Out & About
The Illinois International Film Festival, 10 a.m. Friday through 9:30 p.m. Sunday at the Arcada Theater, 105 E. Main St., St. Charles. $10 per film block, $15 per day or $40 for a full festival pass. Call (312) 733-7469, or go to www.illinoisinternationalfilmfestival.com/arcadia.htm.
The IIFF offers shorts and features, including "Facing Sudan," a documentary by Bruce David Janu, a teacher at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights.
-- Dann Gire, film critic
"Family Guy Live!" 7 and 10 p.m. Saturday at the Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State St., Chicago. $39.50, $55.50 and $69.50. (312) 559-1212.
Seth McFarlane's animated FOX sitcom "Family Guy" comes to the stage for a live reading by cast members McFarlane, Alex Borstein, Seth Green, Mila Kunis and Mike Henry. They perform a script from an older episode, complete with unaired bonus material, plus select musical numbers from the series. It's rounded out with a Q&A session and a sneak peek at the upcoming "Star Wars"-themed season premiere episode, which airs Sept. 23. The show is recommended for ages 16 and older.
--Jeff Pizek, staff writer
"Forever Plaid," 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays through Nov. 4 at Steel Beam Theatre, 111 W. Main St., St. Charles. $25, $23. (630) 587-8521 or www.steelbeamtheatre.com.
"MID-LIFE! The Crisis Musical," 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays; 5 and 8:30 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through Nov. 3 at Pheasant Run Resort & Spa, 4051 E. Main St., St. Charles. $27, $38 (show only); $49, $60 (with dinner). (630) 584-6342 or www.noblefool.org.
The fall theater season begins in earnest this weekend with no fewer than a dozen openings in the city and suburbs between Friday and Monday. They include: Steel Beam's version of the popular doo-wop revue "Forever Plaid" on Friday and Noble Fool's "MID LIFE!" a musical send-up of middle age on Saturday.
-- Barbara Vitello, critic at large
Grape Stomp, 7 p.m. Friday, 5 p.m. Saturday, State and Fourth streets, Geneva. Free. (630) 232-6060; www.genevachamber.com.
The Grape Stomp is just one of the fun events scheduled at Geneva's Festival of the Vine. If you prefer to sip rather than stomp, tasting levels run $3 to $10. Also wine seminars, food, music, games and arts and crafts.
-- Deborah Pankey, food editor
"Incognito," 7 p.m. today at Elmhurst College's Mill Theatre, 253 Walter St., Elmhurst. Free admission, but seating is limited. (630) 617-3005.
Michael Fosberg recently taped parts of his critically acclaimed solo show "Incognito" at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater for a forthcoming documentary. While he's back in Chicagoland, catch Fosberg in the flesh and learn all about his later-life discovery that his perceptions of self while growing up in a middle-class white family were not so true.
-- Scott C. Morgan, staff writer