Theater spotlight: Improv Playhouse gathers the faithful, Steppenwolf stages 'The Children'

'Gathering' returns

For the 11th year, Improv Playhouse remounts its production of “The Gathering,” Josephine Raciti and Rolf Forsberg's contemporary take on the last hour of the Last Supper. Artistic director David Brian Stuard adapted and directs the production, which features Tyler Ankey of Crystal Lake as The Teacher.

2:30 p.m. Sunday, April 14, and 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, April 18-20, at 735 N. Milwaukee Ave., Libertyville. $5-$20. (847) 968-4529 or improvplayhouse.com.

Court call

City Lit Theater concludes its season with a pair of one-acts rooted in the law. Dubbed “Two Days in Court,” the double-bill includes “The Devil and Daniel Webster,” Stephen Vincent Benet's tale of a New Hampshire farmer who sells his soul to the devil then enlists statesman/lawyer/orator Daniel Webster to get him out of the deal. The second offering is Gilbert and Sullivan's first hit, the 1875 operetta “Trial By Jury,” about the breaking of a marriage contract. Artistic director Terry McCabe directs both productions.

Previews at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 12-13, as well as April 19-20, and 3 p.m. Sunday, April 14, at Edgewater Presbyterian Church, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Chicago. The show opens April 23. $12-$32. See citylit.org.

Chicago Shakespeare's 'Hamlet'

For the first time in more than two decades, Chicago Shakespeare Theater artistic director Barbara Gaines revisits William Shakespeare's “Hamlet.” In her latest incarnation, Maurice Jones plays the titular role, replacing Raul Esparza who withdrew from the production due to scheduling conflicts. Chicago favorites Karen Aldridge (Gertrude), Sean Allan Krill (Horatio), Larry Yando (Polonius), Mike Nussbaum (Gravedigger), Greg Vinkler (Gravedigger) and Alex Goodrich (Rosencrantz) co-star.

Previews at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, April 17-18, and April 19, 20, 23 and 24, and 2 p.m. Sunday, April 21, at Navy Pier, 800 E. Grand Ave., Chicago. The show opens April 25. $48-$88. (312) 595-5600 or chicagoshakes.com.

Disaster dramedy

A former colleague visits a pair of nuclear scientists who've retired to an isolated seaside village in “The Children,” Lucy Kirkwood's disaster dramedy in its Chicago-area premiere at Steppenwolf Theatre. Steppenwolf artistic producer Jonathan Berry, a member of Griffin and Steep theaters, directs the production, which stars Ora Jones, Yasen Peyankov and Janet Ulrich Brooks.

Previews at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, April 18-19, and 3 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, April 20-21, and through April 28, at 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago. The show opens April 29. $20-$99. (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org.

Other theater events

“Lottery Day,” the final installment of playwright Ike Holter's seven-play Rightlynd Saga, premiered this week at Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. The play centers around Mallory, the longtime resident of a gentrifying Chicago neighborhood, who invites residents and activists to a barbecue where she intends to unveil a plan to revitalize her community. Performances run through April 28. (312) 443-3800 or goodmantheatre.org.

Erasing the Distance, a collective whose members dramatize true stories from the lives of people who have a mental illness, presents its new production, “That Night,” which examines the impact of the criminal justice system on a man's mental health. It centers on Dana Holland, wrongfully incarcerated for more than a decade, recounting his experiences with input from his attorney Karen Daniels. Performances run Friday, April 12, through Saturday, April 20, at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. Brian Weddington and Susie Griffith star in the show, which was adapted by Jana Ross, Heather Bodie, Melanie Thompson and Cage Sebastian Pierre. (773) 327-5252 or stage773.com or erasingthedistance.org.

Standup comedian David Maher recalls his monthlong coma during which his family almost unplugged his life support systems as part of Steppenwolf Theatre's Lookout Series at the 1700 Theatre, 1700 N. Halsted St., Chicago. The “Dave Maher Coma Show” runs at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 12-13. Also at the 1700 Theatre, The MoonSharks Present “An Improvised Play!” against a musical backdrop at 8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, April 17-18. (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org.

About Face Theatre hosts its annual fundraiser at 8 p.m. Friday, April 12, at Venue West, 221 N. Paulina St., Chicago. Titled Wonka Ball: Disco Inferno, the event celebrates the theater's 23rd season and salutes underground LGBTQ clubs and the role they played in the community's history. Tickets are $150, $200 for the VIP cocktail reception at 7 p.m. They include food, cocktails, a silent auction, raffle, live entertainment and dancing. (773) 784-8565 or aboutfacetheatre.com.

Sweetback Productions and Labyrinth Arts and Performance Collective collaborate on a new musical performance piece featuring cast members who have bipolar or bipolar-related issues. The cast examines bipolar symptoms and the side effects of sedation. Music is by the singer/songwriter Violet. Performances run Saturdays, April 13 through June 8, at The Charnel House, 3421 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago. No show May 4. See director Kelly Anchors' website at vortexstories.com.

The Wild Party Variety Hour, Silent Theatre's long-running variety show, returns at 10:30 p.m. Saturday, April 13, at Prop Thtr, 3502 N. Elston Ave., Chicago. Co-founder Marvin Quijada, known as Silent Marvin, hosts an exploration of his past titled “Silent Marvin, This Is Your Life!” (773) 697-3830 or silenttheatre.com.

Folks Operetta showcases jazz operettas by 20th-century Jewish-Hungarian composer Paul Abraham at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 14, at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, University of Chicago, 915 E. 60th St., Chicago. Titled “Goodbye Berlin, Aloha Hawaii!” the multimedia concert includes selections from “Viktoria and her Hussar” (1930), “The Flower of Hawaii” (1931) and “Ball at the Savoy” (1932), which combine European waltzes and American jazz. See folksoperetta.org.

Broadway in Chicago marks the 50th anniversary of the release of The Beatles' “Abbey Road” with the return of “Rain - A Tribute to the Beatles.” The performances are at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, April 14, at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St., Chicago. (800) 775-2000 or broadwayinchicago.com or raintribute.com.

Chicago Dramatists continues its Monday Night Drama Series consisting of public readings of in-progress plays at 7 p.m. Monday, April 15, at 1105 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago. Next up is “Hotel Desperado” by resident playwright Will Dunne. See chicagodramatists.org.

Dein Perry's “Tap Dogs” plays the James M. Nederlander Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St., Chicago, for a brief run beginning Tuesday, April 16. The show has been described as part dance, part theater and part rock concert in which the dancers perform upside-down and in water among other feats. (800) 775-2000 or broadwayinchicago.com.

Comedian and WGN Morning News contributor Mike Toomey returns to the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights, with his show “The Comedy Jam with Mike Toomey and Guests.” Toomey and his guests perform at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 17. (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.com.

Otherworld Theatre presents “Dark Magic,” showcasing magician David Parr who incorporates ghost tales, folklore and psychic phenomena into his shows. He performs at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 17, at 3914 N. Clark St., Chicago. (773) 857-2116 or otherworldtheatre.org.

The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, 220 E. Chicago Ave., Chicago, presents Dutch artist Yan Duyvendak performing two collaborations. In “Still in Paradise,” running Thursday through Sunday, April 18-21, Duyvendak and Egyptian performance artist Omar Ghayatt act out playlettes examining cultural relations between the East and West. In “Please Continue, (Hamlet),” Duyvendak and co-creator Roger Bernat stage a murder trial based on “Hamlet” where audience members serve as jurors and officials from Cook County courts serve as defense and prosecution. It runs April 25-28. (312) 397-4010 or mcachicago.org.

The League of Chicago Theatre's Theatre Thursdays series continues Thursday, April 18, at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St., Chicago, with The House Theatre of Chicago's adaptation of “Pinocchio” based on the works of Carlo Collodi. The evening begins at 7 p.m. with a light snack and a discussion with adapters Joseph Streakley and Ben Lobpries. Tickets are $30 with the code ThTh. (773) 769-3832 or thehousetheatre.com.

Performances continue through April 28 for El Bear Theatre's “The Nostalgia Will Eat Itself,” John Fisher's play about millennials - a young woman in a dead-end job and her tinder date, a YouTube gamer - which is described as a “horror romp ... B-movie of a play.” It plays at Collaboraction Theatre, 1579 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. See facebook.com/elbearwasthere.

Redtwist Theatre, 1044 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Chicago, has extended its National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere of “Herland,” Grace McLeod's drama about a recent high school graduate who helps an elderly neighbor create a retirement home for her and her best friends. Performances run through April 20. (773) 728-7529 or redtwist.org.

Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre has extended its revival of “The Bridges of Madison County,” the musical by Jason Robert Brown and Marsha Norman about an Italian woman married to an Iowa farmer during the 1960s, who has a brief but passionate affair with a National Geographic photographer passing through town to photograph its covered bridges. Downers Grove native Kelli Harrington stars as Francesca in the production, which runs through May 5 at 721 Howard St., Evanston. (773) 347-1109 or theo-u.com.

Goodman Theatre's Chicago-area premiere of Lynn Nottage's Pulitzer Prize-winning “Sweat” has been extended. The play is about friends and co-workers living in a Rust Belt town whose relationships and livelihood are threatened when the factory where they work initiates layoffs. Performances run through April 21 at 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. (312) 443-3800 or goodmantheatre.org.

Mercury Theater Chicago announced an extension of its revival of “Little Shop of Horrors,” the sci-fi musical about a meek flower shop employee who unwittingly nurtures a carnivorous plant with an appetite for human blood. The show runs through June 30 at 3745 N. Southport Ave., Chicago. (773) 325-1700 or mercurytheaterchicago.com.

Citadel Theatre announced its 17th season will begin Sept. 18 with “Peter and the Starcatcher,” Rick Elice's musical about the adventures of an orphaned boy and his friends who become Peter Pan and The Lost Boys. That's followed by “Annie” (Nov. 20-Dec. 22), the musical about a young girl who escapes an orphanage/sweatshop, befriends a stray dog and finds refuge with a billionaire. Next up is the chamber musical “The Fantasticks” (Feb. 5-March 8), about two fathers who trick their children into falling in love and the joy and heartache that follows. The season concludes with Neil Simon's autobiographical “Brighton Beach Memoirs” (April 22-May 24), the first in the Eugene trilogy, which chronicles young Eugene's coming-of-age living with his extended family in a lower middle-class Brooklyn home. Peformances take place at 300 S. Waukegan Road, Lake Forest. Subscriptions are $70 for a two-show flex pass, $100 for a three-show pass and $120 for a four-show package. (847) 735-8554, ext. 1, or citadeltheatre.org.

Lookingglass Theatre Company's 32nd season features the return of a classic production, a new favorite and the premiere of a new work by ensemble member J. Nicole Brooks. The season begins Nov. 1 with a remount of ensemble member Mary Zimmerman's play with music “The Steadfast Tin Soldier,” adapted from Hans Christian Andersen's tale about a small toy soldier in love with a paper ballerina who valiantly makes his way back to her after he's separated from the other toys. That's followed by the premiere of Brooks' “Her Honor Jane Byrne” (Feb. 26-April 12, 2020), about Chicago's first female mayor's decision to move into the Cabrini-Green housing project during the early 1980s. The season concludes with a revival of the company's namesake and masterwork, “Lookingglass Alice” (May 13-Aug. 16, 2020), a circus-inspired version of Lewis Carroll's stories adapted and directed by ensemble member David Catlin. Performances take place at Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago. Current subscribers who renew before May 1 receive a five percent discount on 2019-2020 subscriptions. Three-play subscriptions range from $116 to $170; two-play subscriptions (consisting of “Her Honor Jane Byrne” and “Lookingglass Alice”) range from $77 to $113. The Gglasspass is a flex pass available for $150 that includes three tickets, which can be used in any combination. The Madhatter's Club flex pass for ages 35 and younger is $75 and includes three tickets that can be used in any combination during the season. (312) 337-0665 or lookingglasstheatre.org.