Entertainment

The Southwest Observer is commemorating its one-year anniversary, kicked off by the annual South Side Irish Parade.

West Beverly native and professional journalist Michael Fielding and Web designer Steve Delmont joined nearly 120 other entrants in the 30th annual South Side Irish Parade, marching proudly down Western Avenue before more than 250,000 onlookers March 9.

The Bagpipes and Drums of the Chicago Police Department's Emerald Society - which participates annually at the South Side Irish Parade - stopped by TR's Pub in Mount Greenwood a few hours after the 30th annual parade concluded March 9. This is a clip of the group's moving performance for the hometown crowd.

The Beverly Arts Center School of the Arts spring session begins the week of March 30, offering nearly 150 fine arts classes for preschoolers through seniors in visual arts, dance, music, theater, digital art, movement, and literary arts. Classes are taught at the center at 2407 W. 111th St., and registration is open.

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By Kahrin Deines
Medill Reports - Chicago

Early counts suggest the new tax credit for filmmakers reached a wide audience in 2007, with both Illinois and Chicago preparing to report record spending by production companies.

Although the numbers have not been officially released, the Illinois Film Office anticipates they will soon announce that 2007 was a record-breaking year for film in the state, said Betsy Steinberg, managing director of the office.

There’s a roomy hostel at the edge of town in tiny Cong, Ireland, where much of the 1952 John Ford classic "The Quiet Man" was filmed. It is there, in the cozy common area, where foreigners of all stripes – Americans, Asians, Europeans – settle in to catch the nightly screenings of the film that served as Ford’s idyllic tribute to his homeland.

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In light of a host of violent incidents in recent months around Chicagoland, two plays about the impact of gun violence on families and friends of the victims - to be staged this weekend by a combined cast from Brother Rice and Mother McAuley high schools - are rather timely.

For more information about the plays, check out this article in today's Daily Southtown.