"You've Caught the NET!"

Is your Christmas Celebration winding down a bit?

Christmas Day seems to make the rest of this weekend anti-climatic, but there will still be plenty of things to do across Chicago before the big celebrations on New Years Eve.  Our Team Member, Sue Moss, provides a rundown.

Have you gotten a chance to catch any of the Chicago Christmas Theater Productions yet?  if you didn't, don't worry.  Two of the most popular productions are still around:

A Christmas Carol at the Goodman Theater located at 170 N. Dearborn Street.  One of Chicago's very own will be recreating his role as Scrooge in this classic tale of the true meaning of Christmas.  Click here for more information and tickets.

The Nutcracker by the Joffrey Ballet at the Auditorium Theater located at 50 E. Congress Parkway.  Tchaikovsky's classic Christmas ballet is being performed by the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago and accompanied by the Chicago Sinfonietta Orchestra.  Click here for more information and tickets.

Need a good laugh or two to release your Holiday stress?  Then you might be interested in these comedy and/or musical theater productions -

The Annoyance Theater (4830 N. Broadway) in the Uptown neighborhood, will be presenting a collection of humorous, seasonal horror stories in which disgruntled elves plot a revolution and more in their production of Silent Nightmare:  A Christmas Dirge.  This Saturday is the last performance, so click here for more details and obtaining tickets.

Maybe a cross-dressing reindeer is more your cup of tea.  Rudolph, the Red-Hosed Reindeer is being performed at Mary's Attic (5400 N. Clark Street) in the Andersonville neighborhood.  You've been warned - not suitable for kids.  Click here for more information.

There's still time as well to catch Cirque du Soleil's Banana Shpeel over at The Chicago Theater (175 N. State Street) in the Loop.  This production consisting of comedy, dance and songs was written and being directed by David Shiner ("Kooza").  Click here for more information and tickets.

Lastly, and I'm not sure if this is back by popular demand or what, but this Sunday and Monday at McCormick Place (2301 S. Lake Shore Drive) is Mayor Daley's Holiday Sportsfest for those of us who had no will power and put on some extra holiday pounds that we now have to shed.  Click here for more details.

And finally, as we move toward 2010, let us not forget about Friday, December 31^st - New Year's Eve!

Needless to say, as usual, Chicago and its surrounding neighborhoods will offer up an array of NYE festivities for all style preferences, such as dance parties, dress to impress parties, hotel bashes, rockin' concerts and even offbeat picks like bowling bashes, comedy reviews and more.

However, after all the Holiday shopping, I'm on a budget now, but definitely don't want to miss out on any of the NYE celebrations.  So, here's a sampling of "Under $50" ($8 to $50) -

The Call located at 1547 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue, Andersonville

Hunt Club located at 1100 N. State Street, Near North Side

Le Bar located in the Sofitel Chicago Water Tower, 20 E. Chestnut Street, Gold Coast

The Chuckle Bowl Spectacular located at the Lincoln Square Lanes, 4874 N. Lincoln Avenue, Lincoln Square

Dream (1750 N. Clark Street) or Lion Head Pub (2251 N. Lincoln Avenue), Lincoln Park

Vision Nightclub and Excalibur located at 632 N. Dearborn Street, River North

Fat Cat located at 4840 N. Broadway, Uptown

Crobar, 1543 N. Kingsbury Street, Old Town

Blue Bayou located at 3734 N. Southport Avenue, Lakeview

For a full list of New Year's Eve in Chicago go to Metromix.

It's been a pleasure "Entertaining" you in 2009!

Have a Happy, Healthy, Safe & Prosperous New Year!!  See You Next Year!

Here's a link to Sue's This Weekend in Chicago Blog Archive, via BlogChicagoHomes.com.

DEAN & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO