ART
JOHN CURRIN
The disquieting contemporary figure painter gets his first solo museum exhibition in the United States; opens Saturday at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave.; $10 suggested admission; 312-280-2660.
THE BIG PICTURE SHOW: SIZE DOES MATTER
Large-scale two-dimensional artworks by alumni, faculty and current students are on view; through June 6 at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Betty Rymer Gallery, 280 S. Columbus Drive; free; 312-443-3703.
–Alan G. Artner
CLASSICAL
CHICAGO CHAMBER MUSICIANS
Actors from the Chicago Theatre Company will join the city’s flagship chamber music ensemble for a bold contemporary staging of Stravinsky’s “L’Histoire du Soldat” (“The Soldier’s Tale”) in the Chicago Chamber Musicians’ subscription-series finale. The concerts, which include works by Mozart and Hindemith, will be at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, Northwestern University, 50 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston; and 7:30 p.m. Monday at DePaul University Concert Hall, 800 W. Belden Ave.; $8-$28; 312-225-5226.
AGRIPPINA
Handel’s richly melodic masterpiece receives a new production by Chicago Opera Theater, sung in Italian (with English surtitles) and featuring a period-instruments orchestra. Emmanuelle Haim will conduct, with stage direction by Lillian Groag. The comedy of power struggles, jealousy, concealed liaisons and murder plots is as contemporary as any made-for-TV thriller — not to be missed; opens at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave., and continues through May 10. $35-$75; 312-704-8414.
–John von Rhein
ROCK
THE KILLS
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This co-ed quartet delivers bluesy aggression, PJ Harvey-style, Monday at Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western Ave.; $8; 773-276-3600.
STRATFORD 4
Heavenly pop tunes delivered with big guitars derived from My Bloody Valentine’s gauzy flights; opening for Pedro the Lion, Wednesday at Park West, 322 W. Armitage Ave.; $12; 312-559-1212.
DE LA SOUL
Hip-hop giants remain an inspiration for today’s most forward-thinking and socially conscious rappers, Saturday at House of Blues, 329 N. Dearborn Ave.; $23.50; 312-923-2000.
–Greg Kot
THEATER
THE ROMANCE CYCLE: CYMBELINE and PERICLES
A wonderfully relaxed pairing of Shakespeare’s late-career, genre-scrambling tall tales. Director Charles Newell uses a sprightly, deeply skilled 14-person ensemble for both productions. Kate Fry leads the gang in “Cymbeline,” a story of a slandered princess in ancient Britain; Guy Adkins toplines “Pericles,” in which a wandering prince endures not one but two (niftily staged) storms at sea. The plays are what they are–half-crazy, and in the case of “Pericles,” decidedly second-shelf–but Newell has heaps of fun with them, in the best, most theatrical way. Both shows work on their own; I saw the double-header marathon, with the tasty Greek buffet supper served at the break; through June 1 at the Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave.; $24-$40 each part; dinner, $12-$14; 773-753-4472.
— Michael Phillips