Local theater: 'Gayco' plays at Metropolis

GayCo at Metropolis

The Metropolis Performing Arts Centre celebrates Gay Pride month by welcoming GayCo, a sketch comedy group whose show “GayCo: Pride in the 'Burbs” draws upon gay and lesbian themes and incorporates audience interaction. Also, Metropolis remounts the farcical “10 Ways to Kill Your Husband” by resident playwright Scott Woldman. The comedy is about not-so-happily married business partners who enlist their employees in their marital mayhem. “GayCo: Pride in the 'Burbs” is at 8 p.m. Saturday, June 23, at 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights. $20. “10 Ways to Kill Your Husband” runs Thursday, June 28, to July 13. $35. (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.com.

Letts adapts 'Sisters'

Steppenwolf Theatre Company concludes its season examining war's impact with ensemble member Tracy Letts' adaptation of Anton Chekhov's “Three Sisters,” about siblings desperate to flee their dull rural town for the drama and excitement of the big city. The director is Anna D. Shapiro, who also directed Steppenwolf's world premiere of Letts' Pulitzer Prize-winning “August: Osage County.” Ensemble members Ora Jones, Sally Murphy, Alana Arenas, Francis Guinan, Tom Irwin and Ian Barford are featured in the production. Previews begin Thursday, June 28, at 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago. The show opens July 8. $20-$75. (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org.

Into the woods

Citadel Theatre teams up with Lake Forest Open Lands to present MEH Lewis' original play, “The Great Snipe Hunt,” about a girl who meets an array of fantastic creatures while on a quest in the woods. 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday, June 23, and Sunday, June 24, at the Mellody Farm Nature Preserve, 350 N. Waukegan Road, Lake Forest. $15. (847) 735-8554 or citadeltheatre.org.

What's new

• Playwright Calamity West imagines a conversation between film star John Wayne and serial killer John Wayne Gacy Jr. during Christmas 1975, three years before the first of 29 bodies were recovered from Gacy's home in “The Gacy Play,” in its world premiere at Sideshow Theatre Company. Previews begin Saturday, June 23, at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. Andy Luther plays Gacy in the show, which opens June 28. (773) 975-8150 or sideshowtheatre.org.

• A Mexican director about to direct his first Shakespeare film learns from producers that he must cast the film from the ranks of the country's star wrestlers in “Mexican Wrestling Macbeth” by Bob Fisher. The Chicago Mammals Theatre Company production runs at 10:30 p.m. Saturdays through July 28 at Zoo Studios, 4001 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago. (866) 593-4614 or chicagomammals.com.

• Theatre at the Center presents performances of its family-friendly and interactive production of “Little Red Riding Hood,” at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Sunday, June 24, at 1040 Ridge Road, Munster, Ind. (800) 511-1552 or theatreatthecenter.com.

• TimeLine Theatre hosts a conversation between playwright and investigative journalist John Conroy and reporter/radio host Rick Kogan inspired by TimeLine's premiere of “My Kind of Town,” Conroy's examination of the Chicago police torture scandal which he chronicled for more than 20 years. The panel takes place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 25, at the Claudia Cassidy Theater at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St., Chicago. Admission is free but reservations are encouraged. (773) 281-8463, ext. 6 or timelinetheatre.com.

• Erasing the Distance, an organization that increases awareness of mental health issues through theater, and the Chicago School of Professional Psychology host a performance of “In Less Than a Day,” comprised of monologues about lives uprooted by mental illness. The performance takes place at 7 p.m. Monday, June 25, at the Hoover-Leppen Theatre at the Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted St., Chicago. See brownpapertickets.com or erasingthedistance.org.

• Broadway in Chicago presents the return of “Rain — A Tribute to the Beatles.” The show runs from Tuesday, June 26, through July 1, at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St., Chicago. (800) 775-2000 or broadwayinchicago.com.

• Next up in the International Voices Project is Marius von Mayenburg's “Martyr” translated from German by Maja Zade and directed by Kerstin Broockmann. The play is about a schoolboy whose newfound religious devotion prompts him to terrorize his fellow students. The performance is at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 26, at the Goethe Institut, 150 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago. (773) 250-7055 or ivpchicago.org.

• Theater on the Lake continues its 60th season on Wednesday June 27, at the theater at Fullerton Avenue and Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, with a remount of eta Creative Arts Foundation's “Broke-ology,” Nathan Louis Jackson's play about two brothers at odds over who will care for their ailing father. It runs through Sunday, July 1. The 2012 season marks the debut of co-artistic directors Michael Patrick Thornton (ABC's “Private Practice”), co-founder of The Gift Theatre, and Meghan Beals McCarthy, associate artistic director of Chicago Dramatists. (312) 742-7994 or chicagoparkdistrict.com.

• Performances begin Thursday, June 28, for Chicago Shakespeare Theater's family-friendly production of “Disney's Beauty and the Beast,” helmed by Joseph Jefferson Award winners director Rachel Rockwell and music director Doug Peck. Emily Rohm stars as Belle, William Travis Taylor plays the Beast, Bernie Yvon plays Lumiere and Mary Ernster plays Mrs. Potts in the show, which runs through Aug. 26 at Navy Pier, 800 E. Grand Ave., Chicago. (312) 595-5600 or chicagoshakes.com.

• Writers Theatre has extended its production of Stephen Sondheim's “A Little Night Music.” Performances continue through Aug. 12 at 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe. (847) 242-6000 or writerstheatre.org.

• American Theater Company has extended its production of Jonathan Larson's “Rent.” Performances continue through June 24 at 1909 W. Byron St., Chicago. (773) 409-4125 or atcweb.org.

• “Attend the Tale of Danny Tanner: A Full House Musical,” a mashup of the TV sitcom “Full House” and Stephen Sondheim's musical “Sweeney Todd,” has been extended and has added Saturday performances beginning July 14. The show runs through July 28 at Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. (773) 598-4549 or gorillatango.com.

• Citadel Theatre Company has announced its 2012-2013 season, beginning on Sept. 29, with Jerry Sterner's “Other People's Money,” about a corporate liquidator who falls for the attorney opposing his hostile takeover of a family business. Next up is Ann Noble's adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's “Little Women” (Nov. 23-Dec. 30), followed by Yasmina Reza's “God of Carnage,” about two pairs of privileged parents behaving badly after their sons are involved in a schoolyard tussle (Feb. 28, 2013-March 10, 2013). The season concludes with Matthew Barber's “Enchanted April”(April 26-May 25, 2013), about four women assessing their lives and relationships during a monthlong vacation in Italy. Early bird subscriptions are on sale through June 30. (847) 735-8554 or citadeltheatre.org.