Ticket prices for Superior Donuts are as low as $15 as a Goldstar Cyber Monday deal ($26 usual Goldstar price; $51 box office).  Mary-Arrchie Theatre Company reprises its acclaimed production of the Chicago-set Superior Donuts, the delicious comedy-drama from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tracy Letts (August: Osage County). It’s the story of the off-beat friendship that grows between the cantankerous white owner of a struggling uptown donut shop — a former radical who holds on tight to the past — and his only employee, an ambitious African-American teenager who has big dreams for the place. The company’s first run of this production was nominated for four prestigious Jeff Awards and recommended by the Chicago Reader.

The Ha-Ha-Holiday Show: Holiday Improv from Laugh Out Loud Theater in Schaumburg has 35 dates available with FREE tickets, but you have to order them today or the price disappears.  There were a few shows I posted earlier that I wanted to see but forgot to order and – bam! – the freebies were gone the next day.

Laugh Out Loud Theater presents a night of completely improvised holiday-themed comedy. In The Ha-Ha-Holiday Show, an experienced group of improvisers will use audience suggestions to inspire short comedy scenes, holiday games, improvised carols, and more. The cast of The Ha-Ha-Holiday Show includes some of the top improvisers in Chicago with years of musical improv experience. These actors have performed at such venerable comedy institutions as iO (formally ImprovOlympic), Second City, The Annoyance and ComedySportz.

The world-renowned Joffrey Ballet bring The Nutcracker to Chicago audiences. Since premiering in 1987, Joffrey’s production has become America’s No. 1 Nutcracker, touring coast to coast more than any other. This beloved holiday masterpiece for the whole family features the entire Joffrey company plus local children’s choruses and young dancers. It’s the enchanting tale of young Clara, whose magical nutcracker brings her to a fantastic winter wonderland. The show is complete with larger-than-life scenery, enchanting storytelling and Tchaikovsky’s famous score performed live by The Chicago Philharmonic.

We Three Lizas: Christmas Meets Cross-Dressing in Dark, Sexy Holiday Musical.   Tickets to this Steppenwolf Theater production are $12.50.  Performances run through December 9th.

When Conrad Ticklebottom and his anxious assistant Reggie conjure the Great Queen of Wishes to bestow upon him the trinity of power (youth, wealth and beauty, that is), he ends up with Liza Minnelli knocking at his door instead. And Liza — played by About Face Theatre Artistic Associate Scott Bradley, who also wrote the show’s book and lyrics — comes bearing gifts. Soon all hell’s breaking loose in this dark, sexy holiday musical that cleverly hijacks Christmas classics for a queer new world. AFT Artistic Associate Scott Ferguson directs.

Tickets for the first week in December’s performances are free.  Mary-Arrchie Theatre Co. presents a gritty re-imagining of Tennessee Williams’ haunting, semi-autobiographical masterpiece The Glass Menagerie. The original memory play was the legendary playwright’s first major success and is considered one of the great American plays of all time. Mary-Arrchie’s version tells the story through the memories of a homeless man living on the streets of St. Louis, post-WWII. In his imagination, he relives the events that led to his ultimate demise. LA-based Jeff Award winning ensemble member Hans Fleischmann returns to Mary-Arrchie to direct this production, featuring an original score by Chicago musician Daniel Knox. Daniel has performed with David Lynch, Jarvis Cocker, and at Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center with Rufus Wainwright.

Enjoy a buffet cruise on the Spirit of Chicago with choice of dates in November and December; prices start at $47.53 for the Winter Lights Dinner Cruise.

Step aboard the Spirit of Chicago for unparalleled lakefront cruising fun. Dine on a delicious buffet lunch or dinner, dance to top 40 hits from the DJ, enjoy Broadway-quality entertainment from the professional wait staff, who sing while they serve, and catch breathtaking views of the city’s historic and spectacular skyline. With its updated decor and all-new ambiance, the Spirit of Chicago maintains a state-of-the-art luxury feel while providing a festive experience for all types of guests.

Make a Thanksgiving Donation to the Greater Chicago Food Depository.  Goldstar is partnering with the Greater Chicago Food Depository to provide Thanksgiving meals to people in need and to help fund food distribution efforts year-round. Each $15 donation allows the Greater Chicago Food Depository to distribute enough food for 45 meals.

$3 a meal!  Boy, they must be rich….need some super-couponers to show them the error of their ways.  But seriously, Goldstar is running this promotion nationwide, with each city showing a different food pantry or organization – this is the Chicago choice, but when you sign in, your own local selection will appear.

If you can’t contribute the money, try to drop off a few cans from your stockpiles wherever you shop; most grocery stores have bins out.

Citadel Theatre, in Lake Forest, presents Little Women, the world premiere of a new theatrical adaptation based on the beloved Louisa May Alcott novel. Little Women tells the enchanting story of the four March sisters — brassy tomboy and aspiring writer Jo, romantic Meg, pretentious Amy and kind-hearted Beth — and their experiences while the men are away fighting the Civil War. The sisters face hard times when they lose their family fortune, but learn to survive and thrive by loving the family and friends in their lives in this classic American tale of sisterhood, true love and overcoming the odds.

Performances are through the end of the year, but the freebie is only for Friday, November 23rd.

Studio BE and 4 Days Late present the holiday comedy, It’s A Wonderful Pro-Life.  In this hilarious show within a show, 4 Days Late are approached by NPR following their sold out nine-month engagement of Jersey Shore: The Musical. They are tasked to write an original holiday radio show, so they get together with the intent of recording a show satirizing holiday commercialism, only to have it hijacked by one of the members for his own personal use. It’s A Wonderful Pro-Life is a behind-the-scenes adventure in the vein of Noises Off. Despite many comical setbacks, the group ultimately rallies in true Christmas spirit to create perhaps the best holiday show of all time.

Tickets start at $7.50 for the Circle Theatre production of Pippin.  Circle Theatre is on Madison Avenue in south Oak Park (very close to Harlem/Eisenhower exit).

An idealistic young man searches for self-realization and finds a complicated world of tyranny, family betrayals and the joys of a simple life in the Broadway musical Pippin. With music and lyrics by award-winning composer Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Wicked), Pippin celebrates the dynamic culture of India in spectacular Bollywood style. The show includes such timeless Schwartz tunes as “Magic to Do,” “Corner of the Sky,” “Morning Glow” and “I Guess I’ll Miss the Man,” and the inventive choreography of director Kevin Bellie.