CHAMPION, HIGHWAY PATROL & More Lead Chicago's February 2024 Top Picks

Chicago is never lacking outstanding theatre, whether epic Broadway shows, engrossing dramas or bold fringe offerings. BroadwayWorld is rounding up our top recommended theatre every month. February 2024's top picks include Lyric Opera's Champion, Cinderella, Goodman's Highway Patrol and more.

Champion

Lyric Opera House - Chicago - January 27, 2024 through February 11, 2024

Lyric Opera of Chicago welcomes Champion, the first opera written by composer Terence Blanchard. Based on a true story and featuring a libretto by Michael Cristofer; the drama unfolds in what composer Terence Blanchard calls “an opera in jazz.” Welterweight boxer Emile Griffith is tortured by the complex realities of his life: decades-long guilt from defeating a challenger in the ring, who died from Griffith’s blows; and desperately conflicted feelings regarding his own sexuality.

For tickets: click here.

Christian McBride’s The Movement Revisited

Chicago Symphony Center - February 02, 2024 through February 02, 2024

Eight-time Grammy Award-winning bassist, bandleader and host of NPR’s “Jazz Night in America,” Christian McBride brings his monumental musical tribute inspired by the words of Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Muhammad Ali and President Barack Obama. “When the suite soars, it follows the bandleader’s strengths, known for his ebullient precision — his joy in the details — and for savoring the nectar inside swing rhythm” (DownBeat).

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Complexions Contemporary Ballet

Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University - February 03, 2024 through February 03, 2024

Founders Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson, armed with a rich Alvin Ailey lineage and a cadre of 16 spectacular dancers, have re-envisioned ballet through technical precision, athletic prowess, and sheer passion. Complexions’ blockbuster hit, STAR DUST: From Bach to Bowie is sure to rock audiences with a soundtrack celebrating David Bowie classics, including “Young Americans,” “Heroes,” and “Space Oddity.” A spectacular dance extravaganza with glam rock-inspired costumes, Stardust is a “love letter” to Bowie — bold and “utterly transfixing” (Billboard).

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Cinderella

Lyric Opera House - Chicago - January 21, 2024 through February 10, 2024

Rossini’s enchanting fairytale heroine returns to the Lyric Opera of Chicago stage in classic style. Cinderella (La Cenerentola) tells the story of the downtrodden daughter of a selfish father, Don Magnifico. When Prince Ramiro (disguised as his own valet, Dandini) meets her, they fall instantly in love, leading — after a few complications — to a heartwarming happy ending. Rossini’s score provides endless sparkle, with Cenerentola’s and Ramiro’s arias abounding in fabulous vocal virtuosity. There’s also hilarity, thanks to the antics of Magnifico and Dandini. Sung in Italian with projected English titles

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The Music Man in Concert

Metropolis Performing Arts Centre - February 02, 2024 through February 11, 2024

Presented as a concert reading with more than 40 dynamic performers backed by a 25-piece orchestra, this is a rare opportunity to hear Meredith Willson’s charming, six-time Tony Award-winning musical with the power and grandeur it deserves. The Music Man follows fast-talking traveling salesman, Harold Hill, as he cons the people of River City, Iowa, into buying instruments and uniforms for a band that he vows to organize – despite the fact that he does not know a trombone from a treble clef. His plans to skip towns with the cash are foiled when he falls for Marian, the librarian, who transforms him into a respectable citizen by curtain’s fall. Please beware of purchasing tickets on third party websites not approved by Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, in addition to scams and resellers. It is important to note that Hugh Jackman is not scheduled to perform and is not associated with the Metropolis production of A Music Man in Concert.

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Highway Patrol

Goodman Theatre in the Albert - January 20, 2024 through February 18, 2024

TIMESTAMP: October, 2012: “@DanaDelany, Are you married? If not, I’d marry you.” When Cam, a 13-year-old fan in a desperate medical situation captures actress Dana Delany’s attention on Twitter, she’s quickly swept into an intense, around-the-clock online friendship. But when Cam starts receiving messages from beyond, Dana is thrust into a world where unexpected revelations raise the question of how far we go to love and be loved.

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Come From Away

Coronado Performing Arts Center - February 06, 2024 through January 06, 2024

On 9/11, the world stopped. On 9/12, their stories moved us all. This stirring and inspiring musical takes you into the heart of the remarkable true story of the small town in Newfoundland that opened their homes to 7,000 stranded travelers on 9/11. During that fateful week, cultures clashed, and nerves ran high— but uneasiness turned into trust, music soared into the night and gratitude grew into enduring friendships. Celebrate the best of humankind and the best in all of us at COME FROM AWAY.

For tickets: click here.

ILLINOISE

Chicago Shakespeare Theater - January 28, 2024 through February 18, 2024

Grammy and Oscar-nominated Sufjan Stevens’ acclaimed album enjoys cult status for its lush orchestrations and wildly inventive portrayal of our state’s people and places—landing on “best of the decade” lists in Rolling Stone, NPR, and Paste. Now, one of today’s most in-demand directors and choreographers, Tony Award winner Justin Peck (New York City Ballet, Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story), embraces the album in an ecstatic pageant of storytelling, theater, dance, and music, with a narrative crafted with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury. The virtuosic cast and a live band lead audiences on a journey through our state—from campfire stories to the edges of the cosmos.

For tickets: click here.

An American in Paris in Concert

Chicago Symphony Orchestra - February 09, 2024 through February 09, 2024

Witness the 1951 MGM musical — starring Gene Kelly as an American ex-GI who falls for a Parisian woman played by Leslie Caron — on the big screen while the CSO performs the score live. Featuring the treasured songs of George and Ira Gershwin, the movie culminates in an iconic ballet sequence, choreographed by Kelly himself. Paris never felt so magnificent.

For tickets: click here.

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