CLASSICAL
RAVINIA FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA
Marvin Hamlisch conducts, with baritone Jubilant Sykes as soloist, in a pops concert at 7 p.m. Sunday. Pops maestro Erich Kunzel will be joined by pianist Michael Chertock for the annual Tchaikovsky Spectacular (including the obligatory “1812 Overture,” with fireworks and cannon) saluting Labor Day, at 7 p.m. Monday. Ravinia Festival, Highland Park; $10-$40; 847-266-5100.
STARS OF LYRIC OPERA
Presenting a concert of operatic favorites will be singers Renee Fleming, Ben Heppner, Susan Graham, Catherine Malfitano, Lucio Gallo and others, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The Lyric Orchestra, under Andrew Davis, will perform music by Mozart, Strauss, Dvorak, Wagner, Massenet and others. Petrillo Music Shell in Grant Park, Columbus Drive and Jackson Boulevard; free; 312-827-5925 (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text).
AMERICAN OPERA GROUP
“The Overcoat,” Chicago composer-librettist Mae Cohen’s opera based on the Nikolai Gogol short story, will have its world premiere in a fully staged production directed by American Opera Group’s artistic director, Paul Williams, and conducted by musical director Francesco Milioto. The story concerns a lowly clerk in Czarist Russia. 8 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sept. 9 at the Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave.; $10-$35; 312-902-1500.
— John von Rhein
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ART
`SEEDS AND ASHES: WINDOWS TOWARD MY GARDEN’
Art and design by Birgitta Watz; opens Thursday; Swedish American Museum, 5211 N. Clark St.; $4; 773-728-8870.
`THE SHORT CENTURY’
“The Short Century: Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa, 1945-1994,” the first major exhibition to survey this period; opens Saturday; Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave.; $10 suggested admission; 312-280-2660.
LATINO ART
“Arte Latino: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum,” 66 paintings, sculptures and photographs highlighting two centuries of Latino art; opens Saturday; Terra Museum of American Art, 666 N. Michigan Ave.; $7 suggested admission; 312-664-3939.
— Alan G. Artner
DANCE
BHARATANATYAM IN THE DIASPORA: SPIRITUAL, CLASSICAL and CONTEMPORARY
A four-day celebration of Indian dance begins Thursday with Chicago’s Natya Dance Theatre, moves to Friday with a solo performance of the Bharatanatyam dance form by Malavika Sarukkai and finishes Saturday and Sept. 9 with the innovative choreography of Chandralekha and Dancers. All four performances are to have live accompaniment by traditional Indian music ensembles; The Dance Center of Columbia College, 1306 S. Michigan Ave.; $25-$40; 312-344-8300.
— Richard Christiansen.
JAZZ
BENNY GREEN TRIO
Understatement is an increasingly rare commodity among young jazz artists, but pianist Benny Green reaffirms its virtues; Tuesday through Sunday at the Jazz Showcase, 59 W. Grand Ave.; $20; 312-670-2473.
STEVE MILLION QUARTET
Chicago pianist Steve Million brings distinctive harmonies, unusual voicings and an elegant touch to everything he plays; 9 p.m. Saturday at Pops for Champagne, 2934 N. Sheffield Ave.; $10; 773-472-1000.
— Howard Reich
ROCK
BUILT TO SPILL
Doug Martsch’s splendid melodies unfold over dense, swirling guitar rock; Thursday-Friday at Metro, 3730 N. Clark St., $15; 773-549-0203.
PAUL K
The Kentucky troubadour blends Townes Van Zandt’s lacerating introspection with stormy guitar rock; Friday at Nevin’s, Evanston, $8-$9; 847-869-0450.
GREEN
Longtime power-pop trio is back at the top of its game on latest release, “Eau De Vie”; Saturday at Phyllis’ Musical Inn, 1800 W. Division; $7; 773-486-9862.
— Greg Kot
THEATER
`THE BOMB-ITTY OF ERRORS’
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The Shakespeare comedy about mistaken identity, inventively transplanted to a funky urban landscape and ingeniously delivered in intricate hip-hop rhyme by a quartet of frenetic young comedians; through Oct. 28 at the Royal George Cabaret Theater, 1633 N. Halsted St.; $35; 312-988-9000 or 312-902-1500.
`BUG’
Cheap thrills, expertly delivered, in Dexter Bullard’s well-cast staging of Tracy Letts’ loony pulp fiction thriller cum sci-fi horror parable about the fatal attraction between a battered woman and a mysterious young man who sees bugs everywhere; through Sept. 29 at A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N. Wells St.; $12.50-$16.50; 312-943-8722.
`MISS SAIGON’
The epic musical, scaled down but still spectacularly presented on an arena stage swarming with theatrical invention and melodramatic passion; through Nov. 4 at Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire; $34.50-$39.57; 847-634-0200.
— Richard Christiansen.