Best Bets: Night of 1,000 Jack-o’-Lanterns and Bad Momz of Comedy

Pumpkins, pumpkins and more pumpkins

Elaborate artist-carved pumpkins will be on display at the Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake-Cook Road, Glencoe, as part of the garden’s annual Night of 1,000 Jack-o’-Lanterns. In addition to real LED-illuminated pumpkins, the fall fest includes the 20-foot illuminated sculpture Monarch Skull inspired by the monarch butterfly. The festival also features live carving demonstrations, costumed entertainers, seasonal treats and beverages. The garden closes at 5 p.m. and reopens at 6 p.m. for event ticket holders. Timed tickets are available between 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. Last entry is at 9:45 p.m. The event concludes at 10:30 p.m. Tickets start at $20 for adult members, $24 for nonmembers; $13 for members 3-12, $17 for nonmembers. $15 parking for nonmembers. chicagobotanic.org/halloween. Wednesday, Oct. 7, through Oct. 11, and Oct. 14-18 and 21-25

More music in Arlington Heights

Hey Nonny owners Chip Brooks and Chris Dungan are expanding the performance calendar at their combination restaurant and music venue at 10 S. Vail Ave., Arlington Heights. Beginning this month, the drinking and dining room will transform into a second stage called The Lounge where musicians will perform “Social Sessions” Tuesday through Saturday. Performances will continue in Hey Nonny’s listening room known as The Venue. Social Sessions tickets are $6.50. 224-202-0750 or heynonny.com.

Red Clay Dance in Evanston

Red Clay Dance Company presents the dance-theater work “Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar,” by founding artistic director and CEO Vershawn Sanders-Ward at the Wirtz Center, Northwestern University, 1949 Campus Drive, Evanston. The piece honoring the legacy of missing and murdered Black women features original music by Jamila Woods. $42-$50. redclaydance.com. 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 1-3

Evanston museum reopens

The Gichigamiin Indigenous Nations Museum, one of the only Chicago-area museums devoted to Indigenous people from the Great Lakes region, includes interactive exhibits, artifacts and performances. Located at 3001 Central St., Evanston, the newly reopened museum’s current exhibits include: “The Gifts of Our World” led by Kohl Children’s Museum and the Korean Cultural Center of Chicago; “Indigenous Chicago at Gichigamiin Exhibit,” which examines the effect of settler colonialism; and “Chicago’s Legacy Hula, The Kaona Exhibit: The Hidden Stories and Historical Events of Hawaiians in Chicago.” $8 for adults; $6 for youth, teens and seniors; free for Tribal Citizens and Mitchell Museum members. gichigamiin-museum.org. Reopening Thursday, Oct. 1

Virtual reality universe

Experience stars, black holes, galaxies and the entire cosmos through “Smithsonian Starstruck: An Immersive Experience,” the new virtual reality exhibition developed in collaboration with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. See it at Germania Place, 108 W. Germania Place, Chicago. Tickets start at $24.99 for adults, $19.99 for kids. smithsonianstarstruck.com/chicago. Opens Thursday, Oct. 1

‘Odyssey’ reimagined

The National Hellenic Museum, 333 S. Halsted St., Chicago, showcases the response of 17 contemporary artists to Homer’s 3,000-year-old epic “The Odyssey” as part of a new exhibition “The Odyssey Reimagined.” Through works ranging from painting, sculpture and photography to textile and sound installations, the artists interpret the tale of Odysseus, King of Ithaca, whose journey home from the Trojan War took 10 years and involved encounters with monsters, enchantresses and natural elements all while his faithful wife, Penelope, fended off suitors. $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and students, $7 for kids. 312-655-1234 or nationalhellenicmuseum.org. Opens Friday, Oct. 2

Fitzgerald’s welcomes Suitcase Junket

Singer/songwriter/instrumentalist Matt Lorenz, also known as The Suitcase Junket, celebrates to release of his seventh album with a show at Fitzgerald’s Nightclub, 6615 Roosevelt Road, Berwyn. Lorenz filters early blues and rock ’n’ roll through Tom Waits. The album, titled “To Go On,” is in memory of his late sister, singer/songwriter Kate Lorenz, and the titular single is an imagined conversation with her. $20, $25. 708-788-2118 or fitzgeraldsnightclub.com. 8:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2

Dance showcases

• Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre hosts its second Chicago Latinx/e Movement Festival at the Dance Center of Columbia College, 1306 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago. Featured works examine binational and multiracial identity, immigrant narratives and identity politics among other issues. $10-$30. dance.colum.edu. 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2

• M.A.D.D. Rhythms’ Chicago Tap Summit features a double bill with two premieres. “Oscar Plays Gershwin” by Bril Barrett reimagines jazz great Oscar Peterson’s George Gershwin album as a percussive piece. Tre Dumas’ “My Personal Stash” honors his father, Martin Dumas Jr., by transforming Rasputin Stash’s soul and funk grooves into a percussive experience. The concert takes place at the Harold Washington Cultural Center, 4701 S. King Drive, Chicago. $50. maddrhythms.com. 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3

• Brooklyn, New York-based Kozak Ukrainian Dancers, accompanied by vocalists and instrumentalists, perform a pay-what-you-can concert at the Woodstock Opera House, 121 W. Van Buren St., Woodstock. Tickets start at $1. woodstockoperahouse.com. 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4

Spooky silent films

The Silent Film Society of Chicago hosts screenings of seasonal silent films beginning with “The Phantom of the Opera,” with live organ accompaniment, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3, at the Woodstock Opera House, 121 W. Van Buren St. $12 suggested donation. That’s followed by a “Massacre Horror Movie Marathon” beginning at 11 a.m. Oct. 10 featuring the 1910 silent film “Frankenstein,” with live organ accompaniment, and “The Thing,” “Halloween 3,” “Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla” and “Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein” at the Pickwick Theater, 5 Prospect Ave., Park Ridge. $25 presale only. The series concludes with “Nosferatu,” with live organ accompaniment, at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 21 at Epiphany Center for the Arts, 201 S. Ashland Ave., Chicago. $15 presale only. terroraisles.com.

Books on the chopping block

In commemoration of Banned Books Week (Oct. 4-10), City Lit Theater Company members host free readings of excerpts from threatened books at suburban and Chicago libraries and bookstores as part of the company’s annual “Books on the Chopping Block” initiative. “For many marginalized communities, the freedom to read represents the freedom to be themselves. City Lit is proud to continue its ‘Books on the Chopping Block’ program at a time when attempts at book banning are at an all-time high,” said executive artistic director Brian Pastor in a prepared statement. Citylit.org. 7:30 p.m. event launches Monday, Oct. 5, at City Lit Theater, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Chicago; 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6, at DePaul University Library, 2350 N. Kenmore Ave., Chicago; 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 7, at Northbrook Public Library, 1201 Cedar Lane, Northbrook; 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8, at Women & Children First, 5233 N. Clark St., Chicago; and 1 p.m. Oct. 10 at the Edgewater branch of the Chicago Public Library, 6000 N. Broadway, Chicago

Funny moms in Wheaton

The Bad Momz of Comedy — Lia Berman, Lindsay Porter, Laura Hugg and Mo Good — perform at the Wheaton Drama Theater, 111 N. Hale St., Wheaton. Tickets are $55 and include a $25 voucher to a participating downtown Wheaton restaurant. visitdowntownwheaton.org/events/dwa. 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6

Chicago City Opera stages horror tale

Chicago City Opera presents the Chicago premiere of the 1828 gothic horror opera “Der Vampyr” by composer Heinrich Marschner and librettist Wilhelm August Wohlbrück. Based on the play “Der Vampir oder die Totenbraut” by Heinrich Ludwig Ritter, which was based on the short story “The Vampyre” by John Polidori, the opera is about a nobleman instructed to sacrifice three virgin brides over 24 hours so that he may live another year. $30, $40; VIP tickets $100. chicagocityopera.com. 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 7, at Colvin House, 5940 N. Sheridan Road, Chicago; 7 p.m. Oct. 9 at Fulton St. Collective, 1821 W. Hubbard St., Chicago; and 3 p.m. Oct. 11 at the Skokie Theater, 7924 Lincoln Ave., Skokie