Goldstar

The Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival returns to the Congress Theater for a second year. This day-long festival features performances by over two dozen bands, including Grammy-winner Béla Fleck and his Flecktones, psych-folk outfit Dr. Dog, and other artists playing music ranging from bluegrass and blues to rock, jam band and funk. Learn more...

Piccolo presents Perseus & Medusa: Or It's All Greek to Me! as its 7th-annual holiday Panto. A story of monsters, gods and true love, Perseus & Medusa takes audiences on a wild ride through the world of Greek mythology. Learn more...

Chants de Noël: A French Christmas is a concert of holiday gems by French composers and arrangements of French carols sung in French, Latin and English. The program includes such carols as "Il est né le divin enfant," "Masters in this Hall," "Angels We Have Heard on High" and "Noël nouvelet." The centerpiece on the program is Saint-Saens' Christmas Oratorio for chorus, organ, harp and string quartet. Learn more...

Eclipse Theatre Company presents Romulus Linney's historical drama Democracy. In the potitical society of 1870s Washington, two beautiful women must decide whether to marry two men. This scathingly funny, insightful play, based on two novels by Henry Adams, is set against the backdrop of Ulysses S. Grant's scandal-plagued administration. Learn more...

Laugh Out Loud Theater presents Instant Musical, a night of improvised comedy set to music. The theater's rteam of hilarious improvisers will create songs on the spot based on audience suggestions, ranging from love ballads to blues numbers and rap. Then, they'll unite to create a completely improvised Broadway-style musical. Learn more...

The Steins are having an identity crisis: Mom has been "born again" and spends all day chatting with Jesus in the kitchen; Dad hasn't gotten out of his pajamas in weeks and is starting to smell; and 16 year old Rachel is coping by going "goth." Who will save this family? Jesus? Stephen Hawking? Or Rachel's awkward new classmate who shows up at their door in his Elvis jumpsuit? Learn more...

Hailing from Oslo, Norway, Kate Havnevik has found success across Europe with her atmospheric pop sound. A frequent collaborator with Frou Frou's Guy Sigsworth, eight of her songs have been used on TV's Grey's Anatomy. Her music blends an extraordinary vocal range with piano, guitar, and electronic instruments. She's touring America with Tennessee singer-songwriter Levi Weaver. Learn more...

Chicago's favorite Improv Group is back for a limited run at the Chemically Imbalanced Theater. Hailed by critics and audiences alike, Pimprov is one of the most original and hilarious unscripted shows in town. Yes, it's pimps that improvise. It's that simple. Learn more...

The Chicago Ensemble presents a relaxing program of classical piano trios performed by leading Chicago classical musicians. A complimentary wine reception precedes each performance, and the program includes works by Beethoven, Shostakovich and Dvořák. Learn more...

The Chicago Improv of Schaumburg welcomes stand-up comic Steve Byrne, whose hour-long special Steve Byrne's Happy Hour recently premiered on Comedy Central to rave reviews. His recent credits include appearances on the Tonight Show and and in the film The Goods. Learn more...

Douglas Post's Murder in Green Meadows is a psychological thriller about two couples living in a quiet suburban neighborhood, where their middle-American exteriors hide a diabolical plot of deception, sex, murder and mind games. Learn more...

Phèdra is cursed by the gods to love her step-son, Hippolytus, who hides a secret love affair of his own. Emotional, turbulent and sexy, Phèdra is a mythical soap opera for the contemporary audience. Based on ancient myths, this tragedy examines how love and unabated passions can destroy us all. Learn more...

Two actors take on innumerable dramatis personae in Charles Ludlam's high-camp quick-change act. Vep satirizes all that is ridiculous in Gothic horror, Victorian melodrama, classic film, and conventional theater--and it's also a contender for the funniest American play of the last quarter-century. Learn more...

Bear Down, a new comedy from The Pub Theater, asks Bears fans, "Have you accepted Jay Cutler as your personal savior?" This over-the-top comedy tells the story of a group of die-hard Bears fans who anticipate great things for the franchise's new quarterback. But when the Bears lose yet another receiver to injury, one fan takes it upon himself to lead the team to glory. Learn more...

Like their heroes Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, it's wee lads Mojo and Mickybo against the world in this bittersweet tale of innocence lost. Two actors play seventeen characters in Owen McCafferty's rollicking and poignant thrill ride through 1970 Belfast where the gritty urban landscape is transformed by the exuberant artistry of the boys' imaginations. Learn more...

In the Golden Age of Magic, during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, Chicago was a major center for magic in the United States. Great magicians gathered here to amaze audiences in theaters and parlors, nightclubs and showrooms, restaurants and bars throughout the city. The Magic Cabaret reawakens the Chicago magic tradition and brings it to modern audiences eager for mystery and wonder. Learn more...

If the Postone family can rely on anything, they can rely on their summers in Maine. They spend every summer in a cottage by the sea and nothing ever changed...until this summer. With a divorce on the horizon, a daughter on the brink of sexual awakening, and a veteran of the current war keeping watch from across the bay, after this summer nothing will ever be the same. Learn more...

Anna Fermin's Trigger Gospel performs at SPACE in Evanston. The Chicago-based band blends soulful country with rock and pop, and has performed alongside musicians ranging from Johnny Cash to Steve Earle. June Carter Clash and the Tex Pistols open the show. Learn more...

Amahl and the Night Visitors tells the story of how a crippled young shepherd boy's life is changed forever when he sees an amazing star in the sky. When Amahl and his mother encounter three kings following the star in their search for a wondrous child, the result is a timeless and inspiring message of how faith, charity, and unselfish love can work miracles. This production will be directed by Francis Menotti, based on his father's original 1951 production. Learn more...

The Royal George Theatre presents Will Clinger's solo comedy about a self-help guru and infomercial celebrity who claims to have the answers to a better way of life. Clinger plays Dr. Harlon Stewart as well as ten of the doctor's devotees, who have chosen to follow his dubious advice. Learn more...

The Salt Creek Ballet presents holiday favorite The Nutcracker, featuring a talented cast of more than 75 local dancers, joined by the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. This fairy tale ballet for the entire family tells the story of young Clara, the debonair Nutcracker Prince and a thrilling Christmas Eve journey filled with swirling snowflakes, waltzing flowers, giant mice and sugar plum fairies. Learn more...

The Annoyance presents The Best Night of Improv in Chicago -- four fantastically funny groups filled with veterans of the Annoyance, Second City, Steppenwolf and other great theaters. The show includes Fishnuts, Chicagoland, Bad Touch: Unsavory Improv and The Deep End. Learn more...

Harry Shearer & Judith Owen's Holiday Sing-A-Long comes to SPACE. This annual blend of classic and new holiday songs, comedy and surprises was created by renowned comedian Shearer (The Simpsons, This is Spinal Tap) and his wife, singer-songwriter Owen. Guests include quirky a cappella group The Bobs and Jim Peterik of rock veterans Survivor. Learn more...

Singer-songwriters Crosby Loggins, Jay Nash, and Caitlin Crosby perform at SPACE in Evanston. All three are beginning promising careers, releasing albums on major labels and collaborating with some of America's top producers. Loggins is the son of famed musician Kenny Loggins. Learn more...

The newest addition to the Raven Theatre lineup, Patchwork U.S.A.! is a collection of three stories--How I Love To Read, Pepito's Story and The Happiest Day Of My Life--that touch on the melting pot American culture, with its many ethnic groups that have come to America from far-away lands. Recommended for ages 4-9. Learn more...

Set in the dank, gray moors of Scotland, this fantastical excursion follows a lovable American woman named Christine and her obsessive quest to be close to her favorite author, Ingrid. While narrating with the fervor of an aspiring writer, the humorously skittish Christine attempts to appropriate Ingrid's character, and in the process is forced to deconstruct her own illusions of love and happiness. Learn more...

Garaj Mahal plays at SPACE in Evanston. Their spaced-out, wildly innovative blend of jazz, funk and world music jams features gospel-inspired keyboards, sitar solos and over a hundred years of combined musical experience. Learn more...

Coed Prison Sluts, the critically acclaimed, longest running musical in Chicago history, tells the story of the inane residents of a prison who live in fear of the arrival of a clown. Learn more...

Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival is an all-day celebration of music old and new from 25 bands on three stages. The show features six-time Grammy-winner Béla Fleck and his Flecktones. Also on the bill: Dr. Dog, Emmitt-Nershi Band, Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater, The Giving Tree Band and more. Learn more...

pH Production's newest show fuses classic rock songs, video shorts, and live comedy sketches to bring you a hilarious theater experience. Lifestyle issues like fame and frustration, excess and triviality, and religion and temptation are confronted with humor and energy. Elvis, Mick, Slash, and many other big names in the rock music world will be present, so bring your lighter and rock out with pH! Learn more...

Chemically Imbalanced Comedy presents their Comedy Showcase, featuring local improv and sketch comedy groups performing on stage. Each show features three groups drawn from Chicago's legendary improv comedy scene. Learn more...

Elmhurst Choral Union presents The Very Best Time of Year, featuring Christmas music by Bach, Handel, John Rutter, Leroy Anderson, colonial Americans, and recent and familiar carols, all with full orchestra and professional soloists. Learn more...

The creator of the hit Late Nite Catechism is back with another satirical look at religion. In the audience-participation comedy Saints & Sinners, Mother Superior hits upon a fundraising scheme to save her parish: sell a calendar of famous saints and sinners. The audience will have a chance to vote, ask questions, and win prizes in a trivia contest. Learn more...

Von Heidecke Chicago Festival Ballet performs The Nutcracker at Heller Auditorium. This beloved holiday tradition tells the story of Clara and her Nutcracker prince, combining an internationally acclaimed choreographer, world class principal dancers and some of the Chicagoland's most talented dance students, making von Heidecke's rendition of The Nutcracker a must-see-event. This production is traditionally classical while featuring gymnastics and exciting athleticism. Learn more...

pH Production's long-running pHamily The Musical! is a one-act play built with audience suggestions. You create an entire family and influence the events during a year in their lives. The players will ask you questions, show you flashbacks, and burst into song. Learn more...

Factory Theater's new comic thriller is set in Haneyville, Texas, in 1975 -- a time and place when life was easier, and the good life meant something good on the television, a fresh meal and a warm house. But in Hunky Dory, that quest for the good life goes crazily awry. Learn more...

In an attempt to save her small-town community center during an economic crisis, a young girl tries to convince Nick Nolte via the Internet to appear in her "celebrity" benefit holiday pageant: the story of Jesus told through the music of rock band Queen. Learn more...

Big City Swing offers a group class for anyone who thinks they can dance -- and even those who don't. The instructors of this two-class series have the talent, experience and sense of humor to make swing dancing accessible to everyone -- even the true beginner. These well-paced classes offer plenty of practice time, and participants will rotate partners. Learn more...

Dance like the stars! Jump, jive and wail the night away after you've learned the basics of swing dancing--undoubtedly the hippest, most fun dance out there. The instructors of this four-class series have the talent, experience and sense of humor to make swing dancing accessible to everyone--even the true beginner. Enjoy the music, dance with confidence and amaze your friends! Learn more...

Issa plays SPACE in Evanston. In 2006, the musician formerly known as Jane Siberry changed her name, and now travels the world playing solo acoustic music influenced by Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell and Miles Davis. Learn more...

SPACE in Evanston presents an evening of music by some of the East Coast's best singer-songwriters. Antje Duvekot, Anne Heaton and Meg Hutchinson live in Boston, and are stars in that city's thriving acoustic scene. They'll be joined by Brooklyn's Natalia Zukerman. Learn more...

Chicaggo jazz guitarists Tony Do Rosario and Mike Allemana share a bill at Space. Do Rosario is a native of New Jersey, who played his Brazilian-influenced jazz in Los Angeles for 14 years before relocating to Chicago in 2007. Chicago native Mike Allemana performs with his Organ Trio. Learn more...

pH Productions presents pHrenzy pHucked, a completely uncensored version of its popular pHrenzy show. It's a chaotic spectacle as the audience votes on eight improvisers, until only one remains to win the title. Learn more...

On the heels of the government's apology to African-Americans for slavery, the Reparations Movement and a new America is born. Roosevelt, a soldier duty-bound to protect the new world order must negotiate his obligations to his lover, his family, and his government. Learn more...

Tales & Times presents the works of renowned American editorialist, journalist, short-story writer and satirist Ambrose Bierce adapted for the stage. Nine new adaptations of his seldom staged work demonstrate why his lean stories of war, fantasy and horror still resonate nearly a century after the enigmatic author mysteriously disappeared into the Mexican desert. Learn more...

When Hubert Sumlin plays guitar he takes you from despair to ecstasy, from delicate grace to raw power, from lost to found. Though he's influenced and inspired many of the most famous guitar players, Hubert owns the magic. For 30 years, The Nighthawks have earned a reputation as one of the best and hardest working bands around. They have gotten their widest acclaim for being one of the best white boy blues bands of their generation. Learn more...

Elizabeth and the Catapult play a show at SPACE in Evanston. The New York trio plays playfully introspective music influenced by Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell. Producer Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes, M. Ward, Rilo Kiley) recorded their acclaimed debut album Taller Children. The Right Now open the show. Learn more...

SPACE in Evanston welcomes singer-songwriters Rosi Golan, Luke Brindley and Peter Bradley Adams. A native of Israel, Golan is fluent in English, French and Hebrew. Luke Brindley's four critically acclaimed albums are marked by smart songcraft and infectious enthusiasm. Peter Bradley began his career as the co-founder of eastmountainsouth, a duo which received widespread national radio airplay. Learn more...

A third-generation musician and native of Nashville, Josh Hoge's music diverges from his home city's characteristic twang, offering a folk sound which is equal parts rowdy and introspective. The duo of Matt Duke and Amber Rubarth opens the concert at SPACE in Evanston. Learn more...