The Five

Don’t-miss picks for April 5 through April 11, 2017

1 2017 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four

Sports:Watch Denver, Notre Dame, Harvard, and Minnesota-Duluth battle it out for the Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Championship at the United Center. In Thursday’s semifinals, No. 1 seeds Minnesota-Duluth and Harvard face off at 5 p.m., with the underdog Fighting Irish trying to fend off No. 1 Denver at 8:30. The winners advance to Saturday’s 7 p.m. championship.
4/6 and 4/8. $175. United Center. unitedcenter.com

2 The? Unicorn? Hour?

Theater:Leah Urzendowski and Anthony Courser’s new work spins the story of a magical creature who can heal the sick, vanquish monsters, and bring joy to the despairing. The show is aimed squarely at anyone who ever wanted a pet unicorn as a kid.
4/6–5/13. $10–$25. Neo-Futurists at the Neo-Futurarium. neofuturists.org

3 Margo Price

Country:At 20, this country singer dropped out of Northern Illinois University and squared her hometown of Aledo, Illinois (population 3,640), in the rearview mirror. She landed in Nashville, where she’s been a fixture on the local scene ever since.
4/7 at 8 p.m. Sold out; see resellers. Thalia Hall.

4 Holi: The Festival of Colors

Festival:There are plenty of ways to celebrate the Hindu festival of life and love, but the Vedic Cultural Society’s bash draws a crowd of celebrants to Naperville to run and dance through clouds of colorful powder.
4/8 at 11 a.m. $2 donation. Naperville Riverwalk Grand Pavilion. thefestivalofcolors.org

5 Tinariwen

World:As the Malian group Tinariwen’s global popularity grows, so too does its pool of collaborators. On the band’s latest album, Elwan, released in February, the group worked with indie-rock luminaries including Kurt Vile, Mark Lanegan, and Matt Sweeney.
4/11 at 7 and 10 p.m. Sold out; see resellers. Old Town School of Folk Music. oldtownschool.org

What I’m Doing This Weekend

Leah Urzendowski
Leah Urzendowski Photo: DeAwna McGinley

Up next in our series of weekend plans from notable, in-the-know-locals: Neo-Futurists ensemble member Leah Urzendowski, whose show, The? Unicorn? Hour?, premieres April 6.

The? Unicorn? Hour? goes into previews this Thursday for a six-week run. The show is all about effecting change through joy—proposing that joy could be a way to fight your oppressor. It’s inspired by Pee-wee’s Playhouse and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

“My partner Anthony Courser and I thought of the show, wrote it, and are now performing in it, just the two of us. We'll also have a special guest each night. Our stage manager will know who the guest is, but we won’t until the night of. Some of the show is scripted, but there are moments that are improvised, too. It's scary, because each time you start the play, you think, ‘I hope I’m available tonight.’ I’m excited to be present in the moment and have the audience be there too. That’s a big part of the work that we believe in: We’re in the room together with the audience. I can’t pretend they’re not there.

“This weekend there’s also William Inge's Picnic running at American Theater Company. The artistic director there, Will Davis, is doing a really wonderful job of casting diverse ensembles, going against what the classical telling of Picnic may have been. I’ve got some friends in it, so I’d like to see that.

“On Friday or Saturday, if people want to double feature, there’s The Infinite Wrench at the Neo-Futurists. It’s the late show that starts at 11:30 p.m. I’m an ensemble member there, and after I close The? Unicorn? Hour?, I’ll probably rotate back in.

“On Saturday night, The Hideout Dance Party is happening. It’s only five dollars and starts at midnight. There’s a really great DJ spinning, Ariel Zetina. I’m also a fan of Texture Dance studio, who runs a ‘vogue’ dance class with Damon Green on Thursday nights.” —As told to Jamison Pfeifer

Freebie of the Week

A Trip to the Moon

Lecture:The DePaul Humanities Center celebrates April’s full moon with Georges Méliès’s 1902 film A Trip to the Moon—restored and hand-colored. Stick around after the show for live music, storytelling, and moon gazing.
4/11 at 6:15 p.m. Free. DePaul Student Center. las.depaul.edu