Marriott Theatre’s special event for New Year’s Eve will be New Year’s Rockabilly Eve, Featuring the Cast of Million Dollar Quartet Christmas – a one-of-a-kind evening of classic rock ‘n’ roll tunes from a bygone era and the search for the perfect New Year’s song. The joint will be jumpin’ with hits like “Great Balls of Fire,” “Hound Dog,” “Blue Suede Shoes, “Folsom Prison Blues,” “Let’s Have a Party,” “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?,” and more!

For nearly four decades, the Young Playwrights Festival, the oldest such festival in the United States, has engaged and inspired high school students across Chicago by teaching them to craft one-act plays. More than 300 submissions are received annually with the winning teen playwrights’ productions being work-shopped, staged by industry professionals and receive a premiere under the auspices of Pegasus Theatre Chicago’s Young Playwrights Festival.

RAIN is crafted specifically for newborns to crawling babies and their caretakers. A trio of performers on cello, voice, and movement act as gentle guides as adult carers and their littlest ones are immersed in an intimate, mindful installation space full of surprise and delight, with opportunities for connection through music and sensory exploration. Audiences are invited to experience the wonder and generosity of rain and explore together water's elemental connection between parent and child.

Separated from her b?b? in Iran and living in a strange new land, a determined young girl contacts the President, Santa Claus, and God to determine the unknown variable – when her father will be granted a Green Card from the United States so they can be reunited.

Black Boys Cry is a powerful, nationally acclaimed stage play that follows seven Black men as they navigate love, loss, trauma, faith, and healing. With a blend of humor, heart, and raw honesty, the show opens up necessary conversations around mental health, masculinity, and vulnerability in Black communities. It’s an emotional, thought-provoking night of theatre that leaves audiences laughing, reflecting, and deeply moved.

The New Stages Festival returns for its 21st year, transforming the Owen Theatre into a showcase for bold new work in development. This year’s lineup features script-in-hand readings of Calamity West’s FEAST!, a sharply funny holiday dinner gone off the rails that exposes privilege, money, and marriage under pressure; Hansol Jung’s Pennies, an epic, time-bending journey from a modern call center to the River Styx that wrestles with grief, guilt, and emotional burnout; Christina Anderson’s This Part of His Life Blooms, in which a newly retired man turns to his neglected garden and unburied memories to confront love, friendship, and fatherhood; and Ike Holter’s The Audience Unseen, a real-time supernatural thriller where a routine interrogation becomes a terrifying descent into the unknown. With free tickets by reservation and a focus on inventive, risk-taking storytelling, the festival offers Chicago audiences an early look at some of the country’s most exciting playwrights and plays in progress.

At Berkeley, California's ultra-progressive Eureka Day School, every decision is made by consensus. But when a mumps outbreak hits, the school's carefully cultivated culture of inclusiveness spirals into chaos. As parents and board members clash over vaccines, personal freedoms, and viral misinformation, a community built on open-minded ideals implodes. TimeLine's Chicago premiere of Spector's Tony Award-winning play tackles one of the defining questions of our time: how do you build consensus when no one can agree on the truth?

John and his daughter Caitlyn are birders. As they scan the skies over their backyard in suburban Maryland looking for elusive birds, years go by. Relationships begin and end. Children grow up and parents age. The climate and the world change in small and vast ways. BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA takes a close look at the relationship of a father and daughter over the course of a decade as they struggle to understand the parts of one another that defy understanding.

Using elements of absurdity and black humor, Green Corridors is a poetic, harrowing journey through a world fractured by war. Ukrainian playwright Natalka Vorozhbyt's deeply human storytelling, brought to life by Kay Martinovich, invites us to bear witness to displacement, resistance, and the echoing pain of conflict and offers a poignant and urgent reflection on displacement, survival, and identity.

Critics, fans and fellow comedians agree: Brian Regan is one of the most respected comedians in the country with Vanity Fair calling Brian, "The funniest stand-up alive," and Entertainment Weekly calling him, "Your favorite comedian's favorite comedian." Having built his 30-plus year career on the strength of his material alone, Brian's non-stop theater tour continuously fills the most beautiful venues across North America, visiting close to 100 cities each year.

A one-hour musical adaptation! Meet Roxanne, Petunia, and Babe...three Sister Piggies who set out to build their own houses. Roxanne (The Rock'n Roll Pig) builds hers out of sticks, Petunia (The Pretty Pig) builds hers out of straw, and Babe (The Sensible, Smart Pig) builds hers out of bricks! Which house will the Big Bad Wolf "huff and puff and blow down?" Don't miss CKC's most popular show! All CKC productions feature professional actors, colorful scenery and costumes, sing-along songs, and plenty of audience participation. This show perfect for children ages 2 to 10!

Mary Jane is a resilient young mother caring for her chronically sick child. Despite the mundane and sometimes unthinkable reality of his illness, she finds herself building a community of women from all walks of life. This intimate drama of profound ideas is a powerful and compassionate portrait of caregiving and the importance of ordinary human kindness.

There's nothing more special than sharing Disney magic with loved ones. Whether it's the first time you watched Toy Story, sang along to "Let It Go," or cheered for your favorite Disney Princess, Disney On Ice is the perfect place to revisit cherished memories and create new ones together. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy will take you on a journey through these unforgettable moments, powered by a Magical MousePad. Discover thrilling adventures from Zootopia, Inside Out 2, and the all-new Moana 2.

Follow Peter Pan and Tinkerbell to Neverland! The adventures are endless in a world of pirates and mayhem. Let your imagination fly to a place that allows you to NEVER GROW UP! All CKC productions feature professional actors, colorful scenery and costumes, sing-along songs, and plenty of audience participation. This show is perfect for children ages 2 to 10!

When the sitting governor gets kicked out of office for, you guessed it, corruption, it's time for someone new to take the throne... uh...the role. And the polls are in, it's time for an outsider. Enter bumbling brainiac Ned Newley. With bright ideas and hope in his eyes, he's the perfect candidate - on paper. It will take a team of dedicated pollsters, campaign coordinators and more notecards than one can count, to turn him into a poised politician who can expertly avoid questions like it's his job. This knee-slappingly hilarious play will have the audience reaching across the aisle to share a laugh. Audiences may even find a renewed sense of hope for politics...okay maybe not... but they'll at least enjoy an absolutely hysterical and highly entertaining break from the news.

Based on Oscar Wilde’s one-act play, Salome has been thrilling and fascinating audiences for more than a century. Lyric Opera of Chicago brings Sir David McVicar’s decadent production — which is set in 1930s fascist Italy and sheds a harsh light on the timeless greed and entitlement of the elite — to Chicago. This gory thrill ride returns to Lyric for the first time in 20 years starring Elena Stikhina in the demanding title role of a teenage femme fatale whose infatuation has fatal implications, alongside Lyric favorites Brandon Jovanovich and Tanja Ariane Baumgartner. Salome drips with decadence that matches Strauss’s lyrical score and German libretto. From the infamous "Dance of the Seven Veils" to Salome’s shocking last kiss, this production will leave you breathless.

Stereophonic mines the agony and the ecstasy of creation as it zooms in on a music studio in 1976. Here, an up-and-coming rock band recording a new album finds itself suddenly on the cusp of superstardom. The ensuing pressures could spark their breakup - or their breakthrough. Written by David Adjmi, directed by Daniel Aukin, and featuring original music by Arcade Fire's Will Butler, Stereophonic invites the audience to immerse themselves - with fly-on-the-wall intimacy - in the powder keg process of a band on the brink of blowing up.