The Frunchroom returns with an 8th-anniversary show

It started in 2015 as a live-reading series in the side room of a bar on Western Avenue.

It survived the pandemic, and it’s now ready for an eighth-anniversary celebration.

The next edition of The Frunchroom, a local storytelling series, will take place on April 13, at 7:30 p.m., at the Beverly Arts Center (BAC), 2407 W. 111th St.

Speakers scheduled to appear include Michelle “Chellee” Rashad, executive director of the nonprofit organization Imagine Englewood If; Erika Sanchez, the author of “I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter” and “Crying in the Bathroom”; Megan Stielstra, author of “The Wrong Way to Save Your Life” and “Once I Was Cool’”; Shermann “Dilla” Thomas, who is known as Chicago’s Tik Tok historian and has a catchphrase of “Everything dope about America comes from Chicago”; and Carly Oishi, a Morgan Park resident and veteran Chicago storyteller.

A $5 donation is requested for the upcoming show.

Read more in The Beverly Review.

RSVP on Facebook here.

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The Frunchroom, Volume XXII: 2022 Beverly Art Walk edition

Did you miss our triumphant post-COVID return to the Beverly Arts Center in July? If you did, mark your calendar for Tuesday, September 13th at 730pm because this show is not to be missed.

Guests for the September show are:

Tara Betts: author (Refuse to Disappear, Break the Habit and Arc & Hue), poet, editor, and founder of The Whirlwind Learning Center

Rebecca Healy: teacher, photographer, and artist

Dion McGill: National Guard veteran and host of Off The Beaten Podcast

Joe Meno: author of Hairstyles of the Damned and Book of Extraordinary Tragedies

Psalm One: hip-hop artist and author of Her Word Is Bond

This show is brought to you by the Beverly Area Arts Alliance. And don’t forget: it’s Beverly Art Walk Week!

Join us on Tuesday, September 13th at 7:30pm. A $5 donation is requested.

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The Frunchroom, Volume 21: The Return

Two years ago we used to hang out in The Frunchroom and listen to people tell stories about the South Side.

We’re gonna do that again.

Join us on Thursday, July 14th at 730pm at the Beverly Arts Center for a reunion of past Frunchroom readers as we prepare to bring you all-new readers this fall.

A Beverly Area Arts Alliance production featuring:

Adrienne Gibbs
Arts and entertainment writer

Rayshauna Gray
Creator, researcher, pétroleuse

Bill Savage
Editor, writer, Northwestern professor

Jen Sabella
Co-founder of Block Club Chicago

Claire Zulkey
Evil Witches editor, Funny Ha-Ha producer

$5 donation requested. 

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The Frunchroom Summertime Staying Home Sessions Vol. 4

Our last summertime show is jam-packed with storytellers!

Presented by Beverly Area Arts Alliance via video right in your own frunchroom (or kitchen, or bedroom, or basement, or wherever you want).

Our August 13th readers are:

Veronica Arreola
Lily Be
Karen Clanton
Andrew Huff
Grace Kuikman
Natalie Moore
Mare Swallow

Watch the show on Zoom at 7pm on Thursday, August 13th at this link.

We’re not yet sharing physical space again, but it’s important to get back to telling South Side stories.

Live via Zoom and Facebook, we’ll have an audience you can see and hear – a great way to catch up with friends with lots of physical distance! – though you can turn off your video and mute yourself as needed.

There’s still a need to see and hear each other as we physically distance but share social connection.

This is a rare opportunity to hear some of our past speakers tell new and old stories. So pour your favorite cocktail as we bring our Frunchroom to yours.

RSVP on Facebook here.

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The Frunchroom: The Frunchroom’s Summertime Staying Home Sessions, Volume Three

The third time’s the charm. And the first two were pretty darn good so imagine how delightful this one will be…

Miss the show? Catch up with it here.

Presented by Beverly Area Arts Alliance: The Frunchroom is back – via video right in your own Frunchroom (or kitchen, or bedroom, or basement, or wherever you want). We’re not yet sharing physical space again, but it’s important to get back to telling South Side stories.

It’s weird doing this as an online-only event, but everything in life is weird right now so this makes a kind of sense. So here’s the Zoom link for the event. It’ll be like having a work meeting but with more drinks and fewer people saying “let’s circle back on that.”

We’ve invited some of our past readers back for a series of reunion shows. Our July 30th readers are:

Aaron Cynic
Amara Enyia
Griselda Garibay
Tina Jenkins Bell
Dmitry Samarov
Chuck Sudo

The show will also be available via The Frunchroom’s Facebook page.

We’ll have an audience you can see and hear though you can turn off your video and mute yourself as needed. There’s still a need to see and hear each other as we physically distance but share social connection.

This is a rare opportunity to hear some of our past speakers tell new and old stories. So pour your favorite cocktail as we bring our Frunchroom to yours.

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The Frunchroom’s Summertime Staying Home Sessions, Volume Two

Presented by Beverly Area Arts Alliance: The Frunchroom is back – via video right in your own Frunchroom (or kitchen, or bedroom, or basement, or wherever you want).

Our next show is Thursday, July 16th at 7pm.

Though we can’t yet gather again in person, it’s important to get back to telling South Side stories. So we’re bringing back our past readers for a series of shows in July and August via streaming video.

Our July 16th readers are:

John Chatz
Don Hayner
Jamie Nesbitt Golden
Lyletta Robinson
Bill Savage

Watch the show here:

For now, we’ll do what a lot of people have and do this via video and screens. It will be live via Zoom and Facebook. We’ll have an audience you can see and hear though you can turn off your video and mute yourself as needed. There’s still a need to see and hear each other as we physically distance but share social connection.

This is a rare opportunity to hear some of our past speakers tell new and old stories. So pour your favorite cocktail as we bring our Frunchroom to yours.

RSVP on Facebook and join us on Zoom or Facebook Live via The Frunchroom Facebook page on July 16th at 7pm. And subscribe to The Frunchroom podcast on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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The Frunchroom’s Summertime Staying Home Sessions, Volume One

The Frunchroom is back – via video right in your own Frunchroom (or kitchen, or bedroom, or basement, or wherever you want).

Though we can’t yet gather again in person, we’re bringing back our past readers for a series of shows in July and August via streaming video.

Our Thursday, July 2nd readers are:

  • Lolly Bowean
  • Jim DeRogatis
  • James Gordon
  • Rayshauna Gray
  • Kathleen Leahy
  • Mario Smith

Watch the show here:

More dates and lineups coming soon!

We canceled our April show (which was to be our 5th anniversary) and while we believe in the idea of Frunchroom as an event that involves us all sharing physical space together, it’s important to get back to telling South Side stories.

For now, we’ll do what a lot of people have and do this via video and screens. It will be live via Zoom and likely via Facebook. We’ll have an audience you can see and hear though you can turn off your video and mute yourself as needed. There’s still a need to see and hear each other as we physically distance but share social connection.

This is a rare opportunity to hear some of our past speakers tell new and old stories. So pour your favorite cocktail as we bring our Frunchroom to yours.

RSVP on Facebook or watch this space for updated information on how to watch this show via live streaming video on Thursday, July 2nd at 7pm.

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Podcast: Vol. 10, Summer break edition

Download and subscribe to The Frunchroom podcast in iTunes here or wherever you listen to podcasts

We’re so behind in getting these episodes up that this show is from…three years ago. This was back when we were still at Beverly Woods restaurant in July 2017.

But this show still holds up.

As for when The Frunchroom will return with new live shows, watch our Facebook and Twitter pages for more on that this week.

For now, please welcome:

Cole Lavalais
Writer, Teacher

Kathleen Leahy
Educator, Writer, Intersectional Feminist, Occasional Bartender

Amara Enyia
Policy wonk, Globetrotter, Athlete, Systems-thinker, Risk-taker

Lyletta Robinson
Hoosier by birth, South Sider by choice

Nareman Taha
Co-director/founder, Arab-American Family Services

Ernest Wilkins
Cultural Anthropologist, Writer

Recorded on July 20th, 2017 at Beverly Woods Restaurant. Audio production and editing by Tim Mata. Brought to you by your host Scott Smith and the Beverly Area Arts Alliance.

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Everything you need to know about The Frunchroom, Volume XX

Tonight! Another Beverly Arts Alliance storytelling event at the Beverly Arts Center. There will be cocktails, friends, laughs, and tears, all with a South Side flavor.

At 730pm, The Frunchroom will kick off its 20th show with five new storytellers:

Ada Cheng
Recovering academic turned hopeful artist

Lisa Colleen
Lover of stories 

Tonika Johnson
Creator, Folded Map Project

Madeline O’Malley
Southside transplant, comedian, #BeverlyFamous mom 

Jessica Scheller
Mom, wife, neighbor, undercover revolutionary 

Here’s everything you need to know:

What’s the time? And where?
730pm. But show up to the Beverly Arts Center (2407 W. 111th St.) by 7-715pm to guarantee yourself a seat, chat with friends, get a drink from the bar, check out the art, and settle in. We usually close the balcony at BAC to keep things a bit more intimate and cozy unless the crowd size demands it.

Where do I park?
Beverly Arts Center has parking just west of the building and another lot on the south side (of course).

How do I get there via transit?
Take the Metra Rock Island Line which departs from the LaSalle Street Station in the Loop. Get off at 111th Street. Head west up the hill for about three blocks. The BAC is the big red building on the corner.

Where can I eat?
Places nearby include Manzo’s Burgers and Waldo Cooney’s Pizza on 111th Street and AmericanosOpen Outcry Brewing and Horse Thief Hollow on Western Avenue.

You mentioned drinks?
Beer, wine and liquor will be available at the cash bar before and during the show. The post-Frunchroom festivities will continue at Open Outcry Brewing.

What are the stories like?
Some are sincere, some are tongue-in-cheek. One may be a call-to-action, another might make you think. One might be historical, one might make you remember a place you haven’t been since childhood. Basically, like having a conversation with someone you haven’t seen in a while. This review from South Side Weekly really captures what we’re about.

Who’s helping you with this?
I’m producing this in partnership with The Beverly Area Arts Alliance (or The Alliance, for short).

A big thanks to Monica Wilczak, Sal Campbell, David Barsotti, Jane Zia, Chris Wilczak, Lizzy Benner, Chris Castaneda, Corinne Rose, Carla Winterbottom and Cicely Harris who’ve given this event material, financial and moral support. And a huge thanks to Beverly Arts Center for sponsoring the show.

See you there!

The Frunchroom is presented by The Beverly Area Arts Alliance and sponsored by Beverly Arts Center. 

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In the Frunchroom: Tonika Johnson

Our next reader for the next Frunchroom show this Thursday is Tonika Johnson.

Tonika is a visual artist and photographer from Chicago’s South Side Englewood neighborhood.

In 2010, she helped co-found Resident Association of Greater Englewood (R.A.G.E.) and now she serves as its full-time Program Manager. She was featured in Chicago magazine as a 2017 Chicagoan of the Year.

Her work has been featured at Rootwork Gallery in Pilsen, the Chicago Cultural Center, Harold Washington Library Center, and the Chicago Reader.

Her latest multi-media project titled “Folded Map” illustrates Chicago’s residential segregation. She’ll show photos from this project and share stories about the participants at this week’s Frunchroom.

See Tonika and all our readers at The Frunchroom this Thursday at 730pm at Beverly Arts Center.

RSVP on Facebook here

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