The Ten

Don’t-miss picks for March 15 through March 21, 2018

1 Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

Theater:Playwright Todd Kreidler tackles the 1967 film about an interracial couple whose romance leaves the girlfriend’s proudly progressive parents reckoning with deep-seated prejudices. Marti Lyons directs a story that remains relevant decades after U.S. miscegenation laws were overturned.
3/15–4/15. $20–$68. Court Theatre. courttheatre.org

2 The Beauty Queen of Leenane

Theater:Martin McDonagh’s exploration of a poisonous mother-daughter relationship is as disturbing as it is funny. Laughs aside, the play remains, at its base, inspiring, as a much-abused daughter works to overcome her mother’s toxic wiles.
3/15–4/22. $30–$70. Northlight Theatre. northlight.org

3 The Crossing

New Music:The exquisite Philadelphia-based choir The Crossing, led by Northwestern professor Donald Nally, makes its Chicago premiere with Anonymous Man, a new work by Michael Gordon, a founder of the new-music ensemble Bang on a Can. Anonymous Man sketches Gordon’s experience living in a changing Manhattan neighborhood, focusing on the omnipresence of the homeless.
3/16 at 7:30 p.m. $10–$30. Galvin Recital Hall, Northwestern University. events.music.northwestern.edu

4 Mark Morris Dance Group

Dance:Hailed as “magnificent” by the New York Times, Morris’s take on the Azerbaijani opera Layla and Majnun boasts live accompaniment by the Silk Road Ensemble and father-and-daughter singers Alim Qasimov and Fargana Qasimova.
3/16–17; Fri. 7:30 p.m., Sat. 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. $35–$125. Harris Theater. harristheaterchicago.org

5 Margot Bergman

Art:Now in her 80s, this local painter exploits a lifelong talent for pushing wet paint into evocative portraits to lure emotion, humor, and strange beauty to the surface. Especially in her hometown, Bergman’s exhibits remain hotly anticipated by collectors and art lovers.
FREE 3/16–4/21. Corbett vs. Dempsey. corbettvsdempsey.com

6 Kid Rock

Rock:Michigan’s foremost rap-metal hillbilly takes a break from trolling his home state—the singer last month tweeted a faux campaign sign for a 2018 Senate run—to mount a big-box stadium tour. Expect twangy radio rock from his latest album, Sweet Southern Sugar, plus requisite bangers from the Devil Without a Cause days.
3/16 at 7:30 p.m. $40–$130. United Center. ticketmaster.com

7 Experimental Approaches: Part II

Art:Today, photographers have more tools at their disposal than painters do to dream up imaginative scenes. This exhibit samples some of the genre’s most experimental offerings—say, Bryan Hiott’s revival of 19th-century tintypes, ambrotypes, and glass plate negatives, manipulated with digital processes.
FREE 3/16–4/28. Schneider Gallery. schneidergallerychicago.com

8 Graham Nash

Rock:The songs of Graham Nash have served as a soundtrack for decades of political and social change. Expect tales from similarly trying political years at this event, where Nash will pair songs with the stories behind them.
3/17 at 8 p.m. $45–$395. North Shore Center for the Performing Arts. northshorecenter.org

9 St. Patrick’s Day Parade and River Dyeing

Parade:Chicago’s annual celebration of Irish heritage is typically packed to the gills, so be sure to stake out a spot in advance. The real star of the show is the Chicago River, which receives its annual shamrock dye job—don’t worry, it’s organic—at 9 a.m. sharp.
FREE 3/17. Dyeing at 9 a.m., parade at noon. Columbus Drive from Balbo to Monroe. chicagostpatricksdayparade.org

10 Fellow Travelers

Opera:Lyric Unlimited, the arm of the Lyric covering everything but grand opera, presents this 1950s-era story of a gay romance between a government employee and a journalist, a relationship that must be kept secret in the time of Lavender scares. From the well-reviewed premiere two years ago in Cincinnati, Lyric booked several principal singers and the original director, Kevin Newbury (Norma, Bel Canto, this month’s Faust).
3/17–25. $29–$75. Athenaeum Theatre. lyricopera.org