THINGS TO DO
Here are some events happening from Dec. 8 to 14 in the Chicago suburbs and Northwest Indiana.
Light it up
The annual NaperLights holiday display is from 4 to 10 p.m. daily through Jan. 1, 2024, at Water Street, Foyo Plaza, Jaycees Park and the South Side of the Riverwalk in Naperville. Tickets are free. At 120 Water St. Naperlights.com.
The display features more than 150,000 lights and a growing collection of giant lighted holiday figures including skating polar bears, penguins sliding on an igloo, skaters, snowmen, carolers, gifts, baubles and singing trees. New this year is a big red and white throne by the Great Tree perfect for pictures. Santa will make his final stop of the season from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Dec. 23.
Tipsy theater
“The Drunk’n Gnome Show” is at 8 p.m. Dec. 9 at Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park in Joliet. Tickets are $5. At 201 W. Jefferson St. 815-724-3761; bicentennialpark.org.
This 18-and-over show is a Joliet tradition. A definitely-mature take on the annual Bicentennial Park “Gnome Show,” this bawdy live show looks at what happens when the mead flows generously. Beer, wine and concessions will be sold, along with “gnome” made gifts.
Country ‘carol’
Hammond Community Theatre presents “A Good, Old-Fashioned, Redneck Country Christmas” at 7:30 p.m. Dec.
8-9 and 15-16 and 2 p.m. Dec. 10 and 17 at Beatniks on Conkey in Hammond. Tickets are $20. At 420 Conkey St. 219-852-0848; hammondcommunitytheatre.org/redneck. html.
This holiday comedy posits that three guys — Bill, Dave and Jimmy — were just trying to go hunting, drink beer and avoid their wives when they happened to witness the birth of Christ. With angry wives waiting at home, they might need a Christmas miracle to get their families back together.
Gleeful holiday show
Jane Lynch’s Swingin’ Little Christmas is at 8 p.m. Dec. 9 and 1 p.m. Dec. 10 at the Raue Center for the Arts in Crystal Lake. Tickets are $60-$80. At 26 N. Williams St, 815-356-9212; rauecenter.org.
The special, a throwback to holiday concerts of the 1950s and ‘60s, stars Emmy and Golden Globe winner Jane Lynch, Kate Flannery, Tim Davis and the Tony Guerrero Quintet.
Holiday tunes
The Naperville Municipal Band performs its annual holiday concert at 3 p.m. Dec. 10 at Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville. Tickets are free. At 2360 95th St. napervilleband.org.
The Naperville Municipal Band’s holiday program includes classic carols; plus newer renditions of “A Cowboy Christmas,” “Toboggan Ride” and a setting of “Silent Night” entitled, “On That Night All Was Silent” by David Samuel. The band will end with the perennial crowd favorite, “A Christmas Sing-A-Long.”