November Aritst News

published: Nov. 28, 2025

Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars at Timeline Theatre

Now through November 9, Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars, written by and featuring Sandra Delgado with Charin Alvarez as “Vega/Chava”, is a story where “motherhood, marijuana, and the multiverse collide in this Chicago-set story of family, immigration, and American identity.” Exploring “our country’s most fundamental values,” Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars is a blend of grounded family drama and otherworldly wonders.

 

As You Like It at Writers Theatre

Now through December 14, As You Like It, choreographed by Erin Kilmurray, is a musical adaptation of William Shakespeare’s As You Like It, and reinvigorates the classic story of finding refuge and love in new surroundings with a folk-pop score.

 

Whose America? at the National Academy of Design

On view now through January 10, 2026, Edra Soto is a featured artist in Whose America?, an exhibition that “examines the United States’ relationship to the history of ‘America’ in all its pluralities. Drawing upon its varied and eclectic roster of National Academicians, those with vastly different experiences of diaspora from throughout the Americas, Whose America? deconstructs the many regional, political and social influences that have shaped the United States’ cultural landscape today. 

 

The Outwin 2025: American Portraiture Today at the National Portrait Gallery

On view now through August 30, 2026, Edra Soto and Riva Lehrer are featured artists in The Outwin 2025: American Portraiture Today, an exhibition that features 35 portraits (by 36 artists) from the museum’s seventh triennial Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition.

 

Music In the Garden 4 at Elastic Arts

On November 1-2, Emily Beisel and Mabel Kwan perform in Music in the Garden, a 2-day music festival with Chicago-based improvisers and creative musicians, featuring light and project installation by Ruby Que. On Night 1 (November 1), Emily is featured in a lineup with Microplastique and Purikoko, and for Night 2 (November 2), Mabel plays in between Sandpusher and BananaAcid.

 

Windflow dance technique & Improvisation for Performances at Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble

On November 3,10, 17, and 24, Ayako Kato leads Windflow dance technique & Improvisation for Performances, a somatic and creative routine “in order to empty (to be full), strengthen, and prepare yourselves for dance improvisation performances.” The program aims to aid participants in building basic movement skills with clear alignment.

 

What to Keep? at Berger Park Cultural Center

On November 5, 12, and 19, Carole McCurdy leads What to Keep?, a talk circle inviting participants to think aloud about what you want or need to keep and what you want or need to let go of. The goal of the event is to share experiences and ideas without judgement or insistence of solutions, and participants are encouraged to alternate between sharing and silence to ensure they find individual solutions at their own pace.

 

D-Composed: Our Stage as part of the LookOut Series at Steppenwolf Theatre Company

On November 6, 8, and 9, Caitlin Edwards performs with D-Composed in D-Composed: Our Stage, an “exploration and examination of the multifaceted ways in which Black expression comes to life. Grounded in the ethos that blackness is not a monolith, the ensemble explores themes of storytelling, hair and a wide range of compositions with the music of Black composers serving as the heartbeat of each work.”

 

Eyrie Festival at Chicago’s Athenaeum Center for Thought & Culture

On November 7-8, Eighth Blackbird, featuring Lisa Kaplan on piano, plays at the Eyrie Festival, a two-day gathering of more than 40 artists reimagining what performance can be. On November 7, the group performs at the Opening Night Concert, and on November 8, Eighth Blackbird is a part of the “Choose-Your-Own-Adventure” Festival and evening concert.

 

A Tribute to Mad Dogs & Englishmen at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts

On November 8, Lynne Jordan performs in A Tribute to Mad Dogs & Englishmen, a tribute concert celebrating the legendary 1970 tour by Joe Cocker and Leon Russell. Lynne previously toured with Joe Cocker and Leon Russell with renowned foundations; Joe Cocker’s manager booked a 2-month tour with only 9 days to prepare and assemble a 10-piece band. This performance brings the same whirlwind energy to the North Shore Center stage.

 

MCA Family Day: Freedom From and Freedom To at the Museum of Contemporary Art

On November 8, the Museum of Contemporary Art invites visitors to Family Day, featuring Cristal Sabbagh’s Freedom From and Freedom To, an exploration and celebration of artistic circumstance. Freedom From and Freedom To invites “movement and sound improvisers from all around Chicago to gather in front of a live audience and be grouped by chance. Each group performs an improvised set...fusing diverse backgrounds and artistic practices to create unique and fleeting worlds.”

 

2025 3Arts Awards Celebration at the Harris Theater

On November 10, 3Arts celebrates our most ambitious investment in artists since the height of the pandemic, with more than $890,000 in grants supporting 63 remarkable individuals across Chicago and Southern Illinois. Together we’ll applaud seventeen 3Arts Awardees, forty Make a Wave Awardees, and 6 Next Level Artists. Join us at the Harris Theater for dynamic performances by The Chicago Immigrant Orchestra (featuring 2024 3Arts Awardee Wanees Zarour), Michel Rodriguez (2013 3Arts/McCormick Family Foundation Awardee) and Jacinda Ratcliffe (2021 Make a Wave Awardee) with choreography by Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi (2014 3Arts Awardee), and D-Composed (featuring 2021 3Arts/Walder Foundation Awardee Caitlin Edwards).

 

[From-Within] at the Center for Mad Culture

On November 14, Bri Beck’s exhibition [From-Within] opens at the Center for Mad Culture. [From-Within] is an interdisciplinary art exhibition reflecting Bri’s dual perspective as a therapist living with disability and as a practitioner supporting disabled clients. “[From-Within] invites viewers to reimagine care as an act of solidarity, reflection, and resistance. Through this exhibition, Bri envisions spaces where disabled people can find connection, self-recognition, and healing on their own terms.”

 

Not One Batu: The Film Experience at Facets Film Forum

On November 18, Hannah Ii-Epstein invites audiences to Not One Batu: The Film Experience, a one-night fundraiser sharing the filmed version of to Not One Batu, Nothing Without a Company’s groundbreaking 2018 production.

 

Pianist and A Partner Perhaps at Elastic Arts

On November 23, Mabel Kwan and Ayako Kato participate in Pianist and A Partner Perhaps at Elastic Arts. The duo will perform Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier.