City and suburban events
Pug-nosed reindeer?
The Chicago Botanic Garden stages its 5th annual Reindog Parade this Saturday, but there is so much more creativity on display than just sticking fuzzy antlers on Fido's head. Past parade winners include owners and dogs dressed up as angels, a "gift boxer," pricey terrier poinsettias and a whole group of poodles dressed up in tutus for "The Nutcracker Suite." Don't forget your camera if you go.
When: 11 a.m. registration; 1:15 p.m. parade Saturday
Where: Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake-Cook Road, Glencoe
Cost: $15 parking for spectators; $14-$19 registration for dogs and owners
Info: (847) 835-8326 or www.chicagobotanic.org
Beauty and the donkey?
Instead of another "Christmas Carol" or "Nutcracker," New World Repertory Theater presents an unconventional world premiere for the holiday season: "Princess Donkey-Head, A Christmas Tale." Chicago playwright M.E.H. Lewis adapts a Scottish folk tale of two princesses who must learn about inner beauty as they try to rescue a prince before Christmas. Hee-haw at Masonic Temple First Floor Theater, 923 Curtiss St., Downers Grove. Tickets are $10; $7 for kids age 12 and younger. (630) 663-1489.
7:30 p.m. today; through Dec. 22
Nutcracker of the week
Schaumburg Dance Ensemble brings back its celebrated version of Tchaikovsky's classic holiday ballet of a girl who is rewarded for helping her enchanted Nutcracker defeat the forces of the Rat King. Get cracking at the Schaumburg Prairie Center for the Arts, 201 Schaumburg Court, Schaumburg. Tickets are $18-$25. (847) 895-3600 or www.prairiecenter.org.
7:30 p.m. today; through Dec. 9
Vegas vagabonds
There may not be any surviving members of the infamous "Rat Pack," but their memory lives on with imitators. One of those guys is Nicholas Brooks of Batavia, who plays Sammy Davis Jr. in "Direct From Vegas, The Rat Pack" which features the Direct From Vegas Orchestra and stand-ins for the late Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford. Relive lost Las Vegas at The Hemmens, 45 Symphony Way, Elgin. Tickets are $30-$55. (847) 931-5900 or www.hemmens.org.
8 p.m. today
Brothers and sisters
Mormon families are stereotypically known for being large (at least in Utah, anyway). But most big Mormon families can't claim the amazing talent of "The 5 Browns" (well, except for maybe the Osmonds). "The 5 Browns" is comprised of five twentysomething siblings who each studied classical piano at New York's Julliard School and now tour playing classical and jazz repertory together at the same time. Centre East presents the 5 Browns at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie. Tickets are $40-$55; $15 for students at the matinee. (847) 673-6300 or www.centreeast.org.
2 and 8 p.m. Saturday
Exclusive objets d'art
The annual One of a Kind Show and Sale returns to Chicago, allowing you to check off those exclusive items in painting, fashion, jewelry, wood, furniture and more on your shopping list. Stop by on opening day when all ticket sales are donated to Children's Memorial Hospital.
When: Noon to 9 p.m. Thursday; continues through Dec. 9
Where: Merchandise Mart, 222 Merchandise Mart Plaza, Chicago
Cost: $10; $7 students/seniors; free for ages 12 and younger
Info: (800) 677-6278 or www.oneofakindshow.com
City ITEMS:
Renewed Shalom
The Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies officially reopens its strikingly renovated complex today with a new art exhibit titled "The New Authentics: Artists of the Post-Jewish Generation." More than 15 contemporary Jewish-American artists' works are on display, raising important questions about cultural, ethnic and religious identity in the United States today. Local artists Lilah Freedland, Laura Kina and Mindy Rose Schwartz are part of the mix. See it at 610 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago. Admission is $7; $5 for students and seniors. (312) 322-1747 or www.spertus.edu.
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today; through April 13
Healing holiday
Chamber Opera Chicago can rightfully boast about having an authentic production of the beloved 1951 American opera "Amahl and the Night Visitors" since Francis Menotti, son of the late composer Gian Carlo Menotti, is staging its production. See this tale of a crippled young shepherd boy whose life is changed forever when he meets three journeying kings following a new star at the Cindy Pritzker Auditorium of Harold Washington Library Center, 400 S. State St., Chicago. Tickets are $25; $20 seniors and students; $10 kids younger than 12. (312) 951-7944 or www.chamberoperachicago.org.
7:30 p.m. today; 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Reindeer games
It's getting to be that even spoofs of beloved classics are becoming classics themselves. That's the case with Hell in a Handbag's "Rudolph, The Red-Hosed Reindeer," which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. David Cerda's gender- and sexuality-bending take on the classic stop-motion TV cartoon shows another reason why the other reindeer ostracized the color-fashion-conscious Rudolph. Laugh it up at the Bailiwick Repertory, 1229 W. Belmont St., Chicago. Tickets are $20. (773) 883-1090.
10 p.m. today; through Dec. 30
'Second Drawer,' not tier
Painter Marya Veeck introduces her "Second Drawer" series of canvases looking at the items squirreled away in many a cabinet or other collectible clutch. Also on display is jewelry of Catherine Borowski, Eugenia Alba and Lisa Rosen. Direct your gaze to the August House Studio, 2113 W. Roscoe St., Chicago. No admission charge. (773) 327-5644.
1-5 p.m. Saturday; through Dec. 23; 6 p.m. reception Dec. 7