By CGN Staff via PR

Just as we get ready for what finally feels like fall, the Driehaus Museum has announced that in the final festive weeks of the year it will put its own ‘gilded’ spin on the holiday season with “Drie-cember,” its second annual month-long celebration of holiday programs for the entire family to enjoy. 

This year, visitors can view Photographing Frank Lloyd Wright, the first exhibition to explore the iconic architect’s relationship to photography, and attend various holiday offerings ranging from a concert presented with the African American Museum for Performing Arts to Yuletide-themed ghost stories by the Ghostlight Ensemble. New this year is a festive Holiday Market inside the recently reopened Murphy Auditorium—a Chicago landmark—featuring artisanal wares from local vendors.

Executive Director Lisa Key says, “The Museum truly sparkles during the holiday season, and we welcome families across Chicagoland to come in from the cold and enjoy our festive programs as they celebrate the holidays downtown this month. We are thrilled to partner again with the African American Museum of Performing Arts for a special performance of gospel music celebrating the holiday season, in addition to welcoming in a dazzling array of local artisans for our first annual Holiday Market.”

Programs in chronological order:

A Nativity Tribute

Wednesday, December 4, 2024, 6:30-9pm

General admission $50, Student $25

“Go Tell It on the Mountain” with a tribute to the timeless Langston Hughes gospel song-play, Black Nativity, presented in partnership with the African American Museum of Performing Arts. This season, a group of heavenly artists and musicians will lead a joyful journey through the biblical story of Mary and Joseph. A Nativity Tribute adapted by TaRon Patton with Co-Directors TaRon Patton and Kelvin Roston, Jr. Tickets are available HERE.

About the African American Museum of Performing Arts

The African American Museum of Performing Arts (AAMPA) was founded in 2019 by award-winning television and stage actor and director Harry J. Lennix and TaRon Patton. AAMPA's mission is to study, memorialize, and present works that celebrate the contributions of Black performance to arts and culture from the perspective of African American performing artists globally. AAMPA's ultimate objective is to become a nationally recognized center for African American history and tradition within the performing arts. AAMPA was founded in response to a lack of resources for African American artists of all disciplines to gather, to learn from their ancestors and each other, and to amplify their significant contributions to the performing arts in an environment that centers African American voices. AAMPA's partnership with the Driehaus Museum began in December 2023 when the organizations produced a Kwanzaa Celebration, followed by a one-woman show entitled Tammy McCann Presents: Mahalia Jackson at Carnegie Hall.

Drie-cember Holiday Market

December 7, 8, 14, 15, 2024, 11am-5pm

Free

The Driehaus Museum welcomes visitors to the newly reopened and landmarked Murphy Auditorium for a Holiday Market featuring a festive variety of local vendors selling artisanal wares and gifts.

Vintage Trunk Show

Wednesday, December 11, 2024, 4-7pm

Free with museum admission

The Vintage Trunk Show will feature a curated selection of unique vendors selling vintage jewelry, clothing, and other treats and treasures from the Driehaus Museum Store.

Holiday Spirits: A Collection of Victorian Yuletide Ghost Stories

Thursday, December 12, 2024, 5:30-7:30pm

General admission: $20, Student $10

The Ghostlight Ensemble activates three floors of the Nickerson Mansion with the Victorian tradition of telling ghost stories at Yuletide. Adapted by Ensemble member Maria Burnham, Holiday Spirits: A Collection of Victorian Yuletide Ghost Stories is a multi-story, site-specific adaptation of classic Victorian ghost stories. Tickets are available HERE.

Stories adapted for this performance include: 

The Ghost of the Cross-Roads by Frederick Manley: During a cold, blustery Christmas night, jolly festivities are underway at the Sweeny’s home. Suddenly, an upper-class stranger stumbles, half frozen, into the house and tells a strange tale about a mysterious dark man, and a card game at the crossroads. This adaptation will also feature The Haunted Tree written by an anonymous author.

19, Great Hanover Street by Lillie Harris: A young doctor finds the perfect house to let for his new practice and living quarters only to discover the reason why such perfections come so cheap.

A Spirit Bride by Andrew Haggard: A séance to rid a house of ghosts brings an unusual woman into our narrator’s life. 

About the Performers

Ghostlight Ensemble Theatre Company is a Chicago-based 501c3 theatre company with a mission to ask questions that challenge the status quo through timeless stories, immersive environments and unconventional staging. Ghostlight Ensemble was founded in 2016 and has its own ensemble of artists, with a number of regular collaborators and partners throughout Chicago.

Santa Saturday

Saturday, December 14, 2024, 9am-1pm

General Admission: $25, Children $13

Santa makes his annual visit to the Driehaus Museum for “Drie-cember.” Visitors are invited to meet him in the Front Parlor, share their Christmas wish lists, and take selfies with jolly old St. Nick. This magical, family-friendly event will fill up fast. Tickets are available HERE.

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Images: Holidays at the Driehaus Museum, Courtesy the Driehaus Museum