Millennium Park's Ice Skating Rink Opens for Seventh Season

The McCormick Tribune Ice Rink in Millennium Park will open for the 2007-08 season on Wednesday, November 14 and will remain open through Sunday, March 16, 2008, weather permitting. This is the seventh skating season for the popular McCormick Tribune Ice Rink, which draws more than 100,000 skaters annually.

The McCormick Tribune Ice Rink is free and open to the public. Skate rental is available for $9. The ice rink is located on Michigan Avenue between Washington and Madison Streets. The rink is open daily from 10am until 10pm. On Christmas Day, December 25, and New Year's Day, January 1, the rink will be open from Noon - 8pm. (Please note that the rink will close at 8pm on Thursday, December 27 and Monday, January 7).

This February, visitors have the unique opportunity to skate on an abstract ice painting embedded into the rink by Canadian artist Gordon Halloran. The ice rink art is part of Museum of Modern Ice, a new winter festival in the Park which also features Halloran's colossal, site-specific ice wall - 95 feet long and nearly 12 feet tall - of boldly colored, abstract ice paintings on the Park's Chase Promenade Central. On weekends throughout the month-long festival, free family games, crafts, and activities will be offered in a heated tent located adjacent to the ice wall.

The ice rink is just one component of the 24.5-acre Millennium Park, which has welcomed millions of visitors since opening in July 2004. Other attractions in the park include the Frank Gehry-designed Jay Pritzker Pavilion and BP Bridge; the interactive Crown Fountain designed by Jaume Plensa; the contemporary Lurie Garden; and Cloud Gate, the 110-ton steel sculpture designed by Anish Kapoor.

Millennium Park: 312-742-1168

Check-in at 9:00am

Races begin at 10:00am

Check-in at 10:00am

Races begin at 11:15am

$15.00 Entry Fee

For more information or to receive a registration for, call the Mayor's Office of Special Events at 312-744-1179

Every Wednesday at 12:30pm

Chicago Cultural Center, Randolph Café

77 E. Randolph St., Chicago

Free

Every Wednesday, the public is invited to gather at the large table in the Randolph Café -- Café Society's newest location - to discuss a pre-selected current event or issue. Café Society is a project designed to foster a more robust civil society, more cohesive and interactive communities, greater media literacy and a more informed and engaged citizenry through weekly coffee shop conversations about contemporary social issues.

Current media reports (along with ample doses of caffeine) serve as stimulants for the conversations. The topics are chosen a few days in advance in order to be up-to-the-minute. The discussion is facilitated by staff of The Public Square. For the week's topic and suggested readings, visit www.thepublicsquare.org, write [email protected] or call 312-422-5580.

The series is presented by The Public Square at the Illinois Humanities Council and the Chicago Cultural Center.

For information about other Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs events, visit the Department of Cultural Affairs website.

Department of Cultural Affairs: 312-744-6630

Open Monday-Friday, 8 am-4:30 pm

Open Monday-Friday, 8 am-4:30 pm and Saturday, 9 am-4 pm

The Cafe at the Cultural Center and Gallery 37 Café offer fresh foods at reasonable prices. Using a full service kitchen within the Chicago Cultural Center, the Cafés prepare house made salads, soups and sandwiches, many of which are signature items.

Prices range from $0.50¬¬-$7.99 for all items on the menu. Selections include:

Intelligentsia coffee and espresso drinks

Mighty Leaf Teas, Oregon Organic Chai, bottled water, juices and soda

Fresh baked goods, including muffins, Danish, bagels, scones, croissants, cookies, and more

Delicious homemade soups, salads, sandwiches and paninis

Seasonal fruit

Snacks including candy and chips

January 15-February 24, 2008

Chicago Cultural Center, Studio Theater

77 E. Randolph Street, Chicago

$20; $18 for students, seniors; $10 for previews January 15-16

Follow Carla Vasio from Rome to Tokyo and into the worlds of the Japanese poets in this world premiere by Donald Gecewicz. Like the Moon fuses film, music and puppetry with Caffeine Theatre's acclaimed poetic style of theater. Carla's story unfolds like a Japanese printmaker's album of views and an overall question remains: Is it a small world after all?

For tickets, call 312-742-TIXS (8497), visit dcatheater.org, or visit the box office in the Gallery 37 Center for the Arts. The box office is open Tuesday through Saturdays from 12 Noon to 6 p.m. and one hour prior to show time.

MY FAIR LADY, Lerner & Loewe's legendary musical, premieres in the United States direct from its 50th Anniversary London production and U.K. national tour. Starring are acclaimed British theatre actors Christopher Cazenove and Lisa O'Hare who earned rave reviews for their dynamic performances as Professor Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle. "The cast is superb!" "A more perfect Higgins I have yet to see!"

Based on the Cameron Mackintosh/National Theatre of Great Britain's award-winning London sensation, and hailed as "the revival against which all others will be measured" this glorious, new production features one of Broadway's most beloved scores including "The Rain in Spain," "I Could Have Danced All Night' and "Get Me to the Church on Time" and brings together the original U.K. artistic team with direction by four-time Tony® winner Trevor Nunn (Les Misérables), choreography and musical staging by two-time Tony® winner Matthew Bourne (Mary Poppins) and production design by Anthony Ward (Gypsy).

Ticket prices are $25 to $75 and may be ordered through Ticketmaster, or see Ticket Information for more options.

Groups On Sale Now! To Book Your Group of 20 or more, Call (312) 977-1710!