1960s classics in 'Play on Caberet' at Maxim's

Chicago

Brill-iant tunes

Lieber and Stoller, Goffin and King, Mann and Weil, Bacharach and David, Sedaka and Greenfield. Even if the names are unfamiliar, their songs aren't: "Up on the Roof," "Save the Last Dance for Me," "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" "The Look of Love," "One Fine Day." Hear these and other '60s classics that were born in New York's famous Brill Building during Play on Cabaret: Make Your Own Kind of Music - the Brill Building Sound. Anne and Mark Burnell will perform live in Maxim's intimate and elegant dining room.

7 p.m. reception, 7:30 p.m. show at Maxim's Nancy Goldberg International Center, 24 E. Goethe St. Tickets cost $25 and reservations are required. (312) 742-8497 or visit maximschicago.org/

For spice girls and guys

Take a peak inside the mysterious NoMI spice cabinet and hone your cooking skills with an exclusive, behind-the-scenes cooking demonstration, spice exhibition and dinner at the Park Hyatt Chicago. The evening begins with spiced cocktails, followed by an exploration of winter spices and an interactive cooking demonstration by NoMI executive chef Christophe David and Judy Shertzer from Terra Spice. You'll learn how to create a spiced duck dish from a 2000-year-old Roman recipe and cooking method, as well as the art of blending spices and fun ideas for how to spice up your average meal. Then enjoy a three-course dinner featuring the duck (Canard Apicius) and wine selections to complement the dishes.

6 p.m. Thursday, March 4, at the Park Hyatt Chicago, 800 N. Michigan Ave. The class, which will include a cocktail reception, cooking demonstration, spice education, wine and three-course dinner, costs $125 per person. Space is limited. Call (312) 239-4030 or visit NoMIrestaurant.com.

Listen up, people

Without cell phones and the Internet, our ancestors still managed to get the word out. Attend the Third Coast Filmless Festival, a celebration of storytelling, sound and the art of listening. Join other radio fans for audio documentaries and hear from producers working in radio today. The daylong festival includes screenings from audio essays to personal narratives followed by a question-and-answer session, a special presentation of a documentary-in-progress and an evening event celebrating the launch of the book "Reality Radio" with Public Radio's Ira Glass and the Kitchen Sisters.

11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, March 6, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave. Tickets cost $24-$30. Call (312) 280-2660 or visit chicagopublicradio.org.

Midwest

Ice and easy

Give winter a big send-off at the annual winter carnival at Wilmot Mountain Ski and Snowboard area. The weekend is snow packed with games, rail jams, bands, contests and raffles. Get the younger ones in on the Kids Silly Slalom, while the adults compete in Beer Run Races. Watch or compete in Boarder/Skier Cross Races, Slalom Races and a Cardboard Regatta in which a sledlike vehicle is constructed and judged on craft, creativity and how far it actually makes it down the hill. Turtle Races take place on Saturday night in the Lodge Bar for the 21-and-over crowd, and there will be live music all weekend.

9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday to Sunday, March 6-7, at Wilmot Mountain Ski and Snowboard Area, 11931 Fox River Road, Wilmot, Wis. Call (262) 862-2301 or visit wilmotmountain.com.

Look who's 40

After 40 years of preservation and restoration of an authentic Amish farmstead, celebrate with Amish Acres as they offer $40 specials. Lodging will put you back $40 per person in either of two properties, the Inn at Amish Acres or the Nappanee Inn, see two professional musicals for $40 or snag a Passport for $40 that entitles you to a House and Farm Tour, horse drawn wagon ride, documentary films and a Threshers-style family dinner.

Through Dec. 31 at Amish Acres, 1600 W. Market St., Nappanee, Ind. (800) 800-4942.

Neat and over ice

Now that the Winter Olympics have ramped up your need for speed, head to the Wausau, Wis., area for the U.S. Speedskating National Short Track Championships and the American Cup Final. The competitions, running concurrently, bring speedskaters who will have just competed at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, as well as speedskaters from around the nation. More than 250 athletes, ranging in age from 10 to over 70 years old, will compete. Sixteen men and women will battle for spots in the final two world competitions in Sofia, Bulgaria, and Bormio, Italy.

7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday, March 3-7, at Greenheck Fieldhouse, 6400 Alderson St., Weston, Wis. Free. Call the Central Wisconsin Speed Skating Club at (715) 539-2636 for details. For lodging, call the Wausau/Central Wisconsin Convention and Visitors Bureau at (888) 948-4748.

Worth the trip

You might call the man loafing on your couch your husband, but others, like the people of Nederland, Colo., may call him to join in Frozen Dead Guys Days 2010. It's really a celebration of winter life, and this year's festival features live music all three days in the Reanimate Yourself tent and beer garden, a parade of hearses, ice-carving demonstrations, Harvest House Medicinals coffin races, frozen salmon tossing, icy turkey bowling, 2010 Space Oddity Blue Ball and Sunday Local Funday for kids. Nederland's main street becomes a pedestrian mall for visitors, street performers and those wanting to partake in brain freezing and frozen T-shirt contests.

3 p.m. to midnight Friday, March 5; 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday, March 6; and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday March 7, in downtown Nederland. Call (303) 258-3936 or visit nederlandchamber.org.