The show was great and the music for all the a ya was good the thing that got us was the last song…read morewith a tribute to America and veterans and we love that however it was Trumps rally song and we absolutely hate trump and would have left right that second but couldn't get out the way the chairs were and we couldn't get passed to exit but hated every minute of that !! Pick another song not that trump crap

Great show. Great for kids. Enjoyed very much!! The horses and entertainers are all very talented.read more

I have been boarding with Don Bar for 19 years and counting . Your horses well being is first on…read morethe list for the owner manager and care takers. Relaxed and friendly atmosphere make boarding a pleasure.

Not a fan of this barn- but more so the gross management. Mean barn manager ( Alison) who will…read morecompletely ignore you unless she wants money takes the joy out of horse ownership. I boarded there years ago with a few friends and left rather quickly. I firmly believe the manager is a racist and have witnessed her treat people poorly if they're of any race other than WHITE. I myself am not white and felt invisible and not valued from the first day there. She will judge you if you don't use the farrier or vet she does. When you email or text her, if she doesn't like you she just won't respond. Every barn is extremely dark and dreary and does NOT have any kind of warm welcoming feel to it. The stall walls are covered in manure, cobwebs everywhere, dead mice, and an overwhelming feeling of non cleanliness. It's a crappy barn and I'd never ever board, take lessons, or want any association with them. One of my friends boarded there and was treated like complete crap too. Alison is so unprofessional and will not give you the time of day unless she feels like it. Then tells people "sorry this is business" but doesn't actually run her business unless she randomly decides she wants to on that day. She touched and moved my friends tack and damaged one of her very expensive helmets INSTEAD of simply contacting her and asking her to move her things. But that seems to be the theme of everything at DonBar. Passive aggressiveness with a side of snark. the manager/owner suddenly responded (over a month later) with the difference in board. My friend paid it even though her horse was NOT going to be there for over half of the month. Alison says you need a 30 day notice to leave but if your horse is for sale there's NO way you could know when they're sold. If someone buys your horse, the new owners need to be able to take their new horse home- not keep them at the sellers facility for 30 days! My friend was so lucky to find a new home within 2 days of listing the horse. The following day Alison tried depositing my friend's board check that was given to her weeks earlier because apparently she's too lazy to cash them when they're received. My friend had changed her bank account (this was the first time she'd ever closed an account but did due to fraud concerns) it was already in effect so outstanding checks obviously would not go through. This wouldn't have been an issue had the barn deposited the check when they got it. My friend did not write her a new check because she was not going to be using any of her services and because she was hospitalized with deteriorating health. Instead of understanding the incredibly devastating situation Alison decided to harass her and make her and her entire family (and friends!!) feel so uncomfortable. Not one "How are you doing?" Or anything of that nature. After contacting the police she was advised to block her on all accounts. The board payment (she didn't handle when she should have) was not hers to have since the horse was gone. Had Alison shown any kind of empathy, understanding, or just plain decency she would have sent a new check. But her threatening, degrading, and aggressive attitude was such a disgusting turn off that we took the police's and lawyer's advice to ignore and not respond to this opportunistic narcissist.

We have been coming to ZW Ranch for over a year now and we love it! Communication, knowledge,…read moreexperience is phenomenal and super easy to work with. It's also really great because the horses are actually able to roam instead of being so caged all the time.

I wasn't aware this place existed, as it's a bit out of my usual distance for going to events. But…read moreI saw an instagram ad for Michael Cavanaugh and couldn't pass up the opportunity to see him (Movin' Out is one of my favorite Broadway shows). The location is very convenient to the Metra, and there's free parking in the lot for the building, which is always appreciated. The venue itself is nice -- intimate and a community-based feeling (there was a community band of some sort rehearsing in a room outside the theater when I left, which is charming). The theater itself isn't elaborate, but it's a nice space. It's great for this type of event. The show itself was great -- he's a fantastic performer, and I loved the set list and how interactive he tried to be with the audience (more on that later). I also loved that I was able to get a discounted seat because I bought a single seat in between seats that had already sold, so it was half price. (I don't know if they always do this, or if it was just because there were still quite a few seats left at the time I bought my ticket 2 weeks beforehand. Regardless, my frugal self appreciated it. I wish more places did that.). There were a few times during the show that the house lights randomly came on during a song, and it didn't seem like it was intentional. Maybe it was the light board operator hitting the wrong thing, or maybe a house manager bumped a switch. It was a little odd though and it happened a few times, which kind of took me out of the performance and made me think something was going on. But oh man, the crowd itself was an interesting experience from a people-watching perspective. It must be a Lake Forest thing? 96% of the audience seemed to think they were in the waiting room of a dentist office waiting for a root canal, and about 1% of the audience thought they were at Coachella (including the three 55-65 year old women next to me, who I'm pretty sure were drinking vodka out of a water bottle because they were getting progressively more wasted during the show despite only drinking from a clear water bottle lol. No judgement. We've all been there...I just haven't been there since I was 21 and trying to sneak my own alcohol into a street festival because I was cheap and not going to pay for overpriced drinks. But hey, you do you. YOLO!). The other 3% were like myself and wanted to get into it, but because everyone else seemed like they were afraid to move, we were holding back (because we didn't want to be "those people", like the ladies next to me...although honestly they seemed like they had a GREAT time, by the way they were grooving and had their hands up in the air even though not another soul in the theater did lol. I can only hope I'm that carefree when I grow up. I'm certainly not at this stage in my life). I almost feel bad for Michael, because I assume he wanted the audience to be a bit more into it than they were. He asked people to clap along a few times and he would start it and then as soon as he put his hands back on the piano to play, people stopped clapping (then he would start clapping again to try to get people going, and they would until he went back to playing. My dudes....he wanted you to clap along to the beat during the song. That's literally how that song works). I tried to keep it going but it was awkward (and bless the people next to me...they tried to clap but the alcohol was definitely impacting their ability to find and stay on the beat. I was fighting a losing battle trying to guide them haha). Also, the crowd here could stand to learn a few things about technology to avoid annoying everyone around them. Obviously people are going to take videos and photos, which is fine. I did too. But it seems like no one knew to turn down their screen brightness in a dark theater so you don't blind the people around you. It was super distracting and headache-inducing to see super bright phone screens out of the corner of my eye every few minutes (maybe it was just the section where I was seated). It would be nice if the ushers or house manager could've said something to folks or reminded people at the beginning not to let their phones be distractions. I was a house manager out in the western suburbs for a similarly sized theater while I was in grad school, and I worked at a theater that held concerts like this in high school, so I've worked at (and attended) hundreds of concerts just like this. This was definitely the strangest experience of an audience I've ever encountered. Apparently this is par for the course, though, because I made an IG story post describing my people observations during intermission and my friend asked me if I was at Gorton Center...I asked her how she knew and she said it was because of the audience description I gave lol. I'd go back and I'm glad I went. I'd just need to prepare myself so I'm not so jarred by the bizarre audience vibes.

Great community center! I had an office here for about 10 years and ran a non profit and watched…read morethe center grow from well appointed but not fully utilized community center into a bustling hub of classes, shows, private events, parties for the town. Rents are reasonable for private events. Shows are very reasonably priced. Classes are well attended.

This is by far one of the most beautiful farms I have ever seen. I attended a horse show and was in…read moreawe at the professionalism and how gorgeous the grounds were!

Get a new manager. She is a pathological liar, creates a toxic environment and has a horrible…read morereputation. I know the farm is being torn down in 2027 which will be a huge loss for the horse community as there are fewer and fewer good barns that are affordable any longer

My daughter and I have been boarding our gelding at Townline for 6 years now. The barn itself is in…read moreamazing shape, the grooms are amazing and love the horses and treat them with individualized care, and there is a tremendous community of people who equally love their horses and sharing a conversation or two! Whether I have had full service or just a few services, my gelding is still treated like he's the owners horse! The best tell for how wonderful it is, is that people who leave, no matter why, return! They say that there is no place like Townline. It's absolutely the truth. My daughter even feels like the barn manager is like a second mom. It's a family here, and not just for our horses!

We visited the Improv Playhouse as a part of Mom's Night Out. Most of us had no clue what to expect…read moreand were surprised to arrive for our showtime and realize we were the only 5 people who would be in the audience. We all had a good laugh about this (both the performers and our group) and our group quietly hoped that the performance would actually be funny as there wasn't a huge crowd to buffer with. All of that to say, we were absolutely delighted by the show. The group of performers that evening were wonderful and truly funny. You could see their connection, adaptability and ability to think on their feet. It truly was an enjoyable experience at the Improv and we were happy to have gone. They have snacks and drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) available for purchase (cash only) which was a nice offering as well.

Total scam! Not as advertised! Not worth the money! Child was very disappointed! It is NOT about…read morekids, education, or theater! ALL IT IS ABOUT PROFIT. They put 50 kids in a gym with counselors that are not of legal age themselves (14 year old children). No structure! Chaos! Selling junk food to kids. My daughter was there the first day and it will be her last time at Improv Playhouse. Our 12 year old daughter wanted to take an acting summer camp. We called Improv Playhouse, a lady explained that our daughter should register for a version of the camp called showstopper, which is intended for 4th-9th grade instead of broadway bound which is intended for 1st-3rd grade. The lady suggested that we read more about their programs. We went on the website and found the Improve Playhouse channel on YouTube. We watched the video Improv Moana Camp (Link provided), which featured a group of about fifteen 4th-9th grade children taking acting classes and putting on a Moana Production. We read the mission statement. My daughter liked it, and said that is what she wanted. The camp was $755 for 10 days (two weeks), ran at the middle school. We thought we did our homework. We were expecting 4th-9th graders, groups of about 15-20 children, and acting activities. On the first day of camp, as we are walking in, all kids walking in are kindergarten through third grade. My daughter got nervous and said all kids are little. I told her that they probably have multiple camps running. Greeting the children were very young counselors. Most counselors were 14 year olds from the same middle school. They brought all the kids into a gym where they remained the entire day (9:00 am - 3:00 pm). There were about 50 children. They did not separate the children by age, there were no acting classes/activities, kids were not even taken to the cafeteria to eat lunch, but had to eat lunch on a dusty gym floor. There were no chairs, kids had to sit on the floor the entire day. They were selling junk food and candy to children at lunch. When my wife picked up my daughter, she was very disappointed and said It was very chaotic, unstructured, and a waste of time. She said it felt like the park district camp and is not what she was expecting and what we saw on the improv playhouse channel. Right away my wife asked if we can cancel the rest of the camp and asked to talk to someone in charge. Counselors went to get someone. When my wife explained that the camp was not what my daughter expected and we would like to cancel it, Mr. James said we can but we need to email the office. My wife emailed the office right away (administrative manager, Rachel Kwiecinski), but Mrs. Kwiecinski replied that there will not be refunds given. My wife called her and explained what was going on and asked her to refund the money, but to be prorated. Mrs. Kwiecinski said she will have to talk to the bookkeeping and will try to get a prorated refund. A couple of minutes later, the Creative Director of Youth Programming, Miss O'Leary called and said that there are no refunds. My wife asked her again very nicely to double check, and that it was not what was advertised and it was not for the age group that I paid for. Later that evening, the owner David Stewar emailed my wife saying they are an accredited organization and refunds will not be given, he also accused my wife of being disrespectful. My wife was very respectful to everyone she talked to, did not raise her voice or said anything disrespectful. My wife did not even ask for the full refund, which we should totally get because it was not what was advertised. In addition, he said that the video was from a local community house even though it was on their channel and suggested by their staff. According to his email "That video was from a small Highland Park workshop held years ago at a local community house, an entirely different format, group size, and production model. Our current camp format is a full-scale 10-day performance experience." Honestly, I am not totally sure what the difference is.

My horse has received the absolutely best care in the 5 years he has been at Shorewood Acres. He…read moreis a serious Wobbler. Thanks to Nancy's amazing care, he runs, gallops and acts like a 4 year old! He is so happy there. His feed is always first rate and he gets wonderful attention. Nancy is extremely conscientious about the care of each horse. She is absolutely the best. My horse and I have been extremely happy there. I highly recommend Shorewood Acres. I also recommend it for lessons because Nancy is great with kids and teaches total horsemanship!

I have been doing riding lessons here for 3 years and I would never consider moving to another…read morebarn! All the lesson horses are so sweet and the whole barn community feels like a family.