Theater events: Drury Lane revives 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'

Go, go, go Joseph

Drury Lane Theatre concludes its season with a revival of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," the musical by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Adapted from the story of Joseph from the Book of Genesis, it centers on Jacob's youngest son Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his brothers to Potiphar. After rebuffing the advances of Potiphar's wife, Joseph is jailed until his ability to interpret dreams attracts the attention of the Pharoah. Evan Alexander Smith, who appeared in Chicago's pre-Broadway run of "Amazing Grace," stars as Joseph. Previews are at 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 19; 5 and 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 20; and 2 and 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 21, at 100 Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace. The show opens Jan. 25. $42-$62. (630) 530-0111 or drurylanetheatre.com.

Portrait of America

Marriott Theatre revives "Ragtime," the epic musical by composer/lyricists Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens and book writer Terrence McNally. Set during the dawn of the 20th century, the musical chronicles the stories of African-Americans, Jewish immigrants and others whose lives intersect in profound ways. Joseph Jefferson Award-winning director Nick Bowling ("The Bridges of Madison County," "Man of La Mancha") reunites with fellow Jeff-winning music director Ryan T. Nelson and award-winning actors Kathy Voytko as Mother and Nathaniel Stampley as Coalhouse Walker Jr. Previews are at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, Jan. 24-25; 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 26; 3 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 27; and 1 and 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 28, at 100 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire. The show opens Jan. 31. $50-$60. (847) 634-0200 or marriotttheatre.com.

'Nice Girl' at Raven

Raven Theatre's 35th season continues with the Chicago-area premiere of "Nice Girl." Melissa Ross' play is about 37-year-old Josephine Rosen, who lives with her mother in a Boston suburb and works a dead-end job until a burgeoning work friendship and a flirtation with a schoolmate suggest that a new life awaits. Lauren Shouse directs Lucy Carapetyan in the titular role. Previews are at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, Jan. 24-27, as well as 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 28, and 7:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 29, at 6157 N. Clark St., Chicago. The show opens Jan. 30. $29-$46. (773) 338-2177 or raventheatre.com.

Blue collar comedy

Ron OJ Parson directs Northlight Theatre's production of "Skeleton Crew," the third in Dominique Morisseau's three-play trilogy, "The Detroit Project." Set in a Detroit auto plant at the start of the Great Recession, "Skeleton Crew" chronicles workers dealing with a potential shutdown and job loss and a supervisor torn between loyalty to his colleagues and orders from management to cut costs. Previews are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 25; 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Jan. 26-27; and 2:30 and 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 28. Opens Feb. 2. $30-$81. (847) 673-6300 or northlight.org.

Other theater events

• It's a busy weekend at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights. At 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 19, the theater presents an interactive murder-mystery dinner titled "A Star is Dead" in the second floor ballroom. Tickets are $60 and include dinner and the show. WGN radio morning host Steve Cochran headlines a standup showcase at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 20, on the Metropolis main stage. Tickets are $35 and $40. (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.com.

• The House Theatre of Chicago stages a new production of ensemble member Shawn Pfautsch's "Hatfield & McCoy," inspired by "Romeo and Juliet" and the 1863 feud between the Hatfields of West Virginia and the McCoys of Kentucky. The production, directed by Matt Hawkins, features new music by Pfautsch and Matt Kahler. Previews begin Friday, Jan. 19, at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St., Chicago. The show opens Jan. 28. (773) 769-3832 or thehousetheatre.com.

• Performances begin Friday, Jan. 19, for Emerald City Theatre's "Magic Tree House: Showtime With Shakespeare" at the Apollo Theater, 2540 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. Adapted from Mary Pope Osborne's children's book "Magic Tree House #25 Stage Fright on a Summer Night," the hip-hop musical tells of siblings Jack and Annie who time travel back to 16th-century England to overcome their stage fright and help William Shakespeare save his show. (773) 935-6100 or emeraldcitytheatre.com.

• Red Tape Theatre revives Howard Barker's 2008 play "I Saw Myself," in which a widowed aristocrat and her ladies-in-waiting create a tapestry that truly depicted her life with her late husband, to her own detriment. Performances begin Friday, Jan. 19, at 4546 N. Western Ave., Chicago. See redtapetheatre.org.

• Goodman Theatre premieres "Blind Date," the third in Rogelio Martinez's trilogy chronicling the The Cold War. In this fictionalized account of a meeting between the world's most powerful men, President Ronald Reagan and the Soviet Union's Mikhail Gorbachev seek to thaw relations between their countries. Previews begin Saturday, Jan. 20, at 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. The play, directed by artistic director Robert Falls, opens Jan. 29. (312) 443-3800 or goodmantheatre.org.

• Filament Theatre's "Van Gogh Cafe" returns to Fannies Cafe, 5044 W. Montrose Ave., Chicago, beginning Saturday, Jan. 20, and running through Feb. 4. The show is an "immersive, culinary experience" adapted by Andrew J. Lampl from Cynthia Rylant's 1995 book about a magical cafe where anything is possible. Tickets start at $45 for adults and $30 for children and include a prix fixe menu inspired by the story. See filamenttheatre.org/vangogh.

• Tony Award-nominated playwright Charles Busch returns to the Pride Arts Center (where he sold out shows in 2017) to perform his new, autobiographical "Charles Busch: My Kinda '60s," which chronicles his childhood in Manhattan during the 1960s. The show also includes music by Burt Bacharach, Jimmy Webb, Bob Dylan and Stephen Sondheim among others. It runs Sunday and Monday, Jan. 21-22, at 4139 N. Broadway, Chicago. (800) 737-0984 or http://bit.ly/charlesbuschatpac.

• Barrel of Monkeys presents "That's Weird, Grandma: Stories for Change," consisting of Chicago Public School students' stories about "the change they'd like to see in their lives," which BOM ensemble members adapt and perform. Previews begin Monday, Jan. 22, at the Neo-Futurist Theater, 5153 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago. The show opens Jan. 29. (773) 506-7140 or barrelofmonkeys.org.

• Director Ron OJ Parson will receive Eclipse Theatre Company's 9th Annual Corona Award honoring individuals or artists who nurture and support small- to medium-size Chicago theaters. Eclipse ensemble member and former winner Steve Scott presents the award Monday, Jan. 22, at the Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave., Chicago. The event, which includes a buffet dinner and entertainment, begins at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $35 at the door. See eclipsetheatre.com.

• Steppenwolf Theatre Company honors Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winner Sarah Paulson ("The People vs. O.J. Simpson," "American Horror Story") at its annual Women in the Arts luncheon beginning at 11:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 22, at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel, 221 N. Columbus Drive, Chicago. Tickets start at $250. (312) 654-5632 or specialevents@steppenwolf.org.

• Middle-aged dating and a father-son lesson are among the subjects Chicago-area storytellers will tackle during a Short Story Theatre performance at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 25, at Miramar Bistro, 301 Waukegan Ave., Highwood. Tickets are $10 at the door. For preshow dinner reservations, call (847) 433-1078.

• As the Cuban missile crisis heats up, neighbors Efran and Leena and Mag and Sul plan something big in the comedy "We're Gonna Be Okay" by Basil Kreimendahl. American Theater Company presents the Chicago-area premiere of the play, directed by artistic director Will Davis. Previews begin Thursday, Jan. 25, at 1909 W. Byron St., Chicago. The show opens Jan. 29. (773) 409-4125 or atcweb.org.

• Steppenwolf Theatre artistic producer Jonathan Berry helms the company's Chicago-area premiere of "You Got Older," Clare Barron's dark, coming-of-middle-age comedy about a woman who moves home to take care of her dad after she gets dumped and fired. Previews begin Thursday, Jan. 25, at 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago. The show opens Feb. 2. (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org.

• The League of Chicago Theatre's Theatre Thursday series continues Thursday, Jan. 25, at the Broadway Armory, 5917 N. Broadway, Chicago, with a performance of Jackalope Theatre's "Frankinland." Lloyd Suh's play is about Benjamin Franklin's son growing up in the shadow of the world's greatest inventor. The event includes post-show refreshments and conversation with the actors and artistic team. Tickets are $15. See chicagoplays.com.

• Broadway in Chicago announced another extension of "Potted Potter: The Unauthorized Harry Potter Experience - A Parody by Dan and Jeff," a 70-minute sendup of J.K. Rowling's young adult series by BBC television hosts Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner. Performances run through Feb. 25 at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place, 175 E. Chestnut St., Chicago. (800) 775-2000 or broadwayinchicago.com.

• Lifeline Theatre artistic director Dorothy Milne announced she will step down sometime this year from her leadership role in the company, which is in the middle of its 35th season. "I love my job and I won't be leaving Lifeline ... but I'm over 60 years old and I look forward to spending more time away from a desk," Milne said in a prepared statement. Milne joined the ensemble in 1992 and took over as artistic director in 1999. During her tenure, she directed 22 plays, produced 116 shows and curated eight Fillet of Solo festivals.

• Mercury Theater Chicago, 3745 N. Southport, Chicago, inaugurates its new, intimate performance space, the Venus Cabaret Theater, with Stephen Sondheim's relationship musical "Company" (March 15-May 20). That will be followed by "Monty Python's Spamalot" (June 14-Aug. 5). (773) 325-1700 or mercurytheaterchicago.com.

• Chicago's UrbanTheater Company raised more than $10,000 from three benefit performances of "La Gringa," which the company will donate to Hurricane Maria relief. The money will go to rebuild Puerto Rico's La Escuela des Artes Plasticas y Diseno. The arts school lost most of its archives, book and art collections, classrooms and offices, said UrbanTheater artistic director Miranda Gonzalez in a prepared statement.

• The League of Chicago Theatres, Goodman Theatre and Broadway in Chicago team up to sponsor the annual August Wilson Monologue Competition, which is open to Chicago-area high school sophomores, juniors and seniors. The point of the competition is to expose young people to Wilson's work, specifically his 10-play Century Cycle, chronicling the African-American experience in the U.S. during the 20th century. The top 20 contestants perform their monologues on Feb. 26 at the Broadway Playhouse, Water Tower Place. Two winners will compete in the national finals on May 7 at the August Wilson Theatre in New York City. For information and an application, see chicagoplays.com/august-wilson-monologue-competition.html.

• Raven Theatre showcases female playwrights as part of its recently announced 2018-2019 season, which begins Oct. 4 with Lynn Nottage's "Crumbs From the Table of Joy," a coming-of-age drama set in 1950s New York. That's followed by Paula Vogel's Pulitzer Prize-winning "How I Learned to Drive" (Feb. 7-March 24, 2019), about a woman coming to terms with childhood sexual abuse. Next is the Chicago-area premiere of "Yen" (March 21-May 5, 2019), Anna Jordan's play about teenage brothers living alone in a filthy London flat whose lives are upended with the arrival of a neighbor girl. The season concludes with the Chicago-area premiere of "The Undeniable Sound of Right Now" (May 2-June 16, 2019) by Laura Eason. Set in 1992 Chicago, it's about the owner of a longtime rock club trying to survive against the onslaught of electronic music. Performances take place at 6157 N. Clark St., Chicago. Season subscriptions, starting at $75, go on sale Wednesday, Jan. 24. (773) 338-2177 or raventheatre.com.