Theater events: Collaboraction's 'Blue Island' looks at Chicago's segregation

• Eclipse Theatre Company commences its William Inge season with the playwright's rarely produced "Natural Affection." Rachel Lambert directs the play about a mother who left her son in an orphanage to pursue her career. Her life is later upended when he visits and asks her to give him a home. Diana Coates and Terry Bell star in the revival, which continues previews through Saturday, April 13, at the Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave., Chicago. The show opens Sunday, April 15. (773) 935-6875 or eclipsetheatre.com.

• Previews continue through Tuesday, April 17, for "A Blue Island in the Red Sea," a docu-theater work examining Chicago's history of segregation from its founding through the present day. Conceived and directed by Collaboraction artistic director Anthony Moseley, the production opens Wednesday, April 18, at 1579 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. (312) 226-9633 or collaboraction.org.

• Music Theater Works hosts its spring fundraising gala Magical, Musical Moments: An Evening of Sullivan, Porter and Sondheim Saturday, April 14, at the Sunset Ridge Country Club, 2100 Sunset Ridge Road, Northfield. The evening includes cocktails, a silent auction and musical performances directed by artistic director Rudy Hogenmiller. Tickets start at $195 per person. (847) 920-5360 or musictheaterworks.org.

• Chicago Opera Theater presents a double bill of Gaetano Donizetti operas including his first, "Il Pigmalione," and one of his last, "Rita." The former, adapted from Ovid's "Metamorphoses," tells of the sculptor Pigmalione. Determined to create his image of ideal beauty, he becomes smitten with his own work, which he calls Galatea. In the second, Galatea has evolved into the titular Rita, whose marriage to the overworked Beppe is threatened by the return of her first husband, Gasparo. Performances take place April 14, April 20 and 22 at the Studebaker Theater, 410 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago. Additionally, COT hosts its end-of-season gala following the April 22 performance. The gala takes place at the Blackstone Hotel, 636 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, and includes performances and a reception. (312) 704-8414 or chicagooperatheater.org.

• Porchlight Music Theatre honors Libertyville native and Joseph Jefferson Award-winning director/choreographer Brenda Didier during its 2018 Icons Gala saluting Fred Astaire Sunday, April 15, at the Ritz Carlton Chicago, 160 E. Pearson St., Chicago. The fundraiser includes live and silent auctions, performances by Chicago area musical theater stars and the presentation of the Guy Adkins Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Music Theater to Porchlight associate Didier, who also owns the Lincolnshire Academy of Dance. (773) 777-9884 or porchlightmusictheatre.org.

• Victory Gardens Theater, in association with the "Natural Shocks" National Projects and HowlRound Theatre Commons, hosts a free Town Hall: #NeverAgainChicago, at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 15, at 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. The forum includes a reading from Lauren Gunderson's new play "Natural Shocks" (which Janus Theatre will present as a staged reading in Elgin on April 20) and a discussion on student-led rallies around the nation scheduled for April 20 as part of the National School Walkout. Donations will be accepted for Everytown for Gun Safety, the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence and Cure Violence. "With #NeverAgainChicago, Victory Gardens is proud to provide a public space for students, teachers and allies to come together in a civic dialogue to work toward ending gun violence," said artistic director Chay Yew in a prepared statement. See victorygardens.org.

• The Moving Dock Theatre Co. hosts What's Funny About That? an evening of scenes presented free at the company's studio at the Christian Community Church, 2135 W. Wilson Ave., Chicago. See movingdock.org.

• In a 1977 interview with British TV journalist David Frost, former President Richard Nixon came about as close to admitting to abusing his power as he ever, while maintaining he did nothing wrong, famously claiming "when the president does it, that means it is not illegal." Those interviews inspired Peter Morgan's "Frost/Nixon," in a redtwist theatre revival directed by Scott Weinstein. Jason Richards and Brian Parry star as Frost and Nixon respectively. Previews begin Thursday, April 18, at 1044 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Chicago. The show opens April 21. (773) 728-7529 or redtwist.org.

• Pride Films & Plays presents an all-male, staged reading of Clare Boothe Luce's "The Women," a comedy about power, deception and betrayal among Manhattan socialite "frenemies" during the 1930s. The reading Wednesday, April 18, at 4139 N. Broadway, Chicago, is a fundraiser for the company to take "His Greatness," an imagined account of Tennessee Williams' last days, to the International Dublin Gay Play Festival next month. PFP will host a benefit performance of "His Greatness" May 7, at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. (773) 857-0222 or pridefilmsandplays.com.

• The Metropolis Performing Arts Centre presents "Elvis My Way," starring Brandon Bennett ("Million Dollar Quartet"), as part of its Artists Lounge Live series created and supervised by Michael Ingersoll. Bennett traces Presley's career from his early rock 'n' roll days in the 1950s, to his TV comeback special in the 1960s to his Las Vegas-style productions of the 1970s. Bennet performs at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 19, at 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights. (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.com.

• Actor/writer/director Dominique Salerno brings "The Box Show" to the iO Theatre, 1501 N. Kingsbury St., Chicago, from Thursday, April 19 through April 21. Salerno plays more than two dozen characters during the show, which unfolds inside a kitchen cupboard. Also at iO, among the guest improvisers appearing in the theater's long-running "The Armando Diaz Experience" in the upcoming weeks are actor/comedian Dan Bakkedahl (April 16); professor/writer/comedian Alicia Swiz (April 23); storyteller Lily Be (April 30); Svengoolie Rich Koz (May 7); architect and urban planner Doug Farr (May 14); "Chicago Fire" actor Yuriy Sardarov (May 21) and iO bartender Sean Athy (May 28). (312) 929-2401 or ioimprov.com.

• The neighborhood tour of the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival commences with a double-bill Thursday, April 19, at Marquette Park, 6743 S. Kedzie Ave., Chicago, then moves to 5749 S. Perry Ave. April 20; 6100 S. Blackstone Ave. April 21; and Garfield Park Conservatory, 300 N. Central Park Ave. April 22. The double-bill features Afrofuturist puppeteer Tarish "Jeghetto" Pipkins and puppeteer/actor Joshua Holden in free, family-friendly performances. See chicagopuppetfest.org.

• Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre has extended its production of "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," Stephen Sondheim's macabre musical about a vengeful 19th century London barber and his greedy pie-maker cohort. Performances continue through May 20 at No Exit Cafe, 6970 N. Glenwood Ave., Chicago. (800) 595-4849 or theo-u.com.

• Windy City Playhouse has extended its production of "Southern Gothic," Leslie Liautaud's 1960s set drama about four couples attending a birthday party. Performances continue through July 29 at 3014 W. Irving Park Road, Chicago. (773) 891-8985 or windycityplayhouse.com.

• The League of Chicago Theatres recently launched a redesigned Hot Tix website at hottix.org that "makes it easier than ever for people to access half-price tickets to Chicago's 250 theaters," said executive director Deb Clapp in a prepared statement. Among its new features is one that allows theatergoers to "geo-locate" half-price performances near them. In addition to purchasing tickets online, the League of Chicago Theatres operates walk-up Hot Tix locations at 72 E. Randolph St., Chicago, and 108 N. State St., Chicago.

• Midsommer Flight will expand its programming from two to three for the 2018 season, which begins April 23 and 30 with staged readings of William Shakespeare's "Richard III." A coproduction with Unbound Theatre Company, it will feature a diverse, adaptive cast to tell the story of a man's ruthless quest for the throne. Midsommer's summer season begins July 7 with free performances of Shakespeare's "The Two Gentlemen of Verona," about best friends who fall in love with the same woman, to be performed over eight weekends in four Chicago parks. The season concludes with the company's fourth annual holiday production of "Twelfth Night" about mistaken identities and misplaced affection. It will be staged at the Lincoln Park Conservatory, 2391 Stockton Drive, Chicago. See midsommerflight.com.

• A trio of world premieres by ensemble members will mark Lookingglass Theatre Company's 31st season. It begins Nov. 7 with the premiere of "The Steadfast Tin Soldier: A Christmas Pantomime," conceived and directed by ensemble member Mary Zimmerman and based on the Hans Christian Andersen tale. Next up is the premiere of ensemble member Kareem Bandealy's "Act(s) of God" about a family whose dinner is interrupted "by a visitor of cosmic proportion." It runs Feb. 13 to April 7, 2019. "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein," written and directed by ensemble member David Catlin, unfolds during an evening of ghost stories during which Mary Shelley "unspools her tale of Victor Frankenstein and his unholy experiment." It runs May 8 to Aug. 4, 2019. Performances take place at 821 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago. Three-play subscriptions range from $116 to $170. A $150 flex pass provides subscribers with three tickets that can be used in any combination to any production. The $75 Madhatter's Club flex pass is available to theatergoers 35 and younger. (312) 337-0665 or lookingglasstheatre.org.

• Black Button Eyes' 2018-2019 season begins Aug. 17, at The Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave., Chicago, with the world premiere of "Nightmares and Nightcaps: The Stories of John Collier," adapted and directed by Ed Rutherford from the British writer's fantastical, darkly comic stories of love and loss. That's followed by "Evil Dead: The Musical" (Jan. 11-Feb. 16, 2019, at Pride Arts Center, 4139 N. Broadway, Chicago), a parody of Sam Raimi's "Evil Dead" films with music by Christopher Bond, Frank Cipolla, Melissa Morris and George Reinblatt. Tickets for "Nightmares and Nightcaps" are available at athenaeumtheatre.org or by phone (773) 935-6875. See blackbuttoneyes.com.