Best Bets: Flip Circus tours the suburbs this summer

Flip Circus comes to town

Illusionists, comedians, jugglers, acrobats and aerialists from around the world will dazzle audiences this summer when Flip Circus sets up its big top in the ’burbs. The circus comes to Hawthorn Mall, 122 Hawthorn Center, Vernon Hills; Fox Valley Mall, 195 Fox Valley Center Drive, Aurora; Gurnee Mills, 6170 W. Grand Ave., Gurnee; Yorktown Center, 203 Yorktown Shopping Center, Lombard; Woodfield Mall, 5 Woodfield Mall, Schaumburg; and North Riverside Mall, 7501 W. Cermak Road, North Riverside. 7 p.m. Monday through Friday; 1, 4 and 7 p.m. Saturday; and 11 a.m., 2 and 5 p.m. Sunday. Tickets start at $21.46-$84.97. FlipCircus.com. Friday, June 19, through June 30 in Vernon Hills; July 3-14 in Aurora; July 17-28 in Gurnee; July 31-Aug. 11 in Lombard; Aug. 14-Sept. 1 in Schaumburg; and Sept. 4-14 in North Riverside

Not just for dads

Downers Grove resident Kevin Bozeman is among the comedians headlining “For Fathers Comedy” at the Raue Center for the Arts, 26 N. Williams St., Crystal Lake. John DaCosse hosts the stand-up extravaganza, which features Ted Willson and Vince Carone. Tickets start at $44; $28 for RaueNOW members. (815) 356-9212 or RaueCenter.org. 8 p.m. Friday, June 19

Kohl Children’s Museum debuts ‘Whirlwind’

Kohl Children’s Museum, 2100 Patriot Blvd., Glenview, introduces “WhirlWind,” a new exhibition that introduces kids to “the capabilities of wind and air.” $20 for kids 1-16 and adults, $17 for seniors 65 and older, and free for infants younger than 1. (847) 832-6600 or kohlchildrensmuseum.org. Friday, June 19, through Aug. 30

Six Flags at 50

Six Flags Great America launches its 50th anniversary celebration this weekend with a new nighttime spectacular. To that end, the park’s nightly parade will be accompanied by hundreds of synchronized drones creating a dazzling display that incorporates pyrotechnic effects. Additionally, Six Flags debuts a new stage show titled “Memories in Motion,” specialty food and beverage items and a documentary titled “Along for the Ride” that chronicles the park’s history. Season passes start at $79, daily admission starts at $45. sixflags.com/greatamerica. Saturday, June 20, through Aug. 9

Little Fort Film Fest

A total of 30 short and feature-length films about the environment from six countries will be shown during the inaugural Little Fort Film Festival taking place this weekend. “Our mission is simple: to celebrate innovative environmental films, honor the filmmakers who create them, and spark deeper understanding about the Great Lakes and the global ecosystems that sustain us,” said festival founder and director Susan Roe Musacchio, in a prepared statement. Screenings take place at Three Brothers Theatre, 221 N. Genesee St., Waukegan; Waukegan Public Library, 28 N. County St., Waukegan; and the Waukegan History Museum at the Carnegie, 1 N. Sheridan Road, Waukegan. $20 for a weekend pass. littlefortfilmfestival.org. Noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 20-21

Dance project premiere

House of DOV premieres its new dance project “Circle of Apathy,” an examination of the cycles of growth and disintegration in nature, accompanied by music from Family Junket. “Through creative process, we’ve sought to understand our own place within the greater ecology of our landscape, and to experience the human body as a metaphor and microcosm of the natural world,” said creative Drew Lewis in a prepared statement. Performances take place at Ragdale, 1260 N. Green Bay Road, Lake Forest. Tickets start at $15. houseofdov.com. 6 p.m. Saturday, June 20, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, June 21

Jazz fest at Cantigny

The Chicago Jazz Orchestra’s tribute to Miles Davis concludes the Cantigny Jazz Fest, which takes place at 1S151 Winfield Road, Wheaton. Also scheduled to appear: the Windy City Ramblers Brass Band, guitarist Bobby Broom, saxophonist Sharel Cassity, vocalist Bruce Henry and pianist Jo Ann Daugherty. Tickets are $65.99 for adults, $25.99 for kids 17 and younger (includes parking). cantigny.org. 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, June 21

One night only

Mortal Fools, the band that sets classic works of literature to original music, debuts the new work “Wonderland Revisited,” which incorporates Lewis Carroll’s beloved novel “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” at Hey Nonny, 10 S. Vail Ave., Arlington Heights. $32. heynonny.com. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 23

CSO plays movie soundtracks, American classics

• The Chicago Symphony Orchestra pays tribute to composer John Williams and director Steven Spielberg during a concert at Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago. The program features music from “Jaws,” “Jurassic Park,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” among other Spielberg films. $165-$299. cso.org. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 23

• In commemoration of the nation’s 250th anniversary, CSO members perform Samuel Barber’s “Adagio” from his String Quartet in B Minor; Antonín Dvořák’s “American” String Quartet No. 12 in F Major; Ben Johnston’s String Quartet No. 4 “Amazing Grace”; and Florence Price’s “Five Folksongs in Counterpoint” at the Richard H. Driehaus Museum, 50 E. Erie St., Chicago. $50, $25 students (with ID). (312) 482-8933 or driehausmuseum.org. 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 24

• The Chicago Symphony Orchestra plays the score to “Star Wars: A New Hope” as part of its CSO at the movies series, which includes a screening of the film at 220 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago. $99-$199. cso.org. 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, June 25-27

Intuit Art Museum debuts new exhibition

As part of Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026 — a nationwide initiative honoring handmade crafts during the nation’s semiquincentennial — The Intuit Art Museum, 756 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, debuts its new exhibition, “Through Cutting and Pasting a World: The Paper Craft of Henry Darger.” It examines the connection between the Chicago-based artist and traditional American paper crafts, specifically “how the turn-of-the-century practices of making paper dolls and paper dollhouse scrapbooks may have influenced Darger’s evolution as an artist.” $20. (312) 624-9487 or art.org. Through Jan. 31, 2027