Theater events: Get your kicks on Paramount's 'Route 66'

Road trip!

Paramount Theatre presents a new production of the jukebox musical “Route 66,” by Roger Bean (“The Marvelous Wondrettes”), about a group of Chicago service-station attendants who take an imaginary road trip west to L.A. accompanied by a soundtrack that includes tunes by Willie Nelson, the Beach Boys and Woody Guthrie among others. Previews continue at 7:30 p.m. Friday, 8 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday through April 20 at 8 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora. The show opens Saturday, April 21. $29. (630) 896-6666 or paramountaurora.com.

LaBute's latest

Profiles Theatre continues to build on its relationship with playwright Neil LaBute, who in a prepared statement described the Chicago storefront theater as “everything an American playhouse should be: bold, fearless and constantly challenging the audience and itself.” To that end, Profiles presents the U.S. premiere of LaBute's psychological thriller “In a Forest, Dark and Deep” about a pair of siblings who discover some troubling truths while waiting out a storm. Joe Jahraus directs Joseph Jefferson Award winners Darrell W. Cox (“Killer Joe”) and Natasha Lowe (Writers' Theatre's “A Streetcar Named Desire”). Previews begin at 8 p.m. Friday, April 13, at The Main Stage, 4139 N. Broadway, Chicago. The show opens Thursday, April 19. $15-$40. (773) 549-1815 or profilestheatre.org.

Stories in Action

Metropolis Performing Arts Centre presents “The Diary of Anne Frank” as part of its Stories in Action! Series designed for children in grades 5 to 12. Elaine Ivy Harris plays the titular role of the teenager who with her family and several others hid from the Nazis in a warehouse annex for nearly two years. Runs Monday, April 16, through Thursday, April 26, at 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights. $12, $14. (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.com.

• Next Theatre concludes its season with “After the Revolution,” Amy Herzog's comic drama about a family examining its fiercely Marxist past and finding that their legacy might not be exactly as they imagined. Kimberly Senior directs the production which continues through May 13 at Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes St., Evanston. (847) 475-1875, ext. 2 or nexttheatre.org.

• Pride Films & Plays presents staged readings of four new plays and a new musical as part of its Gay Play Weekend, running Friday, April 13, through Sunday, April 15, at the Hoover-Leppen Theater at the Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted St., Chicago. Featured plays include: Dylan Costello's “Hello Norma Jeane,” a comedy about Marilyn Monroe; George Smart's “Mr. Teddy,” which looks at role playing; Adam Siegel's “Lost in History,” about parents and aging: Sean Chandler and David Leeper's “At the Flash,” a solo piece examining 50 years of gay history, and “Under a Rainbow Flag,” a musical about a World War II sailor living in Evanston by Leo Schwartz. (773) 250-3117 or pridefilmsandplays.com.

• The Pavement Group will donate 100 percent of its ticket sales from the Friday, April 13, performance of “Girl You Know It's True” to assist Gold Star Lounge co-owner Susan Stursberg in paying for her treatment for pancreatic cancer. The performances is at 7:30 p.m. at Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St., Chicago. (773) 789-8093 or pavementgroup.org.

• Steppenwolf Theatre Company hosts its annual Red or White Ball to benefit arts education for young adults beginning at 8 p.m. Friday, April 13, at Architectural Artifacts, 4325 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago. Tickets are $150 at the door. (312) 654-5681 or steppenwolf.org/rowb.

• Gorilla Tango Burlesque presents the adults-only “Superboobs: A Superhero Burlesque Adventure” at 10:30 p.m. Saturdays beginning April 14 at 1919 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. (773) 598-4549 or gorillatango.com.

• Red Tape Theatre hosts its fourth annual Chicago Fringe Artists Networking Night from 8 p.m. to midnight, Saturday, April 14, at 621 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. Tickets are $20 for the event which brings together dancers, physical theater performances and other arts professionals. See redtapetheatre.org for information.

• Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, hosts its second annual Chicago One-Minute Play Festival showcasing Chicago playwrights, to benefit its Fresh Squeezed performance series highlighting diverse, provocative works. The mini-fest, for which writers distill a 10-minute play down to its essential moment, will be held at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, April 15, and Monday, April 16. Tickets are $15. (773) 871-3000 or victorygardens.org.

• Steppenwolf Theatre Company welcomes a pair of storytellers — director/adapter Frank Galati and novelist E.L. Doctorow — for an evening of conversation Monday, April 16, at 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago. Artistic director Martha Lavey hosts the event which coincides with the premiere of the Steppenwolf-Oregon Shakespeare Festival joint commission of Doctorow's “The March,” about General William Tecumseh Sherman's devastating march to the sea through Georgia during the Civil War. (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org.

• Michael Mott and Justin Silvestri's new musical, “Faustus, The Musical,” inspired by Christopher Marlowe's “Doctor Faustus” and Goethe's “Faust,” gets its Midwest premiere in concert form on Monday, April 16, at Davenport's Piano Bar & Cabaret, 1383 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. (773) 278-1830 or davenportspianobar.com.

• Theatre at the Center's Theatre for Young Audiences presents “Junie B. Jones,” a musical inspired by Barbara Punk's books about an outspoken young girl navigating new friends, new glasses and the annual kickball tournament. The show opens Monday, April 16, at 1040 Ridge Road, Munster, Ind. (219) 836-3258 or theatreatthecenter.com.

• Dog & Pony Theatre Company presents a performance on Tuesday, April 17, of its new work “The Dinner Party Project” — a dinner party of the psyche — in which each dish in the three-course meal prepared by chef Michael Kornick uncovers another component of a woman's past. It takes place at 7 p.m. at Ada Street, 1664 N. Ada St., Chicago. For tickets see brownpapertickets.com or dogandponychicago.org.

• A Reasonable Facsimile Theatre Company's stage adaptations of TV reruns continues Tuesday, April 17, at Mary's Attic, 5400 N. Clark St., Chicago. This month's installment includes episodes from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “The Brady Bunch” and “Punky Brewster. (773) 418-4475 or arftco.com.

• British film and stage actor Simon Callow stars in the solo show “Being Shakespeare,” which uses excerpts from plays and poems to reveal the writer and the man. Chicago Shakespeare Theater presents the performance as part of its World's Stage series. Performances begin on Wednesday, April 18, and run through April 29 at the Broadway Playhouse, 175 E. Chestnut St., Chicago. See chicagoshakes.com for ticket information.

• Previews begin Thursday, April 19, for Strawdog Theatre Company's production of John Webster's “The Duchess of Malfi,” about a young woman who defies convention and marries in secret against the wishes of her twin and her older brother, the Cardinal. Brandon Bruce directs Bruce and Christine Scarfuto adaptation. Ensemble member Justine C. Turner stars in the titular role. The show opens April 22, at 3829 N. Broadway, Chicago. (866) 811-4111 or strawdog.org.

• Writer performer Daniel Alexander Jones brings the concert version of his show “Jomama Jones: Radiate!” to Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, for three performances from Thursday, April 19, through Saturday, April 21. (773) 871-3000 or victorygardens.org.

• Millennium Park's In The Works play development series concludes for the season with Staging Change, featuring three new works from students in the Columbia College Chicago Playwriting Program. The staged readings take place at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 19, through Saturday, April 21, at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, 201 E. Randolph St., Chicago. (312) 742-1168 or millenniumpark.org.

• Northlight Theatre recently announced its complete 2012-2013 lineup. The season opens Sept. 14 with “Woody Sez — The Life & Music of Woody Guthrie” by David M. Lutken and Nick Corley, followed by Neil Simon's “The Odd Couple” starring George Wendt and Tim Kazurinsky (Nov. 2-Dec. 9). “The Whipping Man,” Matthew Lopez's drama about a Jewish Confederate soldier and two of his family's former slaves who reunite after the Civil War, begins performances Jan. 18, 2013; followed by Marie Jones' two-hander “Stones in His Pockets” (March 8-April 14, 2013) about the impact of a Hollywood film crew on a small Irish town. The season concludes with the recently announced “Stella & Lou,” Bruce Graham's drama about two kindred souls seeking solace at a bar. Performances take place at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie. Subscription renewals are currently available. New subscriptions are available beginning in May by phone (847) 673-6300 or online at northlight.org.

• Theo Ubique has extended its hit production, Joseph Jefferson recommended production of “The Light in the Piazza,” for six weeks. Performances continue through June 23 at No Exit Cafe, 6970 N. Glenwood Ave., Chicago. (773) 347-1109 or theo-u.org.

• Genesis Ensemble's performances piece “The Rest Unknown: how to live and how to die” — based on Maira Kalman's “The Principles of Uncertainty” — has been extended through May 8 at 5344 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago. See genesisensemble.org for information.

• Emerald City Theatre's hugely successful “Pinkalicious: The Musical” has been extended through Aug. 5 at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place, 175 E. Chestnut St., Chicago. (800) 775-2000 or broadwayinchicago.com.

• Stef Tovar has taken over the role of Jeffrey Skilling in TimeLine Theatre's hit production of Lucy Perebble's “Enron” which runs through April 15 at 615 W. Wellington Ave., Chicago. (773) 281-8463, ext. 6 or timelinetheatre.com.

• Victory Gardens Theater has named Philip Dawkins, Marcus Gardley, Samuel D. Hunter and Tanya Saracho as new ensemble playwrights. The new ensemble “reaffirms Victory Gardens' mission of nurturing and producing new work for the American theater.” The writers will be with the theater for a seven-year residency after which they will join the alumni. Alumni include: Claudia Allen, Dean Corrin, Lonnie Carter, Steve Carter, Gloria Bond Clunie, Nilo Cruz, Joel Drake Johnson, John Logan, Nicholas A. Patricca, Douglas Post, James Sherman, Charles Smith, Jeffrey Sweet and Kristine Thatcher. The change marks the latest initiated by new artistic director Chay Yew. See victorygardens.org for more information.

• Lili-Anne Brown has taken over the duties of artistic director for Bailiwick Chicago. A veteran of Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare and Next theaters, Brown will play Joanne in the American Theatre Company/About Face Theatre production of “Rent.” She recently directed the Chicago premiere of “Passing Strange” for Bailiwick Chicago. See bailiwickchicago.com for information on the company's upcoming season.

• Self-styled rock ‘n' roll improv ensemble Rhythm Method has named the Chicago Women's Health Center as charity partner for its April run of shows at 8 p.m. Mondays at Playground Theater, 3209 N. Halsted St., Chicago. (773) 871-3793 or the-playground.com.

• Congratulations to George Howe and Frances Limoncelli, whose family musical “Arnie the Doughnut,” about a chocolate doughnut with rainbow sprinkles who's delighted to be sold but not so delighted to be eaten, has been selected for inclusion in the New York Theatre Festival running from July 9 to 29. Based on Laurie Keller's children's book, “Arnie” was developed at Chicago's Lifeline Theatre.