Pair two of Chicago’s greatest cultural gems in a multifaceted program on the Symphony Center stage, and you have an ideal example of the city’s exceptional talent, writes Hedy Weiss.

David Cerda calls camp “the theater of the ridiculous,” and this prolific camp counselor isn’t slowing down. A fixture on the Chicago theater scene since the ‘90s, Cerda has now written a semi-autobiographical play based on his upbringing in Northwest Indiana.

Given the current state of the world there is something particularly wonderful about heading to a performance by the ever-remarkable musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, writes Hedy Weiss.

Here are the early blooms of the spring arts season. Make a bouquet and share them with someone you love. National Public Housing Museum Grand Opening – 919 S. Ada St.

“Sunny Afternoon” tells the tuneful tale of the brothers Davies, Ray and Dave – bandleader and founder of The Kinks. They caught fire in 1964 with the influential hit “You Really Got Me,” but the blaze was nearly doused when they couldn’t capitalize on the British Invasion.

They really don’t create musicals like “Guys and Dolls” anymore. So, head straight to the superb Music Theater Works production of the show that debuted on Broadway in 1950.

“For many people with Down syndrome, the question ‘to be or not to be’ is not just philosophical — it is personal,” said Chela de Ferrari, the show’s director and writer. “Society often decides who gets to take up space, whose voices are heard, whose stories matter.”

Next year will mark 50 years since the founding of Chicago’s Black Ensemble Theater. Many well-regarded theaters have come and gone in that time, but BET is still growing under the leadership of its founder and CEO, Jackie Taylor.

Say farewell to February and welcome March by embracing the seemingly limitless choices we have in the Chicago area. We reside in the metropolis of the Midwest, so make big plans.

Take a seat in Steppenwolf’s mainstage theater and enter the world of “Fool for Love,” Sam Shepard’s 75-minute play dating from 1983.

In “Lobby Hero,” four characters get caught in a web of lies as they try to provide cover for themselves, their family and their friends.

The winter theater season in Chicago is a reliable source of heat. Here are five promising productions.

A ribbon cutting was held Monday for the Lookingglass Theatre Company's new multi-purpose lobby at its home in the Water Tower Water Works building on Michigan Avenue.

Beat the January blahs with some blues — or a prize-winning play or an art show. In a few months when everyone is complaining about the heat, you’ll recall that time in the dead of winter when you bundled up and defied the season.

Rich Hein, an intensely gifted photographer who spent four decades working at the Chicago Sun-Times, died Sunday. He was 70.

“Jaja’s African Hair Braiding” is a celebration of Black hair and salons, a kind of sanctuary for Black women where societal expectations on how to present and perform no longer exist.