ARCHITECTURE
`THE NATURE OF DWELLINGS’
Architect David Hovey, principal of Glencoe-based Optima Inc., lectures at 6 p.m. Monday on “The Nature of Dwellings” at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Crown Hall, 3360 S. State St.; free; 312-567-3279.
— Blair Kamin
ART
`EMILIO VEDOVA’
Paintings and mixed-media works on paper by the veteran Italian artist; through March 25, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, 500 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 1450; free; 312-822-9545.
— Alan G. Artner
CLASSICAL
ARS VIVA
Alan Heatherington (recently named “Conductor of the Year” by the Illinois Council of Orchestras) will lead his Ars Viva Symphony Orchestra in works by Respighi, Mendelssohn, Prokofiev and Beethoven; 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie; $42; 847-673-6300.
— John von Rhein
JAZZ
CYRUS CHESTNUT
The ebullient pianist, who embraces elements of gospel and blues, leads a trio; Tuesday through March 6 at the Jazz Showcase, 59 W. Grand Ave.; $20; 312-670-2473.
— Howard Reich
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ROCK
FUTUREHEADS
Exuberant, harmony-laden new wave of pop-rock from Scotland; Tuesday at Double Door, 1572 N. Milwaukee Ave.; $12; 773-489-3160.
— Greg Kot
THEATER
`THE BLUEST EYE’
In a world where the culture’s paragons of beauty all have blond hair and blue eyes, three pre-adolescent African-American girls learn some bruising lessons in Toni Morrison’s wrenching 1969 debut novel. As the young girls, Alana Arenas, Monifa M. Days and Libya V. Pugh interact as if they’ve been living these roles for years; through March 6 at Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St.; $10; 312-335-1650.
— Michael Phillips
`CURSE OF THE CRYING HEART’
House Theatre’s typically fearless and inventive new excursion into theatrical pulp ends up as a thoroughly campy and totally engrossing Samurai-style cross between “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “The Mikado” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.” “Curse” is the sequel to last year’s “San Valentino and the Melancholy Kid”; through March 12 at the Viaduct Theater, 3111 N. Western Ave.; $10-$19; 773-251-2195.
— Chris Jones