By Philip Vidal
May marks the transition from winter to spring and is the harbinger of all that summer offers. One of my favorite experiences this time of year is seeing the light green chartreuse glow in the west side of my apartment from the sun reflecting on the leaves of the trees alongside the building. The green glow reminds me of new beginnings, new talent, and of course farmers’ markets.
The Bramble Arts Center is a theater transformed into an ice cave for Melanie Coffey’s “Time is a Color and the Color is Blue,” May 1-24. Photo courtesy of Avalanche Theatre.
While I think that green is the color of the season, May opens with a world premiere of Chicago playwright Melanie Coffey’s “Time is a Color and the Color is Blue” at the Bramble Arts Center, May 1-24. It’s also the inaugural production of Avalanche Theatre, whose mission is to develop new plays by Chicago playwrights.
A one night only event you don’t want to miss! Chicago’s own Hiplet Ballerinas take the stage at the Auditorium with classical pointe, hip-hop, and other styles of dance. Photo by Phillip Dembinski.
I’m looking forward to seeing a new group of talented dancers perform at the Chicago Academy for the Arts’ Spring Dance Concert at the Studebaker Theatre on May 10. If you want to experience youthful exuberance and talent, attend this event. Chicago’s own Hiplet Ballerinas, combining classical, hip-hop and other styles, marks their first solo performance at the Auditorium on May 17.
Celebrating the power of music performed by young artists! The Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras Spring 2025 concert season has a variety of upcoming performance in the month of May. Photo by Ed Spinelli.
The Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras (CYSO) showcase talented young artists in a variety of music genres during their spring concert season. Just a few of the concerts this month are: the CSYO’s Jazz Orchestra at the historic Jazz Showcase on May 13; the CYSO’s Jumbies, Groove, and Junior Steel Orchestras at Benito Juarez Community Academy on May 17; and the CYSO’s Symphony Orchestra and Philharmonic Orchestra at Orchestra Hall on May 18.
Cedille Records’ second Emerging Artist Competition presents seven talented semi-finalists competing for a recording contract for their debut album, May 17-18. Photo courtesy of Cedille Records.
Cedille Records, Chicago’s Grammy® award-winning classical music recording label, hosts its second Emerging Artists Competition. Seven young Chicago musicians will compete in the semifinal and final rounds on May 17-18 at the Spertus Institute. The finals on May 18 will be livestreamed and also open to the public (registration required). Like Cedille, the American Opera Society of Chicago’s mission is to promote classical music. Founded in 1924, the society offers scholarships to young singers and musicians. The society’s annual Spring Luncheon and Concert featuring their 2025 Scholarship Award Winners is May 21 at a private club in the Gold Coast.
The 5th annual Opera Festival of Chicago presents masterpieces of Italian opera that are new (i.e., rarely-if-ever performed in the United States). The festival runs May 9-June 29 at various locations in the Chicago area. Chicago City Opera chose an appropriate venue, the Horatio May Chapel in Rosehill Cemetery, to present the Chicago premiere of composer Eric Korngold’s psychological thriller “Die tote Stadt (The Dead City),” May 17-18.
Third Coast Percussion’s annual Currents concert, May 30 at Constellation, features world premieres of some of the newest, most innovative music by Third Coast Percussion’s Currents Creative Partners.
It’s a new beginning and new name for the Center for Intuit and Outsider Art, which is reopening as the Intuit Art Museum this month. The inaugural special exhibition “Catalyst: Im/migration and Self-Taught Art in Chicago” runs May 23-January 11, 2026.
There are four other exhibitions of note opening this month. Alphawood Exhibitions presents “The First Homosexuals: The Birth of a New Identity, 1869-1939” at Wrightwood 659, May 2-July 26. The exhibition’s starting point, 1869, is the year the word ‘homosexual’ was first coined. The pieces in the exhibition come from private collections and museums including The Courtauld, the Musée d’Orsay, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Tate and Kunsthaus Zürich.
The Driehaus Museum hosts the traveling exhibition, “Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature,” starting May 16. Photo courtesy of Driehaus Museum.
Curated by Ruth L. A. Stiff, Curator of International Exhibitions at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, the traveling exhibition “Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature” comes to the Driehaus Museum, May 16-August 16, and tells the story of artist Rory McEwen (1932-1982) and his botanic art. When I last visited Kew Gardens, I visited the Marianne North Gallery and was introduced to the work of another trailblazing botanic artist, Marianne North, so I’m anxious to see McEwen’s work. Programming includes concerts at the Driehaus Museum and the Old Town School of Folk Music. In addition to being an artist, McEwen was also a folk musician and host of the popular 1960’s music show Hullabaloo! The Chicago Botanic Garden, The Morton Arboretum and the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum are just a few of the local partners also offering programming.
Larger than life animal sculptures! The Morton Arboretum’s new exhibition “Vivid Creatures: Colorful Sculptures Tall as Trees” comes to life with impressive sculptures all around the garden. Photo render credit to Heather BeGaetz and Fez BeGaetz courtesy of Morton Arboretum.
Chicago’s largest public garden, The Morton Arboretum, presents its latest outdoor sculpture exhibition “Vivid Creatures: Colorful Sculptures Tall as Trees” featuring the new larger-than life animal sculptures by artists Heather BeGaetz and Fez BeGaetz. The Vivid Creatures Walking Tour on May 17, its opening day, gives visitors a behind-the-scenes look at the sculptures with the artists.
Hokusai’s iconic “The Wave” and many more original works will be on view at “Hokusai and Ukiyo-e: The Floating World, Artworks from the Chiossone Collection”, at The Cleve Carney Museum of Art and McAninch Arts Center, May 31-September 21. Photo courtesy of The Cleve Carney Museum of Art and McAninch Arts Center.
The newest exhibition at the Cleve Carney Museum of Art and the McAninch Art Center at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn is “Hokusai and Ukiyo-e: The Floating World, Artworks from the Chiossone Collection.” Featuring original works by artists from the Japanese Edo Period (1603-1868), the exhibition runs May 31-September 21. Hokusai’s iconic “The Wave” will be on view. This is one of the most popular works at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Learn more about Gustave Caillebotte and his artwork at Gloria Groom’s “Gustave Caillebotte: Painting his World” presentation, May 14. Photo courtesy of Alliance Française de Chicago.
Another popular work at the Art Institute is Gustave Caillebotte’s monumental painting “Paris Street; Rainy Day.” Get a new perspective on the artist and his work by attending “Gustave Caillebotte: Painting his World,” the presentation that Gloria Groom, the Art Institute’s Winton Green Curator, is giving at the Alliance Française de Chicago on May 14 as part of the Alliance’s “The Symposium on the Arts of France 2025,” and prior to the final stop of the “Gustave Caillebotte: Painting His World” exhibition at the Art Institute, June 29-October 5. The exhibition is certain to be this summer’s blockbuster.
The Chicago Humanities Festival’s events and concerts are truly stellar and too numerous to list here. The presentations are a great way to learn something new. Just a few of the topics are art, comedy, design, global affairs, literature and poetry. The Spring Festival continues through June 13 at venues throughout Chicago.
Novelist Jane Austen’s appeal is eternal. A new French romantic comedy, entitled “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life” (in English and French with English subtitles), runs May 23-June 5 at the Gene Siskel Film Center. The new mini-series “Miss Austen on Masterpiece” premieres May 4 on WTTW.
The North American premiere of the all-new documentary “The Legend of Kingdom Come” about the best-selling 1990s graphic novel “Kingdom Come” is May 10 at the at Music Box Theatre. Based on cartoonist Jason Lutes’ 550-page graphic novel, the world premiere of Mickle Maher’s new adaption of “Berlin” runs through May 11 at Court Theatre. It’s the final show of Court’s 2024-25 season.
I’m looking forward to telling our Classic Chicago Magazine readers about the upcoming 2025-2026 season. In the meantime, I am just as excited to discover all the produce on offer at the city’s farmers’ markets. I am motivated by my discovery of Turkish eggplant, which looks like a cross between an heirloom tomato and a persimmon, and is incredibly delicious when roasted with butter and parmesan cheese.
Outdoor farmers market season is back! Several farmers markets across Chicago have their opening day this month. Photo by City of Chicago.
Just a few of the farmers’ markets opening this month are: the Wicker Park Farmers Market (Sundays, May 4-October 26); the Logan Square Farmers Market (Sundays, May 11-October 26); the Division Street Farmers Market (Saturdays, May 17-October 25); the Andersonville Farmers Market (Wednesdays, May 14-October 22, at its new location in the 1500 block of West Winona); and the longest-running farmers’ market in Chicago, the Daley Plaza Farmers Market (Thursdays, May 22-October 23).
May closes with Chicago’s longest-running dog-friendly outdoor fundraiser, Anti-Cruelty’s annual BARK on May 31. The event raises funds to support Anti-Cruelty’s mission with a morning of food, beverages, music, family-activities and dog-friendly demonstrations at its new location, Lincoln Park Grove 2. I love watching dogs and know that I would be entertained.
Dates, times, locations and availability are subject to change.
