Nightlife

Chicago's bustling energy isn't confined to daylight hours. The city offers loads of after-hours entertainment, all with a distinctly low-key, Midwestern flavor.

The inviting atmosphere at both the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Lyric Opera of Chicago is appealing to culture vultures, while Broadway buffs can choose between big-league theaters such as Steppenwolf and Goodman and the scrappy storefront companies springing up around the city. The theater scene here was built by performers who valued gritty realism and a communal work ethic, and that down-to-earth energy is still very much present. Music and nightclub haunts are scattered throughout the city, but Chicago's thriving music scene is concentrated in Lincoln Park, Lakeview, and Wicker Park, where clubs are devoted to everything from jazz and blues to alternative rock and reggae.

While the city has its share of see-and-be-seen spots, Chicagoans in general are not obsessed with getting into the latest hot club; we'd much rather hang out with our buddies at a neighborhood bar. To join us, you only have to pick a residential area and wander. You don't have to go far to find a tavern filled with locals, a pool table, and maybe even a dartboard.

For up-to-date entertainment listings, check the local newspapers and magazines, particularly the "At Play" (Thursday) and "On the Town" (Friday) sections of the Chicago Tribune and the "Weekend Plus" (Friday) section of the Chicago Sun-Times; the weekly magazine Time Out Chicago, which has excellent comprehensive listings; and the Chicago Reader or New City, two free weekly tabloids with extensive listings. The Tribune's entertainment-oriented website, www.metromix.com; the Reader's website, www.chicagoreader.com; and the local Citysearch website, http://chicago.citysearch.com, are also excellent sources of information, with lots of opinionated reviews.

An Escape from the Multiplex

Chicago has a fine selection of movie theaters, but even the so-called art houses show mostly the same films that you'd be able to catch back home (or eventually on cable). But three local movie houses cater to cinema buffs with original programming. The Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State St. (tel. 312/846-2600; www.siskelfilmcenter.org; subway/El: Red Line to Washington or Brown Line to Randolph), named after the well-known Chicago Tribune film critic who died in 1999, is part of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The center schedules an eclectic selection of film series in two theaters, including lectures and discussions with filmmakers. The Film Center often shows foreign films that are not released commercially in the U.S.

The Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave. (tel. 773/871-6604; www.musicboxtheatre.com; subway/El: Brown Line to Southport), is a movie palace on a human scale. Opened in 1929, it was meant to re-create the feeling of an Italian courtyard; a faux-marble loggia and towers cover the walls. The Music Box books an eclectic selection of foreign and independent American films -- everything from Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieslowski's epic Decalogue to a sing-along version of The Sound of Music. (I saw the Vincent Price cult favorite, House of Wax, complete with 3-D glasses, here.)

Facets MultiMedia, 1517 W. Fullerton Ave. (tel. 773/281-4114; www.facets.org; subway/El: Red or Brown line to Fullerton), a nonprofit group that screens independent film and video from around the world, is for the die-hard cinematic thrill-seeker. The group also mounts a Children's Film Festival (Oct-Nov) and the Chicago Latino Film Festival (Apr-May), and rents its impressive collection of classic, hard-to-find films on video and DVD by mail.