A Music Box Premiere and a Talk Show: 4 Arts Picks for Your Week

Josh Terry | April 23, 2026, 5:00 am

Mark McKenna, left, and Lukita Maxwell in “An Autumn Summer” (Blue Harbor Entertainment)

Every Thursday, WTTW News newsletter producer Josh Terry highlights his picks for the week’s must-see cultural events.

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Baseball season is in full swing, and the NBA and NHL playoffs have begun too. While it’s sad that Chicago teams didn’t make any of these respective leagues’ postseasons, the good news is you can spend your time engaging in the local arts scene. This week, head to the Music Box for a Midwestern coming-of-age film premiere and later in the week, a variety show hosted by a tall and amiable Chicagoan. You can also head to a museum for two new and essential exhibits. Happy searching.

Film: “An Autumn Summer” — Music Box Theatre

“An Autumn Summer,” the debut feature from writer and director Jared Isaac, is a coming-of-age love story that follows a young couple on summer vacation in northern Michigan, a month before they set off to college. The two eventually realize, “This time together will eventually end, and each moment may become a fleeting memory.” Starring breakout actors Mark McKenna and Lukita Maxwell, the April 23 premiere at the Music Box will feature a Q&A with Isaac and “Drinking Buddies,” “Easy” and “Happy Christmas” director Joe Swanberg. Tickets can be found here.

Talk Show: “Welcome to the Show” — Music Box Theatre

Since the summer of 2024, Chicagoan Derek Bish has been hosting a monthly talk show called “Welcome to the Show,” which features interesting locals, musicians, chefs, comics and more. Bish, who told the Tribune he stands at “a trim 6-foot-8,” is a friendly host and able to get charming nuggets out of his guests no matter their disciplines or demeanors. On April 26, Bish takes the show to the Music Box with guests WGN anchor Micah Materre, comedian Lucia Whalen, Good Things Vending founder Steph Krim, musician Sam Cantor of Minor Moon and Music Box organist Dennis Scott. It’s a free event, but you can RSVP here.

Art: “Free and Independent: The Declaration of Independence and the Words That Made the United States” — Newberry Library

As this exhibit’s promo copy states, “A library is the perfect place to explore the origins of a country founded on words.” The Newberry Library has on display an early copy of the Declaration of Independence, where museumgoers can “survey the words of the founding document of the United States, to consider some of the surprising ideas behind those words, and to trace their circulation and impact in the age of the American Revolution.” It’s free to the public and runs until July 18 at the Newberry’s Hanson Gallery. For more information, click here.

Art: “Monumental: The Work of Dr. Charles Smith” — Intuit Art Museum

After returning from service in the Vietnam War, Charles Smith turned his Aurora, Illinois, home into a living, interactive museum: the African American Heritage Museum & Black Veterans Archive (AAHM & BVA). He created more than 600 sculptures that challenged the conventions of traditional historical monuments. An adherent and pioneer of anti-monumentalism, his work will be on display at the Intuit Art Museum beginning April 29 and will run until April 2027. For more information, click here.

WTTW News arts coverage is supported by the JCS Arts, Health & Education Fund of the DuPage Foundation.