(Courtesy Wicker Park Fest)

Street fests, sudsy beverages, acrobatic acts and printmaking usher in the weekend. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago.

Barry DeBois and Tiffany Topol in “Once” at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora. (Photo credit: Liz Lauren)

The stunning performers now gathered on the stage of the Paramount Theatre bring this unconventional piece of musical theater to life with a beguiling mix of emotional depth and comic zest.

Marianne Crebassa, Ana María Martínez in “Cosi fan tutte.” (Credit: Cory Weaver)

The production of “Cosi fan tutte” now at Lyric Opera of Chicago is a beauty. And in its playful but unquestionably bittersweet exploration of love, fidelity, betrayal and the unreliable nature of both men and women, it could easily have been written yesterday.

Jackson Evans as Alan Zweibel and Dana Tretta as Gilda Radner in “Bunny Bunny” (Photo: Brett A. Beiner)

You will catch only a brief glimpse of the big explosion of hair, but in “Bunny Bunny” at Mercury Theater Chicago you will fully feel the manic energy and rapid-fire comic responses of Gilda Radner.

English National Ballet. Alina Cojocaru in Akram Kham’s “Giselle.” (© Laurent Liotardo)

Chicago is dancing up a storm this season, and plans for an exceptionally strong 2018-2019 season are already being announced. A preview of what’s to come.

Kelly Felthous plays Sally Bowles in Paramount Theatre’s “Cabaret.” (Credit: Liz Lauren)

In Paramount’s revival of the 1966 musical, director-choreographer Katie Spelman not only finds a perfect balance between the personal and political, but fully captures the flamboyant decadence of 1930s Weimar Germany without exploiting the pure shock value of its sexual antics. 

AnJi White and Kelvin Roston, Jr. perform in 'Sunset Baby.' (Courtesy of TimeLine Theater)

The Chicago Sun-Times theater critic gives us her take on highly recommended shows from Court Theatre, Griffin Theatre, TimeLine, Shattered Globe, Drury Lane and Paramount Theatre.

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