Local theater: A throwback to the '60s

Love 1960s style

During her bachelorette party, a bride-to-be and her three friends consider dating, love and marriage in the 1960s-inspired musical revue, “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?” “I Will Follow Him” and “You Don't Have to Say You Love Me” are among the pop hits featured in the Fox Valley Repertory revival directed and choreographed by Geneva's Kyle Donahue, with music direction by Robert Deason.

Previews continue through Friday, June 14, at Pheasant Run Resort, 4051 E. Main St., St. Charles. The show opens 8 p.m. Saturday, June 15. $32, $42. (630) 584-6342 or foxvalleyrep.org.

Comedy 1960s style

A jet-setting architect named Bernard juggles three flight attendant fiancees in “Boeing-Boeing,” a 1962 French comedy by Marc Camoletti, which lands this week at Drury Lane Theatre. Former Victory Gardens Theater artistic director Dennis Zacek directs the show which stars Jeff Award winner Stef Tovar as the rascal Bernard and Nora Dunn (“Saturday Night Live”) as the long-suffering housekeeper who helps him steer clear of turbulence.

Previews begin 1:30 and 8 p.m. Thursday, June 13, at 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace. The show opens 8 p.m. Thursday, June 20. $35-$49. (630) 530-0111 or drurylane.com.

Look at LeapFest

Stage Left Theatre presents LeapFest 10, its annual festival showcasing in-development works, produced in association with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. Plays by Scott Barsotti, Steven Haworth, Kristin Idaszak, Jayme McGhan, Steven Simoncic and Katie Watson will be featured in workshop productions during the three-week festival, which also includes post-performance discussions with audience members.

Begins 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 11, at The Storefront Theater, 66 E. Randolph St., Chicago. $11. $25 for a LeapPass. (800) 595-4849 or stagelefttheatre.com.

What's new

• The based-on real life play “Circus Circus,” about a young man arrested on charges of marijuana and sent to a state penitentiary along with violent offenders who have sentences shorter than his, opens Friday, June 7, at The Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. Members of Inappropriate Theater Company co-star in the play written by Eric Welch and Brian Walker. See facebook.com/circus.circustheplay or thedentheatre.com.

• Chicago's League of Lady Arm Wrestlers (CLLAW) hosts CLLAW XVI, a benefit for the Sideshow Theatre and for Community Counseling Centers of Chicago beginning at 10 p.m. Friday, June 7, at the Logan Square Auditorium, 2639 N. Kedzie Ave., Chicago. See cllaw.org.

• Munster, Indiana native Kevin Burke stars in Theatre at the Center's production of “Defending the Caveman,” a one-man show about the relationship between men and women. It runs Friday, June 7, to Sunday, June 9, at 1040 Ridge Road, Munster, Ind. See theatreatthecenter.com.

• James Harms (of Goodman's “The Happiest Song Plays Last” and “The Iceman Cometh”) plays Sir Joseph Porter in the Gilbert and Sullivan romp, “H.M.S. Pinafore” opening Saturday, June 8, at Light Opera Works. Dane Thomas and Sarah Kelly play the young lovers Ralph and Josephine and LOW music director Roger L. Bingaman conducts a 26-piece orchestra in this all-new production directed and choreographed by Rudy Hogenmiller. Performances continue through Sunday, June 16, at Cahn Auditorium, 600 Emerson St., Evanston. (847) 920-5360 or lightoperaworks.com.

• The Waltzing Mechanics premiere “Kates Dates,” a docudrama/comedy penned by J.D. Ostergaard, inspired by a blog written by Kate Loftus, in which she chronicles her various unfortunate dates. The show opens Sunday June 9, at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. (773) 404-7336 or waltzingmechanics.org.

• Previews begin Tuesday, June 11, for Mary-Arrchie Theatre Company's production of Austin Pendleton's “Uncle Bob,” which opens Thursday, June 13 (the company's 27th anniversary), at Angel Island, 735 W. Sheridan Road, Chicago. The play centers on a young man paying a not exactly welcome visit to his uncle who has been diagnosed with AIDS. Cody Estle directs Mary-Arrchie co-founder and recent recipient of the Jeff Award Lifetime Achievement Award winner Richard Cotovsky (Uncle Bob) and Rudy Galvan as his nephew. See maryarrchie.com.

• The Broadway revival tour of “West Side Story,” the iconic Leonard Bernstein-Stephen Sondheim musical, returns to Chicago for a brief run. Performances begin Tuesday, June 11, at the Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St., Chicago. (800) 775-2000 or broadwayinchicago.com.

• The 5th annual Just for Laughs comedy festival returns Tuesday, June 11, and continues for six days at 15 Chicago venues including The Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State St.; The Vic, 3145 N. Sheffield Ave. and The Park West, 322 W. Armitage Ave. Among the comedians scheduled to perform are Bob Newhart, Bill Maher, Seth Meyers, Al Madrigal of “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and stars from the TBS series “Sullivan & Son” Steve Byrne, Owen Benjamin, Roy Wood Jr. and Ahmed Ahmed. See justforlaughschicago.com for schedule and ticket information.

• The 61st season of Theater on the Lake begin Wednesday, June 12, at Fullerton Avenue and Lake Michigan, in Chicago. First up in this showcase of 2012 Chicago storefront theater offerings is The New Colony's “The Bear Suit of Happiness,” Evan Linder's drama set during WW II, about a young gay American soldier, who entertains his colleagues stationed at a remote Pacific island with an original show. Performances run through Sunday, June 16. (312) 742-7994 or chicagoparkdistrict.com.

• Despite a devoted husband and a supportive mother, new mom Mari can't help feeling something is strange about her newborn daughter in “Mine,” a contemporary thriller by Laura Marks in its Chicago area premiere at The Gift Theatre. Previews begin Thursday, June 13, at 4802 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. The production, directed by Libertyville native Marti Lyons (“Maria'Stuart”), opens Monday, June 17. (773) 283-7071 or thegifttheatre.org.

• Raven Theatre, 6157 N. Clark St., Chicago, has extended its production of the Neil Simon coming-of-age comedy “Brighton Beach Memoirs” Performances continue through Saturday, June 29. (773) 338-2177 or raventheatre.com.

• “The Pianist of Willesden Lane,” about Lisa Jura, a young Jewish pianist front Vienna sent to London on the kindertransport during the rise of the Nazi regime, has been extended. Concert pianist Mona Golabek, stars in the true story about her mother, which continues through July 7, at the Royal George Theatre, 1641 N. Halsted St., Chicago. (312) 988-9000 or theroyalgeorgetheatre.com.

• Chicago Shakespeare Theater has extended “Othello: the Remix,” The Q Brothers' 90-minute hip-hop adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy. Performances continue through July 27, at Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand Ave., Chicago. (312) 595-5600 or chicagoshakes.com.

• Saint Sebastian Players announced its 33rd season, which opens Oct. 18 with a production of Stephen Schwartz's “Godspell,” based on St. Matthew's Gospel and first staged at St. Sebastian in 1981. Heinar Kipphardt's courtroom drama “In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer” (Feb. 14-March 9, 2014), examining national defense and loyalty to one's country. The company's 2013-2014 season concludes with Death Defying Acts (April 25-March 18, 2014.) The comedy triple bill consists of David Mamet's “An Interview,” in which a lawyer is forced to answer questions about his life and career; Elaine May's “Hotline” about a neurotic woman who calls a suicide crisis line and Woody Allen's “Central Park West” in which a psychiatrist gets drunk before confronting her friend who's having an affair with her husband. Performances take place at St. Bonaventure, 1625 W. Diversey, Chicago. Season subscriptions are available by phone (773) 404-7922 or online at saintsebastianplayers.org.

• Red Theater Chicago announced new company members. They include managing director Janette Bauer, executive producer Brindin Sawyer, development director Katie Frient, and technical director Timothy R. Lane. In addition, actress Meredith Ernst has joined the ensemble, which includes artistic director Aaron Sawyer and actor/playwright Gage Wallace.

• Sam Bailey, Monica Brown, Lea Karpel. Laura Lapidus and Jake Szczepaniak have been named new Pavement Group artistic associates.