New year resolutionists vowing to widen their cultural horizons need to look no further than this list of visual and performing arts shows coming to galleries, museums, theaters, and other venues across Chicagoland in 2025.
On Jan. 4, Ukrainian filmmakers Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev, artist Anya Stasenko, producer Paula DuPre’ Pesmen, and Frodo the dog will be on hand for an audience Q&A following a screening of the award-winning documentary Porcelain War (2024) at Chicago’s historic Music Box Theatre.
Family Fishing Trip by Lydia Vodopic, Love & Gyros by Lily Zhang and Superheroes Anonymous by Carolina Boss are featured in Pegasus Theatre Chicago’s 38th Annual Young Playwrights Festival (Jan. 5-26) at Chicago Dramatists. “We look forward to sharing these playwrights’ stories inspiring the next generation of writers and audiences,” notes Executive and Producing Artistic Director Ilesa Duncan.
Under the baton of Music Director/Conductor Kirk Muspratt, New Philharmonic will perform Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love (Jan. 25 -26) featuring soprano Alisa Jordheim, mezzo soprano AddieRose Brown, tenor James Judd, bass David Govertsen, and baritone Jonathan Wilson at the McAninch Arts Center (MAC) in Glen Ellyn. The bel canto opera is sung in Italian with English subtitles.
Wrightwood 659 demonstrates its commitment to Asian artists with the landmark exhibition Reimagine: Himalayan Art Now (through Feb. 15).
Witness the rise and fall behind Chicago’s video game manufacturer Midway Games in INSERT COIN: Inside Midway’s Arcade Revolution (through Feb. 16) at the Cleve Carney Museum of Art (CCMA) in Glen Ellyn. In addition to offering video installations and interactive rooms with playable video games, the exhibition reflects work by Midway Games, Williams Electronics, and Bally Midway artists. “It is impossible to ignore the visual and cultural influence of video games on our society,” says CCMA Curator Justin Witte. “The graphics and narratives created in iconic games of the 1980s and ’90s have shaped how generations interact with the world around them.”
Elizabeth Rentfro, Michael Ashford and Samantha Garcia take on 37 of the Bard’s plays in the fast-paced farce The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) at Oil Lamp Theater (Jan. 24-Feb. 16) in Glenview.
On Feb. 26, British R&B singer/songwriter and winner of the BRITs Critics Choice Award Jorja Smith will perform in concert at Chicago’s historic Auditorium Theatre.
History comes alive when James Baldwin (Teagle F. Bougere) and William F. Buckley Jr. (Eric T. Miller) discuss racial conflicts during the Civil Rights Movement in TimeLine Theatre’s Chicago premiere of Christopher McElroen’s Debate: Baldwin vs. Buckley at DePaul University’s Cortelyou Commons (Jan. 29-March 2).
Under the direction of Susan V. Booth, Oscar winner Helen Hunt, Robert Ian Barford and Sean Leonard star in Harold Pinter’s Betrayal at Goodman Theatre (Feb. 8-March 16).
Thanks to Maestra Mei-Ann Chen, the Chicago Sinfonietta will perform Love Letters in Naperville (March 13) and Chicago (March 16). The concert includes pieces by Johannes Brahms, Gustav Mahler, Valerie Coleman, and Michelle Isaac.
The work of Andy Warhol, Avery Singer, Charles Gaines, Cheryl Donegan, Cory Arcangel, Gina Beavers, Laura Owens, and Paul McCarthy is included in The Living End: Painting and Other Technologies, 1970–2020 at he Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (through March 23). The group show examines the claim that painting is a thing of the past by presenting renderings on canvas and video as well as pieces created by cameras, computers, the internet, and the human body.
Beautiful: The Carol King Musical at Drury Lane Theatre (through March 23) weaves in some of the iconic singer’s hits with her story as one of the most successful songwriters in American history.
Explore the ancient past with a visit to Chicago on the Nile: 100 Years of the Epigraphic Survey in Egypt at the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures Museum (ISAC Museum) on the campus of the University of Chicago (through March 23).
Nearly 350 international pieces (including paintings, photography, sculpture, and textiles) reflect the tenets of Pan-Africanism in Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica at the Art Institute of Chicago (through March 30).
Guarneri Hall opens its doors on April 3 for A Night at the Movies: The General (1926). This screening of Buster Keaton’s classic comedy will be accompanied by a live score performed by Prutsman and members of NEXUS Chamber Music.
Kaneza Schaal embodies the ghost of King Leopold II of Belgium, the founder of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908, in KLII at MCA Chicago’s Edlis Neeson Theater (April 17-19). The mytho-biographical performance includes a procession and handwashing ceremony.
Marti Lyons of Remy Bumppo Theatre Company directs Love Song by John Kolvenbach at Theater Wit (March 21-April 21). According to Lyons, this is “a laugh-out-loud comedy that tugs at the heartstrings.”
The Roger Deakins Photography Exhibition showcases 41 portraits and landscapes shot by the celebrated cinematographer who won Oscars for Blade Runner 2049 (2017) and 1917 (2019). His still images are on view at the Athenaeum Center (through April 30).
Shattered Globe Theatre gives the Charles Dickens classic “A Tale of Two Cities” (1859) a refresh in Brendan Pelsue’s same-named stage adaptation. This Midwest premiere performs at Theater Wit (April 18-May 31).
Trinity Irish Dance Company launches its 35th season at the Museum of Contemporary Art (May 16-18) with the world premiere of The Sash choreographed by Founding Artistic Director Mark Howard, Associate Artistic Director and dancer Chelsea Hoy and guest contemporary choreographer Stephanie Martinez, founder and Artistic Director of Chicago’s PARA.MAR Dance Theatre. “Since inception, Trinity has always been an art-driven company that uniquely celebrates Irish dance through a performing arts lens,” says Howard. “We seek higher ground by allowing the form to morph and evolve with integrity while keeping a clear lineage to the ancestors.”
A tap-dancing Mad Hatter appears in the Joffrey Ballet’s production of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland at Chicago’s Lyric Opera House (June 5-15). Choreographed by two-time Tony winner Christopher Wheeldon, the fantastical production features music by Joby Talbot.
Inspired by the 1930s Federal Theatre Project that created stories based on the day’s headlines, Jackalope Theatre’s 16th Annual Living Newspaper Festival at the Broadway Armory (Aug. 21-25) features one-act plays via recent news.
Experience the romance and whimsy of Paris via the Chicago premiere of Amélie in the Chopin Downstairs Studio (July 17-Sep. 28). Presented by Kokandy Productions, this live musical is based on the same-named film from 2001.
Arts of Life celebrates its 25th anniversary with an exhibition at the Chicago Design Museum (Aug. 11-Sep. 30) and an accompanying Art on theMART projection (Sep. 11-Oct. 6).
English comedian Sarah Millican brings her humorous Late Bloomer tour to Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre (Oct. 18) for patrons 16 and older.
Thanks to Kokandy Productions, Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” (1886) comes to life in Jekyll & Hyde at the Chopin Theater Mainstage (Oct. 10-Dec. 21).
Per the Auditorium Philms Concert Series, the Chicago Philharmonic will perform the score to Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) in concert at the Auditorium Theatre (Oct. 25).
