Matt Simonette

Evanston

Executive Editor at Windy City Times

Featured in: Favicon

chicagoreader.com Favicon

washingtonblade.com Favicon

laraza.com Favicon

baywindows.com Favicon

windycitytimes.com Favicon

evanstonroundtable.com Favicon

positivelyaware.com Favicon

austinweeklynews.com Favicon

dziennikzwiazkowy.com Favicon

newsisout.com + 4 more

Articles

Land Use Commission endorses Ryan Field sign plan

2 weeks ago | evanstonroundtable.com | Matt Simonette

The Evanston Land Use Commission on Wednesday night gave a unanimous nod of approval for the signage plan for Northwestern University’s new Ryan Field. Yvette Fevurly, the principal for branded content for design firm Perkins&Will, presented the plan.
Commission approves residential plan to replace north side parking lot

4 weeks ago | evanstonroundtable.com | Matt Simonette

An underutilized parking lot owned by the Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary would get new life as a five-story, 30-unit residential dwelling if City Council signs off on the plan, which the city’s Land Use Commission approved on Wednesday, March 26. The developer, Paul Harb, told the commission that the project at 2206 Maple Ave. would substantially address a lack of affordable housing in the city.
A tale of two families

1 month ago | chicagoreader.com | Matt Simonette

“This whole thing is cruel,” observes one character in A Lie of the Mind, Sam Shepard’s 1985 magnum opus about the collapse of two families in the wake of a horrific domestic violence incident.
Equality Illinois marks new turning points at 2025 gala

2 months ago | windycitytimes.com | Matt Simonette

On Feb. 8, 8 sold-out audience of about 1,400 LGBTQ+ Chicagoans and their allies gathered in the ballroom of the Chicago Hilton, 720 S. Michigan Ave., for Equality Illinois’s 2025 gala.
THEATER Saint Sebastian’s ‘Man Who Came to Dinner’ proves classic comedy still has the goods

2 months ago | windycitytimes.com | Matt Simonette

Sheridan Whiteside is probably the worst houseguest in the world. A sometimes boorish, sometimes charming critic and raconteur, Sheridan is dropped (thanks to a patch of ice) into his worst petit bourgeois nightmare: weeks on end in a wheelchair, recovering from a leg injury in small-town Mesalia, Ohio. The hell that Sheridan raises over the course of the ensuing Christmas season sometime in the late ‘30s is at the center of Moss Hart and George S.
Advocates blast transgender youth health care ban

2 months ago | windycitytimes.com | Matt Simonette

LGBTQ+ advocates vowed to fight a Jan. 28 executive order by President Donald J. Trump that could virtually eliminate transgender youths’ access to appropriate and meaningful health care. The order, titled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” directs that gender-affirming care for youths (defined there as persons under the age of 19) be excluded from insurance plans covering families of the military, postal workers and other federal employees.
Anti-gay activist Anita Bryant passes away

Jan 10, 2025 | windycitytimes.com | Matt Simonette

Anita Bryant, who in the ‘70s notoriously channeled her fame as an entertainer and orange juice spokesperson into vehement political opposition to gay-rights, passed away Dec. 16, 2024, in Edmond, Oklahoma. She was 84.
Hitt Records offers a spirited musical history lesson

Jan 2, 2025 | chicagoreader.com | Matt Simonette

The elevator speech that would describe Black Ensemble Theater’s Hitt Records indicates that it’s peak jukebox musical: Two brothers (Vincent Jordan and Dennis Dent, both excellent) who own a Chicago vintage record store educate their nephew (Destin Warner) and their clientele about the classic music they’re selling. Hitt RecordsThrough 1/26: Fri 8 PM, Sat 3 and 8 PM, Sun 3 PM; Black Ensemble Theater Cultural Center, 4450 N.
Teens allegedly use dating apps to lure victims in suburban attacks - Windy City Times

Dec 27, 2024 | windycitytimes.com | Matt Simonette

Eleven teens face multiple felony charges in two July assaults in Mount Prospect; in each case the victims were men lured by their assailants through dating apps, according to multiple reports. One of those alleged assailants faces two felony counts of committing a hate crime. According to Mount Prospect Police, nine of the teens were 17 years old, while the other two were 16 years old. Neither the names of the victims nor the alleged assailants have been released.
Chicago lounge favorite Samba Bamba reunites for 30th anniversary - Windy City Times

Dec 14, 2024 | windycitytimes.com | Matt Simonette

One day about 30 years ago, writer/musican/performer Richard Knight popped a cassette into his car’s tape deck and his life turned a corner. That cassette was a greatest hits compilation by Sérgio Mendes and Brasil ‘66. Knight, who is a longtime Windy City Times contributor, knew that he wanted to make Mendes’s style of music.