Arts and exhibitions in Norfolk: November 2026

Last checked Oct. 31, 2026. This page covers the next six weeks and is retitled each month. Listings come from the Chrysler Museum of Art, SevenVenues, which runs the Attucks Theatre, Harrison Opera House and Wells Theatre, the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and Norfolk Arts, each linked. Check the link before you go.

November’s arts calendar in Norfolk opens big on Friday, Nov. 6, when the Chrysler Museum of Art opens two new shows and Virginia Opera brings Pagliacci to the Harrison Opera House. The touring musical The Bodyguard follows Nov. 10-15, and the holiday plays and The Nutcracker arrive the first week of December. The Chrysler is free.

Before you go

• Tickets for the Attucks, the Harrison and the Wells: SevenVenues; entry is by mobile ticket in the Ticketmaster app
• Chrysler Museum of Art: 1 Memorial Place; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, closed Monday; free admission
• Parking downtown: see our getting around guide

Exhibitions now showing

• Rafael Soldi: Soft Boy, Chrysler Museum of Art, last day Sunday, Nov. 1. Photographs drawn from the artist’s experience growing up queer in Peru. Free. Chrysler
• Interplay between Figures: Drawing from Life, Chrysler Museum of Art, through Sunday, Dec. 6. Figure drawings by seven local teaching artists. Free. Chrysler
• Constellations: Contemporary Jewelry from the Dallas Museum of Art, Chrysler Museum of Art, through Sunday, Jan. 3. More than 350 pieces of wearable art. Free. Chrysler
• Is, Was: Glass and Metal by Christopher Wilmarth, Chrysler Museum of Art, through April 18, 2027. A return to Wilmarth’s sculpture “Is, Was (Deep),” 50 years after he finished it. Free. Chrysler
• Arthur Jafa: Love Is the Message, The Message Is Death, Chrysler Museum of Art, opens Friday, Nov. 6, through April 25, 2027. The filmmaker and cinematographer’s video work. Free. Chrysler
• Define Yourself!, Chrysler Museum of Art, opens Friday, Nov. 6, through April 25, 2027. More than 80 objects from the museum’s collection on how Black identity has been shaped, challenged and reclaimed. Free. Chrysler
• Jazz Got Loose, The Gallery at the Attucks, 1010 Church St., through April 10, 2027. A juried show of Hampton Roads artists on the theme of jazz. The gallery opens an hour before Attucks events, and Norfolk Arts is adding Saturday hours, noon to 4 p.m., on dates it has not yet listed. See our story on the show. Norfolk Arts

Theater and dance

• The Bodyguard, Tuesday, Nov. 10, to Sunday, Nov. 15, Harrison Opera House, 160 W. Virginia Beach Blvd. The touring Broadway in Norfolk musical: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday to Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. SevenVenues
• Afro MANIA: Cote d’Ivoire, 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15, Attucks Theatre, 1010 Church St. Music, dance, fashion and food from Ivory Coast with the Tidewater African Cultural Alliance, presented by Norfolk Arts. Free. SevenVenues
• A Merry Little Christmas Carol, Wednesday, Dec. 2, to Wednesday, Dec. 23, Wells Theatre, 110 E. Tazewell St. Virginia Stage Company’s holiday show; opening night is 7:30 p.m. SevenVenues
• A Sherlock Carol, Thursday, Dec. 3, to Sunday, Dec. 27, Wells Theatre. Virginia Stage Company’s second holiday play, in rotation with the first; opening night is 7:30 p.m. SevenVenues
• The Nutcracker, 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4, and Saturday, Dec. 5, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6, Harrison Opera House. Performed by United European Ballet. SevenVenues

Concerts and classical

• Choir! Choir! Choir!: Landslide, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 1, Attucks Theatre. An audience sing-along of Fleetwood Mac songs. SevenVenues
• Pagliacci, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 8, Harrison Opera House. Virginia Opera’s production of Leoncavallo’s opera, sung in Italian with English captions. Virginia Opera
• Attucks Jazz Club: Gabriela Allemana, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, Attucks Theatre. A jazz singer in the Virginia Arts Festival’s club series. SevenVenues
• Jesse Cook: Forever Live, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18, Attucks Theatre, a stop on Cook’s Forever Live tour. SevenVenues
• Musicians of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20, Harrison Opera House. A benefit concert for The Muse Writers Center. SevenVenues
• Classical Christmas: A Midwinter Musicale, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 3, Harrison Opera House, with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. Virginia Symphony
• Handel’s Messiah, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 11, Harrison Opera House, with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. Virginia Symphony

Regular events

• Glassmaking demonstrations, noon Tuesday to Sunday at the Chrysler Museum’s Perry Glass Studio. Free. Chrysler
• Moses Myers House, 323 E. Freemason St., open noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The Chrysler-run house museum shows the life of an early 19th-century merchant family. Chrysler

Send us your event

Running a show, an opening or a concert in Norfolk? Email the newsroom through our contact page with the date, time, venue, price and a photo, and we will add it.

More to do this month is on our things to do this month page, and the holiday concerts are also in our holiday lights and Christmas events guide.

Frequently asked questions

What exhibitions are on in Norfolk in November 2026?

At the Chrysler Museum of Art, which is free, Constellations, a show of contemporary jewelry, runs through Jan. 3, and two new shows, Arthur Jafa’s Love Is the Message, The Message Is Death and Define Yourself!, open Nov. 6. Jazz Got Loose is at The Gallery at the Attucks through April 10, 2027.

Is the Chrysler Museum of Art free?

Yes. General admission is free, the museum says. It is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, and closed Monday.

When is The Nutcracker in Norfolk in 2026?

United European Ballet performs The Nutcracker at the Harrison Opera House at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4, and Saturday, Dec. 5, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6, SevenVenues lists.

What is Virginia Stage Company doing for the holidays?

Two shows at the Wells Theatre: A Merry Little Christmas Carol, Dec. 2-23, and A Sherlock Carol, Dec. 3-27.