Spark!
ST. CHARLES – An entrepreneur from St. Charles will be featured on the ABC show “Shark Tank” at 7 p.m. Friday.
BATAVIA – The next round of the Fermilab Arts and Lecture series is at 8 p.m. Saturday as Ladysmith Black Mambazo will take the stage at the Ramsey Auditorium in Wilson Hall on Fermilab’s Batavia campus. Admission is $30 or $15 for those 18 years old and younger.
ELGIN – The White Ghost Shivers will transform the Elgin Community College SecondSpace Theatre into a 1920’s nightclub this weekend. The group will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday at the theater, located in the ECC Arts Center, 1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin.
MAPLE PARK – Advance tickets are now on sale for Kaneland High School’s performance of “Les Misérables School Edition.”
ST. CHARLES – The St. Charles North High School drama department is presenting the winter play “Chemical Imbalance: A Jekyll and Hyde Comedy” by Lauren Wilson.
ST. CHARLES – The St. Charles Arts Council is sponsoring its next neXt gallery – a pop-up gallery program – to open March 17 and run through April 7. The council is encouraging artists to submit work for jurying into the gallery.
AURORA – The Paramount Theatre announced today that Willie Nelson and Friends will perform at the venue for an 8 p.m. concert April 12. Nelson last performed at the downtown Aurora theater in the mid-2000s.
ST. CHARLES – Using Emmylou Harris as an influence, singer/songwriter Kelly Steward is starting to find her musical groove back in her home state.
GENEVA – Dance teams are gearing up for the Dancing with the Geneva Stars event set for Feb. 4 at the Eagle Brook Country Club in Geneva.
ELGIN – Nearly 500 pianists of all ages and skill levels will perform during American Grands XVII on Jan. 28, at Elgin Community College. The piano event will be held at 1, 4 and 7 p.m. at the ECC Arts Center’s Blizzard Theatre, 1700 Spartan Drive, in Elgin.
GENEVA – The musical duo February Sky will perform at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva, 102 S. James St., in Geneva, at 8 p.m. Friday.
WAYNE – The Fox Valley Associates of The Art Institute of Chicago will host a lecture and lunch Feb. 8 titled “Degenerate Art: Origins Modernism and Reform in 20th Century Germany.” The event will take place at the Dunham Riding Club, located at Army Trail and Dunham roads in Wayne. Degenerate art is a term adopted by the Nazi regime in Germany to describe virtually all, at the time, modern art. Such art was banned because it was considered not German or Jewish Bolshevist in nature, and those identified artists were dismissed from teaching positions, forbidden to exhibit or sell their art, and, in some cases, forbidden to produce art entirely.
“Squeeze,” an acrylic painting by Jennifer Her of North Aurora, is one of 11 student-created artworks purchased by Waubonsee Community College during the fall semester. The works are displayed throughout the college’s campuses. Through its student art purchase program, which started in fall 2006, the college has acquired a total of 119 pieces of original artwork. Other fall semester’s works came from Lori Barnick and Daniel Capobianco of Geneva; Ariel Hodge of North Aurora; and Christa Trumph of Sugar Grove.
BATAVIA – The band Smooth Jabuti will perform at The Lodge on the Fox, 35 N. Water St., in Batavia, from 9 p.m.-midnight Saturday. The eatery will also offer 50 percent off appetizers from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Saturdays throughout January. For more information, visit www.thelodgeonthefox.com.
DEKALB – Daughtry is heading to the NIU Convocation Center for a March 7 concert with special guests to be announced soon.
BATAVIA – Water Street Studios is gearing up for the opening of its first themed show, “iLLUMINATE,” next Friday.
BATAVIA – Joshua Casburn, director of “Great Expecations,” a stage play running this week at Batavia High School, has been working in some form on the production for almost a year.
MAPLE PARK – Kaneland High School students will perform “Les Misérables School Edition” for the school’s annual spring musical.
For the Northern Illinois University Art Museum, acquiring its own collection of artwork and artifacts can be a challenge.
NORTH AURORA – St. Charles author D.C. Brod will speak at the Messenger Writers Group meeting from 6:30-8 p.m. Jan. 26 at the Messenger Public Library, 113 Oak St. in North Aurora.
AURORA – Eight Aurora University music department faculty members will perform in the Third Thursday Concert series at 7:30 p.m. today in Crimi Auditorium at the Institute for Collaboration, 407 S. Calumet Ave. The public is invited and admission is free.
YORKVILLE – The Fox Country Players will present the benefit concert, “A Night of Broadway” at 7 p.m. Jan. 27 at the Community Christian Church in Yorkville in the Saint Joseph Cabinetry complex.
ST. CHARLES – “Folded Copper” by Steve Mitchell will be exhibited at Bliss Beads Studio & Gallery through Feb. 4. The artist was trained as a silver smith by Neil Anderson at Fine Line Creative Arts Center in St. Charles.
Mitzi Hamilton was the inspiration for the role of Val in the original “A Chorus Line.” She played that role on Broadway. She’s directed the show throughout the world. And now, she’s directing and choreographing the production at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora.
ST. CHARLES – The All-Canada Show returns to Pheasant Run Resort this weekend in St. Charles, featuring information on Canada’s top fishing and hunting destinations.
ST. CHARLES – In a faraway land, a queen – played by Fiona Dendler of South Elgin – is faced with a perplexing mystery. Every night her 12 beautiful princesses are tucked safely in their beds with the door to their suite securely bolted shut. Yet each morning the girls are exhausted, and their shoes are worn through, even though every day they get a new pair.
ST. CHARLES – Opening with a shocking scene, Steel Beam Theatre’s production of the dark comedic thriller “Murderer” will keep audiences on the edge of their seats.
YORKVILLE – Tickets are now on sale for “A Night of Broadway,” a Fox Country Players concert set for 7 p.m. Jan. 27 at the Community Christian Church, 129 Commercial Drive in Yorkville.
BATAVIA – Batavia’s Art In Your Eye Festival is seeking nominations for the 2012 poster artist.
CHICAGO – Illinois residents will be given free admission at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago from Jan. 25-28, sponsored by the Ford Motor Company Fund.
