On stage: Goodman premieres drama partly inspired by Naperville's Sandra Bland

Posted February 07, 2020 5:00 am

Goodman Theatre premieres "graveyard shift," loosely inspired by former Naperville resident Sandra Bland who was found dead in a jail cell three days after she was arrested on a minor traffic violation. Courtesy of Goodman Theatre

• 16th Street Theater and the National New Play Network unite for the rolling premiere of "Alabaster," Audrey Cefaly's darkly comic drama about June and her pet goat Weezy, the survivors of a northern Alabama tornado, whose experiences are chronicled by a famous photographer. Performances run through March 1 at 6420 16th St., Berwyn. (708) 795-6704 or 16thstreettheater.org.

• The lines between reality and fantasy blur after the housekeepers for an elderly, terminally ill woman ask a young woman to impersonate their employer's sister to bring her comfort during her final days in "Veronica's Room" by Ira Levin. MadKap Productions' revival begins Friday, Feb. 7, at the Skokie Theatre, 7924 Lincoln Ave., Skokie. (847) 677-7761 or skokietheatre.org.

• Previews begin Friday, Feb. 7, for Goodman Theatre's premiere of "graveyard shift," a drama by korde arrington tuttle loosely based on former Naperville resident Sandra Bland, whose death in a Texas jail following a minor traffic arrest was ruled a suicide. The play tells about what happens when lives collide: the life of a woman who relocates to Texas for love and a police officer whose romantic relationship has recently ended. Previews begin Friday, Feb. 7, at 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. (312) 443-3800 or goodmantheatre.org.

• "Shear Madness," the interactive comedy whodunit about a murder at a hair salon (whose initial Chicago run lasted 17 years), returns to the Mercury Theater Chicago. Previews begin Friday, Feb. 7, at 3745 N. Southport Ave., Chicago. The show opens Feb. 16. (773) 325-1700 or mercurytheaterchicago.com.

• The Chicago League of Lady Arm Wrestlers hosts CLLAW XXXV: Pageant of Champions on Saturday, Feb. 8, at the Logan Square Auditorium, 2539 N. Kedzie Ave., Chicago. Doors open at 9 p.m. and the match begins at 9:30 p.m. with proceeds benefiting Sideshow Theatre Company and Girls Rock! Chicago, an organization that assists girls, transgender and gender-nonconforming young people. See cllaw.org.

• The off-Broadway comedy "Men are From Mars - Women are From Venus Live" returns to Chicago for a brief run. A sendup of romance and relationships, this adults-only, one-man show runs Tuesday, Feb. 11, through Feb. 23 at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place, 175 E. Chestnut St., Chicago. (800) 775-2000 or broadwayinchicago.com.

• Stuck in a waiting room in the netherworld, four young, African-American men consider their past and their future in "Kill Move Paradise" by James Ijames. TimeLine Theatre Company's Chicago premiere, directed by ensemble member Wardell Julius Clark, begins previews Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 615 W. Wellington Ave., Chicago. The show opens Feb. 19. (773) 281-8463, ext. 6, or timelinetheatre.com.

• The national tour of the bio-musical "Summer: The Donna Summer Musical," chronicling the career of the disco diva, begins Wednesday, Feb. 12, at the James M. Nederlander Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St., Chicago. Performances run through Feb. 23. (800) 775-2000 or broadwayinchicago.com.

Cheryl Frazier stars as family matriarch Lena Younger in Invictus Theatre Company's revival of Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun."

• Previews begin Thursday, Feb. 13, for Invictus Theatre Company's revival of Lorraine Hansberry's classic "A Raisin in the Sun," about an African-American family living on Chicago's South Side during the 1950s whose members have different ideas about how to spend a $10,000 insurance settlement. Cheryl Frazier stars as family matriarch Lena Younger in director Aaron Reese Boseman's production, which opens Feb. 17, at Pride Arts Center, 4147 N. Broadway, Chicago. See invictustheatreco.com.

Colin Jones plays the titular general in Haven's production of William Shakespeare's "Titus Andronicus." Courtesy of Kayshla Morales

• General Titus' victorious return to Rome after a 10-year war against the Goths sparks an increasingly brutal cycle of violence in William Shakespeare's bloody "Titus Andronicus." Haven's production - which centers on marginalized people excluded from power - is directed by artistic director Ian Damont Martin. Previews begin Thursday, Feb. 13, at The Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. The show opens Feb. 18. See havenchi.org.

• Trap Door Theatre premieres "Lipstick Lobotomy," about John F. Kennedy's younger sister Rosemary who befriends playwright Krista Knight's great aunt at an exclusive sanitarium during 1941. Trap Door resident director Kate Hendrickson helms the production, which opens Thursday, Feb. 13, at 1655 W. Cortland Ave., Chicago. See trapdoortheatre.com.

• Chicago Theatre Week, during which theatergoers can purchase tickets to more than 120 productions for $30, $15 or less, begins Thursday, Feb. 13, and continues through Feb. 23 at city and suburban venues. They include: Drury Lane, First Folio, Metropolis, Northlight, Marriott, Writers, Goodman, Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare, Porchlight, Broken Nose, Remy Bumppo, Victory Gardens, Second City, Steep and other theaters. For shows and theaters, see choosechicago.com.

• Drury Lane Theatre hosts a Senior Ice Cream Social in conjunction with its regional premiere of "An American in Paris" from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13, at 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace. Tickets for the ice cream sundae bar are $5 per person. Discount tickets are available for $44 for seniors who use the code "seniorsocial" when ordering. (630) 530-8300 or drurylanetheatre.com.

• Windy City Playhouse's Thursday, Feb. 13, performance of "The Boys in the Band" is a special benefit for Lambda Legal, an organization that works to uphold the civil rights of LGBTQ people. The 7:30 p.m. performance will be followed by a conversation with photographer and activist Tom Bianchi. See windycityplayhouse.com.

• Theatre at the Center opens its 30th season with the Chicago-area premiere of "Almost Heaven: John Denver's America," a bio-musical about the life and career of the late singer-songwriter who composed such hits as "Rocky Mountain High," "Country Roads" and "Sunshine on My Shoulders." Previews begin Thursday, Feb. 13, at 1040 Ridge Road, Munster, Indiana. The show opens Feb. 16. (219) 836-3255 or theatreatthecenter.com.

• Porchlight Music Theatre announced an extension for its revival of "Sophisticated Ladies," a celebration of jazz legend Duke Ellington. Performances run through March 6 at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. (773) 777-9884 or porchlightmusictheatre.org.

• In other theater news, Oak Park Festival Theatre managing director Jhenai Mootz has stepped down and assumed the role of artistic associate. Succeeding her as managing director is Bryan Wakefield, a member since 2009 who recently played Benedick in OPFT's 2019 production of "Much Ado About Nothing."

• Playmakers Laboratory announced writer/producer Colette S. Gregory as its new executive director. Former Chicago Reader culture editor and senior critic Tony Adler has joined the board of directors of Theatre Y, a leading proponent of Chicago's free theater movement.

• Bohemian Theatre Ensemble announced its 2020 season will begin Aug. 16 with a revival of William Finn and James Lapine's musical "Falsettos," about a gay man named Marvin, his lover, his ex-wife who is about to marry his therapist and his son who's caught up in the family drama. That's followed on Oct. 11 by Frederik Knott's thriller "Wait Until Dark." It's about a blind woman targeted by three criminals who believe she knows the whereabouts of heroin, which her husband unknowingly brought back with him from a business trip abroad. Performances take place at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. Season memberships start at $52 and include flexible tickets and priority seating. See bohotheatre.com.

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