Theater events: 'West Side Story' opens Tuesday

'West Side Story'

The national tour of “West Side Story,” whose acclaimed Broadway revival concluded earlier this year, comes to the Cadillac Palace Theatre for a brief run. David Saint re-creates Arthur Laurents' direction while Joey McKneely reproduces Jerome Robbins' original cutting-edge choreography for the revival of this classic interpretation of “Romeo and Juliet.”

Performances begin Tuesday, July 19, at 151 W. Randolph St., Chicago. (800) 775-2000 or broadwayinchicago.com.

Walkabout in Elgin

Elgin theater companies unite to perform Yasmina Reza's “Art” as part of Elgin's fourth annual Walkabout: Theater on Your Feet. Audience members will walk to several downtown locations to watch members of Janus Theatre, Nothing Special Productions and the Guild Theater perform different scenes from Reza's play about friends who fall out after one of them buys an abstract painting. Putting a unique spin on the production, Walkabout creator Sean Hargadon will feature increasingly younger actors playing the roles at each venue.

1 p.m. Saturdays, July 16-30, at the Elgin Public House, 219 E. Chicago St., Elgin. Tours last about 20 minutes and run until 2:20 p.m. (847) 841-1713 or elginwalkabout.blogspot.com.

Also in theaters:

Ÿ 4 Days Late Productions, which has produced five original shows since its 2007 debut, returns with “Jersey Shore: The Musical” inspired by MTV's hit reality show centered on a group of hard-partying, deeply tanned New Jersey twentysomethings. Previews began Friday, July 15, at Studio BE, 3110 N. Sheffield Ave., Chicago. The show opens July 22. See facebook.com/4dayslatecomedy for information.

Ÿ Fox Valley Repertory's staged readings of the works produced as part of the Collider New Play Project continues July 23 at the Pheasant Run Resort, 4051 E. Main St., St. Charles. Garret C. Schneider's “Clockwork Child,” about 19th-century mathematicians who worked on an early version of the computer, follows at 1 p.m. July 23. The showcase concludes with K. Frithjof Peterson's “A Scientists Guide to Love and Poetry,” about a physics student in love with a literature major. Its staged reading takes place at 1 p.m. July 30. See summertheaterfest.org or foxvalleyrep.org for more information.

Ÿ Shattered Globe Theatre's “Down and Dirty Romeo & Juliet,” which the company stages at unusual performance spaces throughout the city, continues with performances on Sunday, July 17, 24 and 31, at Millennium Park, 201 E. Randolph St., Chicago. Also unique to this production, audience members will determine which actors play which characters. See shatteredglobe.org for more information.

Ÿ Midwest New Musicals, a musical theater writers workshop, concludes its 2011 session with “Spring Pains and Labor Pains” showcasing participants' works. The performance, held in conjunction with Light Opera Works, is at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, July 17, at the McGaw YMCA Children's Center Auditorium, 1420 Maple St., Evanston. (847) 869-6300 or lightoperaworks.com.

Ÿ Porchlight Music Theatre will present its first Guy Adkins Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Music Theatre in Chicago — named in honor of the late singer/actor who passed away at the age of 41 in 2010 — at its brunch benefit at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, July 17, at the University Club of Chicago, Cathedral Hall, 76 E. Monroe St., Chicago. The benefit will include brunch, entertainment and a silent auction. (773) 325-9884 or porchlighttheatre.com.

Ÿ Second City E.T.C. will open its 35th revue, “Sky's the Limit (Weather Permitting),” on Sunday, July 17. The meteorologically centered satire runs at Piper's Alley, 1608 N. Wells St., Chicago. (312) 337-3992 or secondcity.com.

Ÿ Chicago-area favorites Heidi Kettenring and Hollis Resnik star in a pair of retrospective revues, “The Golden Age: The Classic American Musical” and “The New Age: Cabaret and Beyond,” beginning at 8 p.m. Monday, July 18, at Northwestern University's Ethel M. Barber Theater, 30 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston. The former features Kettenring performing classic show tunes by George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, and Learner and Loewe. The latter features Resnik performing tunes from contemporary musicals like “Hair,” “Cabaret,” “Les Miserables” and “Spring Awakening.” (847) 491-7282 or tic.northwestern.edu.

Ÿ Bohemian Theatre Ensemble hosts Sky View Soiree, its annual benefit, from 7 to 10 p.m. Monday, July 18, at The Sky Deck, 3660 N. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago. The event features food, cocktails, entertainment by members of the BoHo ensemble, a raffle and silent auction. Tickets cost $25. (773) 791-2393 or bohotheatre.com.

Ÿ Stage Left Theatre presents the DrekFest finalists. The theater company in cooperation with ComedySportz Theatre has announced the finalists for the company's annual search for America's worst playlette. Critics Kerry Reid and Jonathan Abarbanel and writer Nathan Rabin will judge the five finalists beginning at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 19, at 929 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. (773) 883-8830, stagelefttheatre.com or comedysportzchicago.com.

Ÿ The Chicago Park District's annual Theater on the Lake, showcasing some of the best productions of 2010-11, continues at Fullerton Parkway and Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. Collaboraction remounts “1001,” Jason Grote's unique take on the tales known as “The Arabian Nights” featuring Sinbad, Scheherazade and others. The production runs Wednesday through Sunday, July 20-24. (312) 742-4786 or chicagoparkdistrict.com.

Ÿ The Neo-Futurists' 10th annual staging of the worst-ever films continues Thursdays at 5153 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago. “It Came From the Neo-Futurarium X: Battle for the Neo-Futurarium” features a remount of the 2006 stage version of the 1978 film “KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park,” about an evil scientist who plans to use a KISS concert to unleash his robots on the world. The performance is at 8 p.m. Thursday, July 21. (773) 275-5255 or neofuturists.org.

Ÿ “Emma Unmatched,” Bluestone Theater Company's original 21st-century version of Jane Austen's “Emma,” in which the protagonist tries to remake Harriet for NYC's posh set, continues through July 31 at Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. (773) 598-4549 or gorillatango.com.

Ÿ Silk Road Theatre Project has extended its production of David Henry Hwang's backstage comedy “Yellow Face,” inspired by the making of Hwang's 1993 Broadway flop, “Face Value.” Performances continue through July 31 at the Historic Chicago Temple Building, 77 W. Washington St., Chicago. (312) 443-3800 or srtp.org.

Ÿ Speaking of David Henry Hwang, Goodman Theatre's world premiere of his play “Chinglish” has been extended through July 31 at 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. The play is scheduled to open on Broadway this fall. Leigh Silverman, who directed the Chicago production, will helm the Broadway production as well. (312) 443-3800 or goodmantheatre.org.

Ÿ Emerald City Theatre's Ernie Nolan has been named the company's first producing artistic director. For the last two years, Nolan has overseen Emerald City's new works development program. Nolan has directed, choreographed or written 15 productions, including “The True Story of the Three Little Pigs.”

Ÿ Chicago Dramatists has named Meghan Beals McCarthy as its new associate artistic director. Former resident dramaturge and literary manager at Skokie's Northlight Theatre, McCarthy has been an artistic associate with Chicago Dramatists for several years.