Theater events: Writers Theatre extends 'Diary of Anne Frank'

• Writers Theatre has extended its production of "The Diary of Anne Frank," adapted by Wendy Kesselman from the play by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. Performances continue through Aug. 2 at Books on Vernon, 664 W. Vernon Ave., Glencoe. (847) 242-6000 or writerstheatre.org.

• Cochran & Co.: WGN radio morning host Steve Cochran headlines a show at Zanies St. Charles. Joining him are Chicago comedians Pat McGann, Zanies house emcee, and 20-year standup veteran John DaCosse. 8 p.m. Friday, March 27, at Pheasant Run Resort, 4051 E. Main St., St. Charles. $25, plus a two-item food or drink minimum. (630) 584-6300 or zanies.com.

• Cinderella live: The Chicago Kids Company brings its adaptation of "Cinderella" to the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre for a limited run. Part of Metropolis' Stories in Action! series, the production is recommended for children in pre-kindergarten through third grade. Performances begin at 9:45 a.m. Tuesday, March 31, at 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights. $14 for adults, $12 for children. (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.com.

• Grief-stricken: Rivendell Theatre Ensemble's 20th season continues with the world premiere of "Look, we are breathing," by Chicago playwright Laura Jacqmin ("Dental Society Midwinter Meeting," "Ski Dubai"). The drama examines how the mother, teacher and girlfriend of a high school athlete killed while driving drunk deal with their grief over his death as well as some uncomfortable truths about themselves. Previews begin at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 2, at 5779 N. Ridge Ave., Chicago. The show opens April 11. $25-$35. (773) 334-7728 or rivendelltheatre.org.

• "Louis and Keely, 'Live' at the Sahara" tells the story of band leader Louis Prima and Keely Smith, the young singer he discovered and molded and with whom he created a hit music act of the 1950s and 1960s. Previews begin Friday, March 27, for this play with music, which features standards like "That Ol' Black Magic," "Night Train" and "I Can't Believe You're in Love with Me." The show opens April 7 at the Royal George Theatre, 1641 N. Halsted St., Chicago. (312) 988-9000 or theroyalgeorgetheatre.com.

• Performances begin Friday, March 27, for Oracle Productions' remount of its acclaimed production of "The Jungle," adapted and directed by Matt Foss from Upton Sinclair's 1906 novel about immigrants working in the Chicago stockyards at the turn of the century. Nicholas Tonozzi and Sam Allyn composed the score for the show, which stars Travis Delgado as the struggling young immigrant. Performances run through April 25 at 3809 N. Broadway St., Chicago. Admission is free, but donations are accepted. See publicaccesstheatre.org.

• Redmoon Theatre's The Devil's Cabaret, featuring dancing, food and entertainment from rock musicians and aerialists, runs from 9 p.m. to midnight Friday, March 27, at 2120 S. Jefferson St., Chicago. See redmoon.org.

• The Annoyance Theatre, 851 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago, premieres a new musical comedy tribute to the 1980s titled "The Power of Prom." It runs at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, beginning Friday, March 27. The new sketch comedy show "Gravitational Pull" runs Fridays beginning March 27. Also on tap is another original musical comedy "Slamazons!" which is set in the world of women's wrestling and runs at 8 p.m. Thursdays. New improv shows include the adults-only "Cartoon Sex Book" at 10 p.m. Sundays and "Saintly Cherubs," inspired by audience art work, that runs at 9:30 p.m. Wednesdays. (773) 697-9693 or theannoyance.com.

• Goodman Theatre presents the world premiere of "The Upstairs Concierge," a co-commission with Teatro Vista developed as part of Goodman's 2013 New Stages Festival. A modern farce by Pulitzer Prize finalist Kristoffer Diaz, the play unfolds in a Chicago boutique hotel that caters to celebrity guests and centers on the female concierge who spends every waking moment assisting them. Previews begin Saturday, March 28, at 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. The show opens April 5. (312) 443-3800 or goodmantheatre.org.

• The citywide August Wilson celebration, anchored by Goodman Theatre's stellar revival of "Two Trains Running," continues with a free concert reading of "Joe Turner's Come and Gone," at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 28, at the Beverly Arts Center, 2401 W. 111th St., Chicago. That's followed at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, by a free reading of "Gem of the Ocean" at the Pullman Museum, 11111 S. Forestville, Chicago. (312) 443-3800 or goodmantheatre.org.

• The finals of the 15th annual Louder Than a Bomb Poetry Festival, showcasing works by student poets from Chicago high schools, takes place Saturday, March 28, at the Arie Crown Theater, 2301 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago. For information, see youngchicagoauthors.org.

• Barrel of Monkeys hosts its annual fundraising event, The Big Wedding: Everyone Get Married, from 7 to 11 p.m. Saturday, March 28, at The Drucker Center, 1535 N. Dayton Ave., Chicago. The fundraiser, whose title comes from a student-penned story of the same name, features typical wedding reception festivities including food and beverages, dancing, photo booth and garter toss along with a silent auction. Tickets are $75 at the door, $85 for a "fancy schmancy" ticket that includes a gift and champagne. See barrelofmonkeys.org/bigwedding.

• Erasing the Distance, an organization that promotes understanding of mental health by dramatizing stories of people who've been impacted by those issues, remounts "Will You Stand Up?" The show, which examines how violence impacts the mental health of several people, runs at 7:30 p.m. Sunday through Tuesday, March 29-31, at the Hoover-Leppen Theatre at the Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted St., Chicago. See erasingthedistance.org.

• Kokandy Productions debuts its new staged musical reading series with "Mercy: Variations," about a television reporter who on the eve of his retirement admits he killed someone 30 years earlier. It's by writer/lyricist Larry Todd and composer Mike O'Mara. The performance takes place at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 30, at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. See kokandyproductions.com.

• Previews begin Tuesday, March 31, for Raven Theatre's world premiere of Todd Bauer's tragicomedy "The Bird Feeder Doesn't Know," about a man with cerebral palsy who's coping with the needs of his aging parents. Loyola University theater professor Jonathan Wilson directs the show, which opens April 4 at 6157 N. Clark St., Chicago. (773) 338-2177 or raventheatre.com.

• Steppenwolf Theatre ensemble member and Tony Award winner Frank Galati directs the company's U.S. premiere of "The Herd," Olivier Award-winner Rory Kinnear's comedy about the impact a disabled man has on his British family. The cast includes ensemble members Francis Guinan, John Mahoney, Molly Regan and Lois Smith along with Cliff Chamberlain and Audrey Francis. Previews begin Thursday, April 2, at 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago. The show opens April 11. (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org.

• Bailiwick Chicago concludes its season with the Chicago premiere of "Murder Ballad," a rock musical about a love triangle gone wrong in which a woman's past comes back to haunt her. The book and lyrics are by Julia Jordan and the music and lyrics are by Juliana Nash. Previews begin Thursday, April 2, at the Flat Iron Arts Building, 1579 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. The show opens April 7. See bailiwickchicago.com.

• Art works from Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, a Chicago museum showcasing works by outsider artists, inspired Commedia Beauregard's latest production "Master Works: The Intuit Plays" comprised of six short plays. Performances begin Thursday, April 2, at the museum located at 756 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. See cbtheatre.org.

• Performances continue for Trap Door Theatre's "La Bete," a play by David Hirson inspired by the playwright Moliere in which the director of an acting company is ordered by his patron to hire a vulgar street performer as a new company member. Performances continue through April 25 at 1655 W. Cortland Ave., Chicago. (773) 384-0494 or trapdoortheatre.com.

• The sketch comedy revue "Death Finds Us All" runs through April 11 at Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. (773) 598-4549 or gorillatango.com.

• More than 40 storytellers will participate in The Side Project's Home: A Festival of Storytelling III, running Sunday through Wednesday through April 8 at 1439 W. Jarvis Ave., Chicago. Each night three to four artists will perform short pieces followed by a full-length story by one of the headliners. Adam Webster, Side Project's founding artistic director, headlines March 29 to April 1 and Kim Morris headlines April 5-8. (773) 340-0140 or thesideproject.net.

• First Folio Theatre has added matinees for "Love, Loss, and What I Wore" at 3 p.m. Friday, March 27, and Sunday, March 29, as well as April 2, 5, 9, 12, 16, 19 and 23; and at 4 p.m. April 18 and 25. Performances are at the Mayslake Peabody Estate, 1717 W. 31st St., Oak Brook. (630) 986-8067 or firstfolio.org.

• Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago, has extended its revival of August Wilson's "Two Trains Running." Performances run through April 19. (312) 443-3800 or goodmantheatre.org.

• The Roy Cockrum Foundation has awarded a grant to Steppenwolf Theatre to support its production of Tracy Letts' latest play, "Mary Page Marlowe," a portrait of an ordinary Ohio woman who turns out to be remarkably complicated. The play premieres at Steppenwolf in 2016. Goodman Theatre also received a grant to support Robert Falls and Seth Bockley's adaptation of Robert Bolano's "2666," which also premieres next year.

• Raven Theatre announced that its first five-show season in the company's 33-year history. It will include three Midwest premieres, among them is Horton Foote's "The Old Friends." Dubbed "Fierce Five," the season showcases plays in which characters struggle not just for fulfillment but for survival. It begins Sept. 16 with the Midwest premiere of "Direct From Death Row The Scottsboro Boys (An Evening of Vaudeville and Sorrow)." A surreal satire by Mark Stein, with music and lyrics by Harley White Jr., it recounts the story of nine African-American teenagers falsely convicted of assaulting two white women. Libertyville native Marti Lyons directs the Midwest premiere of Boo Killebrew's "The Play About My Dad" (Oct. 21-Nov. 28), about the writer's relationship with her physician father who stayed behind in Gulfport, Mississippi, during Hurricane Katrina to help people who wouldn't or couldn't evacuate. Foote's "The Old Friends," which premiered in 2013 at New York's Signature Theatre, marks Raven's third play in three years by the late author. Set in 1960s Texas, it's about two members of rival, old-money, Texas families whose animosity resurfaces after a local beauty returns home. Artistic director Michael Menendian directs the play, which opens in January 2016. That's followed in February 2016 by William Inge's rarely produced "A Loss of Roses," about a down-on-her-luck actress who moves in with her widowed friend and the woman's 21-year-old son. The season concludes with a revival of John Guare's dark comedy "The House of Blue Leaves" (April 20-June 4, 2016). Set during Pope Paul VI's visit to New York in 1965, it's about a struggling songwriter looking for a shot at the big time who thinks the Pope's blessing may ensure he gets it. Performances take place at 6157 N. Clark St., Chicago. Five-play season subscriptions start at $70. Four-play subscriptions start at $64. Current subscribers receive a 10 percent discount if they renew by May 31. (773) 338-2177 or raventheatre.com.

• Victory Gardens Theater announced that its 41st season will begin Sept. 18 with the Midwest premiere of Roy Williams' boxing drama "Sucker Punch," about two black boxers and former friends who meet in the ring years after their lives were changed following race riots in their London neighborhood. The courtroom drama "Never the Sinner," John Logan's examination of the complex relationship between child-killers Leopold and Loeb, runs Nov. 6 through Dec. 6. That's followed by the world premiere of "Cocked" (Feb. 12-March 13, 2016), Chicago playwright Sarah Gubbins' drama about Andersonville couple Taylor and Izzie whose anti-gun stance is challenged by the arrival of Taylor's troubled brother. Artistic director Chay Yew directs the world premiere of Lucas Hnath's "Hillary and Clinton" (April 1-May 1, 2016) about how the former president turned his wife's 2008 presidential campaign upside down. The season concludes with the Midwest premiere of ensemble member Marcus Gardley's "The House That Will Not Stand" (June 10-July 10, 2016). Set in 19th-century New Orleans, it's about a free woman of color whose common-law marriage to a wealthy white man is challenged after her husband mysteriously dies. Performances take place at 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. Five-play season subscriptions start at $80 and are available at the box office, (773) 871-3000 or victorygardens.org.

• Hell in a Handbag Productions opens its 2015-2016 season May 14 with the Midwest premiere of "Miracle!" a satirical take on "The Miracle Worker" by sexuality and LGBTQ expert Dan Savage. That's followed on July 17 by "Bette, Live at the Continental Baths," Caitlin Jackson's tribute to Bette Midler who started her career performing at the New York City bathhouse. Next up is the world premiere of David Cerda's "Scream, Queen, Scream!" a parody of the TV shows "Night Gallery" and "Tales From the Crypt" that runs Sept. 25 to Oct. 31. The season concludes with "Christmas Dearest" (Nov. 28-Jan. 2, 2016), Cerda's version of "A Christmas Carol" centered around the actress Joan Crawford. Performances take place at Mary's Attic, 5400 N. Clark St., Chicago. Tickets are available online at handbagproductions.org.