Elgin's Janus Theatre adapting Strindberg's 'Miss Julie'

Janus Theatre presents "Miss Julie on a Summer Night," an adaptation of "Miss Julie," August Strindberg's examination of class and gender conflict and the exercise of power. Terry Domschke directs his adaptation of the play in which a privileged young woman toys with her father's servant over the course of a long, hot summer night.

Opens Friday, June 5, at Elgin Art Showcase, 164 Division St., Elgin. (847) 841-1713 or janustheatre.wordpress.com.

Home theater

The Des Plaines' Historical Society's Fisher-Wright house in downtown Des Plaines serves as the setting for The Guild Theater Company's production of "Steel Magnolias," Robert Harling's melodrama about the sharp-tongued, unfailingly loyal southern women who patronize a small-town beauty salon.

Opens Friday, June 5, at 815 Center St., Des Plaines. (847) 391-5399.

LOW's "Night Music"

Husbands, wives, former paramours and servants entangle themselves in various romantic situations during a weekend in the country in Stephen Sondheim's musical "A Little Night Music," inspired by Ingmar Bergman's "Smiles of a Summer Night." Artist director Rudy Hogenmiller directs the Light Opera Works production featuring Marriott Theatre veteran Catherine Lord and LOW regular Larry Adams.

Opens Saturday, June 6, at Cahn Auditorium, 600 Emerson St., Evanston. (847) 869-6300 or lightoperaworks.com.

What's new

• Ravinia opens the 2009 season with a staged performance of "Camelot," Frank Loesser's myth-based love triangle involving King Arthur, Queen Guenevere and Sir Lancelot. George Hearn, Sylvia McNair and Rod Gilfry star in the Friday, June 5, performance at 418 Sheridan Road, Highland Park. (847) 266-5000 or ravinia.org.

• The world premiere of resident playwright Nambi E. Kelley's "Hope IV" concludes Chicago Dramatists' 30th anniversary season. The play is about an extended family displaced when a wrecking ball demolishes their home in the Robert Taylor housing project. Artistic associate Ilesa Duncan directs the production which opens Friday, June 5, at 1105 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago. (312) 633-0630 or chicagodramatists.org.

• Bailiwick Repertory premieres "Bombs Away!" the new musical by Larry Bortniker and Sally Deering, the creative team behind Bailiwick's hit show from five years ago, "Dr. Sex." The show centers around an acting troupe's determination to present excised numbers from famous musicals, despite a judge's order to cease and desist. It opens Friday, June 5, at Mary's Attic, 5400 N. Clark St., Chicago. (773) 883-1090 or bailiwick.org.

• Black Ensemble Theater Company's Season of Men concludes with "A Tribute to the Black Crooner (Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow)" by BET artistic director Rueben Echoles and Dawn Bless. Done in BET's trademark docu-musical-revue style, the show celebrates singers Nat King Cole, Joe Williams and Johnny Mathis among others. Previews begin Friday, June 5, at 4520 Beacon St., Chicago. The show opens Sunday, June 14. (773) 769-4451 or blackensemble.org.

• The creators of "Love is Dead: A NecRomantic Musical Comedy" present their latest satire, "Sodomites!!! A Musical of Biblical Proportions." The show previews Fridays, June 5 and 12, at the Annoyance Theatre, 4830 N. Broadway, Chicago. It opens June 19, just in time for Chicago's Just for Laughs comedy festival. (773) 561-4665 or theannoyance.com.

• Sneak peak performances of "Unsung Stars," Moving Dock Theatre Company's new work about the unheralded women who assisted Harvard astronomers, run Friday and Saturday, June 5 and 6, and Friday and Saturday, June 12 and 13, at The Fine Arts Building, 410 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago. (312) 427-5490 or movingdock.org.

• "The Ride Down Mount Morgan," Arthur Miller's 1990 play about a man juggling two wives, opens Saturday, June 6, at redtwist theatre, 1044 W. Bryn Mawr, Chicago. Pegasus Players' Alex Levy directs redtwist ensemble members Jan Ellen Graves and Jacqueline Grandt. (773) 728-7529 or redtwist.org.

• Emerald City Theatre hosts its annual benefit, the family-friendly Oz Ball, from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday, June 6 at the Harold Washington Library's Winter Garden, 400 S. State St., Chicago. (773) or emeraldcitytheatre.com.

• Goodman Theatre hosts a series of readings from the works of playwrights Tom Stoppard, Richard Rhodes and Caryl Churchill designed to promote science education. Held in conjunction with the Museum of Science and Industry's Science Chicago program, the free readings take place at 6 p.m. Mondays June 8, 15 and 22 at 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. Also at the Goodman: "Women's Night," celebrating Chicago's leading female arts and business leaders. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 9, with a reception at Petterino's, adjacent to the theater, followed by a 7:30 p.m. performance of Rebecca Gilman's "The Crowd You're In With." Tickets are $75. (312) 443-3800 or goodmanttheatre.org.

• Barrel of Monkeys' eighth annual Celebration of Authors takes place from 7 to 10 p.m. Tuesday, June 9, at the Athenaeum Theatre, 2946 N. Southport Ave., Chicago. The free event honoring the company's student authors includes scenes created by the aspiring writers. (312) 409-1954 or barrelofmonkeys.org.

• Previews continue through Sunday, June 7, for the Chicago premiere of "The K of D: An Urban Legend," Laura Schellhardt's ghost story about a girl who develops supernatural powers after receiving a kiss from her dying brother. The Route 66 Theatre Company production opens Tuesday, June 9, at A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N. Wells St., Chicago. (773) 308-6927 or route66theatre.org.

• Broadway in Chicago presents a revival of Jerome Robbins' original Broadway staging of "Fiddler on the Roof," starring Topol who reprises his role as Tevye (for which he received an Academy Award nomination), the poor Jewish milkman living in 1905 Russia who tries to care for his five daughters and maintain his way of life as the Czar moves to evict Jews from their homes. Performances begin Wednesday, June 10, at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St., Chicago. (312) 902-1400 or broadwayinchicago.com.

• Annoyance Theatre celebrates the first anniversary of Triple Feature, its series showcasing new directors in shows of up to 20 minutes. The celebration takes place Wednesday, June 10, at 4830 N. Broadway, Chicago. (773) 561-4665 or theannoyance.com.

• Terrorism and the cult of martyrdom serve as the themes for Halcyon Theatre's annual Alcyone Festival showcasing female playwrights. Featured plays include the Chicago premiere of Betty Shamieh's "The Black Eyed;" "Blessed Child" by Astrid Saalbach which marks the first U.S. production of her work; the Chicago premiere of "Bounty of Lace" by Susan Merson; the world premiere of "(Expletive) Parasites" by Nina Tersman; the Chicago premiere of "Heads by EM Lewis; and "The Toymakers War," an in-development play by Jennifer Fawcett. The festival begins Thursday, June 11, and runs through July 18 at the Lincoln Square Theatre, Barry United Methodist Church, 4754 N. Leavitt, Chicago. (312) 458-9170 or halcyontheatre.org.

• Jeffrey Baumgartner directs and stars in Cap-a-pe Productions' staged reading of "Vincent," Leonard Nimoy's one man play in which Theo van Gogh eulogizes his brother, the tortured artist Vincent, just after Vincent's death at age 37. Performances run Thursday, June 11, to Saturday, June 13 at the Kevin Lahvic Gallery, in the Flat Iron Building at 1579 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. (630) 606-5375.

• In "Strauss at Midnight," playwright Jeff Dorchen introduces Saul Bello, Niccolo Machiavelli and other thinkers to the poker game presided over by Oscar Madison and Felix Unger, Neil Simon's mismatched duo from "The Odd Couple." Theater Oobleck premieres Dorchen's play which imagines what might happen if a privileged few could alter time and space. The production opens Thursday, June 11, at the Storefront Theater, 66 E. Randolph St., Chicago. (312) 742-8497 or dcatheater.org.