Best Bets: Raue Center welcomes master satirist David Sedaris
Master of satire
A few tickets remain for humorist/essayist David Sedaris (“The Land and Its People,” “Happy-Go-Lucky,” “The Santaland Diaries”), who headlines “An Evening With” event at the Raue Center for the Arts, 26 N. Williams St., Crystal Lake. Tickets start at $56 for RaueNOW members, $89 for nonmembers. 815-356-9212 or rauecenter.org. 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 12
Morton’s Glass Pumpkin Patch returns
The Morton Arboretum hosts its 16th Glass Pumpkin Patch consisting of more than 8,000 blown glass pumpkins by 19 artists who will conduct glassblowing demonstrations every 30 minutes at 4100 Illinois Route 53, Lisle. New this year are glass pumpkins and other pieces celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month in the Halloween Tent. Included in arboretum admission, which starts at $17.95 for adults and $11.95 for seniors and kids 4-17. mortonarb.org. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday, Oct. 9-11
ESO opens season
Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, featuring pianist Drew Petersen, is the central work of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra’s 77th season-opening concert at the Hemmens Cultural Center, 45 Symphony Way, Elgin. Music director Chad Goodman conducts the performance, which also features Aaron Copland’s Four Dance Episodes from “Rodeo” and Igor Stravinsky’s “Symphony in Three Movements.” Tickets start at $20. 847-888-4000 or ElginSymphony.org. 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11
Chicago salutes John Prine
The Old Town School of Folk Music, 4544 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, celebrates the late John Prine, the Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter and Maywood native. Revered as one of the voices of his generation, Prine died in 2020 of COVID-19 complications. The daylong tribute, on what would have been his 80th birthday, includes faculty members discussing his music, a singalong with Chicago musicians and a tribute concert at nearby Martyrs’, 3855 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. $20. 773-728-6000 or oldtownschool.org. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10
More music
• Country singer/songwriter David Nail headlines The Venue, 21 S. Broadway, Aurora. $41.35. themusicvenue.org. 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10
• Chicago a cappella performs music from Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark during its “Northern Lights” concert at Wentz Concert Hall & Fine Arts Center, North Central College, 171 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville. $10-$50. chicagoacappella.org. 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11
• Fulcrum Point celebrates the centennial of the living Hungarian composer and pianist György Kurtág with a three-concert series examining his music, which has been described as “one of the last living links to the defining postwar composers of the European avant-garde.” $20.72 in person, $10.36 livestream. fulcrumpoint.org. 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11 and 18, at Constellation, 3111 N. Western Ave., Chicago, and 7:30 p.m. Oct. 20 at Experimental Sound Studio, 5920 N. Ridge Ave., Chicago
Robert Falls helms Lyric opener
The Lyric Opera of Chicago opens its 72nd season with “Don Giovanni,” Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s galvanizing work about a lothario whose victims seek revenge on him for his immoral, murderous behavior. Christian Van Horn stars as the titular Don Juan. Music director Enrique Mazzola conducts the operatic morality tale, which is directed by Chicago theater stalwart Robert Falls. Tickets start at $48. LyricOpera.org. Various dates Saturday, Oct. 10, through Nov. 1
Festival del Arte Popular
The National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 W. 19th St., Chicago, hosts its annual Festival del Arte Popular (Folk Art Festival) showcasing Mexican folk artists including weavers, painters and jewelry makers among others. Free. nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 13, through Sunday, Oct. 18, and until 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 15
Chicago film fest
“Behemoth” starring Pedro Pascal as a cellist returning home after 20 years; “The Beloved” starring Javier Bardem as a film director who offers a role to his estranged daughter; Ava DuVernay’s documentary “14th” about the 14th Amendment; “The Debut,” Jesse Eisenberg’s film starring Julianne Moore as an aspiring actress in a community theater production; and “Elsinore,” about real-life actor Ian Charleson (played by Andrew Scott), who got the chance to play his dream role (Hamlet) at his dream theater (London’s Royal National Theatre) at the time he was battling HIV/AIDS, are among the films screened as part of the 62nd Chicago International Film Festival. Single tickets start at $18. Festival passes start at $200. Screenings take place at the Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave.; the Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State St.; and the Harold Washington Library, 400 S. State St., among other locations. chicagofilmfestival.com. Wednesday, Oct. 14, through Oct. 25
Pulitzer Prize exhibition
“Pulitzer on the Road: Prize-Winning Works That Inform, Empower & Inspire,” a traveling exhibition resulting from the collaboration between the Pulitzer Prizes and the American Library Association, inaugurates its nationwide tour at the Harold Washington Library Center, 400 S. State St., Chicago. “Pulitzer on the Road” highlights the history and significance of the Pulitzer Prizes, which honor exceptional American journalism as well as prestigious books, drama and music. Pulitzer winners Percival Everett (“James”), Daniel Kraus (“Angel Down”), Amanda Vaill (“Pride and Pleasure: The Schuyler Sisters in an Age of Revolution”), photojournalist Jon Cherry (2022 breaking news photography winner) and moderator Jelani Cobb, dean of the Columbia Journalism School, will launch the exhibition next week in the Washington Library’s 9th floor Winter Garden. Free. Admission on a first-come basis. pulitzerontheroad.pulitzer.org. 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14