14 Of Our Favorite Events In Chicago This Week
By Michelle Meywes Kopeny in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 22, 2016 4:11PM
Get some BBQ for lunch this week at Q-BBQ's pop-up restaurant at Willis Tower. Photo courtesy of Q-BBQ.
There's so much going on this week, from highbrow events like Yo Yo Ma at the CSO to a comedy show about poop. Choose your own adventure.
MONDAY FEBRUARY 22
BBQ POP UP: Q-BBQ has a pop-up restaurant inside Willis Tower for the work week lunch crowd. Head to the lobby between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. this Monday through Friday for some delicious grab-n-go pulled pork, brisket or pulled chicken and then stick around for the live music.
ROMEO + JULIET: See the classic Shakespeare love story opera-style at the Lyric Opera at 7:30 p.m. Monday is opening night for the production of Romeo & Juliet which will run through March 19. Tickets start at $20.
MONDAY MANHATTANS: What goes better with Mondays than Manhattans? The Commons Club inside the Virgin Hotel hosts a Manhattan Making Contest from 6 to 9 p.m. where six Chicago mixologists will compete to see who can make the best Woodford Reserve Manhattan. They’ll even have an engraver on site so that you can personalize your own bottle. Tickets are $15 and benefit One Warm Coat.
TUESDAY FEBRUARY 23
The Hamburg Ballet in Third Symphony. Photo by Holger Badekow.
GERMAN BALLET: The Hamburg Ballet comes all the way to Chicago from Germany for four performances at Harris Theater this week: Othello on Tuesday and Wednesday, and Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler on Friday and Saturday. All performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $50.
MOVIE + MUSEUM: Music Box Theatre and the Field Museum team up once again for a little learning with your cinema. Tuesday’s feature is The Big Year, a comedy starring Steve Martin, Jack Black & Owen Wilson as three men in competition to record the most bird sounds. After the screening, Bird Division Research Assistant Joshua Engel will lead a discussion about the scientific themes in the film. 7 p.m. Tickets are $10.
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 24
EARLY SUMMER ARRIVAL: Best Coast and Wavves are co-headlining their Summer is Forever II tour. Both band specialize in big guitar songs with hyper-catchy choruses that are perfectly suited to driving down a coastal highway with the top down on your convertible and the wind in your hair. The bands are playing Thalia Hall on both Wednesday and Thursday. Local act Cherry Glazerr opens and tickets are $35.
VOCALO RADIO PARTY: Chicago Public Media’s Vocalo recently became the city’s newest radio station at 91.1 and Wednesday they’re holding a Kickstarter Launch Party at Haymarket Pub & Brewery. Meet Vocalo personalities while you sip on their beer collaboration, The Real 911. They’ll also have door prizes including branded pint glasses, t-shirts and more. Free. This event has been moved to March 1 due to weather issues.
A FIERY RETURN: Oak Park native Eleanor Friedberger rose to prominence in The Fiery Furnaces, but has since struck out on a solo career. She returns to The Empty Bottle this Wednesday, touring in support of her excellent new album New View, a collection of songs rooted in the easy going vibe of late '70s radio. Tickets are $13.
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 25
YO YO MA: See legendary cellist Yo Yo Ma do his thing in person at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at 8 p.m. He’ll perform Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1 with the CSO. The program also includes three other pieces from Beethoven, Lutosławski and Salonen. Tickets start at $45.
http://cso.org/ticketsandevents/production-details/cso/salonen-yo-yo-ma/
MOVIE STAR COMEDY: Broken Lizard, the comedy troupe behind the movie Super Troopers, will take over Park West at 8 p.m. with their new show, Meow What? The crew will be releasing the crowd-funded sequel to the cult hit this year. Tickets start at $25 and benefit Halcyon Theater in Albany Park.
CAT ART: Tree House Humane Society and Empirical Brewing have teamed up for the Working Cats Art Exhibition. Cats have long been inspiration for artists, and more than thirty will be selling works at this event benefiting the TNR program, Cats at Work. 6 to 8 p.m. Free.
SHITTY COMEDY: The live-lit storytelling show "I Shit You Not!" has moved to Township. Believe it or not this comedic series is in it’s third year of telling hilarious and usually embarrassing stories involving bodily blunders. 8 p.m. Tickets are $5 in advance ($10 door).
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 26
Steve Delahoyde reads at Funny Ha-Ha on Friday. Photo by Fuzzy Gerdes.
FUNNY HA HA: Funny Ha-Ha returns to the Hideout on Friday with a hot button theme: Make America Great Again. The literary humor night will feature readings and stories from a bunch of local celebrities including The Interview Show’s Mark Bazer and Paper Machete creator and host Christopher Piatt. 6:30 to 8 p.m. $10 suggested donation benefits Sit! Stay! Read!
WINE + VINYL: We love vinyl and we love wine, so why not put them together? Turns out somebody beat us to it with a monthly Wine & Vinyl listening party. There’s a different host each month, and this time around it’s audio electronics start-up Gramovox. This community event is BYOV: vino and vinyl. Tickets are free, but register here.