What's new in theater
'Forbidden' hits
An all-suburban cast of musical theater pros stars in Steel Beam Theatre's season opener "Forbidden Broadway (Greatest Hits)," a version of the popular "Forbidden Broadway" shows spoofing such hits as "Wicked," "Hairspray" and "Fiddler on the Roof," among others.
Opens Friday, Sept. 12, at 111 W. Main St., St. Charles. (630) 587-8521 or steelbeamtheatre.com.
Vaudeville redux
Vaudeville and burlesque inspired "Vaudeville and Vixens," Piccolo Theatre's music and comedy revue. Sketch comedy veteran John Szostek, who performed with fellow Piccolo ensemble member Ken Raabe in Chicago during the late 1960s, directs the cabaret-style show.
Opens Sunday, Sept. 14, at the Evanston Arts Depot located in the Metra station at 600 Main St., Evanston. (847) 424-0089 or piccolotheatre.com.
An American 'Inspector'
In 2006, British writer David Farr updated 19th-century Russian writer Nikolai Gogol's "The Government Inspector," a satire on government corruption in which small-town Russian bureaucrats woo a man they think is a high-ranking official. The U.S. premiere of Farr's adaptation - with additional contributions by Chicago playwright James Sherman, whose inspector is really a washed-up real estate salesman - opens Next Theatre's 28th season.
Previews begin Friday, Sept. 12. Opens Monday, Sept. 15, at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes St., Evanston. (847) 475-1875, Ext. 2 or nexttheatre.org.