By Philip Vidal
November is noted for election day near the start of the month, and we look forward to the Thanksgiving holiday near the end. In between, there is a lot going on this November, and a lot to celebrate.
The latest installment of Auditorium Philms Concert Series! Bram Stocker’s Dracula in Concert guarantees a spooky and enjoyable performance with help from the Chicago Philharmonic and the Chicago Chamber Choir, November 9. Photo by The Auditorium Theatre.
Halloween is over, but this holiday’s festivities continue into November with the North American premiere of “Bram Stocker’s Dracula in Concert” at the Auditorium Theatre on November 9. Watch Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 film retelling of Bram Stoker’s novel while listening to the Chicago Philharmonic and the Chicago Chamber Choir perform Wojciech Kilar’s score. There’s also a pre-show VIP Vampire Experience, hosted by horror show icon Svengoolie.
Shattered Globe Theatre’s 34th season opener “Becky Nurse of Salem” is a darkly comic exploration of the Salem witch trials’ legacy, now through November 16. Photo credit Jeffrey L. Kurysz.
Wilmette native and playwright Sarah Ruhl has two plays running concurrently in Chicago. Her “Becky Nurse of Salem,” which opened Shattered Globe Theatre’s 34th season, is the perfect play for the Halloween celebration, through November 16. Remy Bumppo Theatre Company performs Ruhl’s “Dear Elizabeth” based on the correspondence between poets Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell, through November 17 at Theater Wit. The Chicago Tribune’s critic Chris Jones gave it a great review.
Make sure to catch the limited engagement of iconic Tony Award-winning musical “Annie” during its run at the Chicago Theatre, November 12-December 1. Photo courtesy of MSG Entertainment.
Kankakee native and Lombard resident Harold Gray created the Little Orphan Annie comic strip when he worked at the Chicago Tribune. Based on that comic strip character, the Tony Award®-winning musical “Annie” has timeless appeal. It runs November 12-December 1 at the Chicago Theatre. Commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Little Orphan Annie cartoon and honoring Harold Gray, the “Leapin Lizards! A Hundred Years of Little Orphan Annie” exhibition at the Lombard Historical Society continues through December 23.
Storytelling performances and live lit! The Fillet of Solo Festival at Lifeline Theatre and Rhapsody Theater features talented artists with powerful personal stories, November 8-17. Photo by Lifeline Theatre.
Chicago has a long tradition of stand-up comedy. The Second City was founded here 65 years ago in 1959. The 2nd annual 312 Comedy Festival at multiple venues around the city and suburbs is November 6-10. Solo artists, as well as storytelling collectives, recount their tales at the 28th annual Fillet of Solo Festival at Lifeline Theatre and Rhapsody Theater, November 8-17. The fifth and final Chicago Humanities Festival’s neighborhood event of the fall season is Hyde Park Day on November 9 and presents a wide range of topics from President Woodrow Wilson to the history of Black quarterbacks, including former Chicago Bear, Vince Evans, and a discussion of the classic Chicago film “Hoop Dreams” on its 30th anniversary. The Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival Fall Living Room Tour fundraisers return November 14-16. Enjoy drinks, dinner, dessert and a puppetry performance by Gildwen Peronno of RoiZIZO théâtre in intimate settings in the West Loop, Streeterville, and Evanston.
Director Robert Lepage and dancer/choreographer Guillaume Côté combine theater and dance in the U.S. premiere of “The Tragedy of Hamlet: Prince of Denmark” at Harris Theater, November 23-24.
Season 47 Fall Series tickets are now available for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago! This season is the dance company’s first collaboration with The Verdon Fosse® Legacy, November 15-24. Photo credit Michelle Reid.
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s Fall Series, November 15-24, marks several important ‘firsts’. The program features Hubbard Street’s first performance of “Sweet Gwen Suite” choreographed by Chicago native Bob Fosse with his longtime muse actress/dancer Gwen Verdon, through the first ever collaboration between a dance company and The Verdon Fosse® Legacy. It’s also Hubbard Street’s first engagement at Steppenwolf Theatre Company.
Celebrating 40 years of house music! Art on theMart will feature Chicago-based artist and choreographer Brendan Fernandes’ “Build Up the House,” now through November 20. Photo by Art on theMart.
A wide variety of events this month continue the 40th anniversary celebration of house music, a music genre born in Chicago. BalletX makes its Harris Theater debut on November 21 with a program that includes the Chicago premiere of Jennifer Archibald’s “Exalt,” blending traditional ballet with house music. WTTW’s brilliant “Chicago Stories” series of documentaries continues with “Chicago Stories – House Music: A Cultural Revolution” on November 8. Continuing the Art on theMart series of the world’s largest digital art projections, the Chicago-based artist and choreographer Brendan Fernandes’ “Build Up the House” commemorates the 40th anniversary of house music and will be shown through November 20.
Back in the 1980s, I would go to WAX TRAX Records’ former store at 2449 North Lincoln Avenue for the latest New Wave records. In 1984 the WAX TRAX! Records label signed the Belgian band Front 242. The band calls Chicago their second home so they chose it as the location of their final performances in the United States, entitled Front 242 – Blackout: The Final Shows, at Metro on November 15 and 16. To commemorate their 40-year collaboration with WAX TRAX!, their stay in Chicago also includes an exhibition, a bus tour, and a pop-up bar, November 11-17.
Chicago is home to the largest population of Native Americans in the Midwest. November is National Native American Heritage Month. The Newberry Library’s well-curated “Indigenous Chicago” exhibition looks back at the history of Indigenous peoples on the land now known as Chicago.
The interactive and historical exhibition “INSERT COIN” at the Cleve Carney Museum of Art in Glen Ellyn showcases arcade games and the stories of the gamed Midway developed. Photo credit Alyssa Krueger: Carol Fox & Associate.
Chicago has a long history of manufacturing amusement goods including toys, pinball machines, video and electronic games. The exhibition “INSERT COIN” at the Cleve Carney Museum of Art in Glen Ellyn, through February 16, 2025, tells the story of the now defunct Midway, founded on November 1, 1958, and the games it developed. The exhibition includes fifteen playable arcade games. The family-friendly 22nd annual Chicago Toy and Game Fair® runs November 9-10 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont. It’s billed as “North America’s biggest game and toy fair.” When we were growing up my parents gave me and my two sisters a board game for Christmas every year in a somewhat failed attempt to develop comradery between us. As I remember it, the desire to win only encouraged sibling rivalry instead.
Let the holiday light shows begin! Later this month enjoy the beginning plenty of light shows in the Chicagoland area like Illumination: Tree Lights at The Morton Arboretum. Photo by The Morton Arboretum.
Christmas, Hannukah and Kwanzaa will soon be upon us. The wildly popular holiday light shows start this month: the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Lightscape and the Lincoln Park Zoo’s ZooLights on November 15; Illumination: Tree Lights at The Morton Arboretum on November 16; and Brookfield Zoo’s Holiday Magic on November 22. The opening of the Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza coincides with the 111th Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony at Washington and Michigan in Millennium Park on November 22. The 33rd edition of the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival®, featuring the largest nighttime parade in the United States, is the following evening.
Dates, times, locations and availability are subject to change.
