51 MORE THINGS WE WANT TO DO THIS MONTH
DEC. 1–7 | OPERA
The Three Queens
A few years ago, soprano Sondra Radvanovsky sang a sort of trifecta at the Metropolitan Opera: She portrayed the royal heroines of the three Donizetti “Tudor” operas — the title roles in Anna Bolena and Maria Stuarda and Elizabeth I in Roberto Devereux — in all their glory, in the space of a single season. In a semistaged triathlon she premieres here and plans to tour, Radvanovsky cuts to the chase and sings just the climactic final acts of all three operas. Or maybe we should say “chases to the cuts,” given that two queens get beheaded.
Details Lyric Opera House. Loop. $49–$219. lyricopera.org
DEC. 2 | NEW MUSIC
MusicNow
The composer Michael Gordon cofounded the New York–based new-music ensemble Bang on a Can, trailblazers in the effort to pull contemporary classical music out of its turn-of-the-millennium academic culde-sac. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s new-music series aligns works by Gordon (his harmonically high-strung Hyper) with those of composers he has influenced.
Details Harris Theater. Loop. 7 p.m. $29. cso.org
DEC. 2–6 | COMEDY
Josh Gondelman
This standup is widely regarded as the nicest guy in comedy, famous for his witty social commentary and jokes about his pug. Since his last Zanies set in 2018, he’s moved on from his writing post at Last Week Tonight With John Oliver to Showtime’s Desus and Mero and released a memoir titled Nice Try, in which he chronicles cringeworthy stories of, in his words, “best intentions and mixed results,” like when he tried to save a failing relationship by trying ecstasy on New Year’s Eve.
Details Zanies. Old Town. $25. chicago.zanies.com
DEC. 5 | FILM
Bellingcat: Truth in a Post-Truth World
The British organization Bellingcat relies on social media, YouTube videos, and other public resources to investigate issues from the downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 to the use of chemical weapons on Syrian civilians. Get an inside look at the tactics of its citizen journalists during this documentary screening, after which Human Rights
