If you spent any time as a child at the Chicago Cultural Center, you might remember the Art-o-mat machine that dispensed a piece of art in exchange for two tokens. That same machine has inspired a new concept for storytelling through poetry.

Created for Broadway, “The Light in the Piazza” is a profoundly intimate work and belongs in a space that can fully embrace that intimacy. The Lyric Opera House, where it is now being presented, is not such a place. 

Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers’ wait to see if a long-time foe would help them clinch a playoff spot was a whole lot easier than the lateral-filled final play they had to survive to beat the Chicago Bears in the rivals’ 200th game.

Following a run on London’s West End and at LA Opera, the Tony Award-winning musical “The Light in the Piazza” now comes to Chicago. We visited the cast during a recent rehearsal.

It may be the best rivalry in all of sports. Former Bears offensive lineman James “Big Cat” Williams joins us to preview the 200th meeting of the Bears and Packers.

Over its long history, Chicago has seen plenty of firsts, but those stories aren’t always well-known today. Entrepreneur Jesse Binga is at the center of one of those stories. Longtime journalist Don Hayner tells us more.

Millions of holiday lights, a seasonal double feature, art fairs and carols usher in the weekend. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago.

For the fifth year, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra presents “Merry, Merry Chicago!” a celebration of holiday music that features members of the orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Chorus.

A fervent believer in the unique power of live theater, I have become quite a convert to broadcasts of live performances after seeing two superb National Theatre Live productions this past weekend. 

The language mavens at Merriam-Webster have declared the personal pronoun their word of the year based on a 313% increase in look-ups on the company’s search site, Merriam-Webster.com, this year when compared with 2018.

A federal agent who was at a Chicago airport to search a private plane that rapper Juice WRLD and his entourage had arrived in administered the opioid antidote Narcan to the performer, who briefly woke up incoherent but later died, authorities said Monday.

Holiday shopping can be stressful – but it doesn’t have to be. To help spread seasonal cheer, WTTW News staffers picked our favorite local options.

Caroll Spinney, who gave Big Bird his warmth and Oscar the Grouch his growl for nearly 50 years on “Sesame Street,” died Sunday at the age of 85 at his home in Connecticut, according to the Sesame Workshop.

Rapper Juice WRLD, who launched his career on SoundCloud before becoming a streaming juggernaut and rose to the top of the charts with the Sting-sampled hit “Lucid Dreams,” died early Sunday after a “medical emergency” at Chicago’s Midway International Airport.

“It is with great joy that our family welcomes you to the White House this holiday season as we celebrate the Spirit of America,” President Donald Trump, the first lady and their son, Barron, say in the signed introduction to a souvenir book visitors will receive as a holiday keepsake.

It would be all but impossible to survey the many great, good and sometimes disappointing productions of the past 12 months. But three recent shows suggest the great variety of work produced in Chicago – and the immense amount of talent here.