Theater events: 'Sirens' tempts married actors

‘Sirens' love story at Citadel

Married actors Ellen and Scott Phelps play husband and wife in Citadel Theatre Company's production of “Sirens,” by Deborah Zoe Laufer. The romantic comedy is about a songwriter in a creative rut who accompanies his wife on an anniversary cruise to the Greek Islands where he's tempted by one of the mythic creatures. Will Casey directs. Begins at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3, at the West Campus Theatre, 300 S. Waukegan Road, Lake Forest. $32.50, $37.50. (847) 735-8554 or citadeltheatre.org.

Art + passion = drama

An enigmatic musician drifts into a Southern town and begins an affair with a lonely woman trapped in a loveless marriage in “Orpheus Descending,” Tennessee Williams' myth-inspired drama about lives transformed by art and passion. Julieanne Ehre directs Shattered Globe's production starring ensemble members Eileen Niccolai and Joe Weins. Previews begin Tuesday, Feb. 7, at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. The show opens Friday, Feb. 10. $18-$34. (773) 327-5252 or shatteredglobe.org.

Cirque's ‘Quidam' at Sears Centre

Cirque du Soleil brings its re-imagined “Quidam” to Hoffman Estates' Sears Centre Arena for a brief run. The show centers around a bored young girl named Zoe, who slips into an imaginary world where she discovers herself. Performances begin Wednesday, Feb. 8, at 5333 Prairie Stone Parkway, Hoffman Estates. $35-$80. (800) 732-7784 or cirquedusoleil.com/quidam.

What's new

• Previews continue through Friday, Feb. 3, for The Hypocrites' world premiere of Steve Moulds' adaptation of Luigi Pirandello's “Six Characters in Search of an Author.” Halena Kays directs the play in which six family members embroiled in their own drama interrupt a play rehearsal demanding the director stage their story. The show runs through March 11 at the Chopin Theater, 1543 W. Division St., Chicago. (773) 989-7352 or the-hypocrites.com.

• Teatro Luna remounts last year's “Crossed (How Going South Flipped Our Script)” — in which performers recount their immigrant experiences — with an all-female cast. The show opens Thursday, Feb. 9, at Luna Central 3912 N. Clark St., Chicago. Also, the ensemble hosts a free Blue Moon Open House Soiree to celebrate its new home from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3. (773) 819-5862 or teatroluna.org. 

• A Russian botanist charged with protecting a cache of valuable seeds is torn between duty and survival in Elise Blackwell's “Hunger,” adapted for Lifeline Theatre by Chris Hainsworth. Robert Kauzlaric directs the play set during the Nazi siege of Leningrad and starring John Henry Roberts as the botanist Ilya. Previews begin Friday, Feb. 3, at 6912 N. Glenwood Ave., Chicago. The show opens Feb. 12. (773) 761-4477 or lifelinetheatre.com. 

• Former employees of the Candlelight Dinner Playhouse — which closed in 1997 after 38 years and 150 musicals — will gather for a reunion from 6:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 4, at the European Chalet, 5445 S. Harlem Ave., Chicago, located two blocks from the old theater. Founders William Pullinsi and Anthony D'Angelo will attend. Call (773) 969-5200.

• Salsation Theater Company contributed a new show to Gorilla Tango Theatre's burlesque series “El Mari Chi Chi: A Robert Rodriguez Burlesque!” — about a macho mariachi gunning for the local drug lord who murdered his woman. The show runs Saturdays, beginning Feb. 4, at 1919 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. (773) 598-4549 or gorillatango.com.

• Signal Ensemble Theatre follows the 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 5, matinee of “Motion” — about a hotshot sports agent trying to make his client a No. 1 NFL draft pick — with a Super Bowl party. The $30 admission includes the play, the game, food and drinks. The theater is at 1802 W. Berenice Ave., Chicago. (773) 698-7389 or signalensemble.com.

• Prolific playwright Jon Steinhagen — whose play “Blizzard '67” is currently running at Chicago Dramatists — will have two shows running in Chicago when Raven Theatre presents the world premiere of his love story/mystery/drama “Dating Walter Dante,” loosely inspired by the Drew Peterson story. The play centers around a young woman who shocks her friends when she informs them she's dating a man whose first wife has died (possibly accidentally) and whose second wife is missing. Previews begin Tuesday, Feb. 7, at 6157 N. Clark St., Chicago. The show, directed by Cody Estle, opens Feb. 12. (773) 338-2177 or raventheatre.com.

• Previews begin Tuesday, Feb. 7, for Chicago Shakespeare theater's production of “A Midsummer Night's Dream,” featuring Tim Kazurinsky as Peter Quince, Tracy Michelle Arnold as Hippolyta/Titania, Timothy Edward Kane as Theseus/Oberon, Elizabeth Ledo as Puck and Ron Orbach as Nick Bottom. Gary Griffin casts a Freudian eye on the comedy about faeries interfering in the romantic lives of unsuspecting mortals. The show opens Feb. 15 at Navy Pier, 800 E. Grand Ave., Chicago. (312) 595-5600 or chicagoshakes.com. 

• Broadway in Chicago presents the national tour of “American Idiot,” the musical featuring the music of Green Day about three friends growing up in the shadow of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Performances begin Tuesday, Feb. 7, at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St., Chicago. (800) 775-2000 or broadwayinchicago.com.

• After 16 years as an itinerant theater, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble celebrates the opening of its new home at 5779 N. Ridge St., Chicago, with a benefit beginning at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8. The evening includes a workshop performance of “Women At War: Where Motivation Lies,” which examines women's experiences in the military. $15 suggested donation. (773) 334-7728 or rivendelltheatre.org.

• “The Doyle & Debbie Show” — about an aging country star trying to revive his career with a new singing partner, a single mother looking to make it big in Nashville — has been extended. Performances continue through June 24 at the Royal George Cabaret, 1641 N. Halsted St., Chicago. (312) 988-9000 or doyleanddebbie.com.

• Patrick Raynor's solo sketch comedy show “Come On! We're All Adults!” runs at 9:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Feb. 22, at The Annoyance Theatre, 4830 N. Broadway, Chicago. Also, the Annoyance has extended its Friday night, adults-only “The Holy (Expletive) Comedy Hour.” It runs midnight Saturdays through March 16. (773) 561-4665 or theannoyance.com.

• Pride Films & Plays is accepting plays and screenplays written by women and featuring lesbian characters for its second Women's Work Contest. Winners can earn cash prizes and their plays will receive staged readings between July 27 and 29 at the Center On Halsted's Hoover-Leppen Theater. For submission guidelines, see pridefilmsandplays.com.

• Lookingglass Theatre hosts post-show discussions inspired by its current production, “Mr. Rickey Calls a Meeting,” a fictionalized account of the decision in 1947 by Branch Rickey, Brooklyn Dodgers general manager, to break the color barrier in baseball. The discussions take place at the Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago. The topics and schedule follows: Sunday, Feb. 5: The Speed of Change: Revolution or Evolution?; Thursday, Feb. 9: Barrier-Breakers; Feb. 12: The Rise and Demise of the Negro Leagues: What Was Lost, and At What Cost? and Feb. 19: Who's In The Game: Race and Sports, Then and Now. (312) 337-0665 or lookingglasstheatre.org.

• Victory Gardens Theater announced the third IGNITION Festival of New American Plays, the biannual festival that produced Kristoffer Diaz's “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity” and “Year Zero” by Michael Golamco. VGT is searching for new, unpublished plays by playwrights of color. The company will accept submissions through March 1. Six new plays will be presented in staged readings beginning July 29 at 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. See victorygardens.org for details.

• Victory Gardens Theater announced that Geoffrey Jackson Scott has been named to the newly created position of director of new play development. Scott, who will help develop new works and manage the literary office, served for a season as Roadworks Productions associate artistic director and spent eight seasons at the New York Theatre Workshop, first as a literary fellow and then as a literary associate. For more on the company's season, see victorygardens.org.

• After 20 years on Broadway, National Pastime Theater has moved to the fourth floor of the Preston Bradley Center at 941 W. Lawrence Ave., in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood. Additionally, company members Keely Haddad-Null and Joe Loffing have taken over the roles of managing director and technical director respectively. The company will mark its new venue with The Beginning of the Big Time, a jazz benefit held from 7 to 10 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14. Tickets are $50 for couples, $25 for individuals in advance and $60 for couples and $30 for individuals at the door. Proceeds will help restore the historical venue. (773) 327-7077 or nationalpastimetheater.com.