Invictus Theatre Company members in The Winter’s Tale include (from left) Diego Rivera-Rodriguez, George Dougherty and Robert Hunter Bry. (Photo by Aaron Reese Boseman Photography)

The following is a look both forward and back to some of the best:

CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: The CSO has a long-standing reputation as one of the world’s greatest Mahler orchestras. In April, they will play two Mahler masterpieces, the mysterious Symphony No. 7, conducted by Jaap van Zweden, and the monumental Symphony No. 3 with Music Director Designate Klaus Makela.

The Mahler 7th will be at 7:30 p.m. April 17 and 19, and 1:30 p.m. April 18. Van Zweden will also conduct with the CSO at the Mahler Festival in Amsterdam.

The Mahler 3rd will be played at 7:30 p.m. April 24-26.

The Joffrey Ballet will also team with the CSO at 7:30 p.m. April 10-11 and 3 p.m. April 13.

For information, visit cso.org or call (312) 294-3000.

LYRIC OPERA announced its 2025-26 season under the leadership of new General Director and CEO John Mangum.

The season will open with the traditional Opening Concert and Gala on Oct. 10, and operas will include

Cherubini’s “Medea,” Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly,” and Richard Strauss’ “Salome.”

Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins announced a musical-dramatic experience with the Lyric orchestra, chorus, and operatically trained soloists based on his rock album “Mellon Collie.”

There will be also be two Movie Nights with the orchestra. For a schedule, visit lyricopera.org or call 312-827-5600.

CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER is presenting a show, “Sunny Afternoon” that was a smash in London. It is based on the music of the exciting ‘60s rock group “The Kinks.”

A combination of theater and a concert, with original story music and lyrics by the Kinks’ Ray Davies, the show is directed by Artistic Director Edward Hall, who led the United Kingdom debut production. Performances are through April 27 on Navy Pier. Call (312) 595-5600 or go to www.chicagoshakes.com for information.

SHAKESPEARE’S PLAY “The Winter’s Tale” is sometimes joked about for its stage directions “Exit, pursued by a bear,” and “A seacoast in Bohemia,” the latter of which would astonish the Czechs.

It is also the only Shakespeare play that mentions an artist: Giulio Romano, who lived during the Renaissance. This writer read the play for the first time in 30 years to better appreciate the new production by Invictus Theater, which is staging a remarkable modern dress production, well-directed by Charles Askenaizer.

There are a number of outstanding performances in the cast of 16, but to name just a few that especially impressed this audience member: the clearly spoken Camillo of Kim Periera, and the fine work in several roles of Robert Hunter Bry, and Fred Wellisch, who finds himself in the hungry company of the aforementioned bear.

There is also Andrea Upping as Queen Hermione, Amber Dow as Paulina, Michael Stejskal as Leontes, and – the list is too long. I also really like the shades of blue in the scenic design of Kevin Rolfs. “The ‘Winter’s Tale” plays through April 20 at the Windy City Playhouse, 3014 W. Irving Park Road.

For information, go to www.invictustheatreco.com.

And speaking of classic plays:

THE IDLE MUSE THEATER COMPANY is presenting Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s comedy “The School for Scandal,” a boundary-smashing classic that skewers the snobbery and hypocrisies of the social elite.

A “comedy of manners” is defined as a comedy that satirizes behavior of a particular social group, especially the upper classes.

Well, this play is one of the funniest and most successful of that genre, and this production is packed with astonishingly good acting. The cast is so good that it seems unfair to single anyone out, but if forced by threats I might mention Erik Schnitger as Sir Peter and Elise Soeder as Lady Sneerwell,

though so many performers are terrific.

I loved the eye-filling costumes of Victoria Jablonski, and the direction of Evan Jackson is top-notch. Shows are through April 12 at The Edge Off-Broadway Theater. Visit IdleMuse.org or call (773) 340-9438 for information.

Ruth Page

RUTH PAGE DANCE CENTER honored the legendary dancer and teacher who gave the center its name with a wide-ranging evening of dances that featured many styles from traditional to modern performing to music from Bach to African to Cuban to rock.

The performers included the Ruth Page Professional Dance Training Program, Ballet 5:8, and Visceral Dance Chicago among others, all showing the vitality of dance in Chicago today

The Ruth Page Center, 1016 N. Dearborn St., offers 88 classes.

Go to ruthpage.org or call (312) 337-6543 for information.

JAZZ SHOWCASE: Located at Dearborn and Polk in the South Loop, on the Plymouth Court side of that immense red-brick former train station, the Showcase has been winning new audiences with shows at 8 and 10 p.m. during the week and 4 and 8 p.m. on Sundays.

April treats include organist Ben Patterson with guitarist Bobby Broom on April 10-13.

Jazz Showcase is located at 806 S. Plymouth Court. Go to Jazzshowcase.com or call (312) 360-0234 for information.

GENE SISKEL FILM CENTER: Showing classic, foreign, and independent films, the Siskel successfully presented their European Union Film Festival in March, featuring films from Poland.

April offerings include the Japanese film “I Am A Comedian” on April 9.

Go to www.siskelfilmcenter.org for information.

BOOK: Award-winning Chicago author Craig Sautter has a new book with quite an intriguing twist. Called “Chicago Hitman, A Confession, Transcribed, Edited, and Annotated by R.C. Sautter,” it has a subtitle that didn’t make the cover, but is inside: “How I Helped Murder a Chicago Mayor, and (Almost) a President of the United States.”

That’s all I can say about it now, but the book centers around the 1933 assassination of Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak, with bullets that may have been intended for the president. It is available at Amazon.com.