Blue Man Group has been running off-Broadway since 1991 and in Chicago since 1997. After all that time you would think that audiences might tire of the mute blue-faced drummers making funny and thought-provoking performance art. But the show has been cleverly updated through the years to match with changes in technology, so there's something new to experience even if you've seen it before. Blue Man Group continues in an open run at the Briar Street Theatre, 3133 N. Halsted St. New Year's Eve performances are at 4, 7 and 10 p.m., and then at 2, 5 and 8 p.m. from Jan. 1-3. Performances are also at 1 and 4 p.m. Jan. 4. Tickets are $67.75-$107.75 on New Year's Eve and $57.75-$97.75 for other performances; call 773-348-4000 or visit www.blueman.com . Photo by Paul Kolnik
CRITICS' PICKS
Hellcab, Profiles Theatre, through Jan 11. Christmas doesn't always arrive with reindeer-drawn sleighs and apparitions bearing epiphaniessometimes the annunciation can be visited on a humble Chicago taxicab driver by a late-night passenger who just might be an angel incognito. MSB
The King and I, Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, through Jan. 4. Jeff Award-winning director Nick Bowling makes a strong Marriott Theatre debut with a beautiful production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1951 Broadway classic that pits a headstrong English-language teacher against the King of Siam. SCM
Newsies, Oriental Theatre, through Jan. 4. The Tony Award-winning choreography definitely wows, but playwright Harvey Fierstein's script deserves the most praise for turning around Disney's 1992 film musical flop into a bona fide stage smash. SCM
Sherlock Holmes and the Christmas Goose, Raven Theatre, through Jan. 4. This whimsical adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's Case of the Blue Carbuncle, featuring the English super-sleuth, is framed in Victorian holiday carols sung and danced by London commoners. MSB
By Abarbanel, Barnidge
and Morgan