Local theater: Free staged reading

Veterans reading

Elgin's Page to Stage series showcasing in-development works continues with a free, staged reading of Bruce Worthel's “Pictures of a Wasted Man,” about a homeless Vietnam War veteran and the people he meets at a local library.

8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Nov. 11-12, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 13, at the Elgin Art Showcase, 164 Division St., Elgin. See cityofelgin.org for more information.

Holiday laughs

Squabbling relatives and drunken accidents make up a family Christmas in Alan Ayckbourn's comedy, “Seasons Greetings,” the holiday offering from Northlight Theatre. Francis Guinan and Heidi Kettenring star in BJ Jones' production.

Previews begin Friday, Nov. 11, at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie. The show opens Friday, Nov. 18. (847) 673-6300 or northlight.org.

Boomer nostalgia

“The Wonder Bread Years,” Pat Hazell's one-man show about growing up in post World War II America, comes to the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre.

5 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12, at 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights. (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.com.

LOL

The Second City brings its Laugh Out Loud tour of the company's greatest hits from its 50-year history to Fox Valley Repertory for two shows.

8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12 and 19, at Pheasant Run Resort, 4051 E. Main St., St. Charles. (630) 584-6342 or foxvalley rep.org.

• Teatro Luna introduces a new Latina comedy cabaret Marimachas! at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, at Calles y Suenos, 1900 S. Carpenter St., Chicago. Gwen LaRoka headlines. For information, see teatroluna.org.

• Marriott Theatre for Young Audiences presents “Seussical,” the musical by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens (“Ragtime”) inspired by 14 stories by Dr. Seuss. Jeff Award winner Rachel Rockwell directs the show, which opens Friday, Nov. 11, at 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire. (847) 634-0200 or marriotttheatre.com.

• A new baker arrives in a small French town with his much younger wife, whose decision to leave him leads to some unexpected consequences in Stephen Schwartz's musical, “The Baker's Wife.” Circle Theatre revives the rarely produced musical as part of its 27th season. Kevin Bellie directs and Gary Powell serves as music director of the show, which begins previews Friday, Nov. 11, at 1010 Madison St., Oak Park. It opens Nov. 16. (708) 660-9540 or circle-theatre.org.

• The Neo-Futurists host 30 Beers for 60 Minutes beginning at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, at the Neo-Futurarium at 5153 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago. A combination performance and tasting of 30 beers from local and regional microbreweries, the event is a fundraiser for the theater company and includes a performance of the Neo-Futurists' long-running show “Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind,” which promises 30 plays in 60 minutes. Individual tickets are $77.97, a penny a play for the 7,797 world premiere plays performed at the Neo-Futurarium since the show began. (773) 878-4557 or neofuturists.org.

• LiveWire Chicago Theatre opens its 2011-12 season with the 2011 Obie Award-winning “A Bright New Boise,” Samuel D. Hunter's comedy about a man — trying to reconnect with his estranged son — whose world implodes when his co-workers uncover secrets about his past. LiveWire executive director Joshua Aaron Weinstein directs the show starring Tom Hickey, Allison Cain, Faith Hurley, Brian Rad and Jackson Challinor. It opens Saturday, Nov. 12, at the Greenhouse Theater Center 2257, N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. (773) 404-7446 or livewirechicago.com.

• Performers Dave Urlakis and Sean Cusick bring their show “Urlakis & Cusick” — a sketch comedy revue about everything from marriage and children to politics and work — to Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. It runs at 10:30 p.m. Saturdays, beginning Nov. 12, through Dec. 17. (773) 327-5252 or stage773.com.

• The Fresh Squeezed Series at Victory Gardens Theater continues at 7:30 p.m. Saturday Nov. 12, and Sunday, Nov. 13, with harmonica player Yuri Lane in “MeTube.” Produced in partnership with the Chicago Humanities Festival, the show chronicles how beatboxer Lane became an overnight Internet sensation when his YouTube vide went viral. Performances are at 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. (773) 871-3000 or victoryardens.org.

• The Annoyance Theatre reprises its adults-only alternative to holiday sweetness, “Fa, La La La (expletive),” about a woman trying to make the holidays happy for a family, which includes her alcoholic husband and an angst-ridden daughter. The show opens Saturday, Nov. 12, at 4830 N. Broadway, Chicago and runs through Dec. 17. (773) 561-4665 or theannoyance.com.

• The Playground Theater, 3209 N. Halsted St., Chicago, hosts “Takin' It to the Beats,” a self-styled improvacapella that recalls iO Chicago's “Baby Wants Candy.” The show runs at 8 p.m. Saturdays beginning Nov. 12, through Dec. 17. (773) 871-3793 or the-playground.com.

v Holland Taylor, of TV's “Two and a Half Men,” stars as the late Texas governor in the one-woman show, “Ann: An Affectionate Portrait of Ann Richards” in its pre-Broadway engagement at the Bank of America Theatre, 18 W. Monroe St., Chicago. Performances begin Sunday, Nov. 13. (800) 775-2000 or broadway inchicago.com.

• David Zak directs “Beyond Brokeback,” a staged reading of essays, poetry and music inspired by the Ang Lee film “Brokeback Mountain.” The event follows a screening of the movie at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 13, at the Auditorium Theater of Roosevelt University, 50 E. Congress Parkway, Chicago. (312) 922-2110 pridefilmsandplays.com.

• A brother and sister — who inherit an aviary from their late father who built it to house the soul of his wife who he believed had turned into a bird — must decide what to do with it in Adam Bock's off-Broadway comedy, “Five Flights.” Artistic director Peter Cieply directs Immediate Theatre's production, which opens Monday, Nov. 14, at Red Tape Theatre, 621 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. (800) 838-3006 or immediatetheatrechicago.com.

• The Music Theatre Company hots benefit performances of “The Last Five Years” about a couple falling in and out of love, at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14, to Wednesday, Nov. 16; Nov 21 and 22; and 6 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 20, at 1850 Green Bay Road, Highland Park. Tickets are $35 and all proceeds benefit the company. (847) 579-4900 or themusictheatrecompany.org.

• Simply Sensational, a benefit for Pride Films & Plays, takes place Monday, Nov. 14, at 3023 N. Clark St., Chicago. The evening begins at 6:30 p.m. and includes appetizers, cocktails and entertainment. Tickets available at (800) 838-3006 or pridefilmsandplays.com.

• Poet Robert Bly's translation of Henrik Ibsen's “Peer Gynt” marks the next production by Polarity Ensemble Theatre, in association with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. Theatre Wit artistic director Jeremy Wechsler helms the production of Ibsen's drama about a daydreamer and fabricator who disrupts his former girlfriend's wedding, romances and abandons various women, and embarks upon a series of international adventures, including slave trader and prophet before returning home to his faithful wife. Previews begin Tuesday, Nov. 15, at the Storefront Theater, 66 E. Randolph St., Chicago. The show opens Nov. 18. (312) 742-8497 or petheatre.com.

• A Reasonable Facsimile Theatre Company performs its next installment of staged readings of TV series reruns as part its “season of sin” on Tuesday, Nov. 15, at Mary's Attic, 5400 N. Clark St., Chicago. This week's installment features episodes from “X Files,” “Supernatural,” “Dark Shadows” and “Church Chat” from “Saturday Night Live.” (773) 418-4475 or arftco.com.

• SiNNERMAN Ensemble begins its 2011-12 season with “Sweet Confinement,” by co-artistic director Anna Carini. The play centers around what happens when some old friends meet up to help their pal Amy, whose estranged husband has attempted suicide in an effort to win her back. The preview is Wednesday, Nov. 16, at the Viaduct Theatre, 3111 N. Western Ave., Chicago. The show opens Thursday, Nov. 17. (773) 296-6024 or sinnermanensemble.org.

• Previews begin Wednesday, Nov. 16, for Mercury Theater's production of “The Christmas Schooner,” the musical by John Reeger (book) and Julie Shannon (music, lyrics) based on the true story of the 19th century sailors who risked their lives to bring fir trees from Michigan's upper peninsula to German immigrants in Chicago for Christmas. L. Walter Stearns directs the production, which includes music direction by Eugene Dizon and choreography by Brenda Didier. The show opens Monday, Nov. 21, at 3745 N. Southport, Chicago. (773) 325-1700 or mercurytheaterchicago.com.

• In the Works, the Millennium Park series that showcases in-development works from local theaters, returns Thursday, Nov. 17, with a concert reading of Lifeline Theatre's “Hunger.” Lifeline ensemble member Chris Hainsworth adapts the 2003 novel by Elise Blackwell set during the 900-day Nazi siege of Leningrad where a botanist tries to protect a cache of seeds for future generations. Robert Kauzlaric directs the reading, which runs at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17, through Saturday, Nov. 19, at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, 55 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago. (312) 742-8497 or millenniumpark.org. Lifeline will mount a full production of “Hunger” Feb. 3 to March 25, 2012, at 6912 N. Glenwood Ave., Chicago.

• The Neo-Futurists present “Burning Bluebird,” a holiday tale inspired by the true story of the 1903 fire that destroyed Chicago's Iroquois Theatre and claimed the lives of 600 patrons during a matinee performance of a Christmas pantomime called “Mr. Bluebird.” Clown performers recall and re-create the events, which occurred during that fateful performance while vainly trying to script an alternate ending to the tragedy. Ensemble member Jay Torrence created the show, directed by The Hypocrites artistic director Halena Kays. The show begins previews on Thursday, Nov. 17, and opens Saturday, Nov. 19, at the Neo-Futurarioum, 5153 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago. (773) 275-5255 or neofuturists.org.

• Previews begin Thursday, Nov. 17, for a new musical comedy, “Another Night Before Christmas” at the Theatre at the Center, 1040 Ridge Road, Munster, Ind. Hollis Resnik stars as a Karol, a single woman whose wish may come true courtesy of an old elf, played by Don Forston, who once worked at the North Pole. The show opens Sunday, Nov. 20. (219) 836-3255 or (800) 511-1552 or theatreatthecenter.com.

• Emerald City Theatre celebrates the holidays with Allison Gregory's adaptation of one of Barbara Park's Junie B. Jones children's books. Jacqueline Stone directs “Junie B. Jones in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells!” which centers around Junie's misfortune of drawing May's name in the Secret Santa gift. Performances begin Thursday, Nov. 17, at the Apollo Theater, 2540 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. The show, which stars Amber Robinson in the title role and Samantha Perry as May, opens on Nov. 19. (773) 529-2690 or emeraldcitytheatre.com.

• Signal Ensemble Theatre's double bill of the one-acts “East of Berlin” and “The Russian Play” by Canadian writer Hannah Moscovitch, has been extended. “East of Berlin” centers on a young man named Rudi who, along with his family, escaped from the Nazis seven years earlier and is now confronting his past. Signal's production marks the play's Chicago-area premiere. The darkly comic “The Russian Play” centers on a flower show girl who falls in love with a gravedigger. Performances continue through Dec. 18 at 1802 W. Berenice Ave., Chicago. (773) 698-7389 or signalensemble.com.

• TimeLine Theatre Company has extended its Chicago area premiere of “The Pitman Painters,” about a group of Northern England miners who became art world sensations during the 1930s. Performances continue through Dec. 18 at 615 W. Wellington Ave., Chicago. (773) 281-8463, ext. 6 or timelinetheatre.com.

• “Million Dollar Quartet” — the fictionalized account of a 1956 jam session involving early rock 'n' roll greats at Sun Records in Memphis — has been extended again. The latest extension, through May 31, marks the fourth year of the hit production at the Apollo Theater, 2540 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. (773) 935-6100 or milliondollarquartetlive.com.

• A Red Orchid Theatre has extended its Chicago area premiere of “Becky Shaw,” Gina Gionfriddo's comedy about Suzanna who sets up a blind date for her stepbrother with Becky Shaw, a woman who works with Suzanna's husband, Andrew. Performances continue through Sunday, Nov. 20, at 1531 N. Wells St., Chicago. (312) 943-8722 or aredorchidtheatre.org.

• “I Still Love H.E.R.,” a tribute to hip-hop, opened recently at the Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport, Chicago. (773) 935-6860 or athenaeumtheatre.org.

• The National Endowment for the Arts, as part of its Big Read initiative designed to promote reading, •warded a 2011-2012 grant to Chicago's Raven Theatre for its arts outreach program for students in Chicago's Edgewater and Rogers Park neighborhoods. For Big Read, Raven will produce a bilingual project centered on “Sun, Stone, and Shadows: 20 Great Mexican Short Stories” edited by Jorge F. Hernandez. Ensemble members will work with students to create performance pieces based on the short stories. Those works will be performed at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 6 at the theater located at 6157 N. Clark St., Chicago.