Theater

The Polo Area Community Theatre is preparing for its annual Christmas show, “FrUiTCaKeS,” which will be performed Dec. 6, 7, 8, 13 and 14 at the Polo Town Hall, 117 N. Franklin Ave. in Polo.

Here's a list of where you can find holiday performances in Chicago and surrounding suburbs.

Grand opening planned for early March.

Events include special visits and breakfasts with Santa, annual interactive dinner theater.

Going to the theatre to see 'The Nutcracker' ballet is a special holiday tradition for many families.

With a change of venues from St. Charles for the past seven years to Elmhurst, a new collection of original plays will have their time to shine at GreenMan Theatre.

A superb cast stars in the Marriott's Theatre for Young Audiences production of the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic, crystallized into one beautiful hour of entertainment.

Glenbard West High School student Sia Erter will portray the role of "Clara" in Salt Creek Ballet's "The Nutcracker."

"Million Dollar Quartet" is a fictionalized account of an impromptu December 1956 meeting between rock ‘n’ roll pioneers Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley at the Sun Records studio in Memphis, Tennessee.

“Scrooge the Comedy” is an interactive dinner theater loosely based on Charles Dickens’ classic, “A Christmas Carol.” White Pines has been putting on the holiday show at 6712 W. Pines Road for over 30 years.

The classic holiday ballet will be at the McAninch Arts Center on Dec. 14 & 15.

Performances are Jan. 10–12 at the Allure of Pinecrest Grove Theater, 500 Evergreen Lane, Mt. Morris.

The beloved American holiday classic comes to captivating life as a live 1940s radio broadcast.

The Copley Theatre in Aurora, Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet, Sandwich Opera House and more have dazzling holiday productions scheduled in November and December.

Engage Dance Theatre and Raue Center for the Arts present “The Nutcracker” Dec. 21 and 22 in Crystal Lake.

The beloved film, now a musical, is a heartwarming family show that entertains all ages.

Captivating performances and puppetry charm audiences of all ages.

At the Goodman, the 8-year-old impressed audiences last summer playing 4-year-old Tommy in the Broadway-bound “The Who’s Tommy” rock opera.

The smartly written book for this biographical show elevates “A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical” above the din of many jukebox musicals.

Elmhurst’s GreenMan Theatre Troupe presents “The Cover of Life,” a play filled with charm, humor, heartache and hope based on the true-life story of three sisters-in-law living with their husbands’ mother while their men serve in World War II.

The Rialto Square Theatre's holiday performance lineup is filled with music, film and theatre events for the whole family in downtown Joliet.

In another stunner for Paramount Theatre, the Midwest regional premiere proves to be an enchanting spectacle.

The Irving Berlin musical is a nostalgic treat performed by a superlative cast and ensemble.

Mannheim Steamroller Christmas will be at the Rialto Square Theatre in downtown Joliet on Thursday, Nov. 14.

For more than 50 years, the Northern Illinois University College of Visual and Performing Arts has sought to nurture the arts. But the college’s reach has extended far beyond DeKalb and the school’s impact only continues to lengthen and deepen.

A truly unique theatrical production is playing through Nov. 17 at The Black Box Theatre at McHenry County College. The Tony-winning play literally dives into Ovid's mythology.

Tickets are on sale now for “Menopause The Musical 2: Cruising Through The Change” at the Rialto Square Theatre in downtown Joliet on Tuesday, Nov. 12.

The State Ballet Theatre Ukraine presents “The Sleeping Beauty” Wednesday, Nov. 13 at the Rialto Square Theatre in downtown Joliet.

A lesser-known play by Shakespeare is in the excellent hands of England’s Royal Shakespeare Company, which presents "Pericles" at Chicago Shakespeare Theater through Dec. 7.

The city of Lockport held a special screening of the first two episodes of HBO's Somebody Somewhere, which shot in the city for it's three-season run, at the Roxy Theater on Wednesday night.

PM&L Theatre will be hosting auditions for “She Loves Me!”

Dixon High School will perform "Thirteen Past Midnight" from Nov. 1-3 at Dixon High School's James A. Wiltz Auditorium.

The City of Lockport is hosting a special invitation-only screening of HBO's "Somebody Somewhere" season 3 opening episodes at the Roxy Theatre Wednesday night. The show's stars and creator will be in attendance.

The cast's initial attraction to the play was the sharp, witty, often hilarious dialogue of the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright.

Joliet's The Rialto Square Theatre reopened Tuesday night to the delight of more than 1,200 people who came out for the performance by Vitamin String Quartet. The theater was closed for 4 months.

Participants will learn from Emily Kristen Morris, a New York City-based actor, singer, dancer and certified vocal instructor, who is currently starring as Elsa in “Frozen” at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora.

An intimate, fast-paced version of the Shakespeare tragedy with live percussion promises to scare up a chilling entertainment for audiences.

Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois will host a Trunk or Treat on Sunday at Nikos Catering in Joliet.

The $1.5 million restoration project will begin this month and be completed in March 2025.

Returning to the stage in mid-November, the community theater troupe has an exciting season ahead at the newly revitalized Woodstock Opera House.

The popular musical will now run through June 2025 at the intimate downtown Aurora theatre.

An Ira Levin thriller launches the 61st season for Village Theatre Guild, featuring “Dr. Cook’s Garden” weekends through Nov. 9.

This October, prepare for a thrilling theatrical experience as Improv Playhouse presents “Dracula,” the iconic Bram Stoker novel brought to life as a staged radio drama using the original 1938 Orson Welles script.

Janus Theatre Company stages dramedy that takes creative liberties with famous real-life women during the French Revolution.

Stage Coach Players are celebrating the Halloween season with a production of “Blithe Spirit,” which opens Oct. 24 and runs for two weekends.

The Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park Theatre in Joliet and Critical Grind Board Game Café in Shorewood are offering mystery theater events in October.

Pre-movie activities at the Harry Potter Movie Event at the ROXY Lockport include Sorting Hat house placement, Olivander’s Pop-up Shoppe and magic classes in herbology, divination and wand mechanics.

With quick humor and clever dialogue, this show follows two bachelors and their pursuit of love with a modern twist. This show honors the act of being earnest in a world that rewards the opposite behavior.

After closing its doors in May to move locations, Dixon Stage Left welcomed an award-winning Broadway actor as its new artistic director – something Executive Director Scott Fattizzi says “is one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities in the theater world.”

Dixon Stage Left continues renovations of a building purchased to be their new home.