ART
`AMAR KANWAR’
Three of the Indian artist’s films that are “a mixture of documentary, poetic travelogue and visual essay”; opens Sunday, with a talk by the artist at 5 p.m.; Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, 5811 S. Ellis Ave.; Free; 773-702-8670.
`STAMP OF IMPULSE: ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST PRINTS’
The first comprehensive exhibition on the impact of Abstract Expressionism on American graphic arts; opens Friday; Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University, 40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston; Free; 847-491-4000.
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`LEON GOLUB: WORKS SINCE 1947′
Forty pieces by the former Chicagoan drawn primarily from local collections; opens Saturday; Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St.; Free; 312-744-6630.
— Alan G. Artner
CLASSICAL
CONCERTANTE DI CHICAGO
Hilel Kagan leads his chamber orchestra in “China Dreams,” an intriguing East-meets-West program mingling traditional Chinese music and Chinese instruments with Western notions of chinoiserie. 3 p.m. Sunday at DePaul University Concert Hall, 800 W. Belden Ave.; $5-$30; 312-346-9006.
MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE
Newly named principal guest conductor Nicholas Kraemer leads the MOB Orchestra in Handel’s complete “Water Music,” with countertenor Daniel Taylor singing arias by Bach and Handel; 7:30 p.m. Sunday at First United Methodist Church, 1630 Hinman Ave., Evanston and 7:30 p.m. Monday at Old St. Patrick’s Church, 700 W. Adams St.; $22-$45; 312-551-1414.
ROBERT SIMS
The remarkable lyric baritone will perform Copland’s “Old American Songs” along with Broadway favorites and African-American spirituals in recital at 8 p.m. Friday in the Fine Arts Center Recital Hall of Northeastern Illinois University, 5500 N. St. Louis Ave.; $10-$25; 773-442-4636.
FORCES OF VIRTUE
This new period-instrument ensemble and choir, whose repertory leans toward neglected sacred and dramatic works from the 15th to 18th Centuries, presents “Music of War and Peace From the Renaissance”; 8 p.m. Friday in Unity Temple, 875 Lake St., Oak Park; and 2:30 p.m. Jan. 19 at St. Chrysostom’s Episcopal Church, 1424 N. Dearborn St.; Free (Donations will be accepted Jan. 19); 773-454-4584.
`THE BARBER OF SEVILLE’
Rossini’s evergreen comedy gets a fresh spin from Opera Theatre Highland Park, with an original script by stage director Michael Kotze that has the composer (Warren Moulton, who also sings the role of Fiorello) narrating the story; 3 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Jan. 19 at Highland Park Community House, 1991 Sheridan Rd., Highland Park; also at 8 p.m. Jan. 25 at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie; $12-$32.50; 847-831-2938.
— John von Rhein
THEATER
`FUNNY GIRL’
The role of Ziegfeld Follies headliner Fanny Brice requires funny, it requires heartbreaking and heartbroken, and it requires a voice in sync with Jule Styne’s seductive melodies. Heidi Kettenring is wonderfully up to all the job requirements in director Dominic Missimi’s entertaining revival. Through Jan. 19 at Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire; $35-$40; 847-634-0200.
`MACHINAL’
Sophie Treadwell’s fascinating Jazz Age artifact follows an ordinary stenographer (Mechelle Moe, resembling a D.W. Griffith silent movie heroine) from miserable marriage to ecstatic affair to the electric chair. The Hypocrites offer an intriguing production staged by Sean Graney; not all its multimedia elements mesh, but Treadwell’s vision of one woman versus a cold patriarchal society remains clear-eyed. Through Feb. 16 at Chicago Dramatists, 1105 W. Chicago Ave.; $12-$15; 312-409-5578.
`MARVIN’S ROOM’
Scott McPherson’s lovely 1990 play — a black comedy about dying that’s an inspiring testimonial to the power of positive living — inaugurates the $2 million Raven Theatre on Clark Street. The space is a beauty, and the production itself is strongly felt, without sacrificing the laughs. Extended through Jan. 25 at 6157 Clark St.; $20-$24; 773-338-2177.
`THANK HEAVEN IT WASN’T 7/11′
Slick, tightly directed revue, Second City’s 88th. It’s supposed to be about America in the nervous wake of 9/11, in all its Big Gulp consumerist glory. The best bits are (somewhat distressingly) the most apolitical, but also the most relaxed and human-scaled. Open-ended run at Second City Mainstage, 1616 N. Wells; $17; 312-337-3992.
— Michael Phillips
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`CATCH’
The indomitable Flying Karamazov Brothers offer a seasonal greatest-hits show that will delight their fans. As always, the fake siblings with the big mouths are willing to juggle even the most perverse objects; through Jan. 19 at the Royal George Theatre, 1641 N. Halsted St.; $36.60-$42.50; 312-988-9000.
`JULIUS CAESAR’
A dark and bold treatment of the Shakespearean tragedy of betrayal, replete with a huge cast, a beguiling sense of theatricality and a coherent, accessible point of view; through Feb. 23 at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Navy Pier; $48-$58; 312-595-5600.
— Chris Jones