SHOWS ON OUR RADAR: Motown The Musical Now Playing at The Oriental Theatre #BroadwayInChicago

We can't wait for the press opening on 5/8!  We'll be there to review for ChiIL Live Shows/ChiIL Mama, so check back like we vote in Chi, IL... early and often, for our take on all the hottest Chicago shows. In the mean time, get your tickets squared away! Show dates are selling fast.

It began as one man's story... became everyone's music... and is now Broadway's musical. MOTOWN THE MUSICAL is the true American dream story of Motown founder Berry Gordy's journey from featherweight boxer to the heavyweight music mogul who launched the careers of Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson and many more. 

Motown shattered barriers, shaped our lives and made us all move to the same beat. Featuring classic songs such as "My Girl" and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," experience the story behind the music in the record-breaking smash hit MOTOWN THE MUSICAL!

Just opened April 22 at the Oriental Theatre in Chicago, IL. Tickets now on sale: http://bit.ly/motown14

PHOTO RECAP: Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo 2014 #C2E2 #OriginalPhotos

ChiIL Mama's adventures in C2E2 land

We've been at McCormick Place frequently over the past few months, first for The Chicago Auto Show and then the enormous International Home and Housewares Show (click for our coverage). Now the cars and gadgets have been shipped away for the season and we can cover our favorite convention to shoot. Every April the convention center morphs into a colorful, otherworldly mash up you have to see to believe!





Check out our full set in the slide show here and our favorites embedded at the bottom of this feature.




This is our 3rd year covering C2E2 and sadly, the bigger they've grown the stingier they've gotten on the press front. The first year they comped us 4 press credentials for the whole weekend, so I could publish my kids' take on C2E2 and my sound guy husband could mic up people for interviews while I ran the video & still cameras and conducted interviews. Gone are those days. If I only had a Tardis to travel back...



This year they gave us 1 Friday only pass.  So, I did what I could solo, to capture the playful fun of the fest.  I logged in just over SIX MILES of walking on my smart phone app inside the doors of C2E2 land, and came home with nearly 500 stills.  

Family Fun:
Adventure awaits for all ages. My own 10 & 13 year olds were bummed to be stuck at school Friday instead of enjoying the C2E2 immersion, but we were able to meet a few other kids getting schooled in pop culture!

Fans can meet artists in action, authors, and actors. Here are a few of our favs.

Here at ChiIL Mama we love to feature families doing their creative thing together... like these two moms with their littles along.  

Chainmaille Dr. Who Scarf and Ren Faire Skirt/Corsette Topper!

There IS life after birth and just because you make a life, that doesn't mean you can't still have one!

Get Your Geek On:
At C2E2 you can get your geek on at loads of themed booths. We gravitated toward the unique ones with artist made wares.  

We bought several handmade, one of a kind Dr. Who themed necklaces and a bracelet, and one with a sweet Divergent/Hunger Games mash up for my mighty girl 10 year old from Sparkle-ga.com.

How perfect is that for a whovian writer...?!

This booth was pricy but a super cool idea!

There were even some poignant moments as fans paid tribute to their own fallen heros of the film industry. My husband worked on shoots with Harold Ramis a number of times and said he was truly a great guy.

We dug the monster makeup/mask demos.

There were also some tee shirts too cool to pass up.  We adore Hayao Miyazaki so I bought two unique shirts with mash ups of his characters. I tried to make up for ditching the kids this year with some surprises for them, but I really missed having them for photo ops and input.

I did have the chance to do some networking and check out some edu-tainment. We'll have book reviews and more in depth features to come on some of our favorites.  I got this awesome Tee from Kill Shakespeare for my 13 year old son who has been reading Romeo & Juliet for school. 

My 10 year old daughter is also doing short scenes from Shakespeare in class, and she's currently in Macbeth and will be doing A Midsummer Night's Dream shortly!

Next up... 





These are a few of our favorite pop-culture things that made an appearance at C2E2 in no particular order:

Foodie Fun:
The food selection made up for in quality what it lacked in quantity. There were vegan, veg and carnivore choices. I had a tasty pulled chicken BBQ sandwich from Robinson's.  I was also please to see our local, neighborhood favs, Revolution Brewery representing with their infamous Anti-Hero IPA and a new IPA brew, Galaxy Hero.  Hero or Anti-Hero... IPAs rule my world.

Didja mean C2E2 or R2D2?!  Maybe BOTH!

Our favorite part of C2E2 is the rampant creativity of the fans! The Cosplay kids were out en masse, and the mash ups were prime entertainment.  We love it when people are passionate about their play. Check out our "Best Of" below:

Mom & Daughter!