By Philip Vidal
The month of January is named after the Roman god Janus, typically depicted with two faces – one looking to the past and the other to the future, and new things for a New Year.
One night only event! Martha Graham Dance Company’s celebrates 100 years this season with a performance at The Auditorium, January 24. Martha Graham Dance Company in Hope Boykin’s En Masse; photo by Luis Luque.
The Martha Graham Dance Company is timeless in combining the classics and new works. Celebrating their 100th anniversary, the oldest dance company in the United States, and certainly one of the most influential, comes to The Auditorium on January 24. Their last visit to Chicago was in 2007. This January performance is part of The Auditorium’s Celebrating Women Leaders in Dance series, focusing on female-led companies that will lead the way for future generations.
Northwestern University’s annual Winter Chamber Music Festival, described as “[a]n exhilarating journey through brilliant chamber masterworks past and present,” kicks off on with a performance by the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam at the Pick-Staiger Concert Hall on January 9.
NLM Resident Artist Alexander Hersh and the NLM Trio perform the program “Threads of Melodic Silence,” January 21 at Guarneri Hall. Photo courtesy of Nova Linea Music.
Nova Linea Musica, an exponent of new music, presents a world premiere by Chicago composer Stacy Garrop as part of the “NLM Trio: Threads of Melodic Silence” concert at Guarneri Hall on January 21.
Blues musician and singer Buddy Guy, who is eighty-nine, plays sixteen “Ain’t Done with the Blues” shows this month at Buddy Guy’s Legends, continuing his annual tradition of a January concert marathon.
Chicago singer and civil rights activist Mavis Staples is eighty-six, still touring and has a new album out, “Sad and Beautiful World.” Staples performs with special guest Nathaniel Rateliff at The Chicago Theatre on January 10.
Experience music through the lens of Dr. King’s words. Music Institute of Chicago hosts their 23rd annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Celebration Concert with a free concert at Nichols Concert Hall, January 18. Photo credit to Mike Grittani.
Illinois was the first state to recognize MLK day, January 19. Honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the 23rd annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Celebration Concert at Nichols Concert Hall on January 18. The Hyde Park Art Center hosts a free MLK Day celebration, “Chaos or Community,” that includes a performance by the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) on January 19.
Third Coast Percussion performs “Bruce Goff—Rolls and Reimaginations” at The Art Institute of Chicago, January 29. Don’t forget to visit the museum’s Bruce Goff exhibition while you are there! Photo credit to Saverio Truglia.
Architect Bruce Goff (1904-1982) is the subject of an Art Institute of Chicago’s exhibition “Bruce Goff: Material Worlds” (through March 29). Goff also composed music. In conjunction with the exhibition, 2026 GRAMMY® nominee Third Coast Percussion performs “Bruce Goff—Rolls and Reimaginations,” a concert of Goff’s work, and work inspired by the exhibition at the Art Institute, on January 29. I last heard Third Coast Percussion perform at a Chicago Chamber Music Society concert in September, and the group was terrific.
A beloved tradition for 92 years! The Arts Club of Chicago features their members’ works across a range of media, styles, forms and genres. Photo by The Arts Club of Chicago.
The Arts Club of Chicago has been a venue for established as well as emerging artists since 1916. The club’s inaugural exhibition was of paintings by John Singer Sargent. The club’s second exhibition was work by its members. The 92nd Exhibition of Visual Artist Members, featuring new works by club members, runs January 23-March 7 and is open to the public. The first solo exhibition of Picasso’s drawings in the United States was held at the Art Institute of Chicago, hosted by the Arts Club of Chicago in 1923.
The Museum of Contemporary Photography, which like the Arts Club has also mounted many groundbreaking exhibitions, celebrates its 50th anniversary with an exhibition “MoCP at 50: Collecting Through the Decades,” January 22-May 16.
A brand-new museum is one of the five museums in Paris that Russell Kelley will take us through virtually with their curators and directors in his latest lecture series “The Making of the Great Museums of Paris—From 1900 Until Today” on Zoom through the Alliance Française de Chicago, Thursdays, January 15-February 19. I’ve enjoyed several of Kelley’s annual History & Heritage lecture series and they’ve all been informative and interesting.
Paris makes me think of the marvelous meals I’ve had there, and of the marvelous restaurants we have here in Chicago.
Chicago Legends chef Grant Achatz and the restaurant Gene & Georgetti will be featured and honored at the Banchet Awards, January 25 at VenueSIX10. Photo by Banchet Awards for Culinary Excellence.
For many years, Le Français in suburban Wheeling was considered the best restaurant in the United States. Its original proprietor, famed French chef Jean Banchet, is the namesake for the Banchet Awards for Culinary Excellence, celebrating the best in Chicago’s restaurant and hospitality industry. This year’s award ceremony is January 25 at VenueSIX10 and honors two Chicago legends: chef Grant Achatz, who will receive the Culinary Excellence Award, and Gene & Georgetti, which will receive the award for the new category Iconic Restaurant (25+ years).
Chicago is perennially on the list of the top food destinations in the United States. The 19th annual Chicago Restaurant Week, January 23-February 8, is a great way to support Chicago’s restaurants, a wonderful opportunity to revisit old favorites and discover new ones, and to take advantage of prix-fixe menus for brunch and lunch ($30 p.p.) and dinner ($45 and/or $60 p.p.) offered at this year’s record-breaking 500+ restaurants in the Chicago area.
In addition to its restaurants, Chicago is famed for its theater scene. There are lots of new events this month.
Pegasus Theatre Chicago’s 39th annual Young Playwrights Festival at Chicago Dramatist, January 1-24, is billed as “four new plays, by four new voices.” The Goodman Theatre’s free 21st annual New Stages Festival, January 11-18, is an opportunity to see staged readings that have become successful full-length productions.
The 1920s romantic comedy “Holiday” soars to new life on stage. Directed by Robert Falls , catch a performance of the world-premiere adaption of Richard Greenberg’s adaptation of Philip Barry’s “Holiday” from January 31-March 1 at the Goodman Theatre. Photo by Goodman Theatre.
The Goodman is also presenting a new take on a 1928 play that was adapted twice to the silver screen in 1930 and 1938. The 1938 film starred Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant. The world premiere of Richard Greenberg’s adaptation of Philip Barry’s “Holiday” directed by Robert Falls runs January 31-March 1.
The Chicago premiere of Jonathan Spector’s “Eureka Day” will be presented by TimeLine Theatre at Broadway In Chicago’s Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place starting January 13. Photo courtesy of TimeLine Theatre.
New to Chicago is Jonathan Spector’s “Eureka Day,” which won the 2025 Tony Award® for Best Revival of a Play, TimeLine Theatre Company at Broadway In Chicago’s Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place, January 13-February 22.
The spring edition of Steppenwolf Theatre’s LookOut performance series, which presents the work of emerging and established local performing artists and companies, runs January 15-March 14, and opens with “The Uncanny Attic: A Beautifully Gruesome Production” January 15-17 featuring animation, dance, live music, and puppetry.
The funny and family friendly musical “The Enormous Crocodile” hits the Studebaker Theater stage from January 29 – February 21. Photo credit to Danny Kaan.
The London-based Roald Dahl Story Company’s first production in Chicago is “The Enormous Crocodile,” based on Dahl’s book. It’s a family-friendly musical featuring a menagerie of puppets, Studebaker Theater, January 28-February 21. The musical is in partnership with the 8th annual Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, running January 12-February 1 at multiple venues across Chicago.
Originally the L. Hamilton McCormick mansion (1889), the building at 100 East Ontario just west of the Woman’s Athletic Club, has been the home to many establishments over the years, including Kungsholm, a Scandinavian restaurant, the Kungsholm Miniature Grand Opera, a puppet opera theater, (1937-1971), and until December 31, 2020, Lawry’s The Prime Rib (“A Chicago Classic since 1974”). Many of us still remember the spinning bowl salads and the meat carts that looked like a Flash Gordon rocket, and the liveried waiters and waitresses, which were a part of the Lawry’s scene. Just before Lawry’s closed, I took a behind-the-scenes tour and saw vestiges of the former mansion and the former puppet theater. The building is now being converted into a venue for magic, The Hand & The Eye. I remember the magicians Amazing Kreskin and David Copperfield performing on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.” Magic seems to be having a renaissance with venues such as the Rhapsody Theater, The Magic Parlour, and the Chicago Magic Lounge, which hosts Justin Purcell’s “Magic is People” show, January 7-March 15.
Start planning now! Don’t forget Chicago Theatre Week tickets go on sale January 6 for performances in February. Photo by Choose Chicago.
Looking forward into February, value-priced tickets go on sale starting January 6 for a wide variety of performances across the city and suburbs for Chicago Theatre Week, February 5-15.
A new Cubs and White Sox season will soon be upon us. Get a sneak peek by attending the 40th annual Cubs Convention at the Sheraton Grand Hotel, January 16-18. The Cubs were the first pro team to host a fan convention. For Sox fans, SoxFest Live at the historic Ramova Theatre in Bridgeport is slated for January 30-31.
Dates, times, locations and availability are subject to change.
