AUTHOR AND COMMENTATOR FRAN LEBOWITZ TO APPEAR AT CHAMPAIGN’S VIRGINIA THEATRE IN OCTOBER

Smile Politely Arts Editor Amy Penne to host acclaimed author in on-stage talk
and Q&A, a featured event of Uniting Pride’s 2025 Pride Fest.

Champaign, IL — Champaign Park District has announced that author and commentator Fran Lebowitz will appear at the historic Virginia Theatre in downtown Champaign on Friday, October 24, 2025, at 7:30 P.M. “An Evening with Fran Lebowitz” will be hosted by Amy Penne, Arts Editor for Smile Politely—Champaign Urbana’s Culture Magazine. “An Evening with Fran Lebowitz” is a featured event for Uniting Pride’s 2025 Pride Fest. Reserved seating tickets are $39.50 to $69.50 plus an additional per-ticket fee of $4.00-7.00 and are now on sale at the Virginia Theatre Box Office, online at thevirginia.org, or charge by phone at (217) 356-9063. Presented by the Champaign Park District.

In a cultural landscape filled with endless pundits and talking heads, Fran Lebowitz stands out as one of our most insightful social commentators. Lebowitz is also a well-known actor, feminist, LGBTQ+ icon, and author of two bestselling books, Metropolitan Life and Social Studies. In 2021, Ms. Lebowitz was the subject of the seven-part Netflix documentary series Pretend It’s a City, directed and hosted by filmmaker Martin Scorsese.

“Fran Lebowitz is a national treasure and one of our last true public intellectuals—blunt, brilliant, and gloriously unimpressed. Sharing the stage with her will be a masterclass in candor, comic timing, and calling it like it is. She’s pure New York, and I can’t wait to welcome her to the Virginia Theatre.”

Amy Penne.

The evening’s format will consist of an on-stage discussion with Fran hosted by Amy Penne, followed by an audience Question & Answer segment, followed by an audience Q & A with the author and a book signing.

“Fran’s October 24 appearance at the Virginia Theatre aligns perfectly with this year’s Pride Fest schedule. Her hilarious wit and outspoken advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community makes this show the perfect fit as our Friday night featured event!”

Joshua Gavel, Uniting Pride’s Executive Director

---

Fran Lebowitz

Author, Journalist, Social Observer. Fran Lebowitz’s essays and interviews offer her acerbic views on current events and the media—as well as pet peeves including tourists, baggage-claim areas, after-shave lotion, adults who roller skate, children who speak French, or anyone who is unduly tan.

A bestselling author and actor, Lebowitz had a recurring role on the television drama Law & Order, from 2001 to 2007, and a role in the Martin Scorsese film, The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). A raconteur if ever there was one, Lebowitz has long been a regular guest on talk shows including those hosted by Jimmy Fallon, Conan O’Brien, and Bill Maher.

In 2010, Martin Scorsese directed a documentary about Lebowitz for HBO entitled Public Speaking. Pretend It’s a City—with a premiere on Netflix in 2021—and was nominated for the 2021 Emmys in the Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series category.

In 2021 Lebowitz was given the Forte dei Marmi Festival della Satira Lifetime Achievement Award and was a 2021 Foreign Press Honorary Awardee—an award given by the Foreign Press Correspondents Association & Club USA.

Amy Penne

Amy Penne holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is a Professor of Humanities at Parkland College, where she teaches everything from Shakespeare and poetry to Women in the Arts and multiple flavors of composition.  

Amy is the Arts Editor for Smile Politely—Champaign Urbana’s Culture Magazine. In 2024, she directed Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead at Parkland and appeared in Twin City Theatre Company’s True West. She’ll return to directing in 2026 with Romeo and Juliet.