Theater spotlight: Jay Pharoah heads to Zanies & Steel Beam premieres 'Pigeons'
Jay Pharoah at Zanies
Jay Pharoah — actor, comedian and six-season veteran of “Saturday Night Live” — headlines Zanies in Rosemont this weekend. Known for his impressions of President Barack Obama, Denzel Washington, Will Smith and Kanye West, Pharoah currently stars in Showtime's “White Famous.”
8 and 10:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 22; 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23; and 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24, at Parkway Bank Park, 5437 Park Place, Rosemont. $30 plus a two-item minimum. (847) 813-0484 or rosemont.zanies.com.
Steel Beam premiere
Steel Beam Theatre presents the premiere of “Scatter the Pigeons,” a dramedy by Gary McGowan. Previously seen in staged readings at Steel Beam and Chicago Dramatists, the play is about the residents of the Citron Court Trailer Park whose homes are threatened after a developer purchases the property intending to transform it into a shopping mall. Steel Beam artistic director Marge Uhlarik-Boller directs.
8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 22-23, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24. Runs through March 17 at 111 W. Main St., St. Charles. $22-$28. (630) 587-8521 or steelbeamtheatre.com.
‘Doubt' returns
The Gift Theatre teams up with Steppenwolf Theatre's LookOut performance series for a revival of “Doubt: A Parable,” John Patrick Shanley's 1964-set Pulitzer Prize-winning drama about a nun who suspects a Bronx priest of molesting a 12-year-old boy. Ensemble member Mary Ann Thebus plays Sister Aloysius and co-founder and artistic director Michael Patrick Thornton plays Father Flynn in Gift's production of this trim, provocative play directed by Wheaton native John Gawlik.
Previews at 8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 27-28, and Saturday and Sunday, March 1-2, at Steppenwolf's 1700 Theatre, 1700 N. Halsted St., Chicago. The show opens March 3. $35-$55. (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org.