On stage: Lookingglass remounts 'Steadfast Tin Soldier' & New American Folk premieres a country tuner

Previews continue for Marriott Theatre's revival of “Oliver!” starring Kai Edgar and Kayden Koshelev, who share the titular role of the orphan boy who's befriended by an urchin dubbed The Artful Dodger (Patrick Scott McDermott) and initiated into a youthful gang of pickpockets led by the wily Fagin (William Brown). Nick Bowling directs the production, which opens Wednesday, Nov. 6, at 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire. (847) 634-0200 or marriotttheatre.com.

Lookingglass Theatre Company remounts its holiday play-with-music “The Steadfast Tin Soldier.” Written and directed by ensemble member Mary Zimmerman, it's adapted from Hans Christian Andersen's tale of the one-legged toy soldier who battles assorted villains to reunite with his beloved ballerina toy. Previews begin Friday, Nov. 1, at Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago. The show opens Wednesday, Nov. 6. (312) 337-0665 or lookingglasstheatre.org.

New American Folk Theatre premieres “My Life is a Country Song,” a country-flavored musical by composer/lyricist/writer Anthony Whitaker, the company's co-artistic director. The tuner centers on a woman who leaves her abusive marriage to restart her life in South Carolina. Previews begin Friday, Nov. 1, at Chief O'Neill's Pub & Restaurant, 3471 N. Elston Ave., Chicago. The show opens Sunday, Nov. 3. See newamericanfolktheatre.org.

“TRU,” a musical examination of mental health that received best music and best choreography awards at the 2018 Chicago Musical Theatre Festival, opens Friday, Nov. 1, at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. Written by composer/lyricists and writers David Gosz and Leo Fotos, it's about a man named Truman, who's struggling with mental health issues and a toxic relationship, and an artist named Isla, who suffers from an anxiety disorder, who tackle their struggles together. (773) 327-5252 or stage773.com.

Actor/improviser/storyteller Jimmy Carrane returns to Judy's Beat Lounge at Piper's Alley, 230 W. North Ave., Chicago, with his autobiographical solo show, “World's Greatest Dad(?),” about becoming a first-time dad at age 52, at the same time his own father was dying. Performances run Saturday, Nov. 2, through Nov. 30. (312) 337-3992 or secondcity.com.

The Chicago League of Lady Arms Wrestlers presents CLLAW XXXIV: Good vs. Evil on Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Logan Square Auditorium, 2539 N. Kedzie Ave., Chicago. Doors open at 9 p.m. for the event, which includes live music and matches. A portion of the proceeds benefit Sideshow Theatre Company and Girls Rock! Chicago, an organization that assists transgender and gender-nonconforming young people. See cllaw.org.

ShPIeL Performing Identity presents Teatron: Chicago's Jewish Theatre Festival, held Sunday, Nov. 3, through Nov. 10 in conjunction with the annual Alliance for Jewish Theatre Conference. The festival lineup includes staged readings, storytelling, solo performances, cabaret and comedy, most of which will take place at Victory Gardens Theater, 2453 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, except for the Friday night Shabbat at Silverstein Base Hillel, 858 W. Wrightwood Ave., Chicago. The staged readings include “The Green Book,” by Calvin Alexander Ramsey on Sunday, Nov. 3, and “God of Vengeance” by Sholom Asch on Nov. 9. Tickets range from $18 to $36. A festival pass is $118. (773) 871-3000 or shpielperformingidentity.org or victorygardens.org.

Wilmette Actors Training Center hosts a fundraiser titled Money for Funny, Music for Free from 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 3, at Viper Alley, 275 Parkway Drive, Lincolnshire. The event includes family-friendly comedy, music, a raffle and a live auction. Proceeds benefit the center's building and scholarship funds. (847) 251-8710 or actorstrainingcenter.org.

Simply Sensational, Pride Films and Plays annual fall benefit concert honoring music director Robert Ollis, takes place at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 4, at 4139 N. Broadway, Chicago. Performers include Donterrio Johnson, Ryan Lanning, Nancy Hays and Downers Grove native Alexa Castelvecchi performing excerpts from their show “Judy and Liza: London Palladium Concert - A Tribute” among others. Tickets are $50. VIP tickets, including a preshow cocktail and intermission reception, are $75. (866) 811-4111 or pridefilmsandplays.com.

Previews begin Wednesday, Nov. 6, for Writers Theatre's “The Niceties,” Eleanor Burgess' examination of race, history and power in which a Caucasian Ivy League professor and an African-American student clash over the student's paper on slavery's effect on the American Revolution. The play, directed by Marti Lyons, opens Nov. 13 at 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe. (847) 242-6000 or writerstheatre.org.

Court Theatre presents the first in its Oedipus Trilogy, Sophocles' “Oedipus Rex,” about Oedipus' attempts to save his plague-ridden city by uncovering the person who killed the previous king. Kelvin Roston Jr. plays Oedipus and Timothy Edward Kane plays Creon in director Charles Newell's production. Previews begin Thursday, Nov. 7, at 5535 S. Ellis Ave., Chicago. The play opens Nov. 16. (773) 753-4472 or courttheatre.org.

“Lindiwe,” a love story by Eric Simonson with music by the Grammy Award-winning Ladysmith Black Mambazo, stars Nondumiso Tembe (“Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “True Blood”) who makes her Chicago debut in Steppenwolf Theatre's world premiere. The production, co-directed by Simonson and Jonathan Berry, begins previews Thursday, Nov. 7, at 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago. The show opens Nov. 17. (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org.

Chicago Fringe Opera presents the Chicago premiere of Tom Waits' “Woyzeck,” adapted from Georg Buchner's incomplete 1836 play about a soldier who, in order to support his girlfriend and their child, agrees to participate in medical experiments that impact his sanity. Performances begin Thursday, Nov. 7, at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. See chicagofringeopera.com.

Steppenwolf Theatre's Lookout Series continues Thursday, Nov. 7, with Lucky Plush Productions' premiere of its dance-theater work “Rink Life” inspired by 1970s roller-rink culture. It runs through Nov. 16 at Steppenwolf's 1700 Theatre, 1700 N. Halsted St., Chicago. (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org.

The Family Crest, The Den Theatre and Jacaranda Collective collaborate on an immersive retelling of William Shakespeare's tragedy “Romeo and Juliet” that imagines the audiences as party guests observing the ill-fated love story. Performances run Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 7-9, at 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. (773) 697-3830 or thedentheatre.com.

Short Story Theatre showcases tales about leaving home for a new job, responding to an emergency, and assisting a deserving child and others beginning at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7, at Miramar Bistro, 301 Waukegan Ave., Highwood. Dinner reservations are available. (847) 433-1078 or shortstorytheatre.com.

The League of Chicago Theatre's Theatre Thursday series continues Thursday, Nov. 7, at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie, with a performance of “The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley” an imagined sequel to Jane Austen's “Pride and Prejudice” by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon. See chicagoplays.com/theatre-thursdays.

Performances continue through Nov. 16 for The Neo-Futurists' “Comfortable Shoes” featuring Ida Cuttler, with additional performances by Katie Klocke. In a nod to the structure of “One Thousand and One Nights,” Cuttler tells one story per minute “equipped with nothing except size 8½ running shoes.” Performances are at 5153 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago. See neofuturists.org.

Pride Films and Plays has extended its revival of “A Man of No Importance,” a musical by Stephen Flaherty, Lynn Ahrens and Terrence McNally about a Dublin bus driver and Oscar Wilde enthusiast who's staging Wilde's “Salome” with his community theater group. Performances continue through Nov. 17 at 4139 N. Broadway, Chicago. (773) 857-0222 or pridefilmsandplays.com.

The League of Chicago Theatres and Choose Chicago announced Chicago Theatre Week 2020 will take place from Feb. 13-23, 2020, at various theaters in the city and suburbs. Tickets, priced at $15 and $30, go on sale at 10 a.m. Jan. 14, 2020. Featured productions include Drury Lane Theatre's “An American in Paris,” Steppenwolf Theatre's “Bug,” Northlight Theatre's “How a Boy Falls,” Writers Theatre's “Stick Fly” and Lyric Opera of Chicago's “Madama Butterfly,” among others. See chicagotheatreweek.com.

Chicago's 3Arts, a not-for-profit organization that has distributed more than $3 million to Chicago-area artists over the last 11 years, awarded $25,000 grants to several local artists of color including actress/singer Bethany Thomas, recently seen in Writers Theatre's “Into the Woods”; Richard Costes, a deaf actor of color who has worked with Steep, Redtwist, Chicago Shakespeare, Porchlight and other Chicago-area theaters; and Stephanie Diaz, a Guatemalan American actress/puppetry artist whose credits include Goodman, Lookingglass, Gift and Victory Gardens theaters among others. Laksha Dantran, an Oak Brook-based dance artist also received a $25,000 grant.