The Northern Illinois University Jazz Ensemble has toured the world, played with some of the greatest names in jazz, recorded 11 albums and won numerous awards. The ensemble, under the direction of Ron Modell and with special guest artist, trumpeter/flugelhornist Claudio Roditi, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Norris Theatre in St. Charles.
Roditi, a native of Brazil, specializes in post-bop jazz with Brazilian flavor and rhythms. He has toured and recorded with many groups, including Dizzy Gillespie’s United Nations Orchestra.
The St. Charles High School Jazz Workshop, under the direction of Jeff Childs, will open the concert.
Tickets are $10, $8 for children and senior citizens.
Also at the Norris Center, Lazer Vaudeville returns with an all-new show and dazzling special effects at 10 a.m. Saturday.
The show features acrobatics and gymnastics and such laser light images as ropes spinning with blacklight and juggling mixed with strobes. Featured performers include bicycle rim juggler Carter Brown and Alfonzo the Dragon.
Tickets are $6.
This show is the second event in the Norris Theatre’s Sunshine Series for families; the next event will be a national tour of the musical “Beauty and the Beast” on Feb. 12.
The Norris Theatre is at the Dellora A. Norris Cultural Arts Center, 1040 Dunham Rd., St. Charles. Call 708-584-7200 to reserve tickets.
– A national, 25th-anniversary touring production of one of America’s best-loved musicals, “Man of La Mancha,” comes to the Paramount Arts Center in Aurora for one performance, at 3 p.m. Sunday.
This tour features Ronald Brown as Cervantes/Quixote, Susan Nock as Aldonza/Dulcinea and David C. Maxwell as Sancho. The stage design and costumes will mirror those of the recent Broadway production. Leslie Cutler, who has directed a number of Broadway productions, directs this show.
Tickets, which are $29.50 and $27.50, are available at the Paramount box office, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora. Call 708-896-6666 or Ticketmaster at 312-902-1500.
– Skylight, a folk music trio that performs vocally and plays a variety of instruments, is scheduled to appear at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Maple Street Chapel in Lombard.
The Chicago-based Skylight writes most of its own material and has recorded two albums to date.
Folk singer Karen Ibach will open for Skylight. Ibach has performed at a number of local folk clubs and with the Warrenville Folk Music Society.
Tickets are $8, $7 for children and $6 for senior citizens, and will be available at the door. Call 708-964-4871.
– “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” a new musical version of the classic novel by Victor Hugo, opens at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace.
This musical was created by Tom Sivak and Cheri Coons, who adapted the musical version of “Phantom of the Opera” that played at Drury Lane in 1992.
The show stars David Girolmo as Quasimodo, Karen Leigh as Esmeralda, Neil Friedman as Claude Frollo and Stephen Buntrock as Pierre.
Show times for the musical, which runs through March 20, are 8 p.m. Wednesdays, 2 and 8 p.m. Thursdays, 8:30 p.m. Fridays, 5:30 and 9 p.m. Saturdays, and 2:30 and 7 p.m. Sundays. Tickets range from $18 to $25; dinner/theater packages range from $29.50 to $38.75.
Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace is at 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace. Call 708-530-0111 or Ticketmaster at 312-902-1500.
– If you like bluegrass, head out to the Opera House of Sandwich where Wild & Blue will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $10. The Opera House of Sandwich is at 140 E. Railroad St., Sandwich. Call 815-786-2555.
– The Bobs, an a capella quartet, comes to the Prairie Center for the Arts at 8 p.m. Friday.
Tickets are $16 and $14. The Prairie Center for the Arts is at 201 Schaumburg Ct., Schaumburg. Call 708-894-3600.
– “Out of Order,” a new comedy by Ray Cooney, is being presented by Masque and Staff Inc., Elk Grove’s community theatre group, through Jan. 29 at Giorgio’s Banquets, 276 E. Irving Park Rd., Wood Dale.
Tickets are $27, $25 for senior citizens and students 18 years and under. Show times are 6:15 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 3:45 p.m. Sundays. Call 708-437-0679 for reservations.
– “Sly Fox,” a satirical comedy written by Larry Gelbart and based on Ben Johnson’s 17th Century classic, “Volpone,” is being presented by the Village Theatre Guild through Jan. 29.
Show times are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 7 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $10.
The Village Theatre is on Park Boulevard, just north of Butterfield Road, Glen Ellyn. Call 708-469-8230.
