Rising stars to shine at opera concert
Some of Chicago’s best young singers will perform arias and art songs by iconic Italian composers at the Italian Cultural Center at Casa Italia’s Vocal Scholarship Awards Dinner and Concert. The event will start at 2 p.m. on Nov. 10 in the Mentesana Weber Chandelier Room of the Community Center at Casa Italia and feature a wine-and-cheese reception...
Sports Hall to present top honor to Andretti
The National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame will present its Lifetime Achievement Award to auto racing legend Mario Andretti at a Nov. 9 induction and awards gala at the Westin O’Hare in Rosemont. A 1981 inductee of the hall of fame, Andretti earned victories in 111 races during a career that spanned five decades and six continents. Along the...
Colavito statue to be unveiled in Cleveland’s Little Italy
Rocky Colavito made a point of spending time with his fans when he played in Cleveland. Soon, those fans will have more than memories to remember their beloved hero. A life-size statue of Colavito is being created by noted sculptor David Deming and will be placed in Tony Brush Park at University Circle — about five miles east of Progressive Field....
Long-lost film shines spotlight on ‘Luisa Miller’
In celebration of the Lyric Opera’s presentation of Verdi’s “Luisa Miller,” August Ventura will presents a Verdi-focused evening that includes the long-lost film “In the Mouth of the Wolf.” Set in Parma, Italy, Verdi’s birthplace, the film depicts American soprano Margherita Roberti, maestro Alberto Erede, and co-stars Renato Cioni and Piero Cappuc...
Rose Bowl champion Ralph “Babe” Serpico
A standout nose tackle in high school and college, Ralph Serpico emerged as a pillar of the community he grew up in throughout his adulthood. From high school football star to Rose Bowl champion and beyond, Ralph “Babe” Serpico was a role model and force for good in his native Melrose Park. “You have a community of mostly working-class Italians, an...
Riccardo Muti Leads Community Rehearsal with Chicago West Community Music Center
When Maestro Riccardo Muti, music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, heard students from the Chicago West Community Music Center perform at a benefit event in June, he said he was “impressed with their dignity and ethical approach to their music style.” And after hearing the voice of 20-year-old soprano Jessalle Jakes, Muti said he’d be ba...
The Italian Film Festival will feature mostly comedies with a dash of drama
After living and studying in Italy, Joyce Mariani, director of the Italian Film Festival, arrived in Cleveland on a mission to introduce award-winning Italian films to Northeast Ohio. Something she thought was lacking here unlike in other large cities. “After living in Italy and coming to Cleveland, I questioned why all the major cities in the U.S....
Players keep the ball rolling at annual Cleveland Challenge Cup of Bocce
The 36th annual Cleveland Challenge Cup of Bocce took place at the Wickliffe Italian-American Club this weekend, featuring nearly three days of bocce, entertainment and more. Tournament play began Friday evening and was scheduled to culminate on Sunday in a women's championship at 4 p.m. and men's championship at 6 p.m. The top prize was listed at...
Wickliffe to host 36th annual Cleveland Challenge Cup of Bocce
Over one weekend near the end of summer each year, Wickliffe becomes the center of the Midwest's bocce community. More than 100 teams and upward of 12,000 spectators will descend on the city's Italian-American Club for the 36th annual Pat O'Brien Cleveland Challenge Cup of Bocce. The region's largest bocce tournament, containing more than $23,000 i...
Casa to serve up another film feast
Film aficionados have hungered for the return of Casa Italia’s beloved feast of Italian cinema, and the wait is finally over. The Casa’s 2019 Italian film series will reboot on Sept. 13 and run for seven glorious Fridays. The host of this year’s series will be Pam DeFiglio, a veteran Chicago editor, columnist and arts critic. The following film des...
Romantic comedy reveals fashion’s many faces
The Italian American Theatre of Chicago will present “The Wedding Box: A Fashion Show-Within-a-Play” by Cathy Sweitzer on Sept. 8 at 4:30 p.m. at Chief O’Neill’s Pub, 3471 N. Elston Ave., Chicago. Directed by Nancy Greco, the romantic comedy takes on the serious topic of the treatment of women in the garment industry, many of whom were Italian immi...
Announcing the 2019 Inductees & Honorees
The National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame (NIASHF) is proud to announce inductees and honorees for the 42nd Annual Induction & Awards Gala to take place at a dinner on Saturday, November 9th, in the Grand Ballroom at the Westin O’Hare in Rosemont, IL. Many previous inductees, members of the media and individuals of the sports world will be...