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This is what the bad guys did in WWII: rounded up entire families of innocent citizens on the basis of inherited group identity, tore them from their homes, businesses, schools, and jobs, and sent them to concentration camps. The opera, with music by genre-blending composer Jack Perla, and libretto by Jessica Murphy Moo, was commissioned by Seattle Opera, where it was first performed in 2015. (The cast here includes So Young Park as Setsuko; Nina Yoshida Nelsen and Ao Li as her parents; and Christopher Magiera and Catherine Martin as the buyers of their home; Daniela Candillari will conduct....

ARTIST: Matthew McWilliams SHOWS: Ryley Walker at the Hungry Brain on Fri 5/18 and Sat 5/19

Lou Malnati’s various locationsloumalnatis.com Runner-Up: Pequod’s

Fat Tiger Works Dearborn Denim Finalists: 6 Clothing, Sacra-tee

Michael Gebert Decor from the ceiling, spices on the wall at Marigold Maison in Bannockburn Considering how alien Indian food must have seemed at first to, well, anybody from any other food culture in America, the ubiquitous Indian buffet is a stroke of marketing genius in terms of gaining early acceptance and making the food accessible. But the buffets’ interchangeable dishes of brightly colored gravies made it unnecessary to ever actually learn anything about the cuisine....

It is spectacular and unsurprising that Captain Marvel, a vivid action-adventure centered on the rise of Carol Danvers, is the first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe led by a female superhero. The old and stubbornly held Hollywood belief that a superhero movie starring a woman would flop was bolstered by some painful evidence: the critical and financial failures of Supergirl (1984), Tank Girl (1995), Catwoman (2004), and Elektra (2005). Enter Wonder Woman in 2017, a triumph by every measure for DC and Warner Bros....

Let’s get one thing straight: It’s not the long sit I mind. One of my favorite sitting experiences ever was the English Shakespeare Company’s Wars of the Roses heptalogy, which played the International Theatre Festival of Chicago (what an idea, huh?) and literally took days to watch. By comparison, the six-hour running time of Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Tug of War: Foreign Fire should be an easy stretch to handle. I can understand why Gaines might be attracted to Edward III, aside from the coolness factor of its obscurity: The tale of an English king’s 1346 campaign to assert his sovereignty over France, it takes us back to the beginnings of the grotesque slog known as the Hundred Years War....

The pileup of massive releases from big-name artists over the past few months has an unfortunate side effect: the number of new high-profile albums becomes the story in and of itself, often overriding the narratives in the music. At times the proximity of Beyoncé’s Lemonade and Drake’s Views, to pick the two most recent, has caused their rollouts to come across like a volley of cannon shots between competing streaming services....

@brickofchicago @transportationlibrary Finalists: @barrybutler9, @msalisbu

Aloha Poke Co. Pokeworks

Signature Room 875 N. Michigan 312-787-9596 signatureroom.com Runner-Up (tie): Adler Planetarium Lake Shore Drive

Count it a lucky thing that the Art Institute of Chicago was too booked to put “Archibald Motley: Jazz Age Modernist” on its schedule this year. Instead, the touring exhibit of more than 40 paintings by this quintessential Chicago artist landed on the fourth floor of the Chicago Cultural Center, where you can see it as many times as you like between now and the end of August, without having to pony up an entry fee....

On a recent hot Friday afternoon, I went with photographer Amy Boyle to visit 80-year-old Sue Smith in Lincoln Park, to hear her joyous words of wisdom I’d only read about. She greeted us in a summery orange shirt and matching handkerchief with shining jewelry, but an even brighter smile. “The community that the project has built, whether in person [or on Facebook],a lot of these women have gotten to know each other....

A big list of events for the next seven days, some online, some in person (with various guidelines, see links for details). Stay safe and enjoy! Fri 3/19 through Sun 4/4: Chicago Restaurant Week puts the spotlight on local eateries offering prix fixe multi-course meals ($25 for brunch or lunch and $39-$55 for dinner, excluding beverages, tax, gratuity, and deliver fees if applicable). Check out a new spot or order in from the participating restaurants throughout the city and suburbs....

The CTA is the best of Chicago: its trains and buses get us where we’re going. The people of the CTA, on the other hand, are the worst. Not all of them—just the ones that lack decorum and a sense of consideration for their fellow riders. Unfortunately, their number is legion. Want to snack on the CTA? Against the agency’s rules, but OK. If you must, though, for chrissakes eat food that won’t stink up the place!...

Yes, the pandemic has been devastating for restaurants in Chicago, but for some reason it’s been a very good time for the food of the Malay Archipelago, encompassing the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and more; and by extension, that’s good for everyone. (The awful demise of Lincoln Park’s Rickshaw Republic notwithstanding.) But three years ago Low took issue with a passing comment from a customer that Malaysian food would never overcome its association with cheap street food....

Ben Joravsky chicagoreader.com Runner-Up: Mick Dumke

Winter is by far my favorite season in Chicago, because those of us who have learned how to layer properly can have some outdoor time in relative solitude. It seems crazy to walk around in the snow at night in this city. The wind is whipping off the lake, and the occasional passing truck threatens to douse you with road slush—but if you’re wearing thick socks and the right coat, a winter Chicago night is a majestic wonderland of silence....

Dr. Devon Price had always been an overachiever. They sacrificed social events to get top grades (aiming to fulfill a teenage dream of getting a PhD in psychology), mechanically ran through tasks on their to-do list, and still made time for activist work, live lit performances, and rewatching Mad Men. Daily life was exhausting but somewhat manageable. That article, originally written to blow off steam, became Price’s first book. Laziness Does Not Exist (Atria Books) is a science-based self-help manual for those run roughshod by capitalism....

Samantha Irby bitchesgottaeat.blogspot.com Runner-Up: Richard Fizdale