The Five

Don’t-miss picks for Wednesday, October 1 through Tuesday, October 7

1 Fleetwood Mac

Rock: After spending more than 15 years lying low in the English countryside, Fleetwood Mac primary Christine McVie will rejoin her compadres to round out the band’s beloved Rumours lineup—Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, John and Christine McVie—coming together for the first time since Buckingham’s departure in 1987.
10/2–10/3. $50–$190. United Center, 1901 W. Madison. ticketmaster.com

2 American Ballet Theatre

Dance: The acclaimed ballet company performs some perennial favorites, including Twyla Tharp’s Bach Partita and Jerome Robbins’s Fancy Free.
10/3–10/5. $34–$129. Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress. ticketmaster.com

3 Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Classical: Muti brings some Polish to the last of his fall residency programs, with Tchaikovsky’s rarely played Symphony No. 3 (the “Polish” symphony) and the 20th-century Pole Andrzej Panufnik’s trumpet-centric Concerto in Modo Antico, featuring the CSO’s principal trumpet, Christopher Martin.
10/2–10/4. $33–$220. Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan. cso.org

4 Capriccio

Opera: Although Renée Fleming has sung several recitals and starred in the semistaged A Streetcar Named Desire in 2012–13, Lyric’s creative consultant has not appeared in a staged opera at Lyric since La Traviata in 2008. She returns for the Richard Strauss allegory with a luxury supporting cast, including Anne Sofie von Otter and Bo Skovhus.
10/6–10/28. $20–$319. Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker. lyricopera.org

5 At Last: A Tribute to Etta James

Theater: At Last follows James’s life from troubled childhood to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, weaving in hits such as “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man,” “A Sunday Kind of Love,” and “Something’s Got a Hold on Me.”
10/5–12/28. $55–$65. Black Ensemble Theater, 4450 N. Clark. blackensembletheater.org

What I’m Doing This Weekend

Up next in our series of weekend plans from notable, in-the-know locals—a.k.a. people we like: artist Matt Woodward. On Big Drawings opens on Thursday, October 2.

“Friday, I’ll be celebrating the opening of On Big Drawings, which opens the night before. I have two drawings in that show and there’ll be some really great artists there like Olivia Petrides and Michael K. Paxton. I’ll probably go to Lula Cafe with my girlfriend on Friday to celebrate. I like their rotating beer selection.

“Saturday is my Comfort Station show, It Ended With My Putting It On. My drawings here are much more sculptural and take into consideration the bizarre space that is Comfort Station. There’s a sound element too—a piece written by JR Robinson from Wreckmeister Harmonies specifically for the show. We’re definitely going to go somewhere afterwards, probably Billy Sunday because of the Scotch menu.

“Sunday, we’ll do brunch, probably Revolution Brewing; that place is just unreal when it comes to the art of craft brewing. But if they’re too crowded, I like to go to Township. They always have new things on the menu.” —As told to Tomi Obaro

Freebie of the Week

The Great Chicago Fire Festival

Festivals: To commemorate the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the City of Chicago and Redmoon are sending a spectacular profession down the Chicago River.
10/4 at 8 p.m. Free. Along river from N. Columbus to State. chicagofirefestival.com