Lifestyle

Best bets: 'Jersey Boys' at ECC, Mandel at Hemmens

Posted November 09, 2009 10:00 pm

Daily Herald Staff Report

Environmentalist and animal rights activist Paul Watson speaks at Harper College.

Elgin 'Boys'

For the past two years, Michael Ingersoll has made special suburban concert appearances with and without his co-stars from the Chicago company of "Jersey Boys." Now that the long-running jukebox musical is closing in January, see Ingersoll and his "Jersey Boys" cohorts in the concert "Under the Streetlight" Sunday and Monday at Elgin Community College's Visual and Performing Arts Center, 1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin. $45. (847) 622-0300 or tickets.elgin.edu. 7:30 p.m. Sunday and Monday, Nov. 15 and 16

Howie's world

Once known for a stint on the TV drama "St. Elsewhere" and for contributions to the animated series "Ralph's World," comedian and actor Howie Mandel is now best known as the game show host who asks, "Deal or No Deal?" See Mandel's mastery of standup humor tonight at the Hemmens Cultural Center, 45 Symphony Way, Elgin. $45-$85. (847) 931-5900 or hemmens.org. 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13

Zombie fest

Horror Society presents Zombie Outbreak Film Festival at Portage Theatre, 4050 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. Get eight hours of flesh-eating fun on screen, with live panelists and vendors hawking zombie merchandise. $10-$12. (773) 736-4050 or Horrorsociety.com/festivals. 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 14

Benefit concert

Riverview Theatre Company and Raue Center for the Arts present storyteller Jim May, below, Broadway veteran Robin Irwin and members of the Judith Svalander Dance Theatre and more in the Judith Irwin Benefit Concert at 26 N. Williams St., Crystal Lake. The $25 ticket goes to help Irwin's medical expenses following a severe fall. (815) 356-9212 or raucenter.org. 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14

Man of standards

Before cabaret star Michael Feinstein opens his latest show, "All About Me," on Broadway later this season, catch him locally Saturday at North Central College's Pfeiffer Hall, 310 E. Benton Ave., Naperville. $55-$70. (630) 637-7469 or finearts.northcentralcollege.edu. 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14

'Peter' & the host

Peter Sagal, host of "Wait, Wait ... Don't Tell Me!" on Chicago Public Radio, narrates Elgin Symphony Orchestra's Family Series performance of Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf" Sunday at the Hemmens Cultural Center, 45 Symphony Way, Elgin. Arrive early so kids can do activities in the lobby before the concert. $15; $10 kids. (847) 888-4000 or elginsymphony.org. 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15 (concert at 3:30 p.m.)

Watson for whales

Environmentalist/animal rights activist Paul Watson of Animal Planet's "Whale Wars" Monday talks about his crew's efforts to thwart Japanese commercial whaling in a special presentation at Harper College's Performing Arts Center, 1200 W. Algonquin Road, Palatine. $9. (847) 925-6100. 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16

Big band Butler

Multiple Jeff Award-winner and current "Hairspray" star E. Faye Butler ("Caroline, or Change," "Ella") performs a special concert Monday called "Just in Time: An Evening With E. Faye Butler and Her Orchestra" at the Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire. $35. (847) 634-0200 or marriotttheatre.com. 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16

Opera week

National Opera Week runs from Friday, Nov. 13, to Sunday, Nov. 22. You could celebrate by going to an opera, but neophytes might want to try Chicago Opera Theater's "Beers and Baritones" gathering at Rock Bottom Brewery, 1 W. Grand Ave., Chicago. The $25 ticket includes drinks, appetizers and a brief performance by Leila Bowie and Martin Woods. (312) 704-8420 or ChicagoOperaTheater.org. 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18

The Chicago cast of "Jersey Boys" (Shonn Wiley, left, Michael Ingersoll, John Michael Dias and Michael Cunio) performs two "Under the Streetlight" concerts at Elgin Community College's Visual and Performing Arts Center.

Storyteller Jim May is one of many performers at the Judith Irwin Benefit Concert at the Raue Center for the Arts in Crystal Lake. Rick West | Staff Photographer

Storyteller Jim May visits students at Prairie Middle School in Barrington. Mark Black | Staff Photographer

Michael Feinstein performs in concert at North Central College in Naperville.

Comedian Howie Mandel performs at the Hemmens Cultural Center in Elgin.

Chicago Public Radio and NPR's "Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me!" host Peter Sagal narrates an Elgin Symphony Orchestra's Family Series concert of Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf."

"Just in Time: An Evening With E. Faye Butler and Her Orchestra" comes to the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire.

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