Local theater: Favs for St. Patrick's Day

St. Pat's faves

“Flanagan's Wake,” the interactive comedy in which audience members participate in a raucous Irish send-off to a beloved local by his eccentric family and friends, returns to the Fox Valley Repertory Theatre and the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in time for St. Patrick's Day.

FVR performances are at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 16-17, at Pheasant Run Resort, 4051 E. Main St., St. Charles. $32. (630) 584-6342 or foxvalleyrep.org. Metropolis performances are at 5 and 8 p.m. Saturday, March 17, at 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights. $35. (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.com.

Operation integration

Gurnee resident and Shattered Globe member Doug McDade directs Clockwise Theatre's production of “Palmer Park,” by Joanna McClelland Glass. Set in 1967, just after race riots rocked Detroit, the drama is about two professional couples — one black, one white — who buy houses in the once tony suburb of Palmer Park, Mich., during integration's early days.

Opens Friday, March 16, at 221 N. Genesee St., Waukegan. $16.50. (847) 775-1500 o clockwisetheatre.org.

Life's quest

The son of Charlemagne sets out on a quest for happiness and encounters political intrigue, temptation and war before he finds contentment in “Pippin,” the 1972 pop musical by Stephen Schwartz and Roger O. Hirson. Andrew Kelz plays the title role in The Music Theatre Company's revival, directed and choreographed by the company's founding artistic director, Jessica Redish.

Previews begin Thursday, March 22, at the Karger Center, 1850, Green Bay Road, Highland Park. $35, $40. The show opens Thursday, March 29. (847) 579-4900 or themusictheatre company.org.

• Writer/illustrator Maira Kalman's illustrated blog “The Principles of Uncertainty” inspired the latest from Genesis Ensemble, a stream-of-consciousness performance piece that opens Friday, March 16, at 5344 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago. The piece is titled “The Rest Unknown: how to live and how to die,” and it unfolds as a walking tour. See genesisensemble.org for more information.

• “Bard Fiction,” a mashup that takes the characters from Quentin Tarantino's film “Pulp Fiction” and sets them in Elizabethan England, is the creation of Commedia Beauregard, the company that staged “A Klingon Christmas Carol.” “Bard Fiction” opens Friday, March 16, at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. (773) 404-7336 or cbtheatre.org.

• Lifeline Theatre presents the world premiere of “Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed” as part of its KidSeries. Based on the Mo Willems book about Wilbur, a mole rat who defies tradition by wearing clothes and pays the price for it until he takes his case to Grand-pah, the most naked mole rat of them all. Ensemble member Robert Kauzlaric adapted the show, which is directed by ensemble member Paul Homquist. It runs Saturday, March 17, through May 6, at 6912 N. Glenwood Ave., Chicago. (773) 761-4477 or lifelinetheatre.com.

• Plasticene Physical Theater recently announced that after 17 years it will no longer create new works. But before they bring the curtain down, ensemble members present “Graphomania,” about individuals deluged with data who try to save themselves from an unknown threat. Previews begin Saturday, March 17, at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St., Chicago. The show opens Monday, March 19. (773) 960-9098 or plasticene.com.

• Redmoon Theatre hosts its annual Spectacle Lunatique benefit on Saturday, March 17, at the Hudson Club, 2223 S. Wabash Ave., Chicago. The event includes food, dancing and performances. Tickets are $175 for 8:30 p.m. admission and $50 for 10:30 p.m. admission. (312) 850-8440, ext. 100 or redmoon.org.

• Broadway in Chicago offers three tickets for $45 to Emerald City Theatre's “Pinkalicious,” running at the Broadway Playhouse, 175 E. Chestnut St., Chicago. The discounted tickets are available through Saturday, March 24, to anyone who uses the code “green” when ordering online at broadwayinchicago.com.

• Jazz musician George Goetschel and friends play at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, March 18, at Raven Theatre, 6157 N. Clark St., Chicago, as part of the theater's Evermore Series. See raventheatre.com.

• Midwest New Musicals, Light Opera Works and Citadel Theatre Company team up for concert readings of in-progress musicals. Next up is “Verve,” Fran Zell and Karena Mendoza's look at four women who challenge each other to a weight loss contest. The staged reading are at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 19, at Light Opera Works Second Stage, 1420 Maple St., Evanston, and at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 20, at Citadel Theatre, West Campus, 300 Waukegan Road, Lake Forest. (847) 920-5360 or (847) 735-8554.

• Black Ensemble Theater hosts its 7th annual Black Playwright's Festival Monday, March 19, through Saturday, March 24, at the Black Ensemble Theater Cultural Center, 4450 N. Clark St., Chicago. The festival features staged readings of full-length plays by Leonard Ferris (“The Diversion of Barbara Jean Williams” about a man coping with the loss of his wife); Creola Thomas (“Sisters From Belzoni” about self-acceptance), Wendell Etherly (“The Red Summer” about a 1919 race riot in Chicago) and Rueben Echoles (“Reverend Lee” about a musician who helps enlighten Louisiana “church folk” who are set in their ways). The festival also features readings of 10-minute “shorties” by Etherly, Loy A. Webb and Cory Andre Wright. It opens with a party and tribute to playwright/actor/director Regina Taylor, an artistic associate with Goodman Theatre. (773) 769-4451 or blackensembletheater.org.

• Hobo Junction presents its fourth comedy festival Hobo Robo 4: Hobos in Hollywood, running Monday, March 19, through Wednesday, March 21, at Strawdog Theatre, 3829 N. Broadway, Chicago. The mini-fest consists of eight, original 10-minute comedies selected from more than 200 submissions. See hobojunctionproductions.com for more information.

• Previews begin Tuesday, March 20, for UrbanTheater Company's production of Suzan-Lori Parks' “(Expletive) A,” produced in association with Pegasus Players at the former Hull House, 4520 N. Beacon St., Chicago. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, the play is inspired by “The Scarlet Letter” and centers on an abortionist named Hester forced to take a life in order to save her son. Richard Perez directs the show, which opens Thursday, March 22. (312) 239-8783 or urbantheaterchicago.org.

• Polarity Ensemble Theatre and Azusa Productions collaborate on David Hammond's stage adaptation of “Tom Jones,” Henry Fielding's 18th century comic novel chronicling the romantic and social misadventures of a good-hearted, but lusty young man. Polarity's Maggie Speer directs the show which stars Marcus Davis as Tom. Previews begin Tuesday, March 20, at the Josephinum Academy, 1500 N. Bell St., Chicago. The show opens Thursday, March 22. (800) 838-3006 or petheatre.com.

• The Mercury Theater, 3745 N. Southport Ave., Chicago, hosts the Midwest premiere of “Freud's Last Session,” Mark St. Germain's off-Broadway hit in which renowned psychoanalyst Dr. Sigmund Freud (Martin Rayner) invites a young C.S. Lewis (Mark S. Dold) to his home where the men debate the meaning of life as England prepares to enter World War II. Previews begin Wednesday, March 21. The show opens Wednesday, March 28. (773) 325-1700 or mercurytheaterchicago.com.

• Lookingglass Theatre Company puts a new spin on dinner theater with a production created by top chef Rick Bayless, Tony Hernandez and Heidi Stillman. “Rick Bayless in Cascabel: Dinner-Daring-Desire” an interactive production in which the audience samples Bayless' creation, centers on a boardinghouse cook who prepares fantastic meals for the residents but who can't entice the proprietress to sample his fare. Previews begin Wednesday, March 21, at Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago. The show opens Tuesday, March 27. Many performances are already sold out. (312) 337-0665 or lookingglasstheatre.org.

• When a legal clerk refuses to complete a small task, he upends an entire office in “Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street,” an Organic Theater Company of Chicago adaptation of Herman Melville's 19th century tale. Performances run Thursday, March 22, through Sunday, March 25, at North Central College's Meiley-Swallow Hall, 31 S. Ellsworth, Naperville. (630) 637-7469 or organictheater.org.

• Hubris Productions launches its sixth season centered around the theme: A Year of Envy, with Wendy MacLeod's “House of Yes,” about a family who receives a surprise when the eldest son arrives home for Thanksgiving with his fiancee. Jacob Christopher Green directs the production which opens Thursday, March 22, at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. For information, see hubrisproductions.com.

• Adventure Stage Chicago concludes its eighth season with the stage adaptation of “The Giver,” Lois Lowry's tale about a boy who lives in a community of “sameness.” He trains with The Giver, who teaches him about destiny. Previews begin Thursday, March 22, at Vittum Theater, 1012 N. Noble St., Chicago. The show opens at 4 p.m. Saturday, March 24. Lowry will attend the opening performance. Eric Coble adapted the play. Brian Bell directs. (773) 342-4141 or adventurestage.org.

• Chicago artists Seth Bockley, Devon de Mayo and Artus Chavez present their in-development satire “Guerra: A Clown Play,” about clowns who decide to go to war. The trio present the show as part of the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs In the Works' Theater Lab Series, from Thursday, March 22, to Saturday, March 24, at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, 201 E. Randolph St., Chicago. (312) 742-8497 or millenniumpark.org.

• American Theater Company hosts its 2012 gala Swing on a Star, from 6 to 11 p.m. Thursday, March 22, at the JW Marriott Hotel, 151 W. Adams St., Chicago. Tickets are $200 and include dinner, open bar and an auction. See atcweb.org for more information.

• Previews continue on Saturdays, March 17 and 24, for “Brunch Punkx,” about renegade culinary students who break into prison to serve a death row inmate his final meal. The show opens Saturday, March 31, at The Annoyance Theatre, 4832 N. Broadway, Chicago. (773) 561-4665 or theannoyance.com.

• A limited number of tickets remain for Ike Holter's “Hit The Wall,” The Inconvenience's hit show running as part of Steppenwolf Theatre's Garage Rep. Performances run through April 15 at 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago. Inspired by the 1969 Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village which sparked the gay rights movement, the play centers on 10 unlikely revolutionaries involved in the history-making event. (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org.

• The Chicago Fringe Festival's board of directors has named Vincent Lacey, who has served as managing director since the festival's inception two years ago, as its new executive director. In a prepared release, Lacey said he looks forward to bringing “uncensored, diverse shows to an expanding audience” for the nine-day festival which last year drew more than 2,800 theater goers to Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood.

— Barbara Vitello