'Working' to open Steel Beam's ninth season

"Working" at Steel Beam

Steel Beam Theatre opens its ninth season with "Working," the musical inspired by Studs Terkel's salute to the everymen and everywomen who make up America's blue collar work force. Ty Perry directs. Additionally, Steel Beam opens its children's production of "The Adventures of Pinocchio" on Saturday, Sept. 12.

Opens Friday, Sept. 11, at 111 W. Main St., St. Charles. (630) 587-8521 or steelbeamtheatre.com.

Jekyll/Hyde at Vex

Vex Theatre jump starts the Halloween season with its production "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher from Robert Louis Stevenson's novel. Vex co-founder Rich Geiger directs the production which features seven actors playing two dozen roles.

Runs Friday, Sept. 11, to Sunday, Sept 20, at the Elgin Art Showcase, 164 Division St., Elgin. (847) 991-8081 or vextheatre.org.

A hero's life

Jeffrey Baumgartner directs and stars in Cap-a-pe Productions' "Billy Bishop Goes to War," a two-person play with music that looks at the loss and laughter that accompanies combat. William Nelson narrates and serves as the music director and pianist.

8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17, to Saturday, Sept. 19, at the Source Theatre, New England Congregational Church, 406 W. Galena Blvd., Aurora. (630) 606-5375.

What's new

• A young man's efforts to impress his fiance's father go awry when a fuse blows in his apartment in Peter Schaffer's 1965 farce "Black Comedy." Piccolo Theater revives the one-act comedy beginning on Friday, Sept. 11, at the Evanston Arts Depot at 600 Main St. Evanston. (847) 424-0089 or piccolotheatre.com.

• Next Theatre, another suburban mainstay, opens its 29th season with the Chicago area premiere of "boom," Peter Sinn Nachtrieb's comedy about the end of the world and how one scientist plans to preserve the human race with a partner selected through the personal ads. Previews begin Friday, Sept. 11, at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes St., Evanston. The production, directed by Next's new artistic director Jason Sutherland, opens Monday, Sept. 14. (847) 475-1875, ext. 2 or nexttheatre.org.

• "The Boys Next Door," Tom Griffin's comedy about four mentally challenged men and the caseworker who looks after them, opens Friday, Sept. 11, at Jedlicka Performing Arts Center, 3801 S. Central Ave., Cicero. (708) 656-1800 or jpactheatre.com.

• Lifeline Theatre's adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson classic "Treasure Island" - about a young man battling cutthroats and beasts to gain a pirate's booty - marks the beginning of the company's 27th season. Ensemble member John Hildreth directs ensemble member Robert Kauzlaric's adaptation, which begins previews on Friday, Sept. 11, at 6912 N. Glenwood Ave., Chicago. The show opens Monday, Sept. 21. Additionally, Lifeline offers a season subscription to its three main stage productions for $75. A subscription to its three KidSeries productions runs $27. (773) 761-4477 or lifelinetheatre.com.

• Next up for Porchlight Music Theatre is "The Fantasticks," off Broadway's long-running musical by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones about matchmaker fathers whose schemes to ignite a romance between their son and daughter bring bittersweet results. Jeff Parker, nominated for a Jeff Award for his performance as Guido in Porchlight's production of "Nine," stars as the enigmatic El Gallo. Previews begin Friday, Sept. 11, at the Theatre Building Chicago, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. The production, directed by Sean Kelly with musical direction by Eugene Dizon, opens Sunday, Sept. 13. (773) 327-5252 or porchlighttheatre.com.

• Previews begin Saturday, Sept. 12, for Goodman Theatre's Chicago area premiere of Dael Orlandersmith's solo piece, "Stoop Stories," which examines the residents of Orlandersmith's Harlem neighborhood, including a Holocaust survivor, a junkie poet and a washed-up rock star among others. Jo Bonney directs the play, which premiered this spring at Washington D.C.'s studio theater. The production opens Monday, Sept. 21, at 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. (312) 443-3800 or goodmeantheatre.org.

• Provision Theater Company opens the season with a revamped version of its hit 2004 production of Harry Chapin's "Cotton Patch Gospel," which puts a southern contemporary spin on the Gospels of Matthew and John. Lou Contey directs the production, which opens Saturday, Sept 12, at 1001 W. Roosevelt Road, Chicago. (866) 811-4111 or provisiontheater.org.

• Eta Creative Arts Foundation hosts its annual gala fundraiser from 7 p.m. to midnight, Saturday, Sept. 12, at 7558 S. South Chicago Ave., Chicago. Tickets are $125 per person and include a buffet dinner, open bar, silent auction and entertainment. (773) 752-3955 or etacreativearts.org.

• Bertolt Brecht's first play "Baal" - about a dissolute poet who rejects society's conventions and instead takes up brawling and womanizing - is the latest from EP Theater. An original score by the art-rock band, The Loneliest Monk, accompanies the production directed by AJ Ware and Hunter Kennedy. It opens Saturday, Sept. 12, at Chicago Arts District of Pilsen, at 1820 S. Halsted St., Chicago. (312) 850-4299 or eptheater.com.

• Remy Bumppo Theatre hosts its annual preseason salon from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 14, at the Greenhouse Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. The panel discussion centers around "friendships tested," the theme of Remy Bumppo's 2009-2010 season. It features artistic director James Bohnen; Doug Cassel, director of Notre Dame University Law School's Center for Civil and Human Rights; psychotherapist David Faigin; and Loyola University business ethics professor Alfred Gini. Critic Kelly Kleiman narrates. Suggested donation is $10. A four-course dinner at Simply It: Cuisine of Vietnam, is available for $20. (773) 244-8119 or remybumppo.org.

• American Theater Company artistic director PJ Paparelli directs the Chicago area premiere of "Yeast Nation (the triumph of life)" by Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis, the duo responsible for the Tony Award winning "Urinetown." Set during the primordial soup era (about 3 billion B.C.), the musical tells the story of a family of salt-eating yeasts and the single-cell visionary who sets evolution in motion. Previews continue this weekend. The show opens Thursday, Sept. 17, at 1909 W. Byron St., Chicago. (773) 929-1031 or atcweb.org.

• The Neo-Futurists remount their show "Beer," in which a young boy named Boon learns to make beer, for one performance at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17, at the Metropolitan Brewery, 5121 N. Ravenswood, Chicago. (773) 275-5255 or neofuturists.org.

• Vaudezilla Productions' variety show, "Rollin' Outta Here Naked: A Big Lebowski Burlesque," runs at 10 p.m. Saturdays through Sept. 26 at Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. (773) 598-4549 or gorillatango.com.