"A wildly creative concoction" - Chicago Tribune
"Overflowing with Entertainment" - Evanston Roundtable
"Has echoes of the past and resonances for today" - Reader
"You can almost taste the bootleg hooch" - Downbeat

The critically acclaimed immersive online show is an IN-PERSON experience for ONE NIGHT ONLY at Studio5! Step Into the Mist with us and travel back to 1927. Music, comedy, magic, dance, blackjack, puzzles and more await you in a theatrical experience like no other, featuring most of the original cast – 19 performers in all – including the hottest band of the era, the Chicago Cellar Boys! Check out the cool 30-second trailer:

And below is a great clip from an earlier appearance by the Cellar Boys at Studio5. Yes, Andy Schumm is playing three instruments.

Into the Mist with The Chicago Cellar Boys
An Interactive 1927 Evening With Music … and MORE!

The Chicago Cellar Boys:
Andy Schumm – cornet, sax, clarinet
John Otto – sax, clarinet
Natalie Scharff – sax
Paul Asaro – piano
Jimmy Barrett – banjo
Dan Anderson – tuba, bass
… and more than a dozen other performers!
Kim Davis as “Josephine”
Kat Hoil in "The Secret Room"
Jay Lee as “The Magician”
Shelby Moran Amarantos as “Louise”
Daniel Rashid as “Dusty”
Robert Rashid as “The Dealer”
Steve Rashid your "Master of Ceremonies"
Stephen Ruffin as “Langston”
Enid Smith as “Isadora”
Mardra & Reggie Thomas hosts of “The Rent Party”
Victoria Zielinski & Paul Barrosse as “Morty & Mitzi”

This will be an evening like no other at Studio5, where virtual reality … becomes real. You may recall that during the heart of the pandemic we produced a weekly online event, Into the Mist, a 1920s-themed experience that allowed our guests to enter a website and wander “virtually” through an old building and interact (via about a dozen Zoom rooms) with actual live performers portraying characters from 1927. Dancers, gamblers, vaudeville performers, a speakeasy bartender, a magician, writers and artists all inhabited our imaginary world and were accessible to our patrons. After an hour of exploration, our residents and guests were led to a “club” (another Zoom room which actually was Studio5) and everyone – from the safety and comfort of their homes – enjoyed a full set of live authentic hot jazz performed by the Cellar Boys. It was cathartic, and it was a blast. Into the Mist ran weekly for several months, and thousands of people attended online from all over the world.

So what does that have to do with our event on October 13th? Well, we love the Cellar Boys so much and are always excited whenever they return to Studio5 to play in front of our live audience, but for this appearance we thought … wouldn’t it be fun to make it kind of like Into the Mist again, but for real? Let’s make it 1927! We can’t create a physical space to mimic our online world, but what if we gathered some of the actual performers who were part of our virtual experience to join us at Studio5 IN PERSON, to provide additional entertainment and just a taste of what an actual live version of Into the Mist would be like? Are you intrigued? We certainly are, and as each piece falls into place we become more excited about this event. Here’s what I can tell you: You’re going to have the opportunity to wander to different locations within our facility and see most of the same performers you enjoyed online, and then we’re all going to swing hard and dance to the incomparable Cellar Boys. Are we crazy? Probably a little bit. But this will be a night to remember.

Please note that this will be an immersive evening, where our guests will be moving from location to location within our facility to experience the different performers. At times you will be seated, but you are encouraged to wander … and even dance if you choose. Period dress is certainly not required … but if you feel like channeling your inner dapper cat or spiffy flapper, no one will object. Put on your glad rags and point your getaway sticks to Dempster & Dodge. –SR

Cash bar, light snacks, free parking right outside! Doors open 30 minutes prior to showtime. [NOTE: Ticket sales on this website end one hour before showtime. Any remaining tickets are available for purchase at the door.]

Live taping for CHICAGO JAZZ LIVE on WDCB!
Our syndicated radio program, CHICAGO JAZZ LIVE, is now in its eighth season! Be part of the studio audience and behind the scenes for an exciting live recording of this performance. CJL airs locally on WDCB (90.9FM or WDCB.org), Tuesdays 7-8PM. Come to the taping ... and then tune in!

Many thanks to our media sponsor, WDCB!