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Theater events: Williams Street Rep stages 'Gypsy'

'Gypsy' revival

Williams Street Repertory opens its fifth season with its largest show to date, "Gypsy," the 1959 musical by composer Jule Styne, lyricist Stephen Sondheim and writer Arthur Laurents inspired by the life of vaudeville star Gypsy Rose Lee. Amanda Flahive plays ultimate stage mother Mama Rose and Willow Schneider and Shaina Summerville play her daughters, Louise and June, in director/choreographer Mark R. Mahallak's production. Opens at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9, at the Raue Center for the Arts, 26 N. Williams St., Crystal Lake. $32.50, $38.50. (815) 356-9212 or rauecenter.org.

'Treasure' premiere

Lookingglass Theatre opens its 28th season with its world premiere of "Treasure Island," a co-production with Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Adapted from Robert Louis Stevenson's 18th-century adventure tale by ensemble member Mary Zimmerman ("Metamorphoses," "The Jungle Book"), "Treasure Island" is about an innkeeper's son who signs on as a cabin boy on a pirate ship to find a buried treasure. The cast includes ensemble members Lawrence E. DiStasi, Philip R. Smith and Andrew White. Previews continue at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9, at the Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago. Opens Oct. 17. $35-$85. (312) 337-0665 or lookingglasstheatre.org.

Northlight downtown

Northlight Theatre heads to Chicago to premiere Philip Dawkins' "Charm" at the Steppenwolf Garage Theatre. Developed through Northlight's Interplay Series and inspired by the true story of Center on Halsted's Gloria Allen, "Charm" is about Mama Darleena Andrews, an African-American transgender woman who teaches an etiquette and behavior class at a center serving the LGBTQ community. Artistic director BJ Jones directs. Previews begin at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14, at Steppenwolf Garage Theatre, 1624 N. Halsted St., Chicago. Opens Oct. 21. $20-$40. (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org or northlight.org.

Other theater events

• Stage 773 presents the third installment of its one-act series, One Act Festival: Halloween Edition, at 10:30 p.m. Fridays, beginning Oct. 9, and running through Oct. 30, at 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. Stage 773 commissioned seven theater companies to create one-act Halloween-, haunted- or horror-themed plays in the style of their ensemble. Participating companies include: Babes With Blades whose "Window Dressing" is about an art school dropout who designs department store displays late at night; Cold Basement Dramatics performs an excerpt from "Goblin" about two people trapped in a closet with a kidney as a "companion"; Hobo Junction Productions stages "Bernie Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street's Brother" about the brothers of Sweeney Todd and Victor Frankenstein who realize their siblings' penchant for murder has become a huge public relations problem. Organic Theater Company's "The Haunter of the Dark" evokes a fear of the unknown and (re) discover theater company's "Wendigo" is about four people who uncover a secret in a cave. In "Gretel," The Ruckus sheds a grim light on the fairy tale and New Millennium Theatre Company looks at how monsters and slashers live out their golden years in "Whitehair on Elm Street." Also at Stage 773, The Inoffensive Theatre Series, comprised of family-friendly shows, runs at 2 p.m. Saturdays at the theater. Participating ensembles include: BRI-Ko's silent comedy show; Barrel of Monkeys' "That's Weird, Grandma"; and two shows by Theatre Unspeakable - "Superman 2050" and "The American Revolution," an hourlong U.S. history lesson. (773) 327-5252 or stage773.com.

• About Face Theatre hosts its third The Black & Tan Supper Club fundraiser from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9, at the InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile, 505 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago. A celebration of the theater company's 20th anniversary, the event includes cocktails, dinner and entertainment. Tickets are $250. (773) 784-8565 or aboutfacetheatre.org.

• Theatre at the Center presents the family-friendly musical "Alice in Wonderland" Friday and Saturday, Oct. 9-10, at 1040 Ridge Road, Munster, Indiana. (219) 836-3255 or theatreatthecenter.com.

• The Chicago Mammals present its fourth all-female production just in time for Halloween. "All Girl Dracula" is inspired by Bram Stoker's novel but has a distinctly "Mammalian" twist. The show opens Saturday, Oct. 10, at Zoo Studios, 4001 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago. See chicagomammals.com.

"For Love and Rock 'N' Roll," a theatrical/musical tribute to female rock legends, plays the Concord Music Hall, 2047 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, for one show at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10. See forlove androcknroll.com or concordmusichall.com.

• Jerry Seinfeld and his "Seinfeld" friends find themselves in the middle of a zombie apocalypse in EEK Entertainment's new show "Zombie Seinfeld," running Saturdays, beginning Oct. 10, at Gorilla Tango, 1919 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. (773) 598-4549 or gorillatango.com.

• Performances begin Thursday, Oct. 15, for Transcendent Ensemble Theatre's one-act thriller "The Love Talker" by Deborah Pryor. The adults-only play is about teenage sisters whose daily routine in their secluded home is upended by The Love Talker and his companion, The Red Head. The show runs through Oct. 29 at 1434 N. Western Ave., Chicago. See transcendentensemble.com.

• The Second City presents its latest archive show, "Fast, Loud & Funny," featuring some of the company's best sketches from the past 50 years. Performances begin Thursday, Oct. 15, at Up Comedy Club, at Piper's Alley, 230 W. North Ave., Chicago. Opening that same day at Up Comedy Club is Robyn Lynne's "#DateMe: An OKCupid Experiment" the result of a real online search for love, which involved tracking "undateable" online dating site profiles to see who would contact them. (312) 662-4562 or upcomedyclub.com.

• The Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center calls for playwrights to submit in-development works for consideration for the 2016 National Playwrights Conference. Authors of plays selected receive a month residency (July 2016) at the center along with an intensive rehearsal process and two public readings. Submissions can be any genre but must remain unproduced through July 31, 2016. There is a $35 application fee. Submit applications at theoneil.org/npc/submission by Oct. 16. For information, call (860) 443-5378, ext. 227, or email litoffice@theoneill.org.

• Northlight Theatre has extended its world premiere of Bruce Graham's "Funnyman" starring George Wendt and Tim Kazurinsky. Performances of the comedy, about a fading vaudeville comic looking for comeback, continue through Oct. 25 at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie. (847) 673-6300 or northlight.org.

• Redtwist theater has extended its revival of Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" starring Joseph Jefferson Award winners Brian Parry and Jacquelyn Grandt as the battling spouses George and Martha. Performances continue through Oct. 25 at 1044 W. Bryn Mawr, Chicago. (773) 728-7529 or redtwist.org.

• Porchlight Music Theatre has extended its production of the newly revised version of "Side Show," the musical by Henry Krieger and Bill Russell about conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton played by Colleen Fee and Britt-Marie Sivertsen. Performances continue through Oct. 25 at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. (773) 327-5252 or porchlightmusictheatre.org.

• As a result of building-permit issues that have slowed construction at Factory Theater, Idle Muse Theatre announced that it will postpone its intended production and replace it with a staged reading of H.G. Wells' "The War of the Worlds" on Oct. 30 at the Geek Bar Chicago, 1941 W. North Ave., Chicago. That's followed by the Athena Festival, a staged reading series showcasing works by female writers and directors with women playing principle roles, running Dec. 5-6 at Jackalope Theatre, 1106 W. Thorndale Ave., Chicago. An adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Hound of the Baskervilles" runs March 5 to April 3, 2016, at Edge Theatre, 5451 N. Broadway Ave., Chicago. Idle Muse presents the Chicago premiere of Victor Lodato's "The Woman Who Amuses Herself" about Vincenzo Peruggia, the Louvre Museum worker who stole the Mona Lisa and kept it for inspiration for two years. It runs June 25 to July 24, 2016, at Edge Theatre. (773) 340-9438 or idlemuse.org.

• Theater Wit's hit show "Bad Jews," Joshua Harmon's comedy about young Jews "grappling with faith, family and identity," has been extended. Performances continue through Nov. 1 at Royal George Theatre, 1641 N. Halsted St., Chicago. (312) 988-9000 or badjewschicago.com.

• Stage Left Theatre announced the addition of stage manager Adam Greye and director Amy Szerlong, formerly an artistic associate, to its ensemble. Additionally, Stage Left welcomed new artistic associates Celeste Cooper, Elly Green, Nick Mikula and Michael Reyes. See stagelefttheatre.com.

• Chicago Dramatists begins its 37th season Feb. 4, 2016, with the world premiere of the dark comedy "Beautiful Autistic" by Scott Woldman, resident playwright for Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, redtwist theatre and Chicago Dramatists. Set in the early 1990s, the play is about socially awkward Eric, who takes as his protégé Jimmy, a brilliant and handsome 24-year-old who has autism. That's followed by resident playwright Dana Lynn Formby's "American Beauty Shop" (April 28-June 5, 2016), about a woman struggling to make her basement beauty shop a success to pay for her daughter's college education. Performances take place at 1105 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago. (312) 633-0630 or chicagodramatists.org.

• Genesis Theatrical Productions announced its 2016 season will begin Feb. 8, 2016, with "Muse of Fire" by Jake Rosenberg. Produced in association with redtwist theatre, it centers on a farce produced in 1942 by a group of Jewish prisoners at the Auschwitz concentration camp. That's followed by "Satie et Cocteau," Mike Czuba's surreal love story about an actor playing the role of composer Erik Satie, battling with the play's writer/director Jean Cocteau. The season continues with "Einstein's Gift," a loose memoir of early 20th-century Nobel laureate Fritz Haber, as imagined by Albert Einstein. The season concludes with "I Now Pronounce," a dramedy about a curse that befalls a couple after their rabbi dies during their wedding. Season tickets are $90. Single tickets go on sale later. See genesistheatricals.com.

• The League of Chicago Theatre announced that Chicago Theatre Week will return for its fourth year starting Feb. 11, 2016. Tickets are $30 and $15 and will go on sale at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. "Last season's theater week was a huge success and it offered Chicagoans and visitors even more opportunities to visit their favorite theaters and explore new companies all across the city and suburbs," said League of Chicago Theatre chairwoman Kate Lipuma, executive director of Writers Theatre, in a prepared statement. See chicagotheatreweek.com.

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