| All I Want for Chicago Is... |
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Collaboraction at
Flat Iron Arts Building
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| Collaboratively written by the Collaboraction Teen Ensemble, All I Want for Chicago Is... follows a group of Chicago teenagers who want to avoid a drab and drama-filled holiday break at home. Instead, they gather on Christmas Eve at Collaboraction to share their hopes, fears and dreams as young Chicagoans. Magical events occur throughout the show via theater, puppetry, music and poetry while actual Chicago teens explore issues of equity, colorism, sexual orientation, discrimination, mental illness and gun violence. |
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| Always... Patsy Cline |
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Firebrand Theatre at
The Den Theatre
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| ALWAYS... PATSY CLINE is based on the true story of Patsy's friendship with Houstonite Louise Seger. Having first heard Patsy on the Arthur Godfrey Show in 1957, Louise became an immediate and avid fan of Patsy's and she constantly hounded the local disc jockey to play Patsy's records on the radio. In 1961 when Patsy went to Houston for a show, Louise and her buddies arrived about an hour-and-a-half early and, by coincidence, met Patsy who was traveling alone. The two women struck up a friendship - a friendship that lasted the rest of Patsy Cline's life. |
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| America's Best Outcast Toy - An Oddball Holiday Reality Musical |
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Pride Arts Center - The Broadway
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| We all know the story of the outcast toys and how they were rescued from their island by a certain famous reindeer (may he rest in peace). But what became of the outcast toys when they came back to America? They became huge celebrities, of course! Now, years later, they return to the island to compete in a series of challenges where they must sing, model, design fashion, outwit/outplay/outlast and bake cakes, and of course, dance for their lives, all to prove that they are AMERICA'S BEST. And the audience actually determines the results with their vote, meaning every night can be a whole new show! |
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| Annie |
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Citadel Theatre Company
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| With equal measures of pluck and positivity, little orphan Annie charms everyone's hearts despite a next-to-nothing start in 1930s New York City. She is determined to find the parents who abandoned her years ago on the doorstep of a New York City Orphanage that is run by the cruel, embittered Miss Hannigan. With the help of the other girls in the Orphanage, Annie escapes to the wondrous world of NYC. In adventure after fun-filled adventure, Annie foils Miss Hannigan's evil machinations... and even befriends President Franklin Delano Roosevelt! She finds a new home and family in billionaire, Oliver Warbucks, his personal secretary, Grace Farrell, and a lovable mutt named Sandy. |
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| The Annoyance Christmas Pageant |
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Annoyance Theatre
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| The Annoyance Christmas Pageant takes two well loved, holiday children specials and combines them into two acts. Charley Brown Christmas follows Charley Brown on his journey to find the true meaning of Christmas, while enduring the commercialization of the season, and insults from Lucy Van Pelt. In Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, Sam the Snowman tells the tale of how young reindeer Rudolph runs away from home to be independent, with his new found friend Hermie. Together they meet Yukon Cornelius, a prospector searching for silver and gold, discover an island of misfit toys and learn that it's okay to be different from the pack. All while avoiding the Abominable Snow Monster of the North! |
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| Another Medea |
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Cuckoo's Theater at
The Den Theatre
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| Marcus Sharp is a charismatic and enigmatic New York actor who recounts in gruesome detail how his obsessions with a wealthy doctor named Jason and the myth of Medea lead to horrific, unspeakable events. |
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| The Ballad of CC Scrooge: #christmasmakeover |
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Steel Beam Theatre
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| A Christmas Carol is adapted, by local playwright John David Westby, into a modern tale of female redemption and joy. A holiday favorite with just the right blend of humor and pathos. Fun for the whole family. Directed by Marge Uhlarik-Boller. |
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| Beast Women Fall Series |
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Prop Theatre
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| Beast Women is an All-Female Performance Variety Revue serving as a platform to showcase the best female talent in Chicago. The show features approximately a dozen live performance acts consisting of a diverse assortment of genres including music, poetry, dance, performance art, spoken word, burlesque, etc. Each performer must first earn a spot in the lineup after passing through an audition process. They then receive approximately 5 to 8 minutes of stage time, with little to no props. Women are encouraged to display their passion, strength, freedom, and sensuality in order to help reveal the very things that make them the women they are today. The only demands placed upon them are to be original and be bold. |
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| The Beatrix Potter Holiday Tea Party |
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Chicago Children's Theatre at
The Station
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| Now a popular annual tradition, The Beatrix Potter Holiday Tea Party is the perfect way to kick off your family's holiday festivities. Three adorable Beatrix Potter favorite tales are unspooled in this mesmerizing, interactive trunk and puppet show, complete with live music. Then, audience members are invited on stage to pull the levers and turn the same cranks that produced such whimsical images of surprise and delight. After photos with the cast, families are whisked to a Victorian-style dining hall, which is adorned with beautiful holiday decor and open tables set with cookies and warm cocoa. |
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| Beauty and the Beast |
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Paramount Theatre
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| Once upon a time on a bitter winter's night, a young, selfish and vain prince finds a beggar woman asking for shelter. Disgusted by her appearance, he sends her far away. The old woman transforms into a magical enchantress who places a curse upon the prince to appear as hideous on the outside as he is on the inside. Given a magical rose, he must learn to love and find love in return before the last petal drops, or he is doomed to remain a beast forever. But who cold ever learn to love a beast? |
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| Bette: Xmas At The Continental Baths |
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Hell in a Handbag Productions at
Mary's Attic
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| With the inimitable Tommy Ross tickling the ivories as Barry Manilow, Handbag's loving recreation of the beginning of Ms. Midler's stellar career features the fabulous songs she sang for the boys in the bathhouse, including Chattanooga Choo-Choo, Superstar - plus holiday ditties done in Bette's unparalleled style. BETTE: XMAS AT THE CONTINENTAL BATHS is adapted by Artistic Director David Cerda and Catilin Jackson, with direction by Catilin Jackson and Marc Lewallen. |
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| Blue Man Group |
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Briar Street Theatre
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| Blue Man Group is best known for its award-winning theatrical productions which critics have described as "ground-breaking," "hilarious," "visually stunning" and "musically powerful." These performances feature three enigmatic bald and blue characters who take the audience through a multi-sensory experience that combines theatre, percussive music, art, science and vaudeville into a form of entertainment that is like nothing else. |
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| Burlesque is More Presents: Nice N' Naughty |
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Annoyance Theatre
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| "Burlesque is More Presents: Nice N' Naughty" features some of the most hilarious holiday themed characters a comedic strip club could have this time of year. The "Rumble Room" is ready to battle the winter chills. Join our funny and talented performers as they heat things up this holiday season. Dance choreography for the show was provided courtesy of cast member Tres Dillon. The combination of sharp humor and sex appeal is almost too much to handle. Almost. |
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| The Buttcracker, A Nutcracker Burlesque |
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The Den Theatre
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| The best of Chicago's nightlife entertainment return for year four of the subversive and sexy alternative re-telling of the holiday classic. Clara is the office admin of Corporate Limited, INC., an office full of stuffy attitudes and a prude sense of humor. When her boss makes her plan the office holiday party, she hires Drosselmeyer, a burlesque drag star who shocks the office right out of their pants. Her none-too-pleased boss fires Clara, but Drosselmeyer has a few tricks up their sleeve, and whisks Clara away on a hallucinogenic trip down the rabbit hole to the magical Land of the Sweets. There she meets her life-size confections soldier, The Buttcracker, battles the Rat King and saves the day, all to learn with the help of the Sugar Bum Fairy that there is a place for those who play outside the box. One part ballet, one part parody, highlighting the world of Chicago's burlesque and variety scene. It's the holiday show you don't want to miss! |
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| Bye Bye Liver |
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Stage 773
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| The Pub Theater Company performs a series of outrageous sketches centered on Chicago's favorite pastime: drinking. Bye Bye Liver is filled with interactive social games for the audience, pitting males versus females, actors versus audience and so on. Bar life and alcoholic adventures are held up for your amusement so you can laugh -- and drink -- your troubles away. With a spontaneous and interactive format, the outcome is always a fun and outrageous time for everyone, both audience and cast. |
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| Christmas Bingo: It's a Ho-Ho-Holy Night |
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Royal George Theatre
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| Vicki Quade, creator of the smash hit Late Nite Catechism, invites you to get into the Christmas spirit with her hilarious holiday show, Christmas Bingo: It's a Ho-Ho-Holy Night. Brush up on your Yuletide trivia, because with this uniquely interactive show, you'll be playing for actual prizes. Bingo caller Mrs. Mary Margaret O'Brien will have you in stitches as she tackles the wackiest myths and most outrageous facts about Christmas, including jolly old St. Nick's origins and where candy canes come from. |
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| A Christmas Carol the Musical |
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BrightSide Theatre at
Meiley-Swallow Hall
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| The holiday season is just not the same without a bit of Scrooge! Playing for ten years at New York's Madison Square Garden, Charles Dickens' classic gets the full Broadway treatment by Broadway heavy hitters, Alan Menken (Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Disney's The Little Mermaid, Little Shop of Horrors, Sister Act) and Lynn Ahrens (Ragtime, Seussical, Once on This Island) as they reawaken the true spirit of Christmas with a heart-stirring tale of beauty and redemption. |
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