.0 PPG this season. — Snellings

Best bet: Ja Morant over 36.5 points + assists. Morant has had at least 34 points in four games this season. Additionally, he averages 6.3 assists per game. Against a Trail Blazers team without Damian Lillard, Morant is poised for an epic performance. The effective field goal percentage for Portland’s opponents is 54.4%. The Grizzlies rank 29th in points allowed per 100 possessions, so this game should have a lot of scoring.

Analytics edge

1. Milwaukee Bucks (121.5)2. Memphis Grizzlies (119.9)3. LA Clippers (118.7)

BPI lowest projected totals

1. Boston Celtics (108.2)2. Detroit Pistons (111.1)3. Miami Heat (111.1)

BPI top probability to win (straight up)

1. Milwaukee Bucks (83.1%)2. Philadelphia 76ers (77%)3. Dallas Mavericks (67.8%)

Fantasy basketball tips and NBA betting picks for Wednesdayon November 2, 2022 at 6:34 pm Read More »

Cody Estle flies north for his career’s Next Act

Swan song: 16th Street Theater’s current production of Siena Marilyn Ledger’s Man and Moon, starring Clare Wols and Peter Danger Wilde, will be their final show. Credit Glenn Felix Willoughby

Wednesday, November 30, 2022 at the Museum of Contemporary Art

Cody Estle flies north for his career’s Next Act Read More »

Saxophonist Clifford Jordan epitomized the Chicago tenor sound

A full-album stream of Clifford Jordan’s first recording, Blowing in From Chicago

The title track from one of Jordan’s other Blue Note releases as a bandleader

The title track of Glass Bead Games, one of Clifford Jordan’s best-remembered albums

The title track of the 1984 recording Dr. Chicago

The radio version of the Secret History of Chicago Music airs on Outside the Loop on WGN Radio 720 AM, Saturdays at 5 AM with host Mike Stephen. Past shows are archived here.

Wednesday, November 30, 2022 at the Museum of Contemporary Art

Saxophonist Clifford Jordan epitomized the Chicago tenor sound Read More »

’Well done, Gloria Allen’

On what would have been her 77th birthday, friends, family, and community advocates gathered in October to celebrate the late “Mama” Gloria Allen, whose long life linked the present to queer history, and who used her stunning success at self-realization to improve the lives of others like her.

Born in 1945 and identifying as female from her young childhood, Allen had the mind-blowing luck to be born to a Jet magazine centerfold and Bronzeville nightclub showgirl, and a grandmother who made outfits for the scene’s strippers and legendary female impersonators. She passed in high school and transitioned in her mid-20s, working as an X-ray technician, clerk, and caregiver for the sick and aged.

Allen was a quintessential Chicagoan, a lady from the south side who loved wearing furs, heels, and jewelry, and whose biggest claim to fame was her establishment in her later years of an old-fashioned charm school for young homeless transgender people at the Center on Halsted, which hosted her October memorial. That five-year and self-funded effort inspired a play, Charm, that opened at Steppenwolf in 2015 and moved off-Broadway in 2017. A documentary about her, Mama Gloria, premiered in 2020.

The trans rights pioneer died last June in her home in the Town Hall Apartments for LGBTQ+ elders on Halsted Street in Lakeview East.

“The most important thing that I want to say is well done, Gloria. This was a life well lived,” said Don Bell, her across-the-hall neighbor. “Let’s not mourn because she’s gone; let’s celebrate because she was here with all of us.”

Allen was phenomenal and exceptional, Bell said, pointing to her achievement of a full life expectancy despite the horrific rates of homicide that Black trans women endure. “She maintained an intimate and direct relationship with her family of origin, unlike most of us in the LGBT community who are estranged from our families,” he said. “She died quietly in her own home in her own bed—in peace, rather than as a victim of violence. Well done, Gloria Allen.”

Family members recalled her with warmth and love, from fighting off her childhood bullies to introducing her to significant others after her transition, to receiving a warm welcome as a septuagenarian at her Englewood High School alumni group.

“She was born in a time when it was very difficult to acknowledge yourself, as you say now, as an LGBTQ person without all the ridicule, harm, and misjudgment that went along with it,” Allen’s cousin, Gail Collier, said at the event at the Center on Halsted. “Gloria was in that era, and during that time that we grew up and I look back over her life, no matter what, she was just bubbling and beautiful.”

“When she stepped outside those doors of her home, she was a proud gay person—and I say that at that time to no disrespect to the community now in its latest style,” Collier continued. “She wore being a sissy as a badge of honor. When she transitioned into Gloria as a full physical transgender human being, she wore that even bolder, beautifully, and brightly.”

Allen’s nephew, Dr. Benton Johnson II, called her life one of toil for trans lives that matter.

“She had pain, she had struggles, she had triumphs and successes, and she had failures. But through it all she was compelled to work for others,” he said. “For five years, she paused to make others great. It was the way that she worked. Her way was charitable, and she gave.”

Like many LGBTQ+ south siders, Allen moved to the north side to be with her family of choice, as Bell said in an interview. He noted again that her own family supported her through the move.

“She didn’t have to make a dichotomy between the two, because her family of origin supported her in being an active part of her family of choice,” he continued. “She had the best of both worlds.”

“She was one of the persons who defined ‘up here,’ who defined the neighborhood. She was one of the advantages of the neighborhood. And what she did was, she worked with the ‘ugly issues’ that people don’t want to talk about, like the lack of welcome of people of color to this neighborhood, the lack of welcome to young trans kids and young kids of color who came from other parts of the city,” Bell said

That issue has been one of contention in the, for better or worse, center of Chicago’s LGBTQ+ life for decades. More than three-quarters of Lakeview’s population is white. Drexel University Sociologist Jay Orne detailed white neighborhood residents’ organized opposition to “gay kids on the street” (in the words of the residents) in the 2011 ethnography Boystown. It is not uncommon for residents to call police on rowdy young Black queer people, who may come to the neighborhood for the safety and security (corporeal as well as spiritual) the area offers LGBTQ+ people who want to live openly.

Allen’s claim to fame might be her charm school for trans youth, but Bell said she had a “special mission with youngsters of color, with young Black kids and young Brown kids who came from other sections of the city and were not welcomed by people who live here.”

“Gloria interceded in the interest of those children with security here at the center, with people who were not welcoming here at the center, and she became a place where they could find shelter and love,” he added.

The pair actually met at the center, when Allen spoke out against security profiling Black teenagers and white bystanders commenting they should not have been there. (In 2020, the center fired its security firm owned by a police officer accused of an off-duty 2013 racist attack against a Black security guard outside a gay bar and hired a Black-owned firm to replace it.)

“She and I were sitting at a table together, and Gloria was the only one inviting the kids over, because we would intercede on behalf of those kids, because the situation did not respect our relationship with the kids of color,” Bell, himself a Black native south sider, said.

“The thing is, this is what we experienced over the years, too. My experiences go back 30 or 40 years across Halsted Street with the same kind of thing happening. I empathize with the kids, and so I interceded and Gloria interceded so we could protect them against the martial forces of security or having the police called, and also the unwelcoming attitudes of others who are here. If this is supposed to be Chicago’s LGBT center, it includes everybody,” said Bell.

Center on Halsted representatives sang Allen’s praises at the celebration; her name will soon be etched into one of its windows as a permanent tribute. Illinois House of Representatives Majority Leader Greg Harris read a proclamation the legislature passed in the trailblazer’s honor and recalled his memories of her in the clubs and bars as a gay youth and during his early activism in the 1980s.

The highest-ranking gay elected official in Illinois history empathized with Allen’s childhood, recalling his own itinerant one in small towns outside of Air Force bases, where he was picked on for being a “sissy.”

That changed in the 1970s, when he got a job in Chicago after college. “The first thing we did is we found the clubs,” he said, and Allen was there. Twenty years later, she was there at protests and actions around the AIDS pandemic.

“All those decades that Mama Gloria was out there in the streets and organizing and taking care of kids and showing them love and their worth, and bringing along the next set of leaders who are around today, and you understand the courage and the strength and the power of a woman like that,” Harris said.

The celebration of life ended, appropriately, with everyone gathered singing the refrain from Stevie Wonder’s 1980 song “Happy Birthday.”

Highlights of the Chicago International Film Fest

What to stream as part of the 56th annual CIFF

by Kathleen Sachs
October 13, 2020August 18, 2021

A transgender housemother schools her Boystown proteges in Northlight’s Charm at Steppenwolf Garage

Back in 2011 the Reader ran a feature titled “Grit & Glitter,” about Chicago’s underground ballroom scene: a gay, black subculture populated by “male-identified men, drag queens, transgender folks, and born women (whom ballroom participants call ‘allies’).” Though its social life revolves around late-night vogueing competitions, the scene’s real foundation is a network of “houses”…

by Tony Adler
September 9, 2015August 18, 2021

Activists won’t let Chicago forget that black trans lives matter

A community in pain rallies for TT Saffore, a black trans woman killed in Chicago last month.

by Derrick Clifton
October 10, 2016August 18, 2021

’Well done, Gloria Allen’ Read More »

’Well done, Gloria Allen’Aaron Gettingeron November 2, 2022 at 3:03 pm

The trans rights pioneer died last June in her home in the Town Hall Apartments for LGBTQ+ elders on Halsted Street in Lakeview East.

Allen’s nephew, Dr. Benton Johnson II, called her life one of toil for trans lives that matter.

Like many LGBTQ+ south siders, Allen moved to the north side to be with her family of choice, as Bell said in an interview. He noted again that her own family supported her through the move.

The celebration of life ended, appropriately, with everyone gathered singing the refrain from Stevie Wonder’s 1980 song “Happy Birthday.”

’Well done, Gloria Allen’Aaron Gettingeron November 2, 2022 at 3:03 pm Read More »

What’s New

What you need to know for Wednesday’s games

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Breaking down the rest of the slate

Analytics edge

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BPI top probability to win (straight up)