14 Of Our Favorite Events In Chicago This Week
By Michelle Meywes Kopeny in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 26, 2015 2:45PM
Have Supper With Snakes this Friday at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. Photo courtesy of the museum.
It's almost Halloween and this week has plenty of scary events to get you amped for the holiday.
MONDAY OCTOBER 26
HAUNTED BAR: Be terrified. Emporium Arcade Bar Logan Square has constructed a haunted house inside the bar. The haunted house will be open nightly from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. through Thursday. Tickets are $10 and include a beer from co-presenters Goose Island.
NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS CONCERT: Route 66 Theatre Company presents Tim Burton’s now classic story, The Nightmare Before Christmas, live in concert at Mayne Stage at 8 p.m. This evening of musical theater will also feature a costume contest. Tickets are $25 or $35 for preferred seating.
TUESDAY OCTOBER 27
SPEECH KARAOKE: Spokaoke? Annie Dorsen hosts karaoke at the MCA Cafe tonight at 6 p.m. (tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. at Haymarket Brewery), but instead of pop songs, the machine is filled with speeches envisioning a better world. Recreate speeches from Socrates, Martin Luther King Jr., Charlie Chaplin and more. The MCA event tonight is free, and tickets for Haymarket on Wednesday are $10 and include a pint of beer. Presented with the Chicago Humanities Festival.
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 28
ADOPTED HOMETOWN HEROES: The Old 97's have deep Chicago roots. They spent their formative years on Bloodshot Records, recording in town and sleeping on various floors while they did so. They've even named a song after local music venue The Empty Bottle. And while the band is from Dallas, it could be argued they owe their career to Chicago. Many years have passed since then, and the band has seen its share of mainstream glory, including frontman Rhett Miller's unlikely turn as a bit of a pop star. But when they return to Chicago they always put on a barnburner of a show that inserts the rawest components of insurgent country and mixes them with some deep pop hooks. So when the band comes into town to play Thalia Hall expect them to be treated as returning adopted hometown heroes. Tickets are $24 in advance and $26 at the doors.
KISS KARAOKE: Liar’s Club hosts the 20th (they think) Anniversary of their Kiss Karaoke Kontest. Put up your best Gene Simmons or Paul Stanley for cash and merchandise prizes. They’ll even have makeup artists on hand to make up your face. 9 p.m. 21+
WALKING DEAD TRIVIA: Geeks Who Drink host an evening of Walking Dead Trivia called Stupid Gets You Killed at Sedgwicks Bar & Grill. In honor of Halloween, come dressed as your favorite character from the show or in your best living dead attire. Admission fee is $5 per player. 8 p.m.
INDIE POP GONE DARK: Telekinesis is the project of singer / songwriter / drummer Michael Lerner. His first three albums were all terrific examples of explosive power pop, but on his latest, Ad Infinitum, Lerner turned inward to craft an album that is decidedly darker in nature. If his earlier work rode on the sunshine of the pacific Northwest, the new one looks to its shaded, deep wood and could covered skies with a sound steeped in '80s synth moods and melancholia. In the past Telekinesis shows have been ebullient affairs so we're curious to see how Lerner's newer direction fits into a live setting at Lincoln Hall. Tickets are $15.
THURSDAY OCTOBER 29
DANCE PARTY: DJ Ryan Hemsworth, Stefan Ponce and Monoboy play a Red Bull Sound Select show tonight at Lincoln Hall tonight at 9 p.m. The Red Bull program curates special shows introducing audiences to up-and-coming artists. Tickets are $10 or $3 with RSVP and the show is 18+.
HORROR THEATER: The two-week Chicago Horror Theater Festival brings some of your favorite classic horror films to the stage. See the award-winning Musical of the Living Dead and the world premiere of Musical Horror Story: Exorcism plus more. Performances range from sketch comedy, cabaret, dance, burlesque, and one act and full length plays, all on Stage 773. There’s a family friendly day on Nov. 1, too. Tickets range from $15 to $25 for single shows.
FRIDAY OCTOBER 30
DANCE + IRA GLASS: WBEZ is hosting Monica Bill Barnes & Company and Ira Glass, host of This American Life, have come together for Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host. These two art forms—radio and dance—“have no business being together,” as Glass puts it, but the show is said to be a funny, heartfelt evening as stories from the three performers are put to stage. Tickets are $37 and the show runs through Sunday. Check The Athenaeum Theatre’s website for showtimes.
CORPSE BALL: Intonation Music hosts The Exquisite Corpse Ball at Beat Kitchen tonight at 9 p.m. This Halloween Cabaret in 6 Acts has six local bands performing as rock legends from the Talking Heads to the Bee Gees. They’ll also have a raffle benefiting the children’s music education program with prizes from Girl & The Goat, The Promontory in Hyde Park, and Letherbee Distillers. Tickets are $10 advance, $12 door.
SUPPER WITH SNAKES: What better way to celebrate the scariest holiday of the year than having Supper With Snakes at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum? The 8th annual event is family friendly and will have pizza, crafts and of course live snakes you can interact with under the watchful eye of the museum’s resident experts. Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for kids ($20/$10 members). 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
GAME OF THRONES DANCE PARTY: Duet Dance Studio in West Bucktown hosts a Halloween “Game of Thrones” Tango Dance party from 9 to 11 p.m. Tickets are $25 and include a beginner tango class, but singles and couples are both welcome. The event is BYOB and will also include a costume contest, so come in your best medieval costume for a night of dancing. 21+
SCARY BEER + FILM: It’s a Zombie Sheep Beer Party at Logan Theater tonight. They’ll be releasing 3 Sheep Brewery’s latest creation, Violence of the Lambs, along with a screening of Black Sheep at 11 p.m. Part of Logan’s month of Horror Movie Madness. Beer party starts at 8 p.m.