The Frunchroom

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.

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.

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.