Theater events: Citadel take Shakespeare on the road

Shakespeare on tour

Citadel Theatre Company takes its production of William Shakespeare's "As You Like It" on the road this summer, performing under the stars at various Lake County locations. Frank Farrell directs the comedy about a young woman, banished from court, who disguises herself as a man and finds love and community among fellow outcasts, including a deposed duke.

7 p.m. Friday through Sunday, July 24-26, at Brushwood Center at Ryerson, 21850 N. Riverwoods Road, Deerfield, (847) 968-3308. Performances run July 30 through Aug. 1 at Mellody Farm Nature Preserve, 350 N. Waukegan Road, Lake Forest, (847) 234-3880, ext. 21. $15. See citadeltheatre.org.

Theatre-Hikes' 'Clue'

Theatre-Hikes' production of "Clue, The Musical," an interactive mystery inspired by the Parker Brothers board game, runs this weekend in Chicago then moves to the Morton Arboretum for a monthlong run. The action centers on a murder, for which there are multiple suspects and multiple murder weapons. The outcome is determined by audience members.

1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, July 25-26, at the Pullman Historic Site, 11111 S. Forestville Ave., Chicago. $7.50-$10. Also, 1 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, Aug. 1-30, at the Morton Arboretum, 4100 Route 53, Lisle. $10-$20. (847) 202-4963 or theatre-hikes.org.

A real character

Character actor and standup comedian Joey Coco Diaz ("General Hospital," "The Mentalist") headlines Zanies in Rosemont this weekend.

8 and 10:30 p.m. Saturday, July 25, at MB Financial Park, 5437 Park Place, Rosemont. $25 plus a two-item food/beverage minimum. (847) 813-0484 or zanies.com.

Other theater events

• Sideshow Theatre Company's hit production of Aaron Posner's "Stupid (expletive) Bird," a comic take on Anton Chekhov's "The Seagull," gets a commercial remount courtesy of the Carlisle Hart production team. Previews continue Friday, July 24, at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. The show opens Saturday, July 25. (773) 871-3000 or victorygardens.org.

• "We Gotta Bingo," an interactive dinner-theater show created and produced by Bill Collins, inspired by such productions as "Tony n' Tina's Wedding," continues previews at Chicago Theater Works, 1113 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. Guests enter the fictional Der Brew-Ha-Ha beer hall where they encounter a polka band and characters who become their dinner companions and bingo partners in a game that pits two rival parishes - one Irish and one Italian - against each other. The show opens Aug. 3. (312) 391-0404 or wegottabingo.com.

• Chicago directors Henry Godinez and Lisa Portes are among the eight Latino and Latina directors participating in Carnaval 2015, a festival of new Latin-centered plays - co-produced in association with Teatro Vista and the Chicago Alliance of Latino Theatre Artists - taking place through Saturday, July 25, at the Theatre School at DePaul University, 2350 N. Racine Ave., Chicago. The goal is to raise the profile of Latin playwrights and encourage production of their works in the nation's theaters. See latinaotheatrecommons.com.

• The About Face Youth Theatre Ensemble presents the world premiere of "15 Breaths." Written by and featuring ensemble members, it examines generational connections within the gay community. The production runs through Sunday, July 26, at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. Performances are Thursday, July 30, and Friday, July 31, at Humboldt Park, 1440 N. Humboldt Drive, Chicago. And the show runs Aug. 6 and 7 at Chase Park, 4701 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago. (773) 404-7336 or aboutfacetheatre.org.

• "Feast," a 2010 theatrical celebration of the role of food in nourishing people and communities created by the Albany Park Theater Project youth ensemble, gets a new staging that includes collaboration with adult theater artists. Performance of the 90-minute piece runs Friday, July 24, through Aug. 16 at the Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. (312) 443-3800 or goodmantheatre.org.

• Aura Curiatlas Physical Theatre brings "Dream Logic," a physical theater production combining acrobatics, dance and theater in a series of short stories examining "what happens to the dream when it loses its dreamer." Performances take place Friday, July 24, through Sunday, July 26, at Links Hall, 3111 N. Western Ave., Chicago. (773) 281-0824 or linkshall.org or acphysicaltheatre.com.

• American Theater Company holds a memorial for its late artistic director PJ Paparelli, who died as a result of injuries he suffered in a car accident in May while on vacation in Scotland. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 28, for the memorial, which takes place at the Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave., Chicago. The service begins at 8 p.m. Anyone who would like to share thoughts, photos or memories can email them to legacy@atcweb.org.

• Performances begin Wednesday, July 29, for the national tour of "Pippin," the Stephen Schwartz musical about a young prince struggling to find the meaning of existence. The revival earned four Tony Awards in 2013. The Broadway in Chicago production runs through Aug. 9 at the Cadillac Palace Theater, 151 W. Randolph St., Chicago. (800) 775-2000 or broadwayinchicago.com.

• iO Chicago hosts "Say Day," an event inspired by the passing earlier this year of Chicago improvisor Jason Chin, at 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 29. The gathering of iO members to share memories of Chin prompted actor/improviser TJ Jagadowski to suggest a day where everyone takes time to express their feelings about their friends instead of waiting for a wake or funeral. Jagadowski came up with "Say Day," which takes place at 1501 N. Kingsbury St., Chicago. (312) 929-2401 or ioimprov.com.

• A gay man eager to fall in love decides to become a porn star in "Stanley in the Name of Love," a new musical by Sean Kelly with music by The Delicious Moons. The New Colony presents the world premiere, directed by Kelly, which begins previews Thursday, July 30, at The Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. The show opens Aug. 3. See thenewcolony.org.

• Performances continue through Aug. 2 for American Theater Company's youth ensemble production of "Greensboro: A Requiem," at 1909 W. Byron St., Chicago. The docu-theater piece is about an attack by members of the Ku Klux Klan and the Nazi Party in collaboration with the police department on people attending a Communist Worker's Party rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1979. (773) 409-4125 or atcweb.org.

• The Hypocrites have extended through Aug. 16 the remount of writer/director Sean Graney's epic "All Our Tragic," which combines all 32 surviving Greek tragedies by Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripides into one 12-hour event. Performances begin at 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, at The Den Theatre, 1329 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. See the-hypocrites.com.

• Redtwist theatre has extended its production of David Lindsay-Abaire's "Good People," about a working-class woman from South Boston who falls on hard times and asks for help from her high school boyfriend, now a successful doctor. Performances continue through Aug. 23 at 1044 W. Bryn Mawr, Chicago. (773) 728-7529 or redtwist.org.

• "Million Dollar Quartet," among the longest-running musical productions in Chicago at nearly seven years, has been extended through January 2016. A fictionalized account of an impromptu recording session between Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis in December 1956 at Sun Records in Memphis, the jukebox show features tunes like "Blue Suede Shoes," "Folsom Prison Blues" and "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On." Performances run through Jan. 17, 2016, at the Apollo Theater, 2540 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. (773) 935-6100 or milliondollarquartetlive.com.

• Step Up Productions announced its 2015-2016 season will begin Oct. 2 with a revival of "Barefoot in the Park," Neil Simon's comedy about a pair of mismatched young newlyweds: He's an uptight lawyer and she's a free spirit. That's followed by the company's third annual "Holidaze" (dates to be determined) comprised of holiday-themed original short works. The season concludes and comes full circle with a revival of Noel Coward's "Private Lives" (April 8-May 8, 2016), about two divorced people, now remarried to others, who rediscover their passion for each other while honeymooning with their new spouses. Performances take place at The Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave., Chicago. Season subscriptions are $60 and are available at (773) 935-6875 or stepupproductions.org. Single tickets will go on sale at a later date.

• The Ruckus announced its seventh season will begin with the world premiere of "Home Before Dark" (Sept. 20-Oct. 28 at the Berger Park Coach House, a Chicago Park District facility at 6205 N. Sheridan Road, Chicago). Will Goldberg's drama is about a young man whose relationship with an older man morphs into a "tug-of-war of power, sex and abuse." Ruckus returns in the spring with a world premiere of "From These Fatal Loins" (dates and location to be determined), Dan Caffrey's take on a famous tragedy that asks: What if Romeo and Juliet faked their deaths and took revenge on Verona? The season concludes with staged readings of works by female playwrights titled "A Moste Appropriatte and Ladyelyke Festivale of Playes by Laedeyes" (dates and location to be determined). The company also added new ensemble members Andrew L. Saenz and Kaitlin Stewart along with artistic associates Jon Patrick Penick and Matt Test. Literary manager Jessica Reese will depart Ruckus for the Actors Theatre of Louisville, where she will serve as literary associate. For more information, see ruckustheater.org.

• Ten, The Gift Theatre's annual celebration of 10-minute plays, kicks off the company's 15th season on Jan. 1, 2016. The Gift follows that with William Shakespeare's "Richard III" (March 3-May 1, 2016), to be staged at Steppenwolf's Garage Theatre, 1624 N. Halsted St., Chicago. Jessica Thebus directs the tragedy, which stars artistic director Michael Patrick Thornton in the title role of the ruthless man who would be king. Ensemble member Erica Weiss directs a revival of Frank Galati's adaptation of John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" (June 16-Aug. 14, 2016), a sprawling tale about members of a poor Oklahoma farming family, driven from their land by drought during the 1930s, who struggle to find meaning and dignity in the face of want and hardship. The season concludes with the world premiere of Melissa Ross' "A Life Extra Ordinary" (Sept. 29-Nov. 20, 2016), about an expectant mother who vanishes from her Ohio town on Christmas Eve. Additionally, The Gift will launch a new play initiative 4802, to help develop works by women, minority artists and arts of different abilities. Most performances take place at 4802 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. Season subscriptions, including 2015 plays "Body + Blood," and "Good for Otto," are available. (773) 283-7071 or thegifttheatre.org.

• Windy City Music Theatre's 25 percent ticket discount for next month's production "Narnia" is available through July 31. Use the code "wardrobe25" at checkout to get the discount. Performances begin Aug. 22 at 4766 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, for the production inspired by C.S. Lewis' novel "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." See youthcompanychicago.org.

• The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation awarded a $3,000 grant to the Idle Muse Theatre Company to offset production and general operation costs. "We are extremely grateful," said managing director Erin Gallagher in a prepared statement. "These funds are absolutely essential for day-to-day activities." The grant will also help support the company's reading series and outreach programs.

• A $150,000 grant from ArtPlace America will allow Chicago's Silk Road Rising to bring its production Mosque Alert - "a civic engagement project that dramatizes the difficulties Muslims face across the country due to Islamophobia and cultural biases" - to Naperville. The production, which incorporates video and panel discussions as well as live performances, opens in fall 2016 at North Central College. See silkroadrising.org.

• The Second City announced a new production venture with producer Kelly Leonard to develop new works. Kelly Leonard Productions (KLP) will launch plays, musicals and collaborations of the kind that resulted in works such as "Death of a Streetcar Named Virginia Woolf," launching next year with Writer's Theatre in Glencoe. In addition, Erica Daniels has been named president of Second City Theatricals.