Best Bets: Light Up the Lake at Navy Pier, ESO brass in Schaumburg
Light up the lakefront
Navy Pier’s Light Up the Lake 2024 celebration features visits with Santa, the winter wonderland light displays, fireworks at 9 p.m. Saturdays, an ice slide open from noon to 8 p.m. daily (tickets required), ax throwing (tickets required), rides (tickets required) and other attractions. navypier.org. Friday, Nov. 29, through Jan. 5
Celebrating Stevie Wonder
Great Moments in Vinyl celebrates Stevie Wonder with a performance of his 1973 Grammy Award-winning album “Innervisions,” accompanied by stories about the singer/songwriter and his landmark album, at The Venue, 21 S. Broadway, Aurora. Tickets are $25 to $30 in advance, $30 to $35 at the door. (331) 212-8490 or themusicvenue.org. 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 29
Family-friendly creative play
Filament Theatre invites families to “FORTS: Build Your Own Adventure,” an interactive, creative play experience in which participants use boxes, sheets, clothespins and couches to build “magical forts,” at 4041 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. $30 adults, $15 kids. (773) 270-1660 or filamenttheatre.org/forts. Various times Saturday, Nov. 30, through Jan. 5
Christmas Bingo
Did Santa babysit the baby Jesus? Why were the Three Wise Men so lost? Vicki Quade answers those and other holiday-related questions in her interactive show “Christmas Bingo: It’s a Ho-Ho-Holy Night” at the Madison Street Theater, 1010 Madison St., Oak Park. Quade, one of the creators of “Late Nite Catechism,” plays Mary Margaret O’Brien, former nun, bingo caller and holiday tradition expert. $25. madisonstreettheater.org. 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 1
Classical brass
“The Nutcracker,” “Silent Night,” “Carol of the Bells,” “O Holy Night” and “Sleigh Ride” are a few of the holiday pieces the Elgin Symphony Orchestra’s brass and percussion sections will perform during a concert led by music director Chad Goodman at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 930 W. Higgins Road, Schaumburg. $20 adults, $5 students. (847) 888-4000 or elginsymphony.org. 3 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3
‘Nativity Tribute’ at the Driehaus Museum
The Driehaus Museum, in cooperation with the African American Museum of Performing Arts, presents “A Nativity Tribute,” an adaptation of Langston Hughes’ gospel play with music “Black Nativity,” which uses music and dance to tell the Bible story of Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus. Performances take place at 50 E. Erie St., Chicago. $50. driehausmuseum.org. 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 4-5
Cake walk exhibition
The WNDR Museum, 1130 W. Monroe St., Chicago, recently unveiled “Life is Messy,” an installation by Chicago artist Anna Lasbury consisting of cake-inspired canvases inspired by Lasbury’s social media experiment, which involved her leaving fake cakes around Chicago. Tickets start at $32 for adults; $27 for seniors and college students; $22 for kids. wndrmuseum.com. Noon to 8 p.m. Monday and Thursday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday