Jedlicka Performing Arts Center presents Das Barbecü, an irreverent opera with a country-western twist. This updated retelling of Richard Wagner’s epic Ring cycle is set in Texas and features a singing cowboy named Seigfried, a honky tonk bar called Hagen’s Hideaway and a Verailles-style palace named Valhalla Ranch. Come along for the wacky ride as mismatched lovers first meet on the day of their double-shotgun wedding. With three generations of feuding families, a magic ring of power, five actors energetically portraying 30 characters, and music styles ranging from Broadway to swing to jazz, this is sure to be the most tongue-in-cheek opera you’ve ever experienced.

Free tickets are available for all performance (production runs mid-January through beginning of February).

They’ve added more tickets to Drury Lane Oak Brook Terrace’s production of Singin’ in the Rain.  Performances take place the first couple of weeks of January.

Based on the 1952 film starring Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds, Drury Lane’s production of Singin’ in the Rain honors both MGM’s movie musicals of the ’40s and the origins of talking movies. Tony Yazbeck reprises Kelly’s role as popular silent film star Don Lockwood, in this madcap romantic comedy. The upbeat and uplifting musical features exhilarating choreography set to the classic tunes that you know and love, including “Good Mornin’,” “Make ‘Em Laugh” and the title song.

Kitty, a wife, mother and career woman, is busy juggling executive responsibilities, the demands of her family, her needy divorced parents and her bickering friends when she is presented with the possibility of infidelity in the Shattered Globe Theatre production of this dark comedy. Written by playwright Lucinda Coxon, author of Herding Cats, The Shoemaker’s Wife and Wishbones, Happy Now? is a truthful yet comic portrait of contemporary life and how to survive it. The New York production of Happy Now? received a 2010 Drama Desk Award nomination for Best Play.

Now this is a new one for me: Goldstar has half-price tickets to professional bull-riding shows in mid-January at the Allstate Arena.

Check out hard-hitting bull riding action at PBR’s Chicago Invitational at Allstate Arena, part of the 2013 Built Ford Tough Series tour. Professional bull riding could be considered the oldest extreme sport in the United States. Riders put their lives on the line every time they strap themselves to a 1,500-pound bull and try to hang on for eight seconds. The top 35 bull riders in the world will compete against the fiercest bucking bulls on earth providing two hours of heart-pounding thrills and gut-wrenching spills. This nationally televised tour makes stops at big arenas across the country, where each event has a winner and each rider is accumulating points towards the ultimate goal: the Professional Bull Riders World Championship. The winner of the World Championship will receive the coveted championship belt buckle and a one million dollar bonus.

One-Man Show Side Effects May Include … From former Seinfeld writer Marc Jaffe.  Free tickets to performances the first week in January at Greenhouse Theater Center (formerly Victory Gardens).

Based on a funny, touching and true story, former Seinfeld writer Marc Jaffe created this one-man show using his own experiences as inspiration. Andrew J. Pond stars as Phil, a stand-up comedian living a reasonably-happy married life. His act centers around typical topics for stand-up comedians: his marriage and his wife’s waning sex drive. But when his wife is diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, their life — and his comedy — take an unexpected turn. Phil’s humor enables him to find laughter in the weighty challenges life throws his way, taking us on a roller coaster ride through his wife’s diagnosis, to her treatment via mountains of medications, to the unexpected emotional dilemmas they face about their own manhood and womanhood. What starts out as Phil’s unique story turns out to be a universal one, touching on the fears and desires that crop up in any marriage as we age.  A portion of ticket proceeds will benefit the Shaking with Laughter Foundation in support of the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

Goldstar is offering 50% off tickets to Drury Lane’s (Oak Brook Terrace) production of Singin’ in the Rain.  Deals are currently offered for performances on weekends through the middle of January.

Based on the 1952 film starring Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds, Drury Lane’s production of Singin’ In the Rain honors both MGM’s movie musicals of the ’40s and the origins of talking movies. Tony Yazbeck reprises Kelly’s role as popular silent film star Don Lockwood, in this madcap romantic comedy. The upbeat and uplifting musical features exhilarating choreography set to the classic tunes that you know and love including “Good Mornin’,” “Make ‘Em Laugh” and the title song.

Either for you or as a gift for someone else, getting 20% off gift certificates for productions that are deeply discounted on Goldstar is a no-brainer!  These certificates never expire!  Next time you see a deal posted here, you can just go ahead and click, knowing that you’ve increased your entertainment budget by 20% without doing anything!

Goldstar has a large group of promotions coming up over the next couple of months that aren’t available for posting yet, but definitely something for everybody.

The Drinking & Writing Theater brings you the SportsCenter-esque Barnstormers this winter as a way to kick off your Saturday nights. This fast-paced comedy is written and performed by Sean Benjamin and Steve Mosqueda. While chugging beers and downing shots, they explore the various connections among drinking, writing, sports, theater as sport and, most importantly, the ties between legacy and failure. Their commentary is equal parts history lesson and hilarious spoof of the business that is sports. The weather outside is frightful, so sit back and enjoy a beer or five while Benjamin and Mosqueda toss the laughs your way.

Tickets for preview and certain other performance dates are only $5 (you will always pay the service charge!).  Stage Left Theatre teams with Boho Theatre to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first production of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion.  A timeless and beloved tale, Pygmalion inspired the musical My Fair Lady. It tells the story of dialect expert Henry Higgins, an arrogant Englishman who makes a bet that he can teach Cockney flower-girl Eliza Doolittle to pass as a “proper lady.”  Before the experiment is over, they both end up changed forever. Vance Smith directs the show.

Check the comp tab for freebies.

The Drinking & Writing Theater brings you the SportsCenter-esque Barnstormers this winter as a way to kick of your Saturday nights. This fast-paced comedy is written and performed by Sean Benjamin and Steve Mosqueda. While chugging beers and downing shots, they explore the various connections among drinking, writing, sports, theater as sport and, most importantly, the ties between legacy and failure. Their commentary is equal parts history lesson and hilarious spoof of the business that is sports. The weather outside is frightful, so sit back and enjoy a beer or five while Benjamin and Mosqueda toss the laughs your way.

Like bear-baiting and fighting with cudgels, theological disputation is one popular entertainment that’s no longer, well, popular. That said, the folks at Drinking and Writing Theatre are doing their best to revive the pastime with God vs. Hall & Oates, which pits the creator of everything against a song-writing team whose fame stretched all the way from the early ’80s to the mid ’80s. In short, it is the author of the Good Book versus the masterminds behind “She’s Gone” and “Maneater.” Sean Benjamin and Steve Mosqueda will present their arguments on the musicians’ behalf and might even channel Hall & Oates to bring down the myth of divine sovereignty. Of course, God, too, will have her say, and — obviously — literature and alcohol will be a large part of the process. In addition to God and the music of Hall & Oates, expect a special visit from Carolyn Shoemaker from Trap Door Theatre and Drinking & Writing’s Christmas show, A Beer Carol.

Lots more freebies available, just click on the above links and you’ll see them on the right sidebar.