Theater events: House Theatre remounts 'Death & Harry Houdini'

Houdini returns

Actor/magician Dennis Watkins reprises his role as Harry Houdini in The House Theatre of Chicago's remount of its first production, "Death & Harry Houdini." Written and directed by artistic director Nathan Allen, with music by Kevin O'Donnell, the show chronicles the career of the famed magician and his lifelong attempts to conquer Death, which is played by actor/director/choreographer Tommy Rapley. Previews begin at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 12, at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St., Chicago. The show opens May 16. $30-$59. (773) 769-3832 or thehousetheatre.com.

Debate time

Three intellectuals challenge each other's world views in Scott Carter's comic examination of life, "The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens and Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord." Northlight Theatre concludes its season with director Kimberly Senior's production, which stars Nathan Hosner, Mark Montgomery and Jeff Parker. Previews begin at 8 p.m. Friday, May 6, at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie. The show opens May 13. $25-$79. (847) 673-6300 or northlight.org.

Comedy at Court

An out-of-work musician takes a job with a small-time hood (actually a woman posing as her dead brother) and the man accused of killing that dead brother in "One Man, Two Guvnors," Richard Bean's updated version of Carlo Goldoni's 18th-century commedia dell'arte "The Servant of Two Masters." Timothy Edward Kane plays the wily servant Francis in Court Theatre's Chicago-area premiere, helmed by Charles Newell. Previews begin at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 12, at 5535 S. Ellis Ave., Chicago. The show opens May 21. $35-$65. (773) 753-4472 or courttheatre.org.

Other theater events

• Steel Beam Theatre hosts its annual fundraiser Anything Goes beginning at 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 6, at the Eagle Brook Country Club, 2288 Fargo Blvd., Geneva. Tickets are $45 and include dinner, raffles, a silent auction and entertainment by Matt and Cynthia Gruel who will perform the songs of Cole Porter. Proceeds benefit the theater. (630) 587-8521 or steelbeamtheatre.com.

• Previews begin Friday, May 6, for About Face Theatre's Chicago-area premiere of "The Secretaries," a dark comedy by Maureen Angelos, Babs Davy, Dominique Dibbell, Peg Healey and 2015 Tony Award-winning writer Lisa Kron ("Fun Home") known collectively as The Five Lesbian Brothers. The play is about a woman who lands her dream job then discovers her co-workers are chainsaw-wielding killers. The show, directed by Bonnie Metzgar, opens May 12 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. (773) 975-8150 or aboutfacetheatre.org.

• Chicago Slam Works Ensemble Theatre concludes its season with "This Great Nation, Much Enduring," which chronicles the efforts of fictional presidential candidate Senator Thomas Denton who must decide between playing the political game and telling the truth. The show opens Friday, May 6, at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. (773) 327-5252 or stage773.com.

• TV Personality Alton Brown brings his interactive culinary show, "Alton Brown Live: Eat Your Science," to the Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St., Chicago. Brown performs at 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, May 7. (800) 775-2000 or broadwayinchicago.com or altonbrownlive.com.

• The Neo-Futurists bring their signature show "Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind" to Victory Gardens Theater for an accessible performance that incorporates a touch tour, audio description, closed captioning, ASL interpretation, Braille and large print programs and a space accessible to people with disabilities. The touch tour begins at 6 p.m. Saturday, May 7. The performance begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $4 plus the roll of a six-sided die. See neofuturists.org/events.

• Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago, hosts its first Chicago Youth Comedy Festival from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, May 7. The festival is open to students age 12 to 17 and includes workshops led by Chicago improv and sketch comedy professionals. Admission is $125 for students, $65 for chaperones. (773) 327-5252 or stage773.com/chicagoyouthcomedyfestival.com.

• Griffin Theatre hosts its annual gala Game On! from 6:30 to 10 p.m. Saturday, May 7, at Catalyst Ranch, 656 W. Randolph St., Chicago. Tickets are $75 per person and include dinner, dancing, entertainment, a silent auction and games. Proceeds benefit the company. See griffintheatre.com.

• FWD Theatre Project presents a staged concert reading of the in-development musical "Coyote" at 7:30 p.m. Monday, May 9, at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. The musical by composer/lyricist Tim McCorry and writer Michael Aman is about a pair of young lovers who ask a mysterious person to help them cross from Mexico into the United States, then discover he's the trickster Coyote. See theaterwit.org.

• John O'Hurley, of "Seinfeld" and "Dancing With the Stars" fame, reprises the role of Billy Flynn in "Chicago," the Fred Ebb and John Kander musical about a housewife who murders her lover and relies on a slick lawyer and sensational media coverage to snag an acquittal. Performances begin Tuesday, May 10, at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St., Chicago. (800) 775-2000 or broadwayinchicago.com.

• "Disenchanted," the adults-only musical by Dennis T. Giacino, purports to reveal the real truth behind the fairy-tale lives of Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Mulan, Pocahontas and other princesses. Performances begin Tuesday, May 10, at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place, 175 E. Chestnut St., Chicago. (800) 775-2000 or broadwayinchicago.com.

• Bohemian Theatre Ensemble revives "Eurydice," Sarah Ruhl's wistful retelling of the Greek myth of Orpheus and his bride whose death prompts Orpheus to enter the Underworld to retrieve her. Charles Riffenburg directs BoHo's production, which begins previews Thursday, May 12, at Heartland Studio, 7016 N. Glenwood Ave., Chicago. (866) 811-4111 or bohotheatre.com.

• Performances begin Thursday, May 12, for Trap Door Theatre's production of "No Matter How Hard We Try," Polish writer Dorota Maslowska's satire about "decaying Polish identity" that centers on three impoverished women who sustain themselves through television and pop culture fantasies. Performances run through June 25 at 1655 W. Cortland Ave., Chicago. (773) 384-0494 or trapdoortheatre.com.

• Genesis Theatrical Productions presents the U.S. premiere of Canadian playwright Mike Czuba's "Satie et Cocteau: A Rehearsal of a Play of a Composer by a Poet." An examination of the difficult relationship between composer Erik Satie and surrealist poet Jean Cocteau, it unfolds 15 years after Satie's death during the final rehearsal of a play Cocteau has written hoping to excise Satie from his life. Performances begin Thursday, May 12, at the Athenaeum Theater, 2936 N. Southport Ave., Chicago. (773) 935-6875 or genesistheatricals.com.

• The League of Chicago Theatres hosts a Theatre Thursday event at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 12, at Writers Theatre, 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe. The evening begins with a tour of Writers' new theater and concludes with a performance of the comedy "Death of a Streetcar Named Virginia Woolf: A Parody." See chicagoplays.com.

• A new sketch comedy show "The Dougs: Punk is What You Make of It," about the members of a punk band trying to solve the murder of one of their own, runs Wednesdays at The Annoyance Theatre, 851 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. Also at the Annoyance, Cigarette Sandwich performs the adults-only "The Power Half-Hour: Beer Powered Comedy" at midnight Saturdays through June 4. (773) 697-9693 or theannoyance.com.

• The Sarah Siddons Society will present its 2016 Actor of the Year awards to Broadway veterans Sutton Foster, two-time Tony Award winner and star of TVLand's "Younger" and Tony nominee D'Arcy James, a Northwestern University graduate currently appearing on Broadway in "Something Rotten." The ceremony takes place May 16 at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall on the Northwestern University campus. (847) 467-4000 or sarahsiddonssociety.org.

• Steppenwolf Theatre Company has extended its world premiere of "Mary Page Marlow," Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Letts' intriguing portrait of the life of an average American woman, who's played - at different stages in her life - by six different actresses. Performances run through June 5 at 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago. (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org.

• The Joseph Jefferson Committee recently announced the nominees for the 2015-2016 non-Equity Jeff Awards recognizing excellence in Chicago productions that opened between April 1, 2015, and March 21, 2016. Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre led all ensembles with 15 nominations including six for its acclaimed revival of "Rent." Kokandy Productions received 10 nominations, including five each for "Heathers: The Musical" and "Loving Repeating." Griffin Theatre Company received eight nominations, including five for "Pocatello." The non-Equity Jeff Awards ceremony takes place at 7:30 p.m. June 6 at Park West, 322 W. Armitage Ave., Chicago. Tickets cost $40 in advance, $45 at the door. See jeffawards.org.

• Chicago Reader theater critic and cabaret performer Justin Hayford was named the 2016 Liberty Bell Award winner by the Chicago Bar Association. Hayford, case manager and lead paralegal for the AIDS Legal Council, received the award in recognition for his 25 years spent "tirelessly advocating on behalf of low-income people with HIV who have nowhere else to turn for legal assistance," according to a prepared statement from the CBA.

• Composer/sound designer Michael Bodeen received the 2016 Michael Merritt Award recognizing design excellence and collaboration. "East of Eden" at Steppenwolf Theatre and "Another Word for Beauty" at Goodman Theatre are among the Broadway veteran and DePaul University graduate's recent credits. Set designer Scott Davis, whose Chicago Shakespeare Theater designs include the upcoming "Tug of War," along with past productions "Ride the Cyclone" and "Road Show" received the Michael Maggio Emerging Designer Award in recognition of his artistry. Goodman Theatre's David Naunton received the Robert Christen Award for excellence in technical collaboration. Lighting designer and Lookingglass Theatre master electrician Jeff Glass received the Emerging Technical Collaborator Award. The ceremony takes place May 16 at Loyola University. See merrittawards.com.

• Chicago Children's Theatre announced its 11th season will begin Oct. 11 with the family-friendly dance story "A Light in the Dark: The Story of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan." Produced in collaboration with Thodos Dance Chicago, it tells the story of the determined teacher and the blind and deaf girl she helped become a world-renowned writer and activist. "Moon Shot," a collaboration with Theater Unspeakable that re-creates the Apollo 11 lunar landing, runs Nov. 1-20. That's followed by a remount of this season's "A Snowy Day With Beatrix Potter" (Dec. 1-20), which uses mechanical suitcase sculptures to tell Potter's stories. A remount of the musical "The Hundred Dresses" by Ralph Covert and G. Riley Mills opens Jan. 17, 2017. The play, directed by The Hypocrites' Sean Graney, tells the story of a young Polish girl trying to fit into her new home in America. Next up is "The Year I Didn't Go to School: A Homemade Circus" (Feb. 28-March 26, 2017). Created by Lookingglass Theatre's Heidi Stillman and based on Giselle Potter's children's book, it incorporates circus arts to tell the story of a girl who spent a year traveling with her family's theater troupe. The season concludes May 2, 2017, with Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia's "Brown Bear, Brown Bear & Other Treasured Stories" a puppet theater production based on stories by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle that helps children identify colors and objects. Performances take place at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. Three-show subscription passes are available for children ages 2 to 6 and for children ages 6 and older. Early bird subscriptions for renewing CCT members start at $57 per person. New subscribers pay $69 per person. Preview subscription packages are available for $60, which includes admission to six plays. Note: CCT's second theater space at 100 S. Racine Ave., Chicago, is scheduled to open in January 2017. (872) 222-9555 or chicagochildrenstheatre.org/.

• Collaboraction Theatre Company announced its 2016-2017 season will begin Aug. 12 with "Peacebook Festival," a world premiere collaboration produced in conjunction with the Chicago Park District's Night Out in the Parks series. Curated by artistic director Anthony Mosely, "Peacebook" will involve creating and sharing "art that envisions a more peaceful Chicago." It runs at several Chicago-area parks through Aug. 27. That's followed by "The Mars Assignment" (Oct. 20-Nov. 20 at Collaboraction Studios in the Flat Iron Building, 1579 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago). Written and directed by former Signal Theatre artistic director Ronan Marra in collaboration with Collaboraction member Elsa Hiltner, the play examines depression and the stigma that prevents people from seeking treatment for it. The season concludes with Dani Bryant's "Gender Breakdown" (Feb. 16-March 19, 2017, at the Flat Iron Building) an examination of gender parity for women in theater and film artists. (312) 226-9633 or collaboraction.org.