The Complete Deaths
Navy Pier
Not counting the nameless extras downed during war scenes, there are 74 deaths in the plays of William Shakespeare. The UK physical comedy company Spymonkey puts them all into a single production, with a comic faces-of-death look at the Bard’s myriad stabbings, poisonings, fisticuffs, and the like.
Details:Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. $48–$58. chicagoshakes.com
Christkindlmarket
Loop
Now in its 21st year, the Christkindlmarket is something of a holiday institution. The compact layout can make for a traffic jam (especially the week before Christmas), but it’s hard to turn cynical with spiced wine and warm apple strudel on a cold winter’s night.
Details:Daley Plaza. Free. christkindlmarket.com
The Nutcracker
Noble Square
The House Theatre’s ballet-free theatrical take on E.T.A. Hoffmann’s classic focuses on the story’s darker elements: Young Clara is mourning the death of her older brother when she receives the magical nutcracker and embarks on a trial of Christmas Eve catharsis.
Details:Chopin Theatre. $15–$45. thehousetheatre.com
The Second City’s Holidazed and Confused Revue
Old Town
The holiday season is a time of joy, yes, but also a time of stress. In this R-rated balm for the Yuletide gripes, Chicago’s premier improv theater wrestles with traditions big and small, celebrating and skewering customs in equal measure.
Details:Up Comedy Club. $31–$46. secondcity.com
Illumination
Lisle
At this year’s mile-long light show, the Morton Arboretum invites guests to hug the trees (quite literally): Certain trunks will ignite in color and sound when touched or spoken to. If that seems a bit too trippy, wait out the show in a complimentary warming station.
Details:Morton Arboretum. $6–$22. mortonarb.org
The Other Cinderella
Uptown
In this contemporary take on the story of Cinderella, Black Ensemble Theater founder Jackie Taylor situates the damsel in a modern-day city (and tones way down on the distress).
Details:Black Ensemble Theater. $45–$65. blackensembletheater.org
Booka Shade
Logan Square
These German DJs were veterans of electronic music before it ballooned in mainstream popularity. The duo most recently rereleased their 2006 showstopper Movements, an album whose melodic flourishes ushered in a new era of house music after the minimalist ’90s. Catch them on this rare stateside tour.
Details:Concord Music Hall. 8 p.m. $25. ticketfly.com
The Christians
Lincoln Park
What happens when the pastor of a megachurch concludes that there’s no hell? Playwright Lucas Hnath, who once planned on becoming a priest, explores that scenario in this tale of a church divided.
Details:Steppenwolf. $5–$86. steppenwolftheatre.org
Art AIDS America
Lincoln Park
The first-ever exhibition examining how the AIDS crisis changed American art features 100-plus works by artists who either died of the disease or had their communities devastated by it, including Judy Chicago, Roger Brown, Keith Haring, Félix González-Torres, Annie Leibovitz, and Robert Mapplethorpe. As the crisis coincided with the revolution of postmodern art, the resultant work is full of myth, truth, emotion, and life.
Details:Alphawood Gallery. Free. artaidsamericachicago.org
Alan Cumming Sings Sappy Songs
Loop
In this globally acclaimed performance, award-winning star of stage (Cabaret) and screen (The Good Wife) Alan Cumming sings handpicked tunes of love and loss—theatrical catnip for any self-respecting musical theater nerd.
Details:Broadway in Chicago at Oriental Theatre. 8 p.m. $47–$77. broadwayinchicago.com
Live Wire with Luke Burbank
Lincoln Park
Burbank’s voice should ring some bells among the NPR crowd: Since 2006, he’s been a panelist (and occasional fill-in host) on Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me! His new podcast, Live Wire, is a freewheeling variety hour of music, comedy, and other local talent gracing the stage. This taping features special guest (and Late Late Show bandleader) Reggie Watts.
Details:Lincoln Hall. 8:30 p.m. $20–$35. lh-st.com
New Age Now
Logan Square
This fundraiser with a New Age theme for the local publisher Green Lantern Press features performances, drinks, and a silent auction doling out Thai massages and paintings—all wrapped in a 19th-century-spiritualism-meets-’60s-psychedelic package.
Details:Sector 2337. 6 p.m. $15–$100. sector2337.com
Chicago Elite Classic
University Village
How do Chicago high school hoops stack up against the rest of the country? Find out at this fifth annual event, which features 14 local teams (including defending state champ Curie) and eight outside powers in a two-day set of matchups. Among the draws: Tar Heel commit Jalek Felton of South Carolina’s Gray Collegiate Academy and super soph R.J. Barrett of Florida’s Montverde Academy.
Details:UIC Pavilion. $10–$15. chicagoeliteclassic.com
The Electric Stage
Loop
The performance collective Manual Cinema presents this live-action show mimicking a film, which features shadow puppetry, vintage projectors, handmade sound effects, and a live ensemble. The production emulates the futurist machine art of László Moholy-Nagy, whose retrospective exhibition is currently on view.
Details:Art Institute of Chicago. $10–$25. artic.edu
Lycée French Market
Ravenswood
Chicago’s dual-language French school Lycée Français de Chicago transforms into a Parisian marché, featuring authentic Gallic fare, live entertainment, and handmade specialty gifts for sale.
Details:Lycée Français de Chicago. $8–$35. Free for students and children. lyceechicago.org
Same Planet Performance Project
Albany Park
This dance company’s artistic director, Joanna Rosenthal-Read, presents her latest work, Honey, at Dovetail Studios, a dance and fitness center she opened in 2015. Fueled by 1970s disco, Honey explores the risks and rewards of the era through modern dance.
Details:Dovetail Studios. $15–$22. spdwdance.org
Car Town
Wicker Park
In perhaps his best new collage series in years, Tony Fitzpatrick toasts the people who built Chicago with portrayals of signs he’s spotted in working-class neighborhoods. Displayed among Fitzpatrick’s love poems for Chicago are collaborations with street-wear brand Saint Alfred, such as T-shirt and hat designs.
Details:AdventureLand Gallery. Free. adventurelandgallery.com
Michael Kiwanuka
Lincoln Park
English singer Michael Kiwanuka tore onto the scene in 2012 with Home Again, a gorgeous and easygoing record of tunes that would make Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, and Curtis Mayfield proud. On his July 2016 follow-up, Love & Hate, Kiwanuka situates himself in the new millennium, experimenting with production tricks and studio flourishes.
Details:Park West. 8 p.m. $20. ticketfly.com
Marc Maron
Lake View
Before Marc Maron ever grazed the iTunes top 10 with his interview podcast, WTF, the Jersey native was a staple of New York’s ’90s alternative comedy scene. Here, he reprises his stock brand of confessional ranting on the Too Real tour.
Details:Vic Theatre. 7:30 and 10 p.m. $41. jamusa.com
Marquis Hill Blacktet
Highland Park
Hard-hitting jazz trumpeter Marquis Hill returns to Ravinia, where he formerly honed his skills at the festival’s summer conservatory, Steans Music Institute. Round out the evening with a dinner package in the park’s beautiful Freehling Room.
Details:Ravinia. 8:30 p.m. (dinner at 6:30). $5–$50. ravinia.org
Stevie Nicks
Near West Side
After more than four decades in music, Stevie Nicks has begun looking back on her career. In 2014, the singer released an album of reimagined demos (originally recorded between 1969 and 1987) called 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault. Expect a healthy dose of those tracks on this tour with pop-rock pillars the Pretenders.
Details:United Center. 7 p.m. $50–$320. ticketmaster.com
Deeply Rooted Dance Theater
Hyde Park
Artistic directors Gary Abbott and Kevin Iega Jeff open Deeply Rooted’s 20th season with Jagged Ledges, a piece fusing ballet, modern, and African techniques, which honors those living with HIV/AIDS. Nicole Clarke-Springer and Joshua L. Ishmon also premiere works exploring social issues via yin (Femme) and yang (When Men …).
Details:Logan Center for the Arts. $25–$150. deeplyrootedproductions.org
Julmarknad
Andersonville
The Swedish American Museum carts out a variety of handicrafts for this annual holiday bazaar. Tomten—Scandinavia’s gnome-like stand-in for Santa—makes an appearance each day around 1 p.m.
Details:Swedish American Museum. $2 donation. swedishamericanmuseum.org
Renegade Craft Fair
Bridgeport
Not your mom’s craft fair: More than 200 vendors sling modern DIY goods at the holiday edition of this thrice-a-year event.
Details:Bridgeport Art Center. Free. renegadecraft.com
The Polar Express
West Loop
The titular train in Chris Van Allsburg’s tale departs at midnight on Christmas Eve, but Chicago’s version adopts a more forgiving schedule (departures from 12:10 to 8:45 p.m). Expect hot chocolate poured by dancing porters, a storytelling conductor, and souvenir sleigh bells on this decked-out Amtrak ride.
Details:Union Station. $35–$67. chicagothepolarexpressride.com
iDon’t
Pilsen
This group exhibit claims that we define ourselves through our refusals: Vegetarians don’t eat meat, pacifists don’t resort to violence, and Linda Evangelista won’t “get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day.” Six Chicago artists, including up-and-coming painter Jenn Smith and social provocateur Chris Smith, respond to our culture of exclusion, dissent, and negation.
Details:Slow. Free. paul-is-slow.info
Marc Anthony
Rosemont
A holdover from the 1990s Latin invasion, Marc Anthony continues to churn out some of salsa’s most invigorating records. Most recently, the New Yorker has earned critical plaudits for appearances on tracks by Alejandro Sanz and the late Juan Gabriel. Expect a mix of recenthits and ’90s FM throwbacks at this big-box arena show.
Details:Allstate Arena. 7 p.m. $59–$448. ticketmaster.com
Avalon String Quartet
Loop
This versatile ensemble has for years strung together a series at the Art Institute, frequently touring the complete quartets of a single composer. Here, Avalon juxtaposes Henri Dutilleux’s Ainsi la Nuit, a petite alternate-tonality masterpiece played to mark its composer’s centenary, with Beethoven’s late quartet op. 132.
Details:Art Institute of Chicago. 2 p.m. Free with museum admission. avalonquartet.com
Whitney
Pilsen
After a rocky year comprising deaths, an eviction, and the breakup of their former band, Smith Westerns, Max Kakacek and Julien Ehrlich emerged as the core duo of Whitney. With the local indie rockers’ uphill battle came an accordingly rich debut, Light Upon the Lake, a sparse, beautiful record sure to net them a devout following. Catch the hometown heroes before they move to larger venues.
Details:Thalia Hall. 7:30 p.m. $15–$20. ticketweb.com
Chanticleer
Gold Coast
It’s Christmastime, and that means the all-male vocal ensemble Chanticleer arrives with a festive performance of seasonal tunes. The concert blends medieval chants, kaleidoscopic 20th-century pieces, and jazzy arrangements (better than any program you’d catch from your average college a cappella group).
Details:Fourth Presbyterian Church. 7:30 p.m. $39–$61. cso.org
Chicagoans of the Year
Loop
Chicago magazine honors its 2016 award winners.
Details:Four Seasons Hotel. Noon. $120. chicagomag.com/coy
A History of Counter-Fashion
Streeterville
Two artists who call themselves the Rational Dress Society present a fashion show examining the role of clothing during times of political change, from the French Revolution to the present day. Case in point: Their own designer jumpsuit is a “universal garment” for all genders in 248 sizes.
Details:Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. 6 p.m. Free with museum admission. mcachicago.org
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Loop
Simon Stephens’s five-time Tony winner is part murder mystery, part thriller, and a wholly enthralling dive into the world of a brilliant teen on the autism spectrum. A murdered dog propels a plot that keeps up its momentum through the show’s unforgettable final scene.
Details:Broadway in Chicago at Oriental Theatre. $25–$98. broadwayinchicago.com
Adults Night Out at ZooLights
Lincoln Park
Leave the kids at home (and bundle up) for this holiday edition of the popular summer series, featuring talks, a cash bar, a cover band, and, of course, the Lincoln Park Zoo’s beloved light display.
Details:Lincoln Park Zoo. 6:30 p.m. $12–$15. lpzoo.org
A Tribe Called Red
Lincoln Park
The DJ trio has become synonymous with “powwow step,” a brand of hip-hop that incorporates music from the First Nations, Canada’s aboriginal people. Expect call-and-return chants and danceable beats at this intimate club show.
Details:Lincoln Hall. 8 p.m. $15. lh-st.com
Festival of Poets Theater
Roscoe Village, Logan Square
At this four-day event blending poetry and theater, scribes Alex Waterman, Michael Pisaro, Carla Harryman, and Jon Raskin enliven their rhymes with original dance, music, and sculpture.
Details:Links Hall and Sector 2337. $10–$40. linkshall.org
Mr. and Mrs. Pennyworth
River North
Everyone knows the granny-hunting wolf and the red-hooded ragamuffin who skipped into his path. But for playwright Doug Hara, there’s more to the fairy tale than a woodland excursion gone awry. Inspired by sci-fi writer Neil Gaiman’s take on the story (and featuring puppetry by Manual Cinema), Hara’s genre-bending show takes audiences down a rabbit hole of reimagined fairy tales.
Details:Lookingglass. $20–$80. lookingglasstheatre.org
Jerry Seinfeld
Loop
The guy behind the “show about nothing” returns to his roots in standup, landing at the opulent Chicago Theatre for four performances.
Details:Chicago Theatre. $50–$175. thechicagotheatre.com
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Loop
The CSO strolls down a Baltic avenue in a subscription concert headed by the Estonian-born conductor Neeme Järvi. The program is anchored by two major works by the Finn Jean Sibelius: Karelia Suite and Symphony No. 5. Local resident and Latvian-raised violinist Vadim Gluzman, one of the cofounders of the North Shore Chamber Music Festival, solos on Prokofiev’s flickering Violin Concerto No. 1.
Details:Symphony Center. $34–$222. cso.org
Joyce DiDonato
Loop
The ebullient mezzo-soprano has recorded an album of baroque arias called In War & Peace: Harmony Through Music that’s no starchy, courtly diversion. She exhorts her listeners to choose peace for themselves and the world through pieces such as “Dido’s Lament” from Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and never-before-recorded works from near-forgotten Neapolitans. Here she promises to practically bleed these arias live on stage.
Details:Harris Theater. 7:30 p.m. $35–$125. harristheaterchicago.org
Hyde Park School of Dance
Hyde Park
This South Side ballet school’s narrated run of The Nutcracker boasts a behemoth cast and crew, with 206 dancers and more than 100 volunteers. This year’s performance features an all-new hip-hop battle scene between mice and toy soldiers.
Details:Mandel Hall at University of Chicago. $10–$33. hydeparkdance.org
Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde
Edgewater
By the end of his life, Oscar Wilde had gone from the toast of London to a penniless, imprisoned outcast. The cause of his downfall? Loving a man. Moisés Kaufman’s drama covers the criminal proceedings against Wilde, shining a light on the society that raised up and then razed one of history’s greatest writers.
Details:Promethean Theatre Ensemble at City Lit Theater. $15–$25. prometheantheatre.org
Honky Tonk Angels
Rogers Park
In this triennial exhibition, the Hyde Park Art Center pairs emerging and midcareer artists, such as Tony Tasset and Maria Gaspar, with individual patrons who commission customized works. The pieces are revealed at the show’s opening.
Details:Theo Ubique Theatre at the No Exit Cafe. $20–$53. theo-u.com
Not Just Another Pretty Face
Hyde Park
In this triennial exhibition, the Hyde Park Art Center pairs emerging and midcareer artists, such as Tony Tasset and Maria Gaspar, with individual patrons who commission customized works. The pieces are revealed at the show’s opening.
Details:Hyde Park Art Center. $35 suggested donation. hydeparkart.org
Lego Train Show
Wheaton
For 15 years, members of the Northern Illinois Lego Train Club have brought their holiday display to Wheaton, boasting hundreds of feet of miniature track woven through scenes both mundane and cinematic.
Details:Cantigny Park. Free–$5. cantigny.org
Messiah
Loop
The holiday season boasts more Messiahs than a medieval art gallery, but the Apollo Chorus has cranked out melismas and hallelujahs every year since 1879. To promote unity and hone expression, the volunteer vocal group sings several movements without sheet music.
Details:Harris Theater. $30–$70. harristheaterchicago.org
Randolph Street’s Holiday Market
West Loop
A potpourri of vintage, modern, handcrafted, and upcycled tidings awaits shoppers at Randolph Street Market’s annual holiday edition. The real winter treat? Complimentary gift wrapping.
Details:Plumbers Union Hall. $3–$8. randolphstreetmarket.com
Christopher Wheeldon’s Nutcracker
Loop
See “How to Reboot a Holiday Classic” for more.
Details:Auditorium Theatre. $35–$150. joffrey.org
The Magic Flute
Loop
Boasting one of opera’s clunkiest plots, The Magic Flute is better listened to than dissected. Lyric’s staging centers on a prototypical suburban house resting on a turntable, where the story of a dragon, a bird catcher, and a kidnapping enraptures kids onstage. Somehow, the convoluted tale makes more sense with children as the audience.
Details:Civic Opera House. $17–$299. lyricopera.org
CD Wu
South Loop
The emerging Chicago artist’s first-ever solo exhibit includes paintings adorned with sculpted neon lights that bathe their surroundings in moody color.
Details:Shane Campbell Gallery. Free. shanecampbellgallery.com
The Stars Were Aligned for a Century of New Beginnings
Gold Coast
Egyptian artist Basim Magdy’s first U.S. museum survey explores the feeling of hope that preceded the 2011 Arab Spring—a stark contrast to the country’s current political climate—through photography, video, drawings, and installations.
Details:Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. $7–$12. mcachicago.org
35th Annual Holiday Treasure Hunt and Tea Party
Loop
Bring along the family for this year’s kid-friendly run through the Art Institute’s permanent collection. As in previous years, expect posthunt snacks and tea in the Stock Exchange Trading Room.
Details:Art Institute of Chicago. 10:45 a.m., noon, and 1:30 p.m. $20–$75. artic.edu
Los Lobos
West Loop
Forty years into their career, Los Lobos may have fallen into a predictable touring cycle—but fans don’t seem to mind. In 2015, the California quintet released their 20th album, Gates of Gold, spanning everything from country and cumbia to zydeco. Though their shows have begun blending together, they’re as fun and energetic as ever.
Details:City Winery. $60–$80. citywinery.com/chicago
Chicago Symphony Orchestra Brass
Loop
Coincident with a major band and orchestra conference in Chicago, the CSO’s annual showcase of its horn section attracts a packed house of brass fanatics. Partly an outlet for seldom-heard ensembles (last year’s featured a trombone quartet), the concert feels looser than most at Orchestra Hall but still musically up to snuff—not unlike the stereotype about brass players.
Details:Symphony Center. 8 p.m. $33–$128. cso.org
Maxwell and Mary J. Blige
Near West Side
The seven-years-in-the-making second installment of Maxwell’s BlackSUMMERS’night trilogy finds the R&B singer experimenting with subbier synths and unorthodox song structures. Unchanged are his beyond-belief pipes and heartfelt lyrics. Consider coheadliner Mary J. Blige icing on the cake.
Details:United Center. 7 p.m. $40–$700. ticketmaster.com
Andrew Bird’s Gezelligheid Shows
Gold Coast
The unwieldy “Gezelligheid” translates roughly to “cozy” in Dutch, and that’s exactly the mood at these annual Andrew Bird shows at Fourth Presbyterian Church. Here, the ex-Chicagoan’s signature violin loops are front and center—projected through a pair of old-school Victrola horn speakers that lend a uniquely warm timbre.
Details:Fourth Presbyterian Church. Sold out; see resellers.
The Phantom of the Opera
Loop
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s chandelier-crashing megamusical returns to Chicago for the umpteenth time. Will the angelic young soprano escape the fiend beneath the Paris Opera House? It matters not: Phantom is gaudy, bombastic, and perennially irresistible.
Details:Broadway in Chicago at Cadillac Palace Theatre. $30–$157. broadwayinchicago.com
Music of the Baroque
Various neighborhoods
Music of the Baroque’s Holiday Brass & Choral Concerts series pushes all the buttons of Christmasy classical. Baroque? The era speaks Yule in every proper cadence. Brass? The trumpets shall sound. Choirs? Of the heavenly host. Oh, and there are handbells, too.
Details:Various locations. $30–$90. baroque.org
Aretha Franklin
Loop
The Queen of Soul told the Detroit Free Press last year that she would retire from touring in 2017—and save for a single show scheduled in her home state next April, she appears to be following through. Catch the bona fide legend at what could be her final show in Chicago—and her last show ever outside of Michigan.
Details:Chicago Theatre. 8 p.m. $50–$150. ticketmaster.com
Lane 8
Logan Square
Under the stage name Lane 8, DJ Daniel Goldstein has carved out a space for beauty in the oft-raucous genre of electronic music. Consider the artist’s placid sound a contender to break into a mainstream still saturated with deafening bass drops.
Details:Concord Music Hall. 9 p.m. $15. clubtix.com
Chicago Tap Theatre
Skokie
Featuring tap dance and live tunes toasting Christmas, Hanukkah, and all things winter, Tidings of Tap! has become one of the city’s go-to holiday dance staples. This year, the show moves into the northern burbs for a one-off at Skokie’s 900-seat North Shore Center.
Details:North Shore Center for the Performing Arts. 3 p.m. $24–$40. northshorecenter.org
Concert for Peace
West Town
For 18 years, Fulcrum Point New Music Project has carved a day from the calendar to promote peace through music. Often a program of world-music-inflected contemporary work, the concert this year draws from marquee composers in the new-music sphere: Terry Riley, a hippie minimalist pioneer; David Lang, a clever and accessible conceptualist; and Ted Hearne, the group’s up-and-comer.
Details:Alhambra Palace. 4 p.m. $10–$25. fulcrumpoint.org
Brandenburg Concertos
Loop
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, a troupe of superb small-ensemble musicians, decreed in 1993 a new holiday tradition at its New York home: a concert spanning all six of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos. The tradition stuck, and now the ensemble does it in Chicago, too, in its sixth season visiting the Harris, playing one instrument to a part on some of the most clockwork-crafted, decorous music ever composed.
Details:Harris Theater. 7:30 p.m. $25–$55. harristheaterchicago.org
Chi-Town Rising
Loop
For the second year, Chicagoans can flock to the river and count down to midnight as a behemoth LED star climbs the Hyatt Regency’s West Tower—this time with more free areas designated for standing. Not interested in enduring the elements? Catch the action on NBC-5.
Details:Hyatt Regency. 7 p.m. Free. chi-townrising.com
New Year’s Eve at Navy Pier
Navy Pier
While the midnight fireworks display is free for all, the cruise companies Odyssey, Mystic Blue, and Spirit of Chicago all offer climate-controlled views from the lake. If booze cruising sounds a bit decadent, DMK Burger Bar and Fish Bar also sport front-row views to the big show.
Details:Navy Pier. Free–$260. navypier.com