Local theater companies craft shows to thrill
Many theater companies turn to more macabre material for the Halloween season. Some shows offer satisfying scares, while others aim to make you laugh by skewering well-known horror flicks. Here's a sampling of scary shows onstage in Chicago and the suburbs this Halloween holiday:
<h3 class="briefHead">Classic horror twists</h3>
Mary Shelley's 1818 gothic horror novel "Frankenstein" is the inspiration for two new adaptations in the suburbs. On the community theater level, GreenMan Theatre in Elmhurst presents director Cory Sandrock's stage adaptation of "Frankenstein," while the professional First Folio Theatre in Oak Brook stages the world premiere of Joseph Zettelmaier's "The Gravedigger," which imagines scenes not in Shelley's original novel.
One of the first filmed vampire tales was the 1922 German expressionistic silent "Nosferatu." It's a natural idea for stage adaptation by Chicago's Silent Theatre, which presents its pantomimed take on the material at Prop Thtr.
If you want your horror to be more American in its origins, then catch two shows inspired by the 19th-century writings of author Edgar Allan Poe. The Chicago Mammals strike a blow for more gender equality in theater with their "All Girl Edgar Allan Poe" at Zoo Studios, while Colorbox Theatre imagines how the master of macabre stories would cope in an insane asylum in "Nightfall With Edgar Allan Poe" at Chicago's Royal George Theatre.
<h3 class="briefHead">Macabre musicals</h3>
Two works that regularly pop up in opera houses nowadays are back in theatrically vivid productions presented on different scales.
Mozart's classic opera "Don Giovanni" gets reset to the 1920s in the Lyric Opera of Chicago's new production directed by Goodman Theatre artistic director Robert Falls. This time around the title serial seducer displays a much more sadistic streak before he gets his comeuppance.
And though Porchlight Music Theatre has presented Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's thriller "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" at Chicago's Stage 773 before, its new production by artistic director Michael Weber has been completely re-envisioned for the intimate thrust space. You're guaranteed to get plenty of chills in this operatic tale of a revengeful mass-murdering Victorian barber and his meat pie-making accomplice.
<h3 class="briefHead">Mystery thrillers</h3>
Murder and blackmail prominently figure in two suburban mystery thrillers finishing up their runs Sunday, Oct. 19.
The Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights goes the classic route with Frederick Knott's "Dial 'M' for Murder" from the 1950s. Meanwhile, at the Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace, Ken Ludwig's 2011 play "The Game's Afoot" takes a more comical approach to mystery when it comes to uncovering the culprit who tried to murder the Sherlock Holmes actor-playwright William Gillette.
A more realistic thriller is Laura Marks' 2013 off-Broadway drama "Bethany," now making its Chicago debut at The Gift Theatre. Find out why a saleswoman shares an abandoned suburban home with a mentally unstable survivalist in this gripping play inspired by the recent home mortgage meltdown.
<h3 class="briefHead">Spooky spoofs</h3>
If you're looking for spoofs of zombie films, then be sure to check out Cowardly Scarecrow Theatre's return of "Musical of the Living Dead" at Chicago's Stage 773. Or if you want to laugh at the notion of zombies being second-class citizens, don't miss the world premiere of "Zombie Genius" at Chicago's Annoyance Theatre.
Hell in a Handbag Productions is back with its campy Chicago take on Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds," which takes audiences behind the scenes on the movie set for this classic 1960s avian horror film.
And in the vein of 1970s black exploitation films is the revival of "Blackula" by the newly renamed Pegasus Theatre Company at Chicago Dramatists.
Lovers of burlesque can check out Kiss Kiss Cabaret's adults-only "Peek-A-Boo: An Ooky Spooky Halloween Revue" at Chicago's Greenhouse Theater Center.
The Public House Theatre in Chicago presents a weird mashup of Backstreet Boys songs with the "Nightmare on Elm Street" films in "Nightmare on Backstreet," while Chicago's Corn Productions aims to give you the most for your money in horror film spoofs with the return of "Nightmare on Lincoln Avenue 666: The Exorcism of Rosemary's Omen."
<h3 class="briefHead">The shows</h3>
"All Girl Edgar Allan Poe"
Where: The Chicago Mammals at Zoo Studios, 4001 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago, (800) 838-3006 or chicagomammals.com
Showtimes: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday through Nov. 8
Tickets: $20
"Bethany"
Where: The Gift Theatre, 4802 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, (773) 283-7071, thegifttheatre.org
Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday through Nov. 23
Tickets: $20-$30
"The Birds"
Where: Hell in a Handbag Productions at Berger Coach House, 6205 N. Sheridan Road, Chicago, (800) 838-3006 or handbagproductions.org
Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday through Nov. 1
Tickets: $37
"Blackula: Young, Black and Undead"
Where: Pegasus Theatre Company at Chicago Dramatists, 1105 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago, (773) 878-8864 or pegasusplayers.org
Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday from Oct. 30 to Dec. 1
Tickets: $10
"Don Giovanni"
Where: Lyric Opera of Chicago, 20 N. Wacker Drive, Chicago, (312) 827-5600 or lyricopera.org
Showtimes: 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24, and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29
Tickets: $20-$299
"Dial 'M' for Murder"
Where: Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights, (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.com
Showtime: 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 19
Tickets: $38
"The Game's Afoot"
Where: Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace, (630) 530-0111 or drurylaneoakbrook.com
Showtimes: 2 and 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 19
Tickets: $45
"Musical of the Living Dead"
Where: Cowardly Scarecrow Theatre Company at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago, (773) 327-5252 or musicalofthelivingdead.com
Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 7:30 and 10:30 p.m. Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday through Nov. 8
Tickets: $15-$25
"Nightfall With Edgar Allan Poe"
Where: ColorBox Theatre at Royal George Theatre, 1641 N. Halsted St., Chicago, (312) 988-9000 or theroyalgeorgetheatre.com
Showtime: 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 19
Tickets: $25
"Nightmare on Backstreet"
Where: Public House Theatre, 3914 N. Clark St., Chicago, (800) 650-6449 or publichousetheatre.com
Showtimes: 11:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday through Nov. 1
Tickets: $15
"Nightmare on Lincoln Avenue 666: The Exorcism of Rosemary's Omen"
Where: Corn Productions at Cornservatory, 4210 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, (773) 650-1331 or cornservatory.org
Showtimes: 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday through Nov. 1
Tickets: $7-$15
"Nosferatu"
Where: Silent Theatre Company at Prop Thtr, 3502 N. Elston Ave., Chicago, silenttheatre.com
Showtimes: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday through Nov. 23
Tickets: $15-$20
"Peek-A-Boo: An Ooky Spooky Halloween Revue"
Where: Kiss Kiss Cabaret at Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, (773) 404-7336 or kisskisscabaret.com
Showtimes: 11 p.m. Fridays through Nov. 7
Tickets: $20-$25
"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"
Where: Porchlight Music Theatre at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago, (773) 327-5252 or porchlightmusictheatre.org
Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 4 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday through Nov. 9
Tickets: $39-$45
"Zombie Genius"
Where: Annoyance Theatre, 851 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago, (773) 697-9693 or theannoyance.com
Showtimes: 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Oct. 29
Tickets: $15