Get tickets to Shakespeare Theater/Courtyard Theater on Navy Pier, starting at $29 (half price) for tickets over the next month – although is’s showing a couple of sold-out performances.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater brings to the stage the Midwest premiere of David Ives’ The School for Lies, adapted from Moliere’s The Misanthrope. This period comedy transforms Molière’s classic into a modern satire told entirely through verse. The result is a delightfully incongruous seventeenth-century comedy of manners that brims with contemporary slang. Performing the roles of love interests Frank and Celimene are real-life husband and wife duo and longtime Stratford Shakespeare Festival actors Ben Carlson and Deborah Hay. CST Artistic Director and multiple Jeff Award-winning director Barbara Gaines takes the helm.

Check out the Goldstar comp events listed on the right side bar (click on the above link – I see eight offers today for January performances, but they’re only FREE for a very limited time.

Free tickets are available for this Saturday’s matinee and for all performances December 30th through January 6th.  Most expensive seats are $9.

Three actors on an almost bare stage bring the sights and sounds of Victorian London to life on stage in A Christmas Carol (Abridged). Adapted from the beloved novel by Charles Dickens, this production uses Dickens’ own rich language in clever and elegant ways. It’s an intimate, engaging staging of the story of the infamous Scrooge, his ghostly visitors one fateful Christmas Eve, and the true meaning of the season. Rachel Martindale directs and stars alongside John-Paul Kostecki and Mason Pain.

Last Comic Standing’s Tammy Pescatelli at the Chicago Improv.  Get tickets from FREE up to $11.  They had me at FREE.

Italian-American comedian Tammy Pescatelli parlayed her appearance as one of the final five on NBC’s Last Comic Standing into a thriving stand-up and reality show career. Her credits include not only The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Talk, Comics Unleashed, The Joy Behar Show and her own Comedy Central Presents special, but her own WE tv series A Stand-Up Mother, which chronicles her life and career. Pescatelli brings her observational comedy about her wacky relatives and more to the Chicago Improv of Schaumburg. Learn More

Goldstar has free tickets for this weekend’s performance of Hannukatz, the Musical.  Everyone knows the story: the Moskowitz children of Skokie, Illinois were sworn enemies of Hannukah until they were visited by Hannukatz, a 6’7” cat wearing a kippah and a tie-dyed tee shirt who taught them the true meaning of the holiday. Wait — you don’t know about Hannukatz? What about beloved Hannukarols such as “Do the Chhhh,” “No Jews Allowed,” and “Hannukah is NOT the Jewish Christmas”? If you’re intrigued — or cracking up — best make time for HANNUKATZ, THE MUSICAL, the trippy, if catchy, live stage show from Grammy-winner Terry Abrahamson. See why the New National Pastime Theater has brought back this highly original production, enjoyable whether you celebrate Hannukah (or Hannukatz) or not.

Here’s some freebies currently being offered by Goldstar.  Remember, just because they’re free today does not mean they’ll be free tomorrow…I made that mistake for you, my friends.  Goldstar currently lists 13 shows as having FREE tickets.

Hannukah Made Hilarious in HANNUKATZ THE MUSICAL!  Everyone knows the story: the Moskowitz children of Skokie, Illinois were sworn enemies of Hannukah until they were visited by Hannukatz, a 6’7” cat wearing a kippah and a tie-dyed tee shirt who taught them the true meaning of the holiday. Wait — you don’t know about Hannukatz? What about beloved Hannukarols such as “Do the Chhhh,” “No Jews Allowed,” and “Hannukah is NOT the Jewish Christmas”? If you’re intrigued — or cracking up — best make time for HANNUKATZ THE MUSICAL! the trippy, if catchy, live stage show from Grammy-winner Terry Abrahamson. See why the New National Pastime Theater has brought back this highly original production, enjoyable whether you celebrate Hannukah (or Hannukatz) or not.

Experience the Best of Toys, Games and Comics at Mighty Con at the DuPage County Fairgrounds.  Bursting at the seams with toys, statues, comics, video games, vendors and artists, Mighty Con is one of the premier conventions in the country and an action-packed feast for the senses. Artist Alley features publishers like Big Dog Ink and Big Bang Comics, while Joe’s Brick Depot features a 200-square foot Lego show with a full motorized train. If that’s not enough, there are tens of thousands of comics, toys, collectibles and more for sale from vendors worldwide. Mighty Con has something for everyone, so don’t miss this fun-filled event!

A world-premiere stage adaptation from City Lit Theatre, Charles Dickens’ The Cricket on the Hearth is a warm Yuletide romance that comes complete with a selection of Victorian Christmas carols. Adapted and directed by William Kuffert, the story is subtitled A Fairy Tale of Home, and centers around the contentedly domestic Peerybingle family and their friends, who are lucky enough to have the title insect as their guardian angel. But when a mysterious stranger comes to visit, his stay spells trouble for a miserly toy manufacturer and the young woman he intends to marry. No need to worry, though — there’s a happy holiday ending.

Goldstar has added additional performance to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular: The Rockettes Celebration! at the Akoo Theatre in Rosemont.

Whether in the Big Apple or the Windy City, a highlight of every holiday season is the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. The world-famous dancers are back with this year’s Rockettes Celebration! featuring their signature high kicks, precision choreography and exciting, show-stopping numbers. You can look forward to annual favorites like “Parade of the Wooden Soldier” and “Christmas in New York,” as well as re-imagined numbers and dazzling special effects that will entertain your whole family, from the oldest to the youngest.

Chicago’s own the Black Ship Company brings its wintery new tragicomedy Foreverendia to Athenaeum Theatre. Written by Brian Tuttle, Foreverendia is perfectly seasonal and wildly inventive. The story finds three young adventurers climbing out of their chimneys and (thanks to a recent blizzard) into their freshly snowscaped neighborhood. From there, imagination and the proposition that animals mostly speak French take over in this unique piece of contemporary theater that’s both tender and thoughtful. The Black Ship Co.’s Artistic Director Nicki Mazzocca directs the show.

Tickets for today’s 2 pm performance are FREE; other dates and times have tickets prices ranging from $5 to $12.

The Fine Print Theatre Company presents Christmas in Chicago, a comedic, musical year-in-review for the holidays. Now if the show’s four performers can just stick to the script. This original work, written by David Himmel and Patrick Kenney, features a cast of veteran improvisers and comedic actors as four ego-driven performers fighting for their moment in the spotlight. As they recap the major news stories of the year, the performers hijack the show, leading it off the rails and into their own private lives, with hilarious results. With original music, satirical Christmas songs, politically relevant sketch comedy and bushels of holiday cheer, even the recession will seem funny.

The Goldstar freebies are great ways to see live entertainment for less.  You will always pay a service fee, but that’s the same with or without paying for the ticket!  We went last night on a penny deal and saw Charles Dickens Begrudgingly Performs A Christmas Carol. Again.  very clever and very enjoyable

The Gifts of the Magi: New Musical Based on O. Henry Holiday Stories is available today for FREE for a couple of performances.  Based on a pair of O. Henry holiday stories, this magical new musical from the award-winning team of Mark St. Germain (Freud’s Last Session) and Randy Courts (Johnny Pye and the Foolkiller) premieres in Chicago, courtesy of the city’s acclaimed Porchlight Music Theatre. Set in 1905 New York, a pair of struggling newlyweds make personal sacrifices to purchase presents for one another, before realizing that their love and devotion are the true gifts of the season. And in another of the author’s ironic masterpieces, The Cop and the Anthem, a cheerful hobo does his best to get arrested so he can spend Christmas in a nice, warm jail cell.

When Goldstar offers FREEBIE tickets, this means the deal is only available for that day – you are able to choose what future performances you want – which could be as much as six weeks out.  Here’s some of the FREEBIES available today:

A Beer Carol: Dickens’ Classic Through the Bottom of a Glass.   Staged as a live radio play, A Beer Carol reformulates the Dickens’ Yuletide favorite into a frosty concoction that follows the cautionary tale of Bud Miller, the villainous CEO of Milweiser, an evil brewer of barely-palatable swill. Miller’s soon visited by four ghosts — Hops, Barley, Water and Yeast — whose aim is to show him how to be a better man and a better beer-maker. The show’s penned by craft-brew lovers Steve Mosqueda and Sean Benjamin of Drinking & Writing Theater.

Dramatic classical and contemporary music, hand-constructed costumes and a 100-dancer cast come together to tell the story of Christmas in Ballet 5:8’s seasonal production of The Carpenter’s Son. Told mainly from the perspective of Mary, the mother of Jesus, The Carpenter’s Son is an original, full-length story ballet choreographed by Ballet 5:8 Artistic Director Julianna Slager. The talented cast features students from the School of the Arts, including the pre-professional Ensemble Companies, and guest appearances by Ballet 5:8 professional company members.

Travel & Adventure Show: Chris Harrison, Pauline Frommer & more at the Rosemont Horizon.

Shop locally and pick up unique vintage treasures for everyone on your gift list this year at Vintage Garage Holiday Trunk Show. At this popular two-day shopping event, you’ll find vintage clothing and jewelry, antique furniture, retro advertising memorabilia, nostalgic games, stylish glassware and appliances and practical electronics. Held at the Indoor Vintage Garage in Edgewater, the trunk show features hundreds of local, antique and re-purposed goods from Vintage Garage and holiday festivities at nearby Broadway Antique Market and the Edgewater Antique Mall.

Experience the Best of Toys, Games and Comics at Mighty Con.  Bursting at the seams with toys, statues, comics, video games, vendors and artists, Mighty Con is one of the premier conventions in the country and an action-packed feast for the senses. Artist Alley features publishers like Big Dog Ink and Big Bang Comics, while Joe’s Brick Depot features a 200-square foot Lego show with a full motorized train. If that’s not enough, there are tens of thousands of comics, toys, collectibles and more for sale from vendors worldwide. Mighty Con has something for everyone, so don’t miss this fun-filled event!