Performing Arts
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Best Bets: ESO in concert, Long Grove Cocoa Crawl and Chicago Botanic’s orchid showFeb 02, 2026 1:40 pm - This weekend, listen to the sounds of Barber and Brahms courtesy of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra. Plus, warm up with hot chocolate during the Long Grove Cocoa Crawl and view beautiful flowers during the Chicago Botanic Garden’s “The Orchid Show: Feelin’ Groovy” in Glencoe.
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Comedy, compassion and a little terror animate Marriott Theatre’s ‘Little Shop of Horrors’Jan 30, 2026 12:22 pm - Fine performances, excellent design and remarkable original puppets elevate Marriott Theatre’s winning revival of the comically macabre musical “Little Shop of Horrors.”
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The making of a smash: Unshakable belief helped propel record-breaking ‘Stereophonic’Jan 28, 2026 4:26 pm - “Stereophonic” director Daniel Aukin reminisces about the unshakable belief he and his fellow theater artists had in David Adjmi’s play-with-music over the nine years it took to bring it to the stage, where it broke the record for most Tony Award nominations for a play.
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Spotlight: ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ opens at Paramount while Drury Lane stages ‘On Your Feet!’Jan 28, 2026 8:24 am - Paramount stages the regional premiere of “Dear Evan Hansen” while Drury Lane produces the regional premiere of the bio-tuner “On Your Feet! The Story of Emilio and Gloria Estefan.” Plus, Goodman and Remy Bumppo theaters stage revivals of classic works, this week in Chicago-area theater.
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Best bets: Morton Arboretum’s Chocolate Weekend, Renee Fleming at Lyric, Kevin Nealon at The DenJan 27, 2026 10:32 am - Morton Arboretum welcomes chocolate lovers, divas Patti LuPone and Renee Fleming headline two Chicago venues, and “Saturday Night Live” veteran Kevin Nealon brings the laughs to The Den Theatre.
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Things to do Jan. 30 to Feb. 5: Norge Ski Jump Tournament, comedian Michael Winslow, Groundhog Day and moreJan 26, 2026 3:53 pm - Make plans for the Downtown Downers Grove Ice Festival, 121st annual Norge Ski Jump Tournament, Groundhog Day events and more.
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Provocative, laugh-out-loud funny ‘Eureka Day’ gets a superb regional premiereJan 23, 2026 12:30 pm - TimeLine Theatre and Broadway in Chicago deliver a compassionate, uproariously funny regional premiere of Jonathan Spector’s Tony Award-winning satire “Eureka Day.”
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Don’t call it a comeback: ‘Holiday’ helmer, Chicago mainstay Robert Falls never leftJan 21, 2026 1:56 pm - “I want to work with people I love. I want to work with theaters I respect,” says former Goodman Theatre artistic director Robert Falls, who returns to his artistic home to direct a contemporary adaptation of Philip Barry’s 1928 romantic comedy “Holiday.”
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Spotlight: Buffalo Theatre Ensemble and Oil Lamp Theater enter 2026 laughingJan 20, 2026 12:20 pm - Buffalo Theatre Ensemble and Oil Lamp Theater begin 2026 with comedies by Paul Slade Smith, Steppenwolf welcomes co-founder Jeff Perry and ensemble member Kathryn Erbe for “The Dance of Death,” and Teatro ZinZanni bids Chicago farewell.
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Things to do Jan. 23-29: Aziz Ansari, Paula Poundstone, Disney on Ice, Wheeling Winterfest and moreJan 20, 2026 11:38 am - Make plans for stand-up comedy from Aziz Ansari and Paula Poundstone, Disney On Ice “Jump In!” at Rosemont’s Allstate Arena, the Chicagoland Fishing Expo in Schaumburg, Wheeling Winterfest and more.