Loop Dreams: the Musical....
It glitters like a jeweled crown rising out of the prairie - a towering tribute to muscle and hustle, sweat and tears. It is Chicago's Loop - the city's downtown - where buildings that emerged from the ashes of the Great Fire in the 19th century are dwarfed by the architectural accomplishments of the 20th century. And for children who grow up in many of the neighborhoods that surround the Loop, it is as remote a place as Mars. Poverty makes it seem unobtainable. The poverty that surrounds the glittering beauty and power of the Loop is as desperate and as extreme as you'll see anywhere in the country. Each year, approximately 12,000 children drop out of Chicago public high schools. What's the best ticket out of poverty? Education, of course. Which means that dropping out of high school makes it that much harder to rise above poverty. Last night, Kanye West, one of Chicago's very own, a very famous and wealthy rap star, the child of an educator, gave a fr...