'The Madness of Oscar Wilde' at Des Plaines UCC
Actor Glenn Allen Pruett and director Patricia Ansuini bring their production of "The Madness of Oscar Wilde," Wilde's pseudonymous one-man play detailing his life after his imprisonment for gross indecency, to Des Plaines' First Congregational United Church of Christ for one performance. Intended for a mature audience, the show examines Wilde's homosexuality and his struggle to maintain his sanity after his release from prison.
Info: 5 p.m. Sunday, March 28, at 766 Graceland Ave., Des Plaines. (847) 200-5561.
An American humoristWill Rogers - columnist, radio host, 1930s film star and precursor of the standup comedian - is the subject of "Will Rogers: An American Original," by longtime First Folio Theatre artistic associate Kevin McKillip. The world premiere marks McKillip's debut as writer-star of the one-man show tracing Rogers' life and career from Wild West shows to the Ziegfeld Follies. Info: reviews begin Wednesday, March 31, at 1717 W. 31st St., Oak Brook. The show opens April 3. (630) 986-8067 or firstfolio.org.'Peter Pan'Emerald City brings its family-friendly musical production of "Peter Pan" to the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre as part of its Stories in Action series for young audiences. Runs Thursday, April 1, to Friday, April 9, at 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights. (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.comWhat's newbull; Next Theatre Company's Dark Night Series continues with "Magical Exploding Boy," a darkly comic, wordless show in which writer/performer Dean Evans plays a child adept at mind control and an amoeba struggling for life among other characters. The show runs Friday, March 26, through Saturday, April 3, at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes St., Evanston. (847) 475-1875, ext. 2, or nexttheatre.org.bull; Korean-American playwright Young Jean Lee examines the cultural idea of Black America and identity politics in her play "The Shipment," incorporating song, dance, sketches and standup comedy. The show runs Friday, March 26, through Sunday, March 28, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave., Chicago. (312) 397-4010 or mcachicago.org.bull; National Pastime Theater revives Elmer Rice's "Street Scene" depicting the struggles of immigrants in the early part of the 20th century as observed from the stoop of a New York City brownstone. Laurence Bryan and Keely Haddad-Null direct the show which opens Friday, March 26, at 4139 N. Broadway, Chicago. (773) 724-1554 or npt2.com. bull; The Second City continues its 50th anniversary celebration with a "best of" revue at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 27, at the Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora. (630) 896-6666 or paramountaurora.com.bull; Village Players Theater continues its Women on the Cutting Edge series with "Mud," Maria Irene Fornes' surreal fantasia about impoverished, unbalanced people living in squalor and trapped by their own ignorance. Lawrence Keller directs the show which opens Saturday, March 27, at 1010 W. Madison St., Oak Park. (866) 764-1010 or village-players.org.bull; "Code of Ethnics," is the debut revue examining class and culture from the multiethnic ensemble Urban Indigenous, whose members hail from Salsation!, Stir Friday Night and Second City's Brownco among other groups. The preview is Saturday, March 27, at Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. The show opens April 3, and runs Saturdays through May 15. (773) 598-4549 or urbanindigenous.com.bull; After a car accident, the deceased couple pick up exactly where they left off in "After, Life," a show by Three Legged Race, opening Saturday, March 27, at the Apollo Theater, 2540 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. See 3lrcomedy.wordpress.com for more information.bull; Steppenwolf Theatre ensemble member Frank Galati directs the company's production of Samuel Beckett's absurdist comedy "Endgame," about a couple of embittered, mutually dependent men - the blind, aging Hamm and his servant Clov - who spend their days sniping while Hamm's parents look on. Previews begin Thursday, April 1, at 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago. The show opens April 11. (312) 335-1650 or Steppenwolf.org.bull; 16th Street Theater, in collaboration with Teatro Vista, remounts Tanya Saracho's 2009 hit, "Our Lady of the Underpass." It's about people drawn to the Fullerton Avenue underpass where five years ago some say they saw the image of the Virgin Mary on the concrete wall. Performances begin Thursday, April 1, at the Berwyn Cultural Center, 6420 16th St., Berwyn. (708) 795-6704 or 16thstreettheater.org.bull; The Chicago Kids Company presents the family friendly "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," for children ages 2 to 10 beginning Thursday, April 1, at the Stahl Family Theater, St. Patrick High School, 5900 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. (773) 205-9600 or chicagokidscompany.com.