Drizzle-Proof Picks, From Live Scores to Close-Up Magic

Your daily guide to what's popping in Chicago

By Raj Singh · Published November 4, 2026.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4

Blade Runner – Live In Concert @ The Chicago Theatre

Ridley Scott's 1982 neo-noir gets the full concert-hall treatment tonight: the 2007 Final Cut plays on a large HD screen while the Avex Ensemble performs Vangelis's synthesizer score live, in sync with the picture. It's one of the most atmospheric soundtracks ever written, and hearing those analog swells fill a room while the drizzle comes down replicant-style outside is about as on-theme as a Wednesday gets.

It's at the Chicago Theatre on State Street in the Loop, with a 7:30 p.m. start. The listing doesn't post a ticket price, so check the Chicago Theatre page before you go.

Emma Stebbins: Carving Out History @ Driehaus Museum

The Driehaus devotes this show to Emma Stebbins, one of the most significant American sculptors of the nineteenth century and the first woman to earn a public-sculpture commission from the City of New York, for the Bethesda Fountain. From 1857 to 1870 she worked in marble and bronze in Rome, where she lived with her wife, the renowned Shakespearean actress Charlotte Cushman.

Admission runs $13–$23, and the galleries are open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. today at the Driehaus Museum on Erie Street.

Magic with Brielle @ Beard & Belly

Here's a low-stakes way to spend a rainy Wednesday evening: free table-side magic from Brielle at Beard & Belly on Broadway in Edgewater, running 6 to 9 p.m. It's close-up, between-courses sleight of hand — the sort you stumble into rather than buy a ticket for.

There's no cover — the only ask is that you order some food or a drink while you're there.

Tropical Wednesdays @ Vintage Bar Chicago

Taylor Street gets a midweek dance floor: salsa, bachata, cumbia and cha-cha-cha at Vintage Bar, margarita in hand, from 6 to 8 p.m. It's $10 at the door, and the pitch is simple — a cultural night of Latin social dancing.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5

Serial Killer: The Exhibit @ Cinespace Chicago Film Studios

If your Halloween hangover wants a second act, this traveling exhibition bills itself as the world's largest private collection of authentic serial-killer artifacts — more than 2,100 objects across 40 galleries in a 26,000-square-foot space at Cinespace Chicago Film Studios. The organizers list items like Jeffrey Dahmer's glasses and evidence tied to John Wayne Gacy and the so-called Monster of Florence, and they frame it as documented reality rather than dramatization.

It's open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday at 2428 W 15th Street. The listing we pulled didn't include a ticket price, so check before you head over.

Lecture: Body and Being in African Art @ The Art Institute of Chicago

Curator Constantine Petridis walks through Body and Being in African Art, a rotation of more than 50 works from the museum's Arts of Africa collection, now on view in Gallery 227. The throughline: how the human body — represented, abstracted, or adorned — reads as a mirror of a person's inner character and standing.

It's Thursday from 6 to 7 p.m. in Fullerton Hall, free with museum admission but registration is required, so sign up ahead rather than walking up. Closed captioning will be available.