What’s new onstage
Ÿ Award-winning director David Cromer returns to American Theater Company to direct “Rent,” Jonathan Larson’s hit about a group of artists/friends navigating life in New York City during the AIDS crisis of the late 1980s. Previews begin Friday, April 27, at 1909 W. Byron St., Chicago. The show opens Sunday, May 6. (773) 409-4125 or atcweb.org.
Ÿ Writers’ block coupled with interruptions from neighbors and family make life difficult for playwright Rick Jacobs, whose reality merges with fantasy in the farcical “Figments,” written by Billy St. John. Saint Sebastian Players concludes its 31st season with the play which opens Friday, April 27, at St. Bonaventure, 1625 W. Diversey, Chicago. (773) 404-7922 or saintsebastianplayers.org.
Ÿ Mike Toomey returns to the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights, with “TV & Me,” a salute to 1960s and 1970s television. He performs at 5 and 8 p.m. Saturday, April 28. (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.com.
Ÿ Fox Valley Repertory artistic director John Gawlik helms Circle Theatre’s Chicago area premiere of “When the Rain Stops Falling,” Andrew Bovell’s drama chronicling the experiences of a family over four generations. Previews begin Saturday, April 28, at 1010 Madison St., Oak Park. The show opens Wednesday, May 2. (708) 660-9540 or circle-theatre.org.
Ÿ A young composer about to turn 30 worries about professional failure in “tick, tick ... BOOM!” the semi autobiographical musical composer/lyricist Jonathan Larson penned before his blockbuster, “Rent.” Porchlight Music Theatre concludes its season with the production directed by Adam Pelty with music direction by Diana Lawrence. Previews begin Saturday, April 28, at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. The show opens Thursday, May 3. (773) 327-5252 or porchlightmusictheatre.org.
Ÿ Griffin Theatre Company concludes its 23rd season with the Midwest premiere of “KIN,”
Bathsheba Doran’s dramedy examining how extended families impact the romance between an American scholar and an Irish personal trainer. The production marks the Griffin directing debut of Jess McLeod, associate director for the company’s production of “Spring Awakening.” Shane Kenyon and Stacie Beth Green star in the show which begins previews Saturday, April 28, at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. The show opens Sunday, May 6. (773) 975-8150 or griffintheatre.com.
Ÿ Tim Paul brings his solo show “No Fats, No Femmes” to the Annoyance Theatre, 4830 N. Broadway, Chicago, for a benefit performance at 8 p.m. Monday, April 30. This marks Paul’s last U.S. performance before he takes the show to the Dublin Gay Theatre Festival in May. Proceeds will help fund the Ireland performances. (773) 561-4665 or theannoyance.com.
Ÿ Lady Celia Cain, a British suffragette imprisoned for fighting for a woman’s right to vote in 1913 London, meets a young seamstress who changes her life in “Her Naked Skin,” by Rebecca Lenkiewicz. Shattered Globe Theatre presents the play’s Midwest premiere beginning previews on Tuesday, May 1, at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. The show, directed by artistic director Roger Smart, opens Friday, May 4. (773) 327-5252 or shatteredglobe.org.
Ÿ TimeLine Theatre Company presents the world premiere of investigative journalist turned playwright John Conroy’s “My Kind of Town,” inspired by the police torture scandal that rocked Chicago, and centered around the efforts of one imprisoned man’s fight for justice. Nick Bowling directs the production, which begins previews on Tuesday, May 1, at 615 W. Wellington Ave., Chicago. The show opens Thursday, May 10. (773) 281-8463, ext. 6, or timelinetheatre.com.
Ÿ Chicago Children’s Theatre welcomes Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia and the company’s triple bill Eric Carle’s stories of “Brown Bear, Brown Bear;” “Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me” and “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” Performances run from Wednesday, May 2, through Sunday, May 27, at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. (773) 871-3000 or chicagochildrenstheatre.org.
Ÿ Signal Ensemble Theatre concludes its season with “Hostage Song,” a rock musical by Clay McLeod Chapman (book) and Kyle Jarrow (music and lyrics) about a pair of hostages held in a foreign country, who take refuge in music. Previews begin Thursday, May 3, at 1802 W. Berenice Ave., Chicago. The show opens Saturday, May 5. (773) 698-7389 or signalensemble.com.
Ÿ Previews begin Thursday, May 3, for New Leaf Theatre’s revival of Tom Stoppard’s “Arcadia,” a time-shifting examination of time, history, mathematics and sex. The show opens Friday, May 11, at the Lincoln Park Cultural Center, 2045 N. Lincoln Park West, Chicago. Artistic director Jessica Hutchinson directs. See newleaftheatre.org for tickets and information.
Ÿ Cabaret artist Spider Saloff debuts her one-woman musical, “The Roar of the Butterfly,” beginning Wednesday, May 2, at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. (773) 871-3000 or victorygardens.org.
Ÿ First Folio Theatre in Oak Brook teams up with Theatre at the Center in Munster, Ind., for the Chicago area premiere of “Making God Laugh,” a comedy about empty-nester parents whose children return at various holidays every decade, beginning with Thanksgiving 1980. Peggy Roeder and Craig Spidle star in the comedy written by Sean Grennan and directed by William Pullinsi. Previews begin Thursday, May 3, at 1040 Ridge Road, Munster, Ind. The show opens Sunday, May 6. (219) 836-3255 or (800) 511-1552 or theatreatthecenter.com.
Ÿ Remy Bumppo Theatre has extended its production of Lee Blessing’s one-man comedy “Chesapeake,” about a performance artist who incites the ire of a conservative senator. Greg Matthew Anderson stars in the show, which runs through Sunday, May 6, at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. (773) 404-7336 or remybumppo.org.
Ÿ Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago, has extended its all-star production of Eugene O’Neill’s “The Iceman Cometh” through Sunday, June 17. (312) 443-3800 or goodmantheatre.org.
Ÿ The Belgium-based theater company Salomee Speelt, which made its Chicago debut last year, returns to perform the world premiere of a new translation of 20th century French writer Marguerite Duras’ “La Musica,” by Chicago Dramatists’ resident playwright Alice Austen. The play is about a couple who — one the eve of their divorce being finalized — meet at the same hotel where they fell in love three years earlier. Performances run through Saturday, May 12, at 1105 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago. (646) 469-7992 or brownpapertickets.com. See salomeespeelt.be for more information.
Ÿ Chicago Dramatists’ 34th season will include three world premieres by resident playwrights M.E.H. Lewis, Reginald Edmund and Robert Koon. The season begins Sept. 20 with Lewis’ “Freshly Fallen Snow” about a doctor who tests her new procedure for “editing” memories on a traumatized Iraq War veteran, bringing to the surface painful memories. Next up is Edmund’s “Southbridge” (Jan. 24-March 13, 2013), about a black man accused of murdering a white woman, followed by Koon’s “Homecoming 1972” (May 16-June 23, 2013), about a Vietnam War vet who has difficulty readjusting to life after returning from the war. Performances are at 1105 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago. Tickets for the 2012-2013 season go on sale July 1. They’re available by phone (312) 633-0630 or online at chicagodramatists.org.
Ÿ The Riverfront Theater, 650 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago, announced its first full season under its 22,000-square-foot tent, which served as the home for last year’s 16-week run of “Peter Pan.” Heavy on music and music and video hybrids, the season begins Wednesday, May 30, with The Twelve Tenors, followed by “Dancing Queen” a salute to ABBA and the 1970s (June 6-24); “Sprit of the Dance” showcasing tango, flamenco and salsa dancing (June 27-July 15); the adults-only “La Soiree” a combination cabaret, burlesque and circus sideshow (July 18-Aug. 5); “Rocket Man” a celebration of Elton John’s music (Aug. 8-26) and “Man in the Mirror” featuring the music of Michael Jackson (Sept. 12-30). For tickets see riverfronttheater.com or call (888) 556-9484.
Ÿ “Ron Paul: The Musical” runs through Saturday, May 12, at Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. (773) 598-4549 or gorillatango.com.
Ÿ Theater Oobleck takes its show “The Hunchback Variations: A Chamber Opera” to New York where it begins previews June 1 at Manhattan’s 59E59 Theatre, 59 E. 59th St. in New York City.
Ÿ Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s contribution to the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, The Q Brothers “Othello: The Remix,” will also be included in Germany’s Shakespeare im Globe Neuss Festival in July and in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August.
Ÿ “At The Flash,” by California playwrights Sean Chandler and David Leeper, was recently named the winner of Pride Films and Plays’ 2012 Great Gay Play and Musical Contest.
Ÿ Gorilla Tango’s Skokie Theatre seeks submissions for shows — the more offbeat and experimental the better — for its Primetime Series produced at the theater through the rest of the year. Shows must last at least 60 minutes and the group submitting the idea must be willing to create and direct it. For more information contact Suzanne Coors at suzanne@gorillatangoc.om. Submissions are due by Tuesday, May 15.
Ÿ Steppenwolf Theatre Company is accepting applications from Chicago’s storefront theater companies for Garage Rep 2013, which showcases three plays from three ensembles in repertory. Applications are due by 5 p.m. Friday, June 1. See steppenwolf.org/garagerep2013 for more information.
— Barbara Vitello