'Boys from Syracuse' coming to Drury Lane
Brothers reunited
Previews begin next week for Drury Lane Theatre Oakbrook Terrace's Chicago-area premiere of "The Boys from Syracuse," the 1938 musical by Richard Rodgers and Laurence Hart inspired by Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors." Rod Thomas and Timothy Gregory star as the long-separated twins in David Bell's new adaptation.
Previews begin Aug. 7 at 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace. The musical opens Aug. 14. (630) 530-0111 or drurylaneoakbrook.com.
A princess tested
Marriott Theatre for Young Audiences opened its latest show, "The Princess and the Pea," about a commoner who must prove herself a true princess in order to wed the prince. Marriott's adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen tale features book and lyrics by former Marriott artistic director Rick Boynton, with music by frequent Marriott director Marc Robin with additional lyrics by Robin and Curt Dale Clark.
Runs Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays to Saturdays at 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire. (847) 634-0200 or marriotttheatre.com.
A shrew tamed
Theatre-Hikes summer season continues at the Morton Arboretum with "The Taming of the Shrew," Shakespeare's comedy about the marital discord between the willful Kate and Petruchio, the husband who domesticates her.
Performance/hikes begin Aug. 2 at 4100 Route 53, Lisle. (630) 968-0074 or mortonarb.org.
What's new
Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, presents the world premiere of the adults only "The Tearful Assassin," about the impact a teenage girl's abduction has on her family. The Viable Theater Company production opens Friday. (773) 598-4549 or gorillatango.com.
Also opening Friday at Gorilla Tango, Hangar 9 Theatre Company's "Hesperia," consisting of three stories centered around sex and pornography. The production marks the debut of a new theater company comprised of Southern Illinois University theater department graduates. (773) 598-4549 or hangar9theatre.com.
Jedlicka Performing Arts Center opens its 2008 season with the Chicago area premiere of "Barry Manilow's Copacabana," inspired by the song about a showgirl and the bartender in love with her. The musical opens Friday at Morton College, 3801 S. Central Ave., Cicero. (708) 656-1800 or jpactheatre.com.
"Torch Song Trilogy," Harvey Fierstein's Tony Award-winning play about aging drag queen Arnold Beckoff maintaining his dignity and spirit despite a failed romance and troubled relationship with his mother. Andrew Hobgood ("Love is Dead: A NecRomantic Musical Comedy") directs the Hubris Productions revival. The last preview is today at Victory Gardens Greenhouse Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. The play opens Saturday. (773) 871-3000 or hubrisproductions.com.
Victory Gardens Theater salutes six emerging playwrights of color as part of "Ignition," a mini-festival running Aug. 7-10 at the Biograph Theater at 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. Participating playwrights include Chicago resident Christopher De Paola, whose "The Imagine Man" about a country where it's illegal to own real estate, opens the festival Aug. 7. Other plays include Michael Lew's "A Better Babylon" about UC Berkeley academics who turn radical during the 1960s; Kristoffer Diaz's "The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity," a comic look at pro wrestling and geopolitics; Brian Tucker's "Bathing van Gogh" about fading friendships; Michael Golamco's "Year Zero" about Cambodian Americans in California; and France-Luce Benson's "Fati's Last Dance," an offbeat, coming of age story about a young Haitian woman. (773) 871-3000 or victorygardens.org.
"The Last Exodus of American Men," is the inaugural production from Jackalope Theatre Company made up of alumni from Columbia College Chicago. The play, about four friends who seek respite in the woods after a nuclear war, is by the company's resident playwright Andrew Burden Swanson. It opens Aug. 7 at Elsewhere Theater, 3036 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago. (773) 687-9058 or jackalopetheatre.org.
Last chance
Circle Theatre's production of Noel Coward's "Hay Fever" closes Sunday at 7300 W. Madison St., Forest Park. (708) 771-0700 or circle-theatre.org.
The ebullient Fats Waller tribute "Ain't Misbehavin'" closes Sunday at Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. (312) 443-3800 or goodmantheatre.org.
The Q Brothers' "Funk It Up About Nothin,'" a hip-hop version of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing," closes Sunday at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Navy Pier, 800 E. Grand Ave., Chicago. (312) 595-5600 or chicagoshakes.com.