What's new and notable in area stage shows
Winner takes all
Comedian and athlete Josh Blue headlines Zanies' suburban venues this weekend. The winner of the 2006 edition of NBC's "Last Comic Standing" and a member of the United States' 2004 Paralympic Soccer Team, Blue - who has cerebral palsy - has said of his disability, "I realize that people are going to stare, so I want to give them something to stare at."
Blue performs at 8 and 10 p.m. Friday, June 12, at Zanies Pheasant Run, 4051 E. Main St., St. Charles, (630) 584-6342, and at 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, June 13, at Zanies Vernon Hills, 230 Hawthorn Village Commons, Vernon Hills. (847) 549-6030 or zanies.com.
Crime & punishment
A fundamentally decent young man is incarcerated alongside a serial killer in New York City's Rikers Island in "Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train," a bracing examination of crime and punishment, repentance and redemption by Stephen Adly Guirgis. James Fouhey and Ryan Robertson star in the Village Players Theatre production.
Runs through Sunday, June 21, at 1010 Madison St., Oak Park. (866) 764-1010 or village-players.org.
Steppenwolf winds "Up"
Steppenwolf Theatre ends its season with "Up," Bridget Carpenter's quirky drama about a man desperate to fly who leaves it up to his wife to keep the family afloat. Tony Award-winning ensemble member Anna D. Shapiro ("August: Osage County") directs.
Previews begin Thursday, June 18, at 1650 N. Halsted St. Chicago. The production opens Saturday, June 27. (312) 335-1650 or Steppenwolf.org.
• Coretta Scott King's death inspired Pearl Cleage's latest, "A Song for Coretta," her first play in 10 years. Eclipse Theatre Company presents the Chicago-area premiere of Cleage's examination of Scott King's legacy expressed through five black women attending her 2006 funeral service at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church. Previews continue through Saturday, June 13. The production opens Sunday, June 14, at the Greenhouse Theatre, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. (773) 404-7336 or eclipsetheatre.com.
• Griffin Theatre Company concludes its season with the world premiere of "Little Brother," artistic director William Massolia's adaptation of Cory Doctorow's Hugo Award-winning, post-Sept. 11, Orwellian-style novel about a 17-year-old hacker - held by the Department of Homeland Security on charges of being an enemy combatant - who stages a revolution against the government. Lifeline Theatre's artistic director Dorothy Milne directs the show which opens Sunday, June 14, at the Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave., Chicago. (800) 982-2787 or ticketmaster.com.
• The Chicago Park District's 57th annual Theatre on the Lake season showcasing some of Chicago's best theater productions from the past year begins Wednesday, June 17, with Collaboraction Theater Company's "Jon," a coming-of-age story set in a world where commercials have replaced real experiences. Performances run through Sunday, June 21, at the theater, located at Fullerton Avenue and Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. Theatre on the Lake continues through Aug. 9. (312) 742-7994 or chicagoparkdistrict.com.
• Independent Stars Playhouse presents a brief run of "And Then There Were None," adapted from Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians," Thursday, June 18, through Saturday, June 21, at the Viaduct Theatre, 3111 N. Western Ave., Chicago. (708) 997-1714 or indistars.org.
• People's Theater of Chicago/Legacy Project teams of up MidTangent Production to present "A Perfect Relationship," Doric Wilson's play about two gay men whose relationship is disturbed after one of them has a one-night stand. The show opens Thursday, June 18, at the Leather Archives & Museum, 6418 N. Greenview Ave., Chicago. Tickets are available at the door. Must be 18 to attend.
• African-American steelworkers in Chicago find their friendship tested over the course of 10 years in "Pill Hill," the new show at eta Creative Arts, 7448 S. South Chicago Ave., Chicago. The show opens Thursday, June 18. (773) 752-3955 or etacreativearts.org.
• Previews begin Thursday, June 18, for Hell in a Handbag's remount of its 2002 hit, "Poseidon! An Upside Down Musical," artistic director David Cerda's adaptation (with Cheryl Snodgrass) of Stirling Silliphant's screenplay. The combination parody and homage opens Saturday, June 20, at Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St., Chicago. (800) 838-3006 or handbagproductions.org.
• "Line," Israel Horovitz's off, off-Broadway comedy about a group of strangers lining up for some unnamed event, who engage in a struggle for first place, runs through June 27, at Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. (773) 598-4549 or gorillatango.com.