James and the Giant Peach at the Marriott Theatre for Young Audiences

The Marriott Theatre for Young Audiences invites theatergoers of all ages on a remarkable voyage as Roald Dahl’s beloved story is brought to fantastical musical life, running through March 30. Each performance will be followed by a question-and-answer session with the cast.

“I am thrilled to be bringing James and the Giant Peach to Marriott Lincolnshire families,” said director Tommy Rapley. “This whimsical musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic contains the perfect blend of playful, spooky, heartwarming, mysterious, imaginative, and downright hilarious storytelling that I love as a director. The themes of forgiveness, the importance of family, and the boundless love between parent and child are particularly moving and vitally important to share with young audiences.”

When James is sent by his aunts to chop down their old fruit tree, he discovers a magic potion that launches an expedition of enormous proportions. Suddenly, James finds himself in the center of a gigantic peach, among human-sized insects with equally oversized personalities. After the peach rolls into the ocean, the group faces hunger, sharks and plenty of disagreements. Thanks to James’ quick wit and creative thinking, they learn to live and work together as a family. Featuring a wickedly tuneful score by the Tony Award-nominated team of Pasek and Paul (La La Land, Dear Evan Hansen, The Greatest Showman), James and the Giant Peach is the perfect voyage for young theatergoers.

James and the Giant Peach plays most Wednesdays through Sundays at 10 a.m. with select 12:30 p.m. performances and plenty of additional Spring Break shows. Visit MarriottTheatre.com or call 847-634-0200 for tickets and exact schedule.

Visit with Maximo the Titanosaur and much more at the Field Museum

If you want to learn about the diversity of life on Earth and its history, the Field Museum — with its nearly 40 million artifacts and specimens — needs to be on your to-do list, especially the extensive dinosaur collection. That includes Máximo the Titanosaur, which happens to be the world’s largest dinosaur (122 feet long and 28 feet high) and one you can now strike up a conversation with through the museum’s AI-driven chat experience called Message Máximo.

Through text messages and online chat sessions, visitors can ask Maximo questions like how he came to arrive at the museum from Argentina, what his favorite foods were 101 million years ago, and what general life was like back in the Cretaceous Period. 1400 S. Lake Shore Dr. FieldMuseum.org