There are performers who slow down as the years add up, and then there is Irene Michaels. At 81, the Chicago-born singer, actress, and all-around force of glamour is heading home to close out 2026 the way she seems to do everything, with sequins, a wink, and a room full of people who cannot quite believe how much energy one woman can bring to a stage.
On Saturday, December 19, Irene headlines “A Little Naughty, A Little Nice — A Holiday Celebration with Irene Michaels” in The Sanctuary at Epiphany Center for the Arts, 201 S. Ashland Avenue. The title says a great deal about the woman behind it. Irene has never been interested in the polite, predictable version of anything, and a holiday show built around the naughty-or-nice question is exactly the kind of playful territory where she thrives.
To understand why a December night in a converted 1885 church feels like such a natural fit, it helps to look at how unusual Irene’s road has been. Long before house music came calling, she was a model, a dancer, and an actress. At 21 she won the Miss Photo Flash title, which launched a modeling career and eventually a modeling agency of her own. She appeared in an early Off-Broadway production of A Chorus Line, and her screen work runs from General Hospital to Home Alone 2 to the cult favorite Killer Klowns from Outer Space. Along the way she became an author, an equestrian, a beauty entrepreneur with her own skincare line, and a fixture on the Chicago and New York social scenes.
Then, in her late seventies, she did something almost no one does at any age. She became a house music sensation. Her co-written single “I Like Rain” took Best Pop Song of the Year at the 2023 Josie Music Awards, and that same year Get Out Magazine named her House Music Artist of the Year. The record earned Grammy consideration, she performed it in Times Square during Climate Week and the United Nations International Day of Peace observance, and she joined Trax Records at the label’s fortieth anniversary celebration of Chicago house music. The city that invented the genre embraced one of its most unexpected divas.
The momentum has not let up. Irene performed at the Josie Music Awards at Nashville’s CMA Theater inside the Country Music Hall of Fame, and this year she collected a triple nomination at the 12th Annual Josie Music Awards, presented September 20 at the Grand Ole Opry House. She is a member of the Recording Academy, and she is at work on her autobiography and new music. Earlier this year she brought a cabaret evening of songs and stories to The Den Theatre in Wicker Park. December brings her back to Chicago with something more festive.
She will not be alone on stage. Joining her are two Chicago favorites who share her taste for style and sophistication. David H. Edelfelt is a bass-baritone, composer, arranger, and one of the city’s most respected voice teachers, a performer whose one-man shows have ranged from Mozart to Sondheim and whom the Chicago Tribune has called “one of Chicago’s best.” Joe Freer is a crooner in the classic mold, all tailored suits and timeless love songs, and a familiar name to audiences at The Green Dolphin Street, Old Towne Brasserie, and the Mid America Club. Put the three of them together under the Gothic arches of The Sanctuary and the result should feel less like a concert and more like the best holiday party in town.
The evening is designed to be savored. Epiphany opens at 5:00 PM for Golden Hour, so guests can arrive early, raise a glass, and take in a venue that was built as the Church of the Epiphany and now stands as one of the most striking arts spaces in the city. The Sanctuary doors open at 7:00 PM, and the performance runs from 7:30 to 9:00 PM. There is also the Naughty or Nice Holiday Giveaway, which, knowing Irene, will lean at least a little toward the naughty side.
What makes Irene worth seeing has never been only the voice or the gowns or the impressive list of credits. It is the conviction that a life in entertainment does not come with an expiration date. Every time she steps onto a stage she makes that case without saying a word, and audiences leave a little braver about their own next chapters. A holiday show is the perfect setting for that kind of spirit. It is a season built on generosity, celebration, and the idea that there is always something new to unwrap. Irene Michaels has been unwrapping new chapters for eight decades, and she shows no sign of stopping.
“A Little Naughty, A Little Nice — A Holiday Celebration with Irene Michaels” takes place Saturday, December 19, 2026, at Epiphany Center for the Arts, The Sanctuary, 201 S. Ashland Avenue, Chicago. Tickets are $45 in advance and $55 on the day of the show, plus applicable fees, and the event is 21 and over with valid ID. Tickets are available through DICE at https://link.dice.fm/z779cea7024f, and full details are on the Epiphany event page at https://epiphanychi.com/events/a-little-naughty-a-little-nice-a-holiday-celebration-with-irene-michaels/.