Theater events: Shift perspectives with 'Marley's Christmas Carol'

Marley's tale

Steel Beam Theatre presents Tom Mula's “Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol,” an examination of Ebenezer Scrooge's redemption and reconciliation from the perspective of his longtime friend and business partner. Pat Able of Geneva stars in the one-man show directed by the theater's founder and artistic director, Donna Steele.

7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 12, also 8 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday through Dec. 21, at 111 W. Main St., St. Charles. $23-$28. (630) 587-8521 or steelbeamtheatre.com.

Dickens revised

On Christmas Eve, 1843, as the adult Charles Dickens puts the finishing touches on his tale, “A Christmas Carol,” his younger self helps the author recall the past in Michael Paller's adaptation of “A Christmas Carol.” Craig Berger directs the Evergreen Theatre Ensemble production featuring Jeff Jones of North Aurora as Scrooge/Dickens.

7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 12; 3 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 13 and 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 14, at Act I Theater, 1665 Quincy Ave., Naperville. $10-$20. (630) 457-5164 or evergreentheatreensemble.org.

IP on the air

Improv Playhouse remounts for the fifth time its live, 1940s radio play adaptation of “It's A Wonderful Life,” complete with commercials and sound effects. IP executive producer David Stuart directs and stars as George Bailey in the production.

2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 13, and 8 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Sunday through Dec. 21, at 735 N. Milwaukee Ave., Libertyville. $10-$20. (847) 968-4529 or improvplayhouse.com.

What's new

• About Face Theatre and Theater Wit collaborate for an adults-only holiday show titled “Big Red and The Boys” featuring Meghan Murphy, About Face artistic associates John Francisco and Patrick Andrews and Nick Davio. Performances take place, Friday, Dec. 12, Saturday, Dec. 13, and Monday Dec. 15, and Dec. 19 and 20, at 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. (773) 975-8150 or aboutfacetheatre.org.

• Quest Theatre's tour of its holiday production “Blue Nativity,” which tells the story of Christ's birth using large scale puppets and music, begins Friday, Dec. 12 and continues at various locations throughout Chicago. Admission is free but donations are accepted. The tour concludes Jan. 1, 2015, with a 5 p.m. performance at St. Gregory the Great, 5535 N. Paulina, Chicago. For more information, see questensemble.org.

• Redmoon Theatre hosts its annual family-friendly Winter Pageant beginning at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 12, at 2120 S. Jefferson St., Chicago. Dancers, aerialists, singers and puppeteers are among the 40 performers participating in Redmoon's 16th annual winter spectacle which centers on travelers traversing a massive glacier in search of a precious mineral that will bring them wealth. That is until a disagreement causes them to part ways. Performances continue weekends through Dec. 21. (312) 850-8440, ext. 123 or redmoon.org.

• The Ruffians remount their bittersweet holiday show “Burning Bluebeard,” by Jay Torrence and inspired by the devastating 1903 fire at Chicago's Iroquois Theatre. Halena Kays directs the show about six singed clown performers who emerge from the theater's burned remains to perform their Christmas show, this time with a happy ending. Previews begin Saturday, Dec. 13, at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. The show opens Monday, Dec. 15. (773) 975-8150 or theaterwit.org.

• The newly formed Chicago Artists Chorale — made up of more than 50 Chicago area theater artists — presents its inaugural concert at 7;30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 16, at the First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple, 77 W. Washington St., Chicago. The group is the brainchild of associate artistic director Devin DeSantis, a musical theater veteran who came up with the idea of the chorale backstage during Marriott Theatre's “Godspell.” Tom Vendafreddo, music director of the Paramount Theatre in Aurora, serves as artistic director. The program includes works by Britten and Mozart among others. Tickets are $25 online, $30 at the door. They're available at brownpapertickets.com. For more information, email chicagoartistschorale@gmail.com.

• Performances begin Tuesday, Dec. 16, for the national tour of “Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella,” featuring a new book by Douglas Carter Bean. Written in 1957 for television, the musical about the orphaned girl who becomes a princess, made its Broadway debut in 2013. The show runs through Jan. 4, 2015, at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St., Chicago. (800) 775-2000 or broadwayinchicago.com.

• Jenny Riddle and Elizabeth Doyle demonstrate how the nation's first families have celebrated the holidays in their show “Christmas at the White House,” at 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 18, at the Skokie Theatre, 7924 N. Lincoln Ave., Skokie. (847) 677-7761 or skokietheatre.org.

• American Theater Company, 1909 W. Byron St., Chicago, has extended its production of “The Humans,” Stephen Karam's examination of a modern American family. Performances continue through Jan. 4, 2015. (773) 409-4125 or atcweb.org.

• Strawdog Theatre has extended its remount of its hit 2013 production of Charles Dickens' “Great Expectations.” Adapted by Gale Childs Daly and directed by Jason W. Gerace, the production features six actors playing more than 40 characters. Performances continue through Dec. 20, at 3829 N. Broadway St., Chicago. (773) 528-9696 or strawdog.org.

• Performances continue through Jan. 31, 2015 for Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre's revival of Ted Swindley's musical “Always ... Patsy Cline,” inspired by the unlikely friendship between the country western singer and a Houston fan. Christina Hall and Danni Smith star in the two-hander which runs at No Exit Cafe, 6970 N. Glenwood Ave., Chicago. (800) 595-4849 or theo-u.com.

• The Goodman Theatre and Second City collaboration, a holiday sendup titled “Twist Your Dickens, or Scrooge You!” which features local celebrities Rick Bayless, State sen. John Cullerton, former newsman Bill Kurtis and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle among others, has been extended. Performances continue through Jan. 3, 2015, at 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. (312) 443-3800 or goodmantheatre.org.

• The Pavement Group announced earlier this month that it will dissolve at the conclusion of its last production, “Buddy Cop,” which runs through Dec. 21, at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. (773) 975-8150 or theaterwit.org.

• Theater Oobleck, the 26-year-old Chicago collective, is among 919 nonprofit organizations to receive a $15,000 NEA Art Works grant. The grant will go toward the development of “SOS: A Decameron Clown Cruise,” in partnership with El Circo National de Puerto Rico. The production marries Theater Oobleck's new play development method with El Circo's performance skills. The NEA provides the grants to support the creation of art, to promote lifelong engagement with the arts and to enhance communities through the arts.

• Among the shows Black Ensemble Theater has scheduled for 2015 is the world premiere of its tribute to the late film critic Roger Ebert titled “The Black White Play,” and sponsored by the Roger Ebert Foundation. Consisting of music that “speaks to Ebert's philosophy of life,” the show runs Sept. 19 to Nov. 1, 2015. The season titled “Stir the Pot” opens Feb. 7, 2015 with the world premiere of a “non-singing musical drama” titled “The Trial of Moses Fleetwood Walker,” about the African American athlete who played major league baseball for the Toronto Blue Stockings in 1884, who was accused of murdering a white man. That's followed by “Sounds So Sweet” (April 11-May 17, 2015) featuring girl group hits from the 1960s to the present. “A Tribute to the Incomparable Bill Whithers” (June 20-Aug. 16, 2015) celebrates the man who composed hits including “Lean on Me” and “Ain't No Sunshine.” The season concludes with “Dynamite Divas” (Dec. 6, 2015-Jan 12, 2016) which imagines what happens when Aretha Franklin, Nancy Wilson, Nina Simone, Gladys Knight and Roberta Flack spend a day together. Performances take place at 4450 N. Clark St., Chicago. (773) 769-4451 or blackensemble.org.