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Often stage narratives about LGBTQ people use stories of familial rejection as their anchors, but the beauty of Southern Comfort is in its centering of trans love and queer joy. Vile parents lurk on the periphery, but this play is not about them. It’s never been about them. A bluegrass musical based on the award-winning documentary, Southern Comfort gets its Chicago premiere with Pride Films and Plays under the direction of JD Caudill, with North Homeward starring as Robert Eads, a trans man from Toccoa, Georgia, who has been disregarded by a transphobic health-care system and now faces terminal ovarian cancer....

Carmen Giles of Wormhole Runner-Up: Shannon Marks of Wormhole

Roots Handmade Pizza 1924 W. Chicago 773-645-4949 rootspizza.com Runner-Up: Little Goat

Though advertised as an adaption of William Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale by Evan Jackson (who also directs), this production by Idle Muse Theatre is, for all practical purposes, a fairly faithful, if slimmed-down, version of Shakespeare’s play with a couple of his sonnets thrown in for good measure. Jackson’s simple, elegant production is well suited to the intimacy of the Edge Theater’s performing space. As in the original, there is a major shift in tone halfway through the tale, from somber psychological drama to lighthearted comedy, as the story turns from King Leontes, whose pathological jealousy leads to his wife’s death, to a romance that blossoms between his exiled daughter and a handsome prince....

Los Angeles-based sludge outfit Big Business have taken a lot of forms over their 15 years of existence. Started in Seattle as the dirgey metal duo of Karp bassist Jared Warren and Murder City Devils drummer Coady Willis, Big Business eventually started inviting the occasional guitarist into the mix to beef up their already beefy sound—at one point they even added two, transforming into a full-on four-piece doom band. Beginning in 2006, Warren and Willis also held down the prestigious title of “Melvins Rhythm Section” during the decade-long run of that venerable band’s double-drummer lineup....

When there’s background music at a yoga class in Chicago, it’s usually a Ravi Shankar raga, hotel-lobby-style acid jazz, or New Age crap from Windham Hill Records. But Sara Strother, an instructor at Bucktown yoga studio Yogaview, does things a little differently. For “Living Loving Yoga,” a class that was held on Thursday, May 5, she set her instruction to the music of Led Zeppelin, giving students an opportunity to rock out while doing asanas (poses and stretches)....

My natural skepticism rose when I heard about How Did I Find Myself Here? (Anti), the first new Dream Syndicate album in 30 years. While the band’s 1982 Velvets-infused debut The Days of Wine and Roses remains one of my all-time favorites, the albums made in its wake, as original members Kendra Smith and Karl Precoda left, delivered diminishing returns until the group disbanded in the late 80s. Leader Steve Wynn went on to pursue a solid if unspectacular solo career, and Smith formed Opal with guitarist David Roback and released a couple of sublime solo albums in the early 90s before stepping away from music....

What is it about the Atlanta-based Waffle House chain that makes many Chicagoland residents wish the 24-hour greasy spoons existed here? But in a Parts Unknown segment, Anthony Bourdain eloquently nailed what makes Waffle House special. “Its warm, yellow glow a beacon of hope and salvation, inviting the hungry, the lost, the seriously hammered, all across the south to come inside. A place of safety and nourishment, it never closes. It is always, always faithful, always there, for you....

Gethsemane Garden Center Finalists: Sprout Home, City Grange

Andersonville Logan Square Finalists: Lincoln Square, Rogers Park, Lakeview

Dawn Xiana Moon Mary-Kate Arnold Finalists: Carisa Barreca, Bailey Castle

On Bajas Fresh (Drag City), Chicago’s Bitchin Bajas’ first noncollaborative album in three years, the band members offer a trenchant summary of their interests and strengths that feels more profound and mature than anything else they’ve accomplished. Recent partnerships with Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Natural Information Society have conveyed the collective versatility of bandmates Cooper Crain, Rob Frye, and Dan Quinlivan, but the new album articulates the group’s weed-powered vision in Technicolor splendor....

What exactly drives tens of thousands of asylum seekers to travel weeks, months, even years to come to the United States? Those who make the perilous journey north are often at the mercy of coyotes, police, and thieves as they trek through unknown territory by bus and on foot. For many, however, what’s behind them is worse than the unknown that they face: to return home simply means not to survive....

Hazel Wolfbait & B-girls Finalists: Una Mae’s, Penny Lane Studios, Ikram

Wheat’s End Cafe Davanti Enoteca Finalists: Pizzeria Uno’s, Torchio Pasta Bar

Akeelah and the Bee In Cheryl L. West’s adaptation of the 2006 inspirational film of the same name, Akeelah Anderson (La Shone T. Kelly) needs the help of her entire community if she’s going to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee. West transports the action from Los Angeles to Chicago and cuts down the size of Akeelah’s family, but otherwise the story is the same. Brandon Rivera’s gleefully over-the-top performance as Akeelah’s preppy friend Javier delights the children in the audience, and Aaron Quick’s projections add excitement to the spelling sequences as words form around the set....

Q: I have a question about biking and female genitalia. I’m a woman in my 40s, and I love biking! My husband and I often go for long rides on the weekend. Unfortunately, this makes various parts of my crotch sore, especially the clitoris. Certain bike seats are better, but none eliminate the soreness. Two years ago, we had a baby, which not only made my crotch more prone to soreness but makes it a lot less likely that we’ll have sex except on weekends, often after biking....

It’s not altogether unbelievable that Bernice’s Tavern will celebrate its 50th anniversary in May. After all, the heart-of-Bridgeport watering hole is a tangle of just the kind of dusty tchotchkes, vintage instruments, random framed photos, and other artifacts that betray a bar’s age. John died about 16 years ago at the age of 85, leaving Bernice and Steve to carry on the family business. “He pretty much did outlive all his regulars,” Steve says....