GROUPON GUIDE TO CHICAGO

Chicago Agenda: Tuesday, December 17

BY: Tyler Clark | Dec 17, 2013

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“Pictures from an Exhibition” Maurice Ravel’s daring 1922 adaptation anchors a night of national pride as seen through the symphony While speakers across the city blare the tinny tunes of Christmas, the musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra have been quietly preparing a program celebrating the national pride of three influential 20th-century composers. Finishing up its quick four-performance run tonight, Pictures from an Exhibition is anchored by Maurice Ravel’s 1922 adaptation of Modest Mussorgsky’s stirring memorial suite. The CSO’s rendition recreates Ravel’s daring work, filling the Chicago Symphony Center (220 S. Michigan Ave.) with the flourishes and embellishments that earned the Frenchman fame as a master of musical Impressionism. The orchestra will also tackle Dvorak’s energetic Husitská Overture, and give the stage to eminent Mexican pianist Jorge Federico Osorio for his rendition of fellow countryman Carlos Chavez’s Piano Concerto. ($40+; 7:30 p.m.; buy tickets here) Bah Humbug! A Sour Christmas! Eighteen rare, seasonal, and sour beers from breweries including Three Floyds, Goose Island, and Lost Abbey

Taking advantage of Santa’s preoccupation with the upcoming holiday, the crew at Jerry’s (1938 W. Division St.) in Wicker Park snuck into his cellars at the North Pole and liberated the old elf’s stash of rare beers. They’ll share these riches at Bah Humbug! A Sour Christmas!, handing out pours of exotic elixirs from brewery including Three Floyds, Goose Island, and Lost Abbey. As the name suggests, sour beers take center stage; we’d recommend grabbing a limited three-year flight of Jolly Pumpkin’s Noel De Calabaza ($28.50), which lets you compare the 2011–2013 editions of the beer side-by-side-by-side. (6 p.m. to 10 p.m.)

What’s Behind Door No. 3? The Double Door transforms into a comedy club for this weekly showcase series Every family Christmas has one: the loose-cannon uncle whose lack of a filter and love of amber-colored liquor leaves everyone laughing (though rarely for the right reasons.) This year, disarm this offensive joker with a story about all of the actual comedians you saw at What’s Behind Door Number 3?, the weekly comedy series at the Double Door (1572 N. Milwaukee Ave.). During tonight’s edition, award-winning standup and improviser Sherman Edwards anchors a lineup of proven talents that include Kristen Toomey, Mar’son & the FYF Crew, and Calvin Evans. As always, dispatches from the crack reporters at The Whiskey Journal will also keep audiences abreast of developing (and curiously underreported) news. (Free; 7 p.m.) Photo by Todd Rosenberg

BY: Tyler Clark

Guide Staff Writer

Tyler is a writer, storyteller, and musician from Chicago. His stories have appeared on stage at shows including Mortified, Story Club, and Lethal Poetry.