TV: True `Blue’
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The fine ABC detective drama “NYPD Blue” is in its fifth season, and murmur has it that it is growing formulaic and less than wholly engaging. But in good police work you have to look to the evidence, and the evidence suggests otherwise. Case in point: Tuesday’s special 90-minute episode (8:30 p.m., WLS-Ch. 7), the conclusion to a riveting two-part study of a man the detectives believe raped and murdered his 8-year-old son, then set up a mute, homeless man to take the fall. It would have been even more powerful if its makers had had the courage to skip the secondary plot.
– Steve Johnson
ROCK: Swan song I
It’s been a tough year for garage rock in the state of Washington. To kick things off, the venerable Estrus label lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in merchandise, memorabilia and master tapes in a warehouse fire. Now, the label’s flagship act — the Mono Men — is calling it a career after a series of albums that were an unrepentant four-chord throwback to such pastimes as hot rods, six packs and cruisin’ chicks. But before calling it quits, the Mono Men return Friday and Saturday to the Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western Ave., site of some of their most notoriously over-the-top concerts. 773-276-3600.
– Greg Kot
DANCE: Swan song II
Two of the many versions of “The Nutcracker” scheduled this year open this week. The classic Ruth Page version opens Friday at Arie Crown Theater, in its 31st year of performances and, organizers say, its last. Meanwhile, an all-male comedy troupe calling itself Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo brings a drag version Saturday and Dec. 14 to the Auditorium Theatre as part of the venue’s Home for the Holidays Festival. For tickets to both: 312-902-1500.
– Sid Smith
ART: Meet the Minotaur
Corey Postiglione is a midcareer artist based in Chicago who has come to use the form of a labyrinth both as a metaphor for the journey of life and as a conceptual device for mapping the postmodern. An exhibition of his subtly provocative paintings and drawings has just opened at the 11th Street Gallery of Columbia College, 72 E. 11th St., and will continue through Jan. 30. The artist will give a free gallery talk on his work at 2 p.m. Tuesday. 312-663-1600, ext. 6156.
– Alan Artner
CLASSICAL: Northern lights
For devotees of the symphonic music of Finland’s greatest composer, Jean Sibelius, Symphony Center is the place to be this week, when the Chicago Symphony Orchestra turns over its normal subscription concerts to the visiting London Symphony Orchestra under its principal conductor, Colin Davis. The British maestro will present a four-concert Sibelius Festival that includes Symphonies Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7, Violin Concerto, “Oceanides” and orchestral songs. Violinist Kyoko Takezawa and soprano Katarina Dalayman will be the soloists. Three different programs will be presented at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and 3 p.m. Dec. 14, in Orchestra Hall. If you miss Symphony Center’s orgy of Sibelius, don’t despair: Davis and the LSO have recorded his symphonies for RCA Victor. 312-294-3000.
– John von Rhein
JAZZ: Improv olympics
Chicago percussionist-bandleader Kahil El’Zabar has emerged as a focal point for musical experimentation in this city, drawing innovators of all kinds into his circle. On Dec. 14, El’Zabar will preside over yet another evening of avant-garde improvisation, sharing the stage with the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, singer Kurt Elling and guitarist Fareed Haque. They’ll perform at 7:30 p.m. in the Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave. 312-409-2689 or 312-559-1212.
– Howard Reich