'Sleepy Hollow' returns for Halloween run

Spooky show

Just in time for Halloween, Theatre-Hikes reprises its 2004 production of "Sleepy Hollow." Lara Filip directs this musical adaptation of Washington Irving's classic tale.

Performances are at 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, Oct. 3 to Nov. 1, at the Morton Arboretum, 4100 Illinois Route 53, Lisle. (630) 725-2066 or mortonarb.org.

LOW embraces cabaret

A pair of 1950s chanteuses forced to sing Edith Piaf songs at a Paris cabaret have their boss arrested so they can perform their own material in "C'est La Vie," a charming, intimate revue by Gregg Opelka. Marriott and Drury Lane regular Kelly Anne Clark and cabaret artist Jennifer Chada star in Light Opera Works' production. Jeremy Ramey (of Steel Beam's world premiere of "Wild Goat") serves as music director.

Previews begin Sunday, Oct. 4, at the Light Opera Works Second Stage, 1420 Maple Ave., Evanston. The production opens Oct. 9. (847) 869-6300 or lightoperaworks.com.

Writers' R&G

Writers Theatre opens its season with the witty "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead," Tom Stoppard's brilliant retelling of "Hamlet" from the perspective of two minor characters. Marriott veteran Sean Fortunato and Jeff Award-nominee Timothy Edward Kane star as R&G. Director Michael Halberstam's cast includes Wheeling native Laura Coover as Ophelia and Deerfield resident Terry Hamilton as Claudius.

Previews continue through Oct. 7 at 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe. The production opens Thursday, Oct. 8. (847) 242-6000 or writerstheatre.org.

• "A Streetcar Named Desire," Tennessee Williams' drama examining the conflict between fantasy and reality, marks the opening of Polarity Ensemble Theatre's season. Ann Keen directs Polarity's production, which begins previews Friday, Oct. 2, at the Josephinum Academy, 1500 N. Bell, Chicago. (800) 838-3006 or petheatre.com.

• A Free Night of Theater, a nationwide event designed to introduce new audiences to theater, begins Friday, Oct. 2, and runs through Sunday, Nov. 1. See freenightoftheatre.net for participating local companies.

• Black Ensemble Theater begins previews of its latest revue, "The Message is in the Music (God is a Black Man Named Ricky)" on Saturday, Oct. 3, at 4520 N. Beacon St., Chicago. Written and directed by company founder Jackie Taylor, this examination of the eternal struggle of good versus evil and love versus hate features songs by Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, The Isley Brothers, The Beatles and Paul Simon, among others. The production opens Sunday, Oct. 18. (773) 769-4451 or blackensembletheater.org.

• 2007 University of Chicago graduate Martyna Majok's latest play, "Mouse in a Jar," gets its world premiere courtesy of Red Tape Theatre. The play centers on a mother and her two daughters terrorized by the drunken brute they live with and one daughter's determination to free herself from her domestic prison. Previews run through Saturday, Oct. 3, at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 621 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. The production opens Sunday, Oct. 4. Tickets are available at the door. See redtapetheatre.org for more information.

• A stay-at-home dad conjures fanciful stories for his young daughter in Charles R. Traeger's "Rhymes With Evil," a seasonally appropriate look at love and loss in which the bedtime stories are more disturbing than sweet. Previews for InFusion Theatre Company's Midwest premiere begin Monday, Oct. 5, at the Storefront Theater, 66 E. Randolph St., Chicago. The show opens Thursday, Oct. 8. (312) 742-8497 or infusiontheatre.com.

• The Writers Bloc New Play Festival begins with an opening night gala at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 5, at the Theatre Building, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. Staged readings continue there Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays through Nov. 10. Featured works include Arlington Heights resident Jill Elaine Hughes' play "Intelligent Design," which examines the creation versus evolution debate, and Vernon Hills resident Jan Johnson's "Whales," about a dying man's struggles with faith, death, hospitals and nursing homes. The festival also includes works by journalist John Conroy, whose play "My Kind of Town" centers on the Chicago Police torture scandal; Bev Rosen, whose play "When the Bough Breaks" imagines what happens when a woman must choose between Neiman Marcus and her family; Kenan Heise, whose biblically inspired drama "St. Peter's Wife" imagines Sarah helping doubting Thomas into the kingdom of heaven; and documentarian June Finfer and Elizabeth Doyle's musical about the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, "Daniel Burnham and the White City." Staged readings begin at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $5. See writersblocfest.org for information.

• Previews begin Tuesday, Oct. 6, for Raven Theatre's production of "Death of a Salesman," Arthur Miller's classic about a man chasing an American dream that doesn't suit him and which he cannot attain. The production opens Oct. 11, at 6157 N. Clark St., Chicago. (773) 338-2177 or raventheatre.com.

• The Strange Tree Group transforms the Building Stage into a drive-in movie theater for its production of "Hey! Mr. Spaceman!" about a robot boy who falls in love with an earth girl as her sleepy Illinois town endures an attack by space invaders. The show opens Thursday, Oct. 8, at 412 N. Carpenter St., Chicago. (773) 598-8240 or strangetree.org.

• BoyGirlBoyGirl performs as part of Theater Oobleck's "Cabaret Oobleck," at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8, at the Chopin Theater, 1543 W. Division St., Chicago. (773) 347-1041 or theateroobleck.com.

• TimeLine Theatre Company's brilliant, Jeff Award-nominated production of "The History Boys" will close on Sunday, Oct. 18, after a record-breaking six-month run. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays, 3 and 8 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays at 615 W. Wellington Ave., Chicago. (773) 281-8463 or timelinetheatre.com.

• Theater companies located in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood have teamed up to offer audience members a flex pass to see a variety of shows during the 2009-2010 season. The four-show, $50 pass is good for admission to one adult or one children's show per theater through July 31, 2010. The participating theaters are: Lifeline Theatre ("Treasure Island," "Mrs. Caliban," "Neverwhere," "Dooby Dooby Moo," "The Last of the Dragons" and "The Blue Shadow"); Raven Theatre ("Death of a Salesman," "Twelve Angry Men" and "The Odd Couple"); the side project (TBA) and Theo Ubique ("The Taming of the Shrew" and "Man of LaMancha"). Passes are available at Lifeline, 6912 N. Glenwood Ave.; Raven, 6157 N. Clark St.; side project, 1439 W. Jarvis Ave.; and Theo Ubique at No Exit, 6970 N. Glenwood Ave., Chicago.