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Theater events: 'Frindle' returns to the Metropolis

Exploring ‘Allegro'

The Music Theatre Company and The Ravinia Festival showcase scenes and songs from Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein's rarely produced “Allegro,” about a young Chicago doctor named Joe who longs to return to his small-town practice. Titled “Oscar & Richard & Joe,” the show was conceived by TMTC founding artistic director Jessica Beth Redish and written by Scotty Arnold. It features Jeff Award winner Kelli Harrington of Downers Grove; Lombard native and Marriott Theatre regular Johanna McKenzie Miller; Lisle native Michael Ferraro and Jeff Award winner and Northwestern University graduate Alex Weisman among others, including Jeff winner and Chicago Shakespeare Theater veteran Kevin Gudahl. 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 31, at Bennett Gordon Hall, 200 Ravinia Park Road, Highland Park. $10. (847) 266-5100 or ravinia.org.

Local comic at Zanies

Chicagoan Tim Harrison, an “everyman” comedian who has been performing for 30 years, headlines Zanies at the Pheasant Run Resort this weekend. 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 30, and 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 31, at 4051 E. Main St., St. Charles. $20, plus a two item food or beverage minimum. (630) 584-6342 or zanies.com.

‘Frindle' returns

Griffin Theatre returns to the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre with its popular show “Frindle,” about a boy who makes up his own word. The show is part of the theater's Stories in Action! educational series for grades three to six. Opens at 9:45 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 4, at 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights. $14, $12. (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.com.

Other events

• Emerald City Theatre presents the Chicago premiere of “Fancy Nancy the Musical,” based on the book by Jane O'Connor and illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser. Susan DiLallo wrote the book and lyrics and Danny Abosch wrote the music and lyrics for the show, which is about a young girl who wants to be the prima ballerina in her school's dance show but is assigned to play a tree. Performances begin Saturday, Jan. 31, at the Apollo Theater, 2540 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. (773) 529-2690 or emeraldcitytheatre.com.

• The New Colony's Side Stage series of free play readings continues at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 2, with “Stanley in the Name of Love” by Margaret Svetlove. The next show in New Colony's season, it's about a man who becomes a porn star in an attempt to find love. See thenewcolony.org.

• Playwright John Logan examines how art is created in his Tony Award-winning play “Red,” which unfolds through exchanges between abstract expressionist Mark Rothko and his new assistant. Redtwist theatre's revival starring Brian Parry and Aaron Kirby begins previews Wednesday, Feb. 4, at 1044 W. Bryn Mawr, Chicago. The show opens Feb. 7. (773) 728-7529 or redtwist.org.

“Marie Antoinette,” David Adjmi's modern retelling of the dethroning of the queen of France and her husband, Louis XVI, begins previews Thursday, Feb. 5, at Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago. Robert O'Hara directs Adjmi's examination of the cult of celebrity, which stars ensemble member Alana Arenas. It opens Feb. 14. (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org.

• The Royal George Cabaret presents “First Date,” a musical by writer Austin Winsberg and composer/lyricists Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner, about a couple on a blind date at a New York City restaurant that unfolds in real time. Previews for the Chicago Commercial Collective production begin Thursday, Feb. 5, at 1641 N. Halsted St., Chicago. The show opens Feb. 12. See firstdatechi.com.

• Previews begin Thursday, Feb. 5, for TUTA Theatre's U.S. premiere and pre-Off Broadway engagement of “Music Hall,” French writer Jean-Luc Lagarce's play with music about three fading cabaret performers that examines the precarious professional life of a theater artist. Founding artistic director Zeljko Djukic directs the production starring Jeffrey Binder, Michael Doonan and Darren Hill. The show opens Feb. 6 at The Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. It transfers to New York City's 59E59 Theaters on March 26. (800) 838-3006 or tutato.com or brownpapertickets.com.

• Elgin's Janus Theatre was selected to perform “Thinking of Her Made Him Think of Her” — by playwright, critic and former Daily Herald correspondent Jack Helbig — at the Piney Fork Theater Festival in New York City. To that end, the company will perform several other plays by Helbig next month to help finance the trip. “You Don't Know Jack: The Plays of Jack Helbig” runs Feb. 13-15 at the Blue Box Cafe, 176 E. Chicago St., Elgin. $10.

• MadKap Productions revives Bernard Slade's comedy “Same Time, Next Year,” about the longtime affair between Doris and George. Happily married to two other people, Doris and George meet by chance at dinner, have an affair, and then reunite once a year to rekindle their romance. The show opens Feb. 6 at the Skokie Theatre, 7924 N. Lincoln Ave., Skokie. (847) 677-7761 or skokietheatre.com.

• After three years, Sean Graney returns to his role as artistic director of The Hypocrites, the company he founded 18 years ago. Graney takes over the company he helmed from 1997 to 2011 from Halena Kays, who will remain a member of the company and the newly created artistic council. “I'm grateful Sean is poised to step back into his leadership role as I find my own life pulling me in new directions — creating new pieces of physical theater, directing new work, teaching and most challenging raising a child,” said Kays in a prepared statement.

• The Factory Theater announced it has returned to its old Rogers Park neighborhood. After calling Prop Thtr home for the last decade, the company will open its 23rd season at 1621-23 W. Howard St., Chicago. “Factory is ready for this move,” said managing director Carrie Sullivan in a prepared statement. “We've spent the past several years refining both our creative and administrative processes, and are now poised to take on the management responsibilities of running our own space.”

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