Theater events: Crystal Lake's Raue revives 'Guys & Dolls'
'Guys & Dolls'
While Nathan Detroit tries to organize a crap game and keep his longtime girlfriend Adelaide happy, his pal, fellow gambler Sky Masterson romances a missionary to win a bet in Frank Loesser's "Guys and Dolls." Williams Street Repertory revives the musical comedy centered on Damon Runyon's trademark, Brooklyn-born characters. Mark R. Mahallak directs and choreographs.
Performances begin at 8 p.m. Friday, June 30, at the Raue Center for the Arts, 26 N. Williams St., Crystal Lake. $35.50. (815) 356-9212 or rauecenter.org.
Waiting for a break
Actor/comedian Brad Zimmerman returns to the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts with "My Son the Waiter: A Jewish Tragedy." In the autobiographical show, Zimmerman examines his family and romantic life but centers mainly on the 29 years he spent "temporarily" waiting tables while pursuing a career as an actor and a comedian in New York City.
Previews begin at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 6, at 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie. The show opens July 13. $46, $56. (847) 673-6300 or mysonthewaiter.com.
'Margaritaville' on tap
"Everybody these days needs a little fun and we're going to be the fun."
That was the promise 2017 Tony Award-winning director Christopher Ashley ("Come From Away") made during a recent preview for "Escape From Margaritaville," the new romantic comedy by Jimmy Buffett (music and lyrics) and writers Greg Garcia ("My Name is Earl," "Raising Hope") and Mike O'Malley ("Shameless") scheduled for a pre-Broadway run this fall at Chicago's Oriental Theatre.
The premise is simple, said Ashley: Boy meets girl in paradise, boy loses girl in paradise, boy gets girl back in paradise. The score includes such Buffett favorites as "Son of a Son of a Sailor," "Margaritaville" and "Volcano" along with new music, including "It's My Job" sung by Rachel, a vacationing workaholic who catches the eye of local heartthrob Tully.
A show about making a life for yourself on your own terms, "Margaritaville," currently running at the La Jolla Playhouse in La Jolla, California, appeals to both parrot heads, as Buffett fans are known, and traditional theatergoers who may be unfamiliar with the Buffett world, Ashley said.
Buffett, speaking to the Broadway Playhouse audience via FaceTime, praised the performances of Paul Nolan, Alison Luff and Andre Ward, who flew in from California for the preview.
"After what I just heard," said Buffett laughing, "I'd buy a ticket."
Performances run Nov. 9 through Dec. 2 at 24 W. Randolph St., Chicago. Tickets start at $33 and are available by phone. Casting has not been set for the Chicago production. (800) 775-2000 or broadwayinchicago.com.
Other theater events
• WildClaw Theatre continues to accept submissions for Deathscribe X, its 10th annual international festival of radio horror plays taking place Dec. 4. The theater seeks 10-minute radio scripts that are "genuinely scary, imaginative, chilling, intelligent, suspenseful, horrific or downright grotesque," according to its news release. Five scripts will be named as finalists with the winning entry receiving a $100 cash prize. See wildclawtheatre.com/deathscribe.
• "Alone, With Friends," an LGBTQ comedy about a young man who "stumbles into love within his circle of friends," opens Friday, June 30, at Prop Thtr, 3502 N. Elston Ave., Chicago. (773) 742-5420 or propthtr.org.
• Steppenwolf Theatre's LookOut Series continues with a limited run of "How to Be a Rock Critic (Based on the Writings of Lester Bangs)," by Jessica Blank and Erik Jansen. Adapted from the writings of the late journalist, the solo show runs Thursday, July 6, through Saturday, July 22, at the 1700 Theatre, 1700 N. Halsted St., Chicago. (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org.
• Writers Theatre has extended "Parade," the musical by Jason Robert Brown that chronicles the true story of Leo Frank, a Brooklyn-born Jew falsely accused of the 1913 murder of a 13-year-old girl in Atlanta. Performances run through July 15 at 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe. (847) 242-6000 or writerstheatre.org.
• Silk Road Rising's 2017-2018 main stage season begins Nov. 9 with Candace Chong's "Wild Boar." It's about an editor and a college student who work to publicize the truth about the disappearance of a controversial professor, adapted by Tony Award-winner David Henry Hwang. That's followed by the premiere of "Through the Elevated Line" (March 8-April 15, 2018), Novid Parsi's drama about a gay man formerly imprisoned in his native Iran who arrives at his sister's Chicago home and proceeds to disrupt her life. The main stage season concludes with the premiere of "Hollow/Wave" (May 17-27, 2018), a solo show about depression, body image and sexual assault written and performed by Anu Bhatt. The upcoming 15th season also includes the Crescent and Star Staged Reading Series chronicling Arab and Muslim journeys and the company's New China Festival comprised of staged readings from China and Taiwan scheduled for July 2018. The main stage flex pass is $85. The staged reading series flex pass is $80. Together they're $165. (312) 857-1234, ext. 201, or silkroadrising.org.
• Pride Films and Plays examines the lives of gay men and lesbians during the early part of the 20th century as part of its first full season in residence at Pride Art Center, 4139 N. Broadway, Chicago. In addition to the previously announced "The Nance," opening Thursday, July 6, the upcoming 2017-2018 season includes the dramedy "Perfect Arrangement" (Sept. 22-Oct. 23), about closeted State Department employees in 1950 who marry each other's partners to avoid outing themselves. That's followed by the Chicago-area premiere of the off-Broadway tuner "Yank! A World War II Love Story" (Jan. 13-Feb. 18, 2018) about Stu, a Midwestern boy drafted in 1943 who falls for a handsome fellow soldier. The season concludes in March 2018 with a world premiere to be announced. Four-show subscriptions are $100. Preview subscriptions are $75. Other options include a $35 four-show "Crash Pass" for theatergoers 30 and younger. (800) 737-0984 or pridefilmsandplays.com.
• The Chicago-area premiere of Mia Chung's "You for Me for You," about two sisters who escape from North Korea only to be separated at the border, opens Sideshow Theatre Company's 2017-2018 season on March 4, 2018. The season concludes June 22, 2018, with the world premiere of "Tilikum," a drama by Kristiana Rae Colon about the one-time king of the ocean forced into captivity in a marine amusement park. Performances take place at the Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. Tickets go on sale later at sideshowtheatre.org.
• Other Theatre, formerly known as The Other Theatre Company, opens its fourth season with Martin Zimmerman's "The Making of a Modern Folk Hero," a "comedic graphic novel for the stage" about an actor who agrees to play a superhero for a publicity stunt and gets carried away. That production takes place at Chicago Dramatists, 1105 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago. All other performances take place at The Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. Among them is a remount of the parody "Barney the Elf" (Nov. 25-Dec. 31), about the not-so-jolly reign of Santa Claus' wicked son. The season concludes with the world premiere of "Other Ways to Resist" (April 14-May 13, 2018), a new play festival examining the struggle some people face for respect, recognition and representation. See theothertheatrecompany.com.