Theater events: Silent Theatre pays tribute to Madam Caprice

Silent show

Silent Theatre Company artistic director Tonika Todorova conceived and directed the company's latest original production, "The Seven Secret Plays of Madam Caprice." The play with music centers around a woman who invites five outcasts to her abode in order to help them better navigate life. Opens at 8 p.m. Monday, May 11, at the Chopin Theater, 1543 W. Division St., Chicago. $15-$30. silenttheatre.com.

Steel Beam benefit

Steel Beam Theatre hosts its annual fundraising gala Solamente Bella Teatro, which includes a buffet dinner, entertainment and a silent auction. 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 8, at the Eagle Brook Country Club, 2280 Fargo Blvd., Geneva. $40. (630) 587-8521 or steelbeamtheatre.com.

Northlight premiere

Northlight Theatre concludes its 40th anniversary season with the world premiere of "Shining Lives: A Musical," based on Melanie Marnich's 2008 play "These Shining Lives," which the theater commissioned. It's based on the true story of the young women who during the 1920s painted watch dials for an Ottawa watch factory, then succumbed to the debilitating effects of radium poisoning. Andre Pluess and Amanda Dehnert composed the score for the show, which is directed by Jessica Thebus, who also penned the book and lyrics. Previews begin at 8 p.m. Friday, May 8, at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie. The show opens May 15. $25-$78. (847) 673-6300 or northlight.org.

'Godspell' revived

Theatre Nebula revives "Godspell," the musical by composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz and book writer John-Michael Tebelak inspired by parables from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke and Christ's last days. Mark Mahallak directs and choreographs the production, which marks the company's 16th season. Opens at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 9, at Cutting Hall, 150 E. Wood St., Palatine. $12-$22. (847) 202-5222 or theatrenebula.org.

Other theater events

• Abandoned by their father after their mother's suicide, the Magrath kids reunite at the bedside of their dying grandfather to confront past regrets and disappointments in Beth Henley's "Crimes of the Heart." Step Up Productions concludes its season with a revival directed by Brad Akin and starring Elizabeth Antonucci, Sarah-Jayne Ashenhurst and Amanda Powell. Previews begin Friday, May 8, at The Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave., Chicago. The show opens May 12. (773) 935-6875 or stepup productions.org.

• Previews begin Friday, May 8, for LiveWire Chicago Theatre's Chicago-area premiere of "Bob: A Life in Five Acts," an offbeat comedy by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb chronicling rags-to-riches-to-who-knows-what life of a man born in a White Castle bathroom, which premiered at the 2011 Human Festival of New American Plays at the Actors Theatre of Louisville. Artistic director Brian E. Crawford stars as the titular character in the play, which opens Saturday, May 9, at the Flat Iron Arts Building, 1589 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. livewirechicago.com.

• Wheeling vocalist Hilary Feldman brings her tribute to actress/comedian and television icon Carol Burnett to Davenport's Piano Bar & Cabaret, 1383 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, this month. Feldman chronicles the star's life in "Laughing Matters: The Live and Laughs of Carol Burnett," which incorporates material from Burnett's longtime music director and associate Ken Welch. Feldman performs at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 9, 16 and 23. $18 cover and two-drink minimum. (773) 278-1830 or davenports pianobar.com.

• AlphaBet Soup Productions brings "Peter Pan and the Pirates," its contemporary adaptation of the classic tale of the boy who wouldn't grow up, to Pfeiffer Hall at North Central College, 310 E. Benton Ave., Naperville, for one performance at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 9. Tickets to the family-friendly production are $10. (630) 932-1555 or absproductions.com.

• Collaboraction hosts its fourth Let Hope Rise community event at noon Saturday, May 9, at Hamilton Park, 513 W. 72nd St., Chicago. The event includes lunch sponsored by Connie's Pizza, a roller dance demonstration by The Glide8torz, and a variety show hosted by Collaboration artistic director Anthony Moseley and featuring DJ Shon Roka, comedians Lorena Diaz and Wendy Mateo, "violence interrupter" Cobe Williams and Sir Taylor, an original member of The Jessie White Tumblers. collaboraction.org.

• "The Power of Prom," a musical tribute to the 1980s, opens Saturday, May 9, at The Annoyance Theatre, 851 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. (773) 697-9693 or theannoyance.com.

• Estranged for 15 years, two sisters and former bandmates reunite for a rock concert in honor of their late mother in "Another Kind of Love - A Punk Rock Play," Crystal Skillman's dark comedy about family and fame featuring original music by Tony Award-nominee Heidi Rodewald ("Passing Strange") with lyrics by Skillman and Caroline Dorsen. Kildeer resident and Adlai E. Stevenson High School graduate Tyler Young appears in the Infusion Theatre Company production. Previews begin Sunday, May 10, at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St., Chicago. The show, directed by artistic director Mitch Golob, opens May 15. infusiontheatre.com.

• Dead Writers Theatre Collective offers moms a free ticket with the purchase of a second, full-priced ticket to the 2:30 p.m. Sunday, May 10, matinee of Oscar Wilde's "Lady Windermere's Fan," about a respected 19th-century woman whose reputation is nearly ruined by malicious gossip. Performances continue at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. (773) 327-5252 or deadwriters.net.

• PigPen Theatre Company, the ensemble whose original production of "The Old Man and the Old Moon" at Writers Theatre earned several Joseph Jefferson Awards last year, takes a break from developing new theater works to perform excerpts from their upcoming music CD at Space, 1245 Chicago Ave., Evanston. Showtimes are 7 and 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 13. (847) 492-8860 or evanstonspace.com.

• A wealthy man obsessed with the Titanic disaster is determined to prove that a "survivor" found floating on an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean is a fraud in "Scotland Road" by Jeffrey Hatcher ("Turn of the Screw," "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"). Charles Riffenburg directs BoHo Theatre's production of the thriller, which begins previews Thursday, May 14, at the Heartland Studio, 7016 N. Glenwood Ave., Chicago. The show opens May 16. (866) 811-4111 or bohotheatre.com.

• Oracle Productions welcomes magician Christian Cagigal who performs illusions from his show "Obscura" followed by a screening of his film "Now and at the Hour," about his experiences growing up with his father, a Vietnam War veteran who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. Performances run from May 14-18 at 3809 N. Broadway, Chicago. Admission is free, but reservations are recommended and donations are accepted. publicaccesstheatre.org.

• Hell in a Handbag Productions begins its 2015-2016 season with the Midwest premiere of "Miracle," the adults-only parody of "The Miracle Worker" by nationally syndicated columnist and sex expert Dan Savage. The comedy centers on a young blind and deaf drag queen who upends the lives of her fellow drag performers when she learns to communicate. Previews begin Thursday, May 14, at Mary's Attic, 5400 N. Clark St., Chicago. The show opens May 17. See handbagproductions.org.

• Rebecca Joy Fletcher performs "Cities of Light," her solo show celebrating European-Jewish cabaret as part of a double bill that also includes David Chack's "The Salon of Jewish American Song" at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. Performances run May 14-17. (773) 327-5252 or stage773.com. The duo perform May 27-31 at Skokie Theatre, 7924 N. Lincoln Ave., Skokie. (847) 677-7761 or skokietheatre.com.

• Filament Theatre remounts its production of "Lifeboat," Nicola McCartney's drama about Bess Walder and Beth Cummings, British teenagers sent to Canada at the start of World War II, whose ship was torpedoed and who clung to an overturned lifeboat for 19 hours until they were rescued. Artist director Julie Ritchey directs the production, which runs through May 24 at 4041 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. (773) 270-1660 or filamenttheatre.org.

• Metropolis Performing Arts Centre reported that April's annual fundraising gala brought in more than $117,000, making it the most successful fundraiser in the center's history. Proceeds will help offset theater and music productions and arts education programs.