North by Northwestern

Tired of sitting in your cubicle of a room to escape the bitter, cold weather? Here are some entertainment options that are worth venturing outside for.

Feb. 9

My Fair Lady

WAVE Productions' winter show is My Fair Lady, a tale of two unlikely characters: English flower girl Eliza Doolittle and speech scholar Henry Higgins. Higgins makes a bet that he can make Eliza pass off as a duchess at an embassy ball, but Eliza realizes there's more than meets the eye behind her speech lessons. 7:30 p.m., Louis Room. Also Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.; Feb. 11 at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. $5 for Northwestern students, $10 general.

Get Out

Head into Evanston Thursday night for a free screening of Get Out. What seems like a normal trip to visit family turns into a nightmare for this biracial couple – well, at least for one of them. Fans of horror and movies that will keep you up all night: This one's for you. 7 p.m., Century 12 Evanston/CinéArts 6. Free with e-ticket.

Vertigo's Reader Series

Interested in hearing your fellow classmates’ work? Take some time out of your busy schedule to hear work from Vertigo Production's third-annual reading series. The series features If God Came A Callin’, Machismo and The Ice in an Ear Canal, all written and performed by students. You never know, you could be one of the first to see these staged readings before they hit Broadway. The Ice in an Ear Canal: Feb. 9 at 8 p.m.; Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. If God Came a Callin': Feb. 10 at 8 p.m.; Feb. 11 at 2 p.m. Machismo: Feb. 10 at 10:30 p.m.; Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. Shanley Pavilion. Free.

Feb. 10

Loving

Trying to watch all the Oscar-nominated films before the awards on Feb. 26? Here’s your chance to watch one of them. Based on the true story of an interracial couple living in segregated Virginia, Loving is a heartbreaking drama that proves the power of love in a time when interracial marriage was illegal. Loving v. Virginia, the Lovings’ case against the law prohibiting interracial marriage, makes it to the Supreme Court and the rest is history. 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., McCormick Auditorium. Also Feb. 11, 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Free.

Urinetown: The Musical

There couldn't be a more relevant time to go see this musical than now. This dystopian satire centers on a government-enforced ban (sound familiar?) on citizens’ right to use private toilets, and there’s also some singing and dancing involved to distract you from the atrocity of today’s government and politics. 7:30 p.m., Ethel M. Barber Theater. Also Feb. 11, Feb. 17-18 and Feb. 23-25 at 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 12, Feb. 19 and Feb. 26 at 2 p.m. $6 advance, $10 door for Northwestern students. 

Feb. 11

Free Block Museum tours

For of all you art lovers out there who love the Art Institute of Chicago but can’t make the time to go there, you don’t have to travel far for nationally recognized art exhibits. The Block Museum of Art is kicking off its weekend of public tours this Saturday, where you’ll find new work by artists and the global exhibition program that features art from diverse time periods and cultures. With roughly 5,000 prints, photographs and drawings to admire, you could find a new favorite piece. 3 p.m., Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art. Also Feb. 12. Free with ticket.

Chicago spotlight: College Night at the Symphony

College students can enjoy a meal and listen to music by Vivaldi and Corelli this weekend at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s College Night. Don’t miss out on a Q-and-A with CSO musicians and a night with cellist Brant Taylor and violist Youming Chem. 8 p.m., Chicago Symphony Orchestra. $20 student ticket, includes pre-concert dinner at 6:30 p.m.