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James Beard Awards 2019 Finalist Announced

Chicago chefs swept the Best Chef category for the Great Lakes (which includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio) in finalists announced by the James Beard Awards today. The Beards are considered the Oscars of the restaurant industry.

Winners will be announced May 6 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, at an event hosted by actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson.
Semifinalists were announced Feb. 27.

The Best Chef finalists are:
•   Diana Dávila, Mi Tocaya Antojería
•   Jason Hammel, Lula Cafe, Marisol
•   Beverly Kim and Johnny Clark, Parachute
•     David Posey and Anna Posey, Elske
•   Noah Sandoval, Oriole
•   Lee Wolen, Boka

Alisha Elenz of MFK restaurant is a finalist for Rising Star Chef of the Year (chefs under 30).

The much-lauded Lost Lake snagged the finalist nominee for Outstanding Bar Program, and perennial favorite Spiaggia got a finalist nod for Outstanding Wine Program.

In a category they’ve been nominated for before, Kevin Boehm and Rob Katz of Chicago’s Boka Restaurant Group (Boka, Girl & the Goat, Momotaro) are finalists for Best Restaurateu

For the best restaurant design or renovation since Jan. 1, 2016, two Chicago spots got nods for restaurants 76 seats and over. Chicago finalists are Lonesome Rose, done by Land & Sea Dept., and Pacific Standard Time, by Parts & Labor.

Other Chicago finalists are:

Outstanding Baker: Greg Wade, Publican Quality Bread
Outstanding Pastry Chef: Meg Galus, Boka

https://www.jamesbeard.org/awards

A Doll’s House, Part 2

A Doll’s House, Part 2 picks up after Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. Nor\ma, once a young wife and mother, enters through a door – the same door that she slammed shut and walked out of, 15 years earlier. This time Nora has returned, and it is she who is knocking. After becoming a successful feminist novelist, she learns that her divorce was never fully finalized. Lucas Hnath’s bitingly funny sequel unfolds in a series of bristling stand-offs that show us Nora’s inner world and that behind every opinion is a a person. A Doll’s House Part 2 is playing at the Steppenwolf Theatre until March 17, 2019

Secure your tickets with your CUI Concierge today!
At your service,
Concierge Unlimited International

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Dear Evan Hansen

Reviewed by: Jori Gates, Concierge Team Leader

Dear Evan Hansen is a contemporary and beautiful musical. Technically, the set design and how they used the “projectors” all throughout the set to portray digitally social media and technology was incredibly interesting-very modern to today’s media world.

The storyline was very deep and emotional. The storyline portrayed the challenges of what the average family or household could be going through with a teenager in the home. Teens rely so heavily on how they are portrayed on social media or how their peers see them as. I think for every generation, a child may struggle with how they fit in during high school, so to be able to pull in the older generations to relate to that and then provide the examples of how a teen today views suicide, threats, anxiety, and social cues was very captivating.

It is such a great performance to take a parent to, or for a parent to take a child to. I saw mothers getting very emotional in Act Two, during the song: “So Big/So Small” when Heidi, the mother of Evan, was reflecting on how to keep her child safe, protected from all the bad things in this world, and how quickly they grow up and are on their way to their next step in life. It was so touching and relatable to the audience members.

The biggest takeaway after seeing Dear Evan Hansen is that it makes you think of how hard someone with anxiety can feel in the busyness of life, how hard losing a child would be, social cues, the vast spin that social media can take because of the thousands of viewers on the other end, how important family is, and a glimpse of what a mother’s love would be like for their child.

Dear Evan Hansen is a deep, moving, and incredible production that everyone should buy tickets for; call you CUI Concierge today! Dear Evan Hansen returns to Chicago on July 7, 2020!

At Your Service,
Concierge Unlimited International

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Kinky Boots

Kinky Boots
January 22-27, 2019
Cadillac Palace Theatre

Kinky Boots is Broadway’s famous huge-hearted, high-heeled musical hit! With songs by award winning pop icon Cyndi Lauper, this musical celebrates the friendships we discover along the way of life. Inspired by true life events, Kinky Boots takes you on a journey from a gentlemen’s shoe factory in Northampton to the glamorous catwalks of Milan. Charlie Price is struggling to live up to his father’s expectations and continuing the family business. With the factory’s future hanging in the balance, help arrives in the unlikely form of Lola, a performer in need of some sturdy new stilettos. With direction and choreography by Jerry Mitchell, Kinky Boots is the winner of 6 Broadway Tony Awards. Kinky Boots has a run-time of 2 hours and 20 minutes with 1 intermission. Secure your tickets with your CUI Concierge today!