Arts & Entertainment
From a Play About Mozart to an Evening of ‘Stand Up, Schtick and Song,’ Here Are 5 Arts Picks for Your Week
Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s “Amadeus,” with Ian Barford. (Sandro Miller)
Every Thursday, WTTW News newsletter producer Josh Terry highlights his picks for the week’s must-see cultural events.
As the leaves change and Chicago enters the holiday season, it’s a good time to slow down, get cozy and get ready for a winter hibernation. That said, if you’re a patron and a fan of this city’s rich arts scene, you’ll know that our home’s eclectic and essential cultural offerings never slow down. Below, check out five events that are just a small sliver of what’s happening in Chicago this week.
Art: “Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind” — Museum of Contemporary Art
This comprehensive and exhaustive exhibit highlighting the work and career of a singular and uncompromising artist opened in October and runs through Feb. 22, 2026. “Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind,” which is presented in the Griffin Galleries of Contemporary Art, traces Ono’s voraciously curious and challenging career from its origins in the 1950s through “200 works across a variety of media including performance footage, music and sound recordings, scores, film, photography, installation, and archival materials.” Tickets can be found here.
Play: “Amadeus” — Steppenwolf Theatre
Peter Shaffer’s 1979 play “Amadeus” receives a Steppenwolf run, directed by Tony winner Robert Falls. It stars Ian Barford as Antonio Salieri and David Darrow as Amadeus Mozart. As a preview piece by the Chicago Tribune points out, to prep for this production, “Falls joined Barford on a research trip to visit Vienna and Salzburg, Mozart’s birthplace. Together, they toured some of the play’s historical settings, such as Schönbrunn Palace (the Habsburgs’ imperial summer residence) and several theaters where Mozart performed or premiered his music.” It opens Thursday and runs through January. Tickets can be found here.
Market: Record Fair & Tattoos — Empty Bottle
The Ukrainian Village dive bar and music venue is celebrating its 33 ⅓ birthday with a series of concerts and events throughout November. (If you’re wondering why that number, that’s the standard rotation speed of a vinyl record.) On Saturday, the neighborhood haunt is throwing an afternoon market featuring local record labels, vinyl LPs and even onstage tattoos from Chicago artists. It’s free, but you can RSVP here.
Musical Theater: “D-Composed: Our Stage” — Steppenwolf Theatre
D-Composed is a Chicago-based Black chamber music collective who are taking over Steppenwolf for three curated and eclectic shows this weekend. First up is Thursday’s “An Ode to Black Theater,” which features local legend Cheryl Lynn Bruce. Saturday features Shani Bruce in an exploration of identity titled “An Ode to Black Hair,” while Sunday closes things out with “D-Composed Plays D-Composed.” Tickets for all three events can be found here.
Comedy: Murray Hill — the Den Theatre
Fans of the beloved HBO dramedy “Somebody, Somewhere” will recognize this lovable stand-up comedian who’s performing Sunday night in Wicker Park. The show promises to be an “evening of stand-up, shtick, song, rimshots, rampant ad-libbing, and crowd work.” There are a few tickets left, and they can be purchased here.
WTTW News arts coverage is supported by the JCS Arts, Health & Education Fund of the DuPage Foundation.
