Theater events: BoHo revives Steve Martin & Edie Brickell's 'Bright Star'

• Previews continue through Friday, March 15, for redtwist theatre's "Herland" by University of Chicago graduate Grace McLeod and produced in conjunction with the National New Play Network as part of a rolling world premiere. The coming-of-age comedy centers on high school graduate Natalie who spends the summer working for her elderly neighbor, who's determined to create a do-it-yourself retirement home for her and her two best friends. James Fleming directs the production, which stars Simran Bal and Kathleen Ruhl. It opens Saturday, March 16, at 1044 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Chicago. (773) 728-7529 or redtwist.org.

• Ten contestants compete to win a new truck in "Hands on a Hardbody," a musical inspired by the 1997 documentary about an endurance/sleep deprivation contest in which the last person standing with his/her hand on the truck, won the vehicle. Refuge Theater Project's revival begins previews Friday, March 15, at Mason Hall in Preston Bradley Center, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago. Director Christopher Pazdernik's production opens Sunday, March 17. See refugetheatre.com.

• Hell in a Handbag Production revives "Poseidon! An Upside Down Musical," its 2002 sendup of the 1972 disaster film about passengers on an ocean cruise who struggle to survive after a tidal wave capsizes their ship. Arlington Heights native Nicky Mendelsohn plays the waiter Acres in the production, which begins previews Friday, March 15, at The Edge Theater, 5451 N. Broadway, Chicago. It opens March 22. (800) 838-3006 or handbagproductions.org.

• The American Music Theatre Project at Northwestern University hosts workshop performances of "The Girl Who," a choose-your-own-adventure musical about a young girl searching for her parents, created and directed by Scott Gilmour and Claire McKenzie. Performances take place Friday, March 15, and Saturday, March 16, at the Mussetter-Struble Theater, 1949 Campus Drive, Evanston. See amtp.northwestern.edu.

• Artemisia Theatre presents a staged reading of "Reap the Grove," a new feminist dramedy by Caity-Shea Violette and the winning entry in Artemisia's 2017 fall festival of new plays. The play is about a woman diagnosed with a terminal illness who decides to end her life on her terms and asks her estranged daughters to join her and her partner for her final days. The reading takes place at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 15, at The Den theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. See artemisiatheatre.org.

• BoHo Theatre opens its 15th season with a revival of "Bright Star," the 2016 musical by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell about a returning World War II veteran and burgeoning writer Billy Cane and his editor, Alice Murphy, who discover a shared, small-town past. Previews begin Saturday, March 16, at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. The show, directed and choreographed by Ericka Mac, opens March 23. (773) 975-8150 or bohotheatre.com.

• The Factory Theater hosts a late-night, adults-only variety show "Factory After Dark" featuring music, stand-up and sketch comedy, at 10:30 p.m. Saturday, March 16, at 1623 W. Howard St., Chicago. Also, Factory Theater has added an additional performance of its main stage show "May the Road Rise Up" on Thursday, March 21. See the thefactorytheater.com.

• The Blue Man Group announced an expanded spring schedule at its Briar Street Theatre home. The new schedule includes shows on St. Patrick's Day (Sunday, March 17) and Easter (Sunday, April 21). Tickets range from $29 to $99. Performances take place at 3133 N. Halsted St., Chicago. (800) 258-3626 or blueman.com/chicago.

• Teatro Vista presents William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" as part of its 2019 student matinee series. Sebastian Arboleda directs the company's already established student version of the tragedy as well as a new, bilingual staging in which Juliet's family, the Capulets, are English-speaking and their hired help speaks Spanish. Romeo, the Montagues and his friends are native Spanish speakers in this production, which examines Latinos navigating their inherited culture and contemporary American culture. Performances run Tuesday, March 19, through May 9 at The Miracle Center, 2311 N. Pulaski Road, Chicago. See teatrovista.org or themiraclecenter.com.

• "Djembe! The Show," an interactive, percussion-centered theatrical event chronicling the history of pop music, makes its U.S. debut Tuesday, March 19, at the Apollo Theater, 2540 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. Audience members get a drum and play along with the theater artists, which include emcee Ben Hope, Chicago theater artist Rashada Dawan and Guinean master drummer Fode Lavia Camara. (773) 935-6100 or djembetheshow.com.

• Next up at Oil Lamp Theater is "Play On!" The backstage comedy (seemingly inspired by Michael Frayn's classic "Noises Off") is about an amateur theater company rehearsing a whodunit titled "Murder Most Foul," which includes an ever-evolving script and an unfinished set. The show opens Thursday, March 21, at 1723 Glenview Road, Glenview. (847) 834-0738 or oillamptheater.org.

• Previews begin Thursday, March 21, for Theatre Y's production of "Self-Accusation," Peter Handke's examination of our need to confess and the delight we have in other people's transgressions. Actors confess to sins ranging from the profane to the inane. Co-directors Melissa Lorraine and Hector Alvarez have re-imagined Handke's two-hander as an ensemble piece. It runs through April 28 at At the Ready, 4546 N. Western Ave., Chicago. See theatre-y.com.

• Idle Muse Theatre Company opens its season with "Best for Winter, being a short Shakespeare adapted from The Winter's Tale and other works," beginning previews Thursday, March 21, at The Edge Theater, 1133 W. Catalpa Ave., Chicago. Artistic director and co-founder Evan Jackson adapts and directs the play of which he said in a prepared statement: "we're not looking for forgiveness at the end of this story ... but maybe the act of finding the human part of what it is to be alive right now can be something like forgiveness." (773) 340-9438 or idlemuse.org.

• On the heels of the nationwide college admissions cheating scandal, Theater Wit stages the Chicago-area premiere of "Admissions," Joshua Harmon's satire on racial diversity, white guilt and political correctness in which an outstanding student and Yale University shoe-in learns his application has been deferred. Previews begin Thursday, March 21, at 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. The show, directed by Jeremy Wechsler, opens April 1. (773) 975-8150 or theaterwit.org.

• Nothing Without a Company has extended its premiere of "The Soccer Player in the Closet," Ryan Oliveira's play about a top-ranked online soccer player who refuses to leave his apartment. Performances run through Saturday, March 17, at Christy Webber Farm and Garden, 2833 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago. See nothingwithoutacompany.org.

• Hell in a Handbag Productions has extended its hit parody "The Golden Girls: The Lost Episodes - The Valentine Edition." Performances run through March 30 at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. (773) 327-5252 or handbagproductions.org or stage773.com.

• A world premiere by Nambi E. Kelley and a revival of Green Day's "American Idiot" are among the productions American Blues Theater announced will be part of its upcoming five-play, main stage season. It begins Sept. 6 with the Chicago-area premiere of "Five Presidents," a re-imagining by ensemble member Rick Cleveland ("Six Feet Under," "The West Wing") of Richard Nixon's memorial service when five former surviving presidents were in the same room at the same time. That's followed by the 18th anniversary production of "It's a Wonderful Life: Live in Chicago!" (Nov. 4-Jan. 4, 2020), adapted from Frank Capra's beloved film. An evening of one-acts titled "Women's Work" follows on Jan. 31, 2020. It consists of Susan Glaspell's murder-mystery "Trifles" and Kelley's "Trifflin'" a comedy about the male-female dynamic. The season concludes June 26, 2020, with a revival of "American Idiot," a coming-of-age musical about young people growing up in the early 2000s. Also on tap at ABT in spring 2020 is the Ripped Festival: Edition 18, in which playwrights draw story inspirations from current headlines. Performances take place at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. Subscriptions range from $87 to $290 with the purchase of the Blue Card, which offers savings of up to 50 percent off regularly priced tickets. (773) 654-3103 or americanbluestheater.com.