'Married Alive' set to open at Pheasant Run
Newlyweds and longtime marrieds depict the ups and downs of marital life in the musical "Married Alive!" Rachel Rockwell (of Marriott's "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" and Drury Lane Oak Brook's "Miss Saigon") directs the Noble Fool production starring Justin Berkobian (Buddy in Drury Lane's "The Buddy Holly Story"), Anne Gunne, Matthew R. Jones and Megan Long.
Previews begin Wednesday, Aug. 19, at Pheasant Run Resort & Spa, 4051 E. Main St., St. Charles. The production opens Saturday, Aug. 22. (630) 584-6342 or noblefool.org.
Acid Reflux returns
Acid Reflux lampoons "Star Trek," "Star Wars" and Harry Potter in its latest sketch comedy review, "Acid Reflux: The Next Generation" running this weekend in Geneva.
Info: Friday, Aug. 14, and Saturday, Aug. 15, at the Geneva Underground Playhouse, 524 W. State St., Geneva. (630) 551-8867 or acidrefluxcomedy.com.
Radio classics revisited
Improv Playhouse recreates the classic sketch "Who's on First?" along with bits from classic radio comedies like "Fibber McGee and Molly" this weekend at the group's venue in Libertyville's Liberty Square shopping center.
Info: 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 14; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 15, at 735 N. Milwaukee Ave., Libertyville. (847) 968-4529 or improvplayhouse.com.
What's new
• Nineteenth century painter Georges Seurat and his masterwork, "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island La Grande Jatte," inspired Stephen Sondheim's "Sunday in the Park With George," which examines the relationship between an artist, his work and his muse. Village Players presents the musical beginning Friday, Aug. 14, at the Village Players Performing Arts Center, 1010 Madison St., Oak Park. (866) 764-1010 or village-players.org.
• Mary-Arrchie Theatre Company presents the 21st annual Abbie Hoffman Died for Our Sins Theater Festival Friday, Aug. 14, to Sunday Aug. 16, at Angel Island, 735 W. Sheridan Road, Chicago. The festival aims to recreate the spirit of 1969's Woodstock Music and Art Fair by showcasing 40-50 different theater companies over three days. The performances run nonstop beginning at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 14. Ensembles scheduled to perform include The Building Stage, The Factory Theatre, Chicago Fusion Theatre, Revolution Theatre Company, Stockyards Theatre Project and Mary-Arrchie. Day passes are $10. A weekend pass is $25. (773) 871-0442 or maryarrchie.com.
• Quest Theatre Ensemble remounts its musical melodrama "Alas! Alack! Zorro's Back!" at Quest's home at 1609 W. Gregory St., Chicago. Previews begin Friday, Aug. 14. The show is about a villain who takes over Old New Mexico, a town desperately in need of a hero. It opens Friday, Aug. 21. (312) 458-0895 or questensemble.org.
• First Folio and Remy Bumppo artistic associate Nick Sandys makes his Light Opera Works debut as Henry Higgins in the company's production of Lerner and Loewe's well-loved "My Fair Lady" - about a professor who wagers he can transform a Cockney flower girl into an aristocrat. Natalie Ford (Laurey in LOW's "Oklahoma") plays Eliza Doolittle in the production directed by LOW artistic director Rudy Hogenmiller. The musical opens Saturday, Aug. 15, at Cahn Auditorium, 600 Emerson St., Evanston. (847) 869-6300 or lightoperaworks.com.
• "Heist Play," a dark comedy about three outcasts trying to execute the perfect crime, marks the debut of newcomer Ruckus Theater. Performances run Sunday, Aug. 16, through Aug. 26, at The Side Project Theatre, 1439 W. Jarvis Ave., Chicago. (773) 769-7257 or ruckustheater.org.
• Dog & Pony Theatre's play reading series continues Monday, Aug. 17 with Jason Grote's "Maria/Stuart" a comedy about a comic book artist haunted by the ghosts of bickering relatives. The reading takes place at 7 p.m. at threewalls gallery, 119 N. Peoria St., #2d, Chicago. (773) 360-7933 or dogandponychicago.org.
• Halcyon Theatre opens its season with Nilo Cruz's "Lorca in a Green Dress," which examines the life and death of Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca, and Rotimi Babatunde's "A Shroud for Lazarus," an modern African fable about rebel named Ajala trying to improve the lives of farmers compelled to work for the Plantation. The plays run in repertory beginning Thursday, Aug. 20, at Lincoln Square Theatre in the Berry United Methodist Church, 4754 N. Leavitt, Chicago. (773) 413-0453 or halcyontheatre.org.
• The Jedlicka Performing Arts Center revives "Promises, Promises," the Burt Bacharach and Neil Simon musical inspired by the film, "The Apartment," about a cog in the corporate wheel whose superiors use his apartment for their extramarital trysts. Performances run through Aug. 15, at 3801 S. Central Ave., Cicero. (708) 656-1800 or jpactheatre.com.
• Emerald City Theatre remounts its family-friendly production of "If You Take a Mouse to School," based on Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond's book about the experiences of an inquisitive mouse and his boy. Performances run through Sept. 27, at the Apollo Theater, 2540 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. (773) 935-6100 or emeraldcitytheatre.com.