Performing — Blog — In Practice: The Official University of Chicago Arts Blog

Ten Years of Collaboration, Community, and Creativity

The Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts is a living building. On any given day, the halls are full of every permutation of artistic practice—a double bass preparing for a concert on the Lower Level; community members flocking through the doors for a panel in the Performance Hall; a jazz concert in Café Logan; student circus performers perfecting acrobatics in Performance Lab 701; an open mic in the Performance Penthouse; countless classes and meetings and practices and rehearsals happening on all levels, in all spaces.

The Gospel According to Court Theatre

Learn more about Court Theatre’s production of The Gospel at Colonus, its next installment in the Oedipus Trilogy, opening May 2023.

Performing, TheatreGuest UserMay 1, 2023Theater, Court Theatre, Dramaturgy

“Sans Pareil” - Unparalleled: a new cohort of artists joins the Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project

Jess Hutchinson, Editorial Content Manager for the Logan Center and UChicago Arts, sat down virtually with Princess Mhoon, Director of the Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project, who divides her time between Chicago and Washington D.C., for a conversation about her history, perspective, and why the CBDLP is a vital force in Chicago’s contemporary artistic landscape.

Dance, Performing, Community ArtsGuest UserMarch 25, 2023Community, Dance, Logan Center, CBDLP, Interview

Out of the Shadows: Candyman & Chicago

What makes Candyman one of the greats of the genre has as much to do with the stories surrounding the films as with the psychological terror and blood-and-guts within them…As you settle in this Halloween weekend to marathon your favorite horror films, put Candyman (both of them) on the list, and read our short list of facts and production stories that we find interesting or illuminating. We hope your thrills and chills are enhanced a little by this information.

ECHO game brings students together—and keeps them safe

Aportal in the Regenstein Library. A rabbit hole to a mysterious alternate universe. Messages from the beyond—and the 1980s. This might seem like an alternate plot of Back to the Future, but you won’t find Marty McFly combing the library stacks. All of these elements were part of ECHO, the newest game launched by the University of Chicago’s Fourcast Lab.

Faculty, Media and Cinema Studies, Performing, Student ArtsLogan CenterDecember 21, 2020fourcast labs, ARG, MADD Center, Games, Game Design

Virtual Dance Lab Brings Dance to Your Living Room

This past Spring, when COVID-19 radically shifted the way we move—and yes, dance—through the world, TAPS Lecturer Julia Rhoads was not about to sit still. Through a collaboration with her own dance company, Lucky Plush Productions, and UChicago's Dance Program in TAPS, Virtual Dance Lab was born. During the initial onset of the crisis, Virtual Dance Lab brought free or low cost dance and movement workshops not just to the UChicago students in the TAPS Dance Program, but to the staff, faculty, and greater community, all of whom were adjusting to a life moved abruptly indoors.

With stages closed, Court launches virtual conversations featuring UChicago faculty

For Court Theatre executive director Angel Ysaguirre, the magic of the stage exists in the actors’ ability to connect with the audience—to see their smiles and their tears, and to hear their laughter, gasps and applause.

Performing, Theatre, VideoLogan CenterSeptember 9, 2020Theater, Theatre, Court Theatre

Chill Factor: Actor Katlyn Carlson’s (AB’05) journey to Broadway

In 2015 actor Katlyn Carlson, AB’05, got an email from her agent about an audition for a new musical. The message described high school queen bee Chloe Valentine as “self-absorbed, crass, sexy, manipulative, and hilarious in her disregard for others.” Carlson’s reaction? “Sign me up.”

She didn’t know she was embarking on a project that would make her (as best she knows) the first person from her hometown of Eureka, Missouri, to perform on Broadway.

Theatre, Student Arts, Performing, AlumniLogan CenterAugust 19, 2020Alumni, Theater, Theatre, Broadway, UChicago Magazine

Chelsea A. Flowers Uses Stand-Up and Karaoke to Address Race in America

Featured in the Gray Center’s online conceptual art exhibition, Another Idea, Chelsea A. Flowers’ work offers avenues for dialogue about race, abuse, power, and identity. With a practice encompassing installation, video, and participatory performance, Flowers presents a karaoke video and hosts a trivia night via Zoom as part of Another Idea, using comedy and gameplay to mediate empathy, cultural understanding, and critical conversations about race.

Alternate reality game A Labyrinth offers a model for new media in a distanced age

Interactive media has proven itself to be one of the most powerful forces in today’s world. A group of artists, designers, and technicians at the University of Chicago is pushing the boundaries of how this new media can be used to build community and shape our interactions.

Excerpt: From concerts to museums, UChicago artists find new inspiration under quarantine

From soaring orchestra compositions to intimate home movie livestreams, University of Chicago scholars and artists are already exploring the arts in new ways and connecting to the public at a time when many are feeling increasingly isolated.

Excerpt: Students remote-produce storytelling festival Radio[24]

Students move plays produced in 24 hours to radio format for the quarter

Creative Writing, Performing, Student Arts, Theatre, VideoLogan CenterMay 21, 2020

Living Art: Hubbard Street Pro's Immersive Performance at the Logan Center

In early March, Hubbard Street Pro (HS Pro) collaborated with the Logan Center to present moving installations a stairway and a corridor, a site-specific performance that stretched from the ninth floor to the courtyard.

Dance, Events, Faculty, Performing, Music, Visual Arts, Made at LoganLogan CenterApril 3, 2020Dance, Hubbard Street, Made At Logan, Perfor

Student Spotlight: Le Vorris and Vox Circus

If you need more proof of the vast diversity of artistic interests at UChicago, look no further. In addition to singing, dancing, and visual arts, students take physical performance to the next level in the Le Vorris and Vox Circus.

Student Arts, Performing, TheatreLogan CenterMarch 25, 2020Student Arts, Circus Arts, Performance, Student Author

Oedipus Rex Bridges Ancient and Modern, Fiction and Reality

When the house doors opened for Oedipus Rex, the first installment in Court Theatre’s Oedipus Trilogy, the stage immediately drew attention.

Performing, TheatreLogan CenterDecember 12, 2019

What's Your Passion? There's an RSO for That!

Varying in intensity and commitment, Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) provide opportunities for students to pursue a dream, let out their creativity, build job skills,or just have fun.

Student Arts, Creative Writing, Dance, Performing, Theatre, Visual ArtsLogan CenterNovember 18, 2019

Excerpt: Oedipus and Agency

UChicago Classics Professor Sarah Nooter explores questions of agency, truth, and fate in Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex.

Theatre, PerformingLogan CenterOctober 30, 2019Court Theatre, Oedipus Trilogy

Augie March’s Chicago

Like many of his novels, Saul Bellow’s The Adventures of Augie March plays out across Chicago. Read about five significant city locations for both Bellow and March, and plan your own literary pilgrimage.

Theatre, PerformingLogan CenterJune 12, 2019Saul Bellow, Augie March, Court Theatre

Radical World Domination, On Stage and Off

Alumni stages second annual festival that centers trans and non-binary theater artists.

Alumni, Performing, TheatreLogan CenterJune 5, 2019The Syndicate, First Read

Charting Reality with Atlas Unlimited

Throughout the run of the exhibition at the Logan Center Gallery, “Builders” activated the show every Thursday through a hybrid of personal testimony and fiction.

Exhibitions, Performing, Visual ArtsLogan CenterMay 29, 2019Logan Center Exhibitions

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