RECOMMENDED

Two years ago, Steppenwolf Theatre was asked to present a free Millennium Park program which was so successful that the company was asked to return and present the City of Chicago’s official 9/11 commemorative last year, which took on a special significance not only because of the artistry of the performance but because it was held on the fifth anniversary of the events of that day. This year, Steppenwolf ensemble members Martha Lavey, John Mahoney (better known as the father on the long-running NBC TV series “Frasier”) and Yasen Peyankov, along with Cheryl Lynn Bruce, Daniel J. Bryant, Penelope Walker and Josephine Lee and the Chicago Children’s Choir, present “I Sing America,” directed by Jessica Thebus and produced by Steppenwolf’s newly appointed producer of cultural intersections, Sylvia Ewing, a one-night-only family-friendly performance of poetry, prose and music in celebration of American citizenship and the loving and fiery conversation our country has with its artists. The show will include works by Gwendolyn Brooks, Walt Whitman, Robert Frost, Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, slam poet Patricia Smith, and Alan Ginsberg, among others. (Dennis Polkow)

At Millennium Park’s Pritzker Pavilion, Michigan between Randolph and Monroe, (312) 742-1168, at 6:30pm. Free.