👋🏽 Hey, it's Monica!

I grew up singing in the church choir (as a director's kid) but haven't returned to one for decades.

Why it matters: Chicago is apparently full of choir refugees who, like me, don't frequent church but still want to make joyful noise with others.

Case in point: Chicago Circle Singing, a loose-knit group of crooners — at all levels — has been seeing growing crowds for monthly All Sings in the South Loop and more specialized gatherings in between.

How it works: Each month, about 100 to 180 people gather in a round room at Grace Place in Printers Row.

• Song leader Davin Youngs divides the room into sectors and assigns each a musical phrase, using words like "ba doom bop."
• Each group sings its musical loop until the whole room is unspooling melodic strands that blend in perfect harmony.
• The interweaving phrases coalesce into a vocal symphony that crescendos, falls and then starts again as Youngs dreams up another mesmerizing arrangement.

Between the lines: Can the videos of circle singing look a little culty? Sure.

• Might you smell some patchouli at the All Sing? There's a chance.

Yes, but: These events are really just about improvisational singing, creating community, shedding stress and drawing joy from song. Nothing more.

If you go: Tickets for Wednesday's All Sing cost $10–$25 on a sliding scale.

Share with a fellow crooner

It's not too late to line up Easter celebrations! Here are just a few ideas:

🐰 Bunny Brunch & Egg Hunts

• Hop over for brunch, photos with the Easter bunny and an egg hunt.
• 9 am-noon, Sunday at Nordstrom stores on Michigan Avenue, Oakbrook, Old Orchard and Woodfield Malls.
• $22 for kids and $50 for adults. Book a spot.

🥚 Easter Eggstravaganza

• Move the party outside for an Easter egg hunt, food, games, activities and music.
• 1-5pm at Altgeld Park Hope Field in East Garfield Park.
• Free

🍩 Voodoo Doughnut

• Pick-up with a Easter Basket Box wih a Dubai chocolate egg doughnut, two hide & go Peep doughnuts and one lemon buttermilk bar.
• Available through Sunday at Voodoo Doughnuts in the West Loop.
• $15, but order ahead.

🧇 Brunch at Truth be Told

• The Easter menu includes Wilshire ham and egg hash, bourbon berry compote Belgian waffles, vegetable curry and more.
• 7am-3pm in Hyde Park.
• Reservations

🖼️ Barely Fair

• The artist-run fair showcases international artists on a small scale ... very small; each booth is 20 x 20 inches.
• Various times, April 3-19 near McKinley Park. The exact address is provided upon ticket purchase.
• Tickets start at $5.

🏆 Great Big Game Show

• If you've ever dreamed of hitting the buzzer on "Family Feud" or spinning the wheel on "The Price is Right," here's your chance.
• 11:30am-8:30pm daily beginning Sunday at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg.
• Tickets start at $40 for a 60-minute game.

📸 Latinitudes: A Collection of Latin American Modern Architecture

• More than 100 images of modern architecture of Latin American cities, including Buenos Aires, Guatemala City and Montevideo, are on display.
• Noon-5pm, Wed–Sat through July 18 at the Graham Foundation in Gold Coast.
• Free

April is here, and so are these new streaming picks.

"Alien: Romulus" — available Friday on HBO Max

• The newest entry in the sci-fi horror franchise arrives on HBO Max this month, along with its predecessors up through Ridley Scott's original "Alien" (1979).

"Your Friends & Neighbors" — Season 2 available Friday on Apple TV+

• Jon Hamm returns as Andrew "Coop" Cooper, a disgraced hedge fund manager who has doubled down on his second life as a suburban thief. But a mysterious new neighbor (James Marsden) threatens to expose everything.
• The latest: Apple has already renewed the show for a third season.

"Untold: Chess Mates" — available next Tuesday on Netflix

• Netflix's hit sports documentary franchise revisits the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, where rising American grandmaster Hans Niemann defeated five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen. It became one of the biggest scandals in chess history.