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It’s Thursday, Chicago.

Do you have your green outfit picked out yet? Hopefully so, we don’t want you to get pinched! With St. Patrick’s Day officially tomorrow, you might be ready to snack on a corned beef sandwich. We have a roundup of 26 of the best in Chicagoland to help you out. Or, if you’re setting your sights on travel to the Emerald Isle, a solo travelogue of hiking near Dublin may inspire you to walk along a cliff’s edge.

Although the skies have been gray lately, brighter days are ahead. Some exciting summer lineups have just been announced, including Navy Pier’s Chi-Soul Fest and headliners at Ravinia Festival. In the meantime, we have reviews for “Ted Lasso” now back for Season 3, the generational drama “Layalina” on stage at Goodman Theatre this month and more to enjoy indoors.

Enjoy the weekend, we’ll see you here next week.

— Lauryn Azu, deputy senior editor

Ravinia Festival 2023: Boyz II Men with Isley Brothers, women composers with the CSO

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Ravinia Festival entrance gate, photographed July 23, 2021, in Highland Park.
Ravinia Festival entrance gate, photographed July 23, 2021, in Highland Park.

Northern Chicagoland’s biggest summer festival is back — with Boyz II Men and The Isley Brothers together for a concert, performances by John Legend, Santana and Lauryn Hill, and a focus on women composers at Ravinia’s Breaking Barriers Festival of classical music. Read more here.

A decade in the making, world premiere of ‘The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing’ arrives at COT at the right time

Column: Meat Moot Smoking crosses Turkish with Texas for an intriguing take on barbecue

Akram Jafar prepares the beef at Meat Moot Smoking in Burbank on March 8, 2023.
Akram Jafar prepares the beef at Meat Moot Smoking in Burbank on March 8, 2023.

Texas-style BBQ isn’t just gaining ground across the U.S., it’s even big in the Middle East. Meat Moot Smoking, a Turkish chain that recently opened its first U.S. location in suburban Burbank, shows the global influence of Texas barbecue. The restaurant is halal-certified, the meats come with a unique spice mix and cooks prepare the meat with the dramatic flair of Salt Bae, the Turkish chef Nusret Gökce. Read Tribune critic Nick Kindelsperger’s impression here.

‘The Golden Gloves Story’: When it ventured into the boxing movie business, the Tribune learned it wasn’t so easy

A still from the movie “The Golden Gloves Story” shows main character Nick Martel, left, in the ring with his opponent. The film was released in 1950.

Coming off the hype of the blockbuster “Creed III,” Tribune critic Michael Phillips takes a look at the boxing movies of yore, including a little-known and hard-to-come-by Tribune-produced film from 1950, “The Golden Gloves Story.” Read more here.

100 years old, the Chicago-born Golden Gloves are continuing to mold boxers and inspire lives

Corned beef sandwiches are back at Steingold’s, plus 25 more of the best in Chicagoland

The Grandpa Joe, a pastrami sandwich with mustard on rye, at Steingold's Deli, 3737 N Southport Ave., on March 8, 2023.
The Grandpa Joe, a pastrami sandwich with mustard on rye, at Steingold’s Deli, 3737 N Southport Ave., on March 8, 2023.

From Irish American pubs to new-school delis to Black-owned businesses, Chicago is a city that takes its corned beef sandwich seriously. But the nearly unimaginable happened when corned beef quietly went missing for nearly a year at Steingold’s in Wrigleyville. Tribune critic Louisa Chu interviewed Steingold’s owners about how they brought the signature St. Paddy’s sandwich back and lists 25 more of the best in the area.

‘Ted Lasso’ review: Ted has lost the spring in his step — as has Season 3 of this Apple TV+ comedy

Jason Sudeikis in “Ted Lasso.”

The lovable Apple TV+ comedy “Ted Lasso” is back for its third season and this time with longer episodes. Yet “the pacing meanders and the show’s signature tonal assuredness feels off-balance,” writes Tribune critic Nina Metz. Read more of her review for part of the new season here.

Owner of Lucy’s BBQ studied under Texas pitmaster greats — and it shows

The spare ribs at Lucy's BBQ in Highland, Indiana, are seen on March 2, 2023.
The spare ribs at Lucy’s BBQ in Highland, Indiana, are seen on March 2, 2023.

Lucy’s BBQ serves Texas-style barbecue inside Brewfest, a bar in northwest Indiana. If you go, “any order should include the voluptuous slices of black-pepper-crusted brisket, which are so absurdly tender and juicy you can pull the meat apart with the gentlest stretch of your fingers,” writes Tribune critic Nick Kindelsperger. Owner Nick Kleutsch, like many other Texas-style barbecuers in Chicagoland, was inspired by the pitmasters he met in the Lone Star State. Read about his barbecue journey here.

Review: ‘Layalina’ at Goodman Theatre is about the strength of family bonds, from Baghdad to Skokie

Waseem Alzer, Ali Louis Bourzgui, Becca Khalil and Atra Asdou in Martin Yousif Zebari’s “Layalina.”

“Layalina” is a multigenerational immigrant family drama by Martin Yousif Zebari now at the Goodman Theatre. The first act is set in Baghdad in March 2003, the second act is set in 2020 on Church Street in Skokie. The show has “a rich sense of the closest of extended families, be they in Baghdad or Skokie,” Tribune critic Chris Jones writes. But while the first half is strong, the second needs more structure and clarity in its narrative arc. Read his entire review of the play here.

Lyric Opera 2023-24 season: Wagner, ‘Cinderella’ and an opera about a boxer

Rev. Wheeler Parker was there in the bedroom when Emmett Till was abducted. His memoir recounts the 70-year push for federal charges

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The Rev. Wheeler Parker, Emmett Till’s best friend, has just published a book, “A Few Days Full of Trouble,” about his decadeslong struggle to bring Till’s killers and conspirators to justice. Photographed at Argo Temple Church of God in Christ, his church in Summit, on Feb. 6, 2023.

The Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr. last saw his cousin Emmett Till on the night he was abducted. In his new memoir, “A Few Days Full of Trouble: Revelations on the Journey to Justice for My Cousin and Best Friend, Emmett Till,” Parker explores the legacy of the crime that changed his life. Read his discussion with Tribune reporter Chris Borrelli here.

Taste of Chicago moves to September; Jazz Fest and 2023 summer season announced

Morgan Baker twirls her 3-year-old niece, Reagan, as they attend the Taste of Chicago on July 8, 2022, in Chicago.
Morgan Baker twirls her 3-year-old niece, Reagan, as they attend the Taste of Chicago on July 8, 2022, in Chicago.

Once the gray and cold weather sees its way out, all the fun and excitement of summer in Chicago will officially begin. The biggest change this year is that Taste of Chicago will have three preview events in Chicago neighborhoods over the summer, and then will take place in Grant Park Sept. 8-10. Also in the lineup is the Chicago Blues Festival in Millennium Park in June, the Chicago Air and Water Show Aug. 19-20 and the Chicago Jazz Festival at the end of summer. Read more here.

Navy Pier announces summer 2023 events, including fireworks

Wild and free in Ireland: A solo trip to Dublin unleashes the primal release of pure, chaotic solitude

There's no better place to hike than in the Howth Hills outside of Dublin, Ireland.
There’s no better place to hike than in the Howth Hills outside of Dublin, Ireland.

The sleepy Irish village of Howth, about a half-hour away from Dublin, is a landscape so all-encompassing it can wash away your troubles. Depending on which route you take, a cliffside hike in the village can take an hour or three, but along the way you’ll find a windy and chaotic release. Read about how to get to Howth and what to do in the village here.