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“Always on Christmas night there was music. An uncle played the fiddle, a cousin sang ‘Cherry Ripe,’ and another uncle sang ‘Drake’s Drum,’” wrote Dylan Thomas in A Child’s Christmas in Wales. “Auntie Hannah, who had got on to the parsnip wine, sang a song about Bleeding Hearts and Death, and then another in which she said her heart was like a Bird’s Nest; and then everybody laughed again; and then I went to bed.” Thomas’s classic was the inspiration for a new piece by composer Gary Fry that’ll be unveiled this week at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s annual family-oriented Welcome Yule! concert. Also on the bill: the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, the Chicago Children’s Choir, the Welcome Yule! dance ensemble, and a visit from Santa. Performances begin tonight at 7 and continue through Tuesday, December 23, at Orchestra Hall, 220 S. Michigan. Tickets range from $10 to $58; call 312-294-3000 or visit www.cso.org for more.
American Theater Company hopes to make its production of It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play–which is meant to be performed onstage with live sound effects and an ensemble of six–a holiday tradition. But though audience members are encouraged to sing “Auld Lang Syne” with the cast, artistic director Damon Kiely promises not to “clamp you to your seats and make you drink eggnog and sing carols.” The show, adapted by Joe Landry from the movie’s screenplay, opened Thursday, December 18, and continues through Sunday, December 21, at the ATC, 1909 W. Byron. Tonight’s performance is at 8 and will be followed by nog, cookies, and caroling–if you’re so inclined. The suggested donation for adults is $15 plus a canned food item (to be given to the Common Pantry), $10 for children. Call 773-929-5009 or see www.atcweb.org for more information.
23 TUESDAY A Little Night Music, Stephen Sondheim’s Tony Award-winning 1973 operetta about mismatched lovers, was loosely based on Ingmar Bergman’s 1955 film Smiles of a Summer Night. For this production by Chicago Shakespeare Theater, directed by Gary Griffin, a 14-piece orchestra backs a cast of Sondheim vets that includes locals Kevin Gudahl and Barbara Robertson. The show opens tonight at 7:30 and runs through February 15 at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, 600 E. Grand. Tickets range from $48 to $62; call 312-595-5600 or see www.chicagoshakes.com for more information.
