Theater

Spotlight: ‘Annie’ opens at Music Theater Works and Second City comes to the Metropolis

Posted December 09, 2025 9:10 am

Elin Joy Seiler plays the titular spunky orphan and Teddy plays her best pal Sandy in Music Theater Works’ “Annie,” running Dec. 18 through Jan. 4 at Skokie’s North Shore Center for the Performing Arts. Courtesy of Anthony La Penna

Family-friendly tuner

Music Theater Works concludes its season with a revival of “Annie,” the Tony Award-winning tuner about the spunky, redheaded orphan who thwarts grifters and charms a millionaire industrialist. Producing artistic director Kyle A. Dougan directs the production, which stars Elin Jo Seiler as the titular charmer.

Previews at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 18, at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie. The show opens Dec. 19. $19.50-$106. (847) 920-5360 or MusicTheaterWorks.com.

Stephen Pickering, third from left, and Mia Hirschel, second from left, play George and Mary Bailey in Improv Playhouse’s “A Bedford Falls Christmas in Libertyville,” a radio play adaptation of “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Courtesy of Improv Playhouse

Christmas in Bedford Falls

Improv Playhouse celebrates its 25th anniversary with “A Bedford Falls Christmas in Libertyville,” an immersive “radio-driven theatrical experience” inspired by the company’s long-running radio play adaptation of director Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life.” “It’s not about old-timey radio,” said director David Brian Stuart in a prepared statement. “It’s about rediscovering what radio did best … awaken the imagination, stir up hope, and quietly remind you that one life, well lived, can change the trajectory of all the others.”

7:30 p.m. Fridays, Dec. 12 and 19; 7 p.m. Saturdays, Dec. 13 and 20; and 2:30 p.m. Sundays, Dec. 14 and 21, at 130 N. Milwaukee Ave., Libertyville. $25 adults, $20 seniors, $15 students. (847) 968-4529 or improvplayhouse.com.

LaKecia Harris, right, plays Aunt Trudy in “Manual Cinema’s A Christmas Carol,” which runs Dec. 12-28 at the Studebaker Theater in Chicago. Courtesy of Jenn Udoni, Franco images

Manual Cinema’s ‘Carol’

Manual Cinema remounts its innovative, emotionally resonant take on Charles Dickens’ tale in “Manual Cinema’s A Christmas Carol,” which tells the story of recently widowed, holiday-averse Aunt Trudy’s efforts to perform her late husband’s puppet version of the ghost story one last time. The ensemble uses overhead projectors, shadow puppets, original music and actor/puppeteers to tell Ebenezer Scrooge’s story.

7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, Dec. 12-13, 19-20 and 26-27; 3 p.m. Sundays, Dec. 14, 21 and 28; and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 17, at the Studebaker Theater, Fine Arts Building, 410 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago. Tickets start at $45. (312) 753-3210, ext. 102, or fineartsbuilding.com/events/christmas-carol.

City Lit premiere

The novels of Arthur Conan Doyle and G.K. Chesterton’s 1911 Saturday Evening Post story “The Flying Stars” inspired the holiday-set mystery “Sherlock Holmes and the Christmas Clowns,” adapted by John Weagly for City Lit Theater. Weagly replaces Chesterton’s fictional priest/amateur detective Father Brown with Holmes, who attempts to recover missing jewels stolen during a holiday pantomime. Executive artistic director Brian Pastor directs.

Previews at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Dec. 12-13, at Edgewater Presbyterian Church, second floor, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Chicago. The show opens at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 14. $28, $20 for City Lit subscribers. citylit.org.

Epic melee at Factory Theater

The Factory Theater promises big battles during “Fight Night: The Battle of the Bard,” a combat showcase inspired by William Shakespeare’s battles. Members of The Factory, Babes With Blades, Bold Works Combat, Counterfeit Combat, Ghostlight Ensemble and Abyssal Zone Collective take up theatrical arms against each other in original scenes inspired by Shakespeare.

8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Dec. 12-13, at 1623 W. Howard St., Chicago. $25.88. thefactorytheater.com.

Holiday merriment at Metropolis

Looking to close out 2025 with some laughter? Check out The Second City’s holiday send-up “Jack Frost Roasting on an Open Fire” at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre.

7:30 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, Dec. 15-17; Dec. 26-28 and Dec. 29-31, at 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights. $40; $50 New Year’s Eve show includes a champagne toast. (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.com.

Season of Concern benefit

Itasca native Veronica Garza and Leah Morrow perform a staged reading of Neil Simon’s “The Odd Couple (Female Version)” as a fundraiser for Season of Concern, a nonprofit organization that provides financial assistance to Chicago-area theater artists facing illness, injury or financial strain.

7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 16, at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. $10. (773) 975-8150 or linktr.ee/SeasonOfConcern.

A ho-ho-holy night

Who babysat Jesus? How did Three Wise Men get so lost? Former nun Mrs. Mary Margaret O’Brien (writer/actor Vicki Quade) answers those and other holiday-related questions during the interactive show “Christmas Bingo: It’s a Ho-Ho-Holy Night” at the Irish American Heritage Center.

8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 18, at 4626 N. Knox Ave., Chicago. $40. (773) 282-7035 or irish-american.org/event/christmas-bingo-its-a-ho-ho-holy-night.