Best Bets: Andrea Bocelli, Schaumburg Boomers, Natalie Merchant and more
Chocolate delights
Attention chocolate lovers, Long Grove hosts its annual Chocolate Fest this weekend. Festivities take place downtown in the area of 145 Old McHenry Road, and include chocolate eats and drinks, along with live music, games, chocolate and wine pairings, pie-eating contests and candy-making demonstrations. Tickets are $5, $10 for a three-day pass. longgrove.org/festivals/chocolatefest. Noon to 11 p.m. Friday, May 19; 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, May 20; and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, May 21
Play ball!
Four-time Frontier League champions, the Schaumburg Boomers take on the Windy City Thunderbolts in their home opener at Wintrust Field, 1999 Springinsguth Road, Schaumburg. This season includes postgame fireworks, giveaways and themed events including a pet night, Marvel superhero night, military appreciation night and professional wrestling night. Tickets are $12 to $55. boomersbaseball.com. 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 19, and 6 p.m. Saturday, May 20
Stewart Copeland
Former Police drummer Stewart Copeland and his fellow musicians find themselves backed by a 50-piece orchestra (courtesy of the Chicago Federation of Musicians) for Copeland's “Police Deranged for Orchestra” performance at the Genesee Theatre, 203 N. Genesee St., Waukegan. Tickets are $39-$89 at geneseetheatre.com. Read our interview with Copeland at dailyherald.com. 8 p.m. Friday, May 19
Blues in Crystal Lake
The Raue Center, 26 N. Williams St., Crystal Lake, hosts a Blues Weekend featuring the masterful harmonica player, pianist and singer Corky Siegel and Grammy Award-winning tenor saxophonist Ernie Watts, who played with Frank Zappa and with Doc Severinsen, where he spent 20 years as a member of The Tonight Show Band. Also performing is Derrick Procell, whose songs have been featured on such TV shows as “The Office,” “This Is Us” and “The Americans.” Tickets start at $30, $21 for RaueNow members. (815) 356-9212 or rauecenter.org. Corky Siegel and Ernie Watts at 8 p.m. Friday, May 19; Derrick Procell at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 20
Natalie Merchant
Singer-songwriter (and former 10,000 Maniacs lead vocalist) Natalie Merchant brings her defiant new album and songs from her four-decade musical career as her “Keep Your Courage Tour” stops at the Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State St., Chicago. Tickets start at $39.50 at msg.com. 8 p.m. Friday, May 19
Once Upon a Symphony
The Chicago Children's Theatre and The Chicago Symphony Orchestra team up for “Once Upon a Symphony: The Elves and the Shoemaker” at Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago. Storyteller Felix Mayes joins instrumentalists to tell this story about a poor cobbler whose failing business is saved by some industrious elves. Tickets cost $10 and $20. (312) 294-3000 or cso.org. 10 and 11:45 a.m. Saturday, May 20
Andrea Bocelli
Fresh off a performance at Windsor Castle in England to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III, Andrea Bocelli heads to the Allstate Arena, 6920 Mannheim Road, Rosemont, with a program fit to showcase his tenor vocals. Tickets start at $270 at rosemont.com. 8 p.m. Saturday, May 20
Socrates on trial
Actor and Second City alum John Kapelos (“The Umbrella Academy,” “The Shape of Water”) plays the defendant in ancient Greece's case of the people vs. Socrates in the National Hellenic Museum's re-creation of “The Trial of Socrates” at the Harris Theater, 205 E. Randolph St., Chicago. Chicago lawyers and judges will serve as jurors during the performance that asks: Was the philosopher guilty of impiety, or was he merely expressing freedom of thought? Tickets are $100, $50 for students. (312) 644-1234 or nationalhellenicmuseum.org/trial. 7 p.m. Monday, May 22