Theater spotlight: Drury Lane revives ‘Guys and Dolls,’ Marriott stages ‘Music Man’
Luck be a lady
Drury Lane Theatre revives Frank Loesser’s beloved musical “Guys and Dolls,” inspired by writer Damon Runyon’s stories “The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown” and “Blood Pressure” and the lovably peculiar gangsters, showgirls, hustlers and gamblers who inhabited his tales of 1930s New York. Dan Knechteges directs and choreographs the production which stars Pepe Nufrio as Sky Masterson, Glen Ellyn native Erica Stephan as Sarah Brown, Jackson Evans as Nathan Detroit and Alanna Lovely as Miss Adelaide. Previews at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 10 and 17; 1:30 and 7 p.m. Thursday, April 11; 7 p.m. April 12; 3 and 8 p.m. April 13; 2 and 6 p.m. April 14 at 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace. The show opens April 18. Tickets start at $94.95. (630) 530-0111 or drurylanetheatre.com.
Harold Hill returns
Director Katie Spelman, who choreographed Broadway’s “The Notebook,” directs and choreographs Marriott Theatre’s revival of “The Music Man,” Meredith Willson’s musical about a traveling salesman who attempts to con the residents of a small Iowa town but changes his ways after he falls for the town’s comely librarian. Broadway veterans KJ Hippensteel and Alexandra Silber star as Harold Hill and Marian Paroo. Previews at 1 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 10; 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 11; 8 p.m. April 12; 4 and 8 p.m. April 13; and 1 and 5 p.m. April 14 at 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire. The show opens April 17. Tickets start at $60. (847) 634-0200 or marriotttheatre.com.
Chopin celebration
Musician/writer/storyteller Hershey Felder channels Frederic Chopin — the romantic-era composer and virtuoso pianist whose masterworks include 24 celebrated preludes, “Barcarole” and “Polonaise-Fantasie” — in “Monsieur Chopin: A Play With Music.” Joel Zwick directs Writers Theatre’s revival of this solo show, which unfolds in 1848 as a piano lesson during which the composer shares with his students secrets about the piano and himself. Previews at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, April 10-11, at 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe. The show opens Friday, April 12. $45-$85. (847) 242-6000 or writerstheatre.org.
Rolling premiere
Northlight Theatre presents the rolling premiere of “Brooklyn Laundry,” Pulitzer Prize-winner John Patrick Shanley’s new dramedy about the unlikely romance between a perpetually single woman struggling with debt and the injured owner of a laundry shop. Cassidy Slaughter-Mason and Mark Montgomery star in artistic director BJ Jones’ production of the play, whose off-Broadway run is set to conclude April 14. Previews at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, April 11-13, and April 16-18; 2:30 and 7 p.m. April 14; and 1 p.m. April 17 at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie. The show opens April 19. $39-$89. (847) 673-6300 or northlight.org.
Welcome to the neighborhood
Edge of the Wood Theatre opens its 12th season with “It Is So (If You Think So!),” adapted by Janus Theatre artistic director Sean Hargadon from 19th-century Italian dramatist Luigi Pirandello’s play. When a new family arrives in their provincial town, neighbors begin speculating about the newcomers in this dramedy about conflicting versions of truth. 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 5-6, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, April 7, at the Edgebrook Community Church, 6736 N. Loleta Ave., Chicago. Performances run through April 21. $13-$27. edgeofthewood.com.
Love triangle
Open Space Arts continues its inaugural season with “The Cockfight Play” a 2009 comedy by British playwright Mike Bartlett about a young gay man in a long-term relationship with another man who meets and falls in love with a woman. 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 5-6, and 2 p.m. Sunday, April 7, at 1411 W. Wilson Ave., Chicago. Performances run through April 21. $25, $20. openspacearts.com.
Family-friendly tuner
TheaterWorksUSA brings the family-friendly musical “Cat Kid Comic Club: The Musical” to North Central College for two performances. Based on Dav Pilkey’s book series, the tuner tells the story of Cat Kid and Molly Pollywog’s efforts to teach baby frogs how to make their own comics. 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday, April 6, at Pfeiffer Hall, North Central College, 310 E. Benton Ave., Naperville. $15 for adults, $10 for kids. (630) 637-7469 or northcentralcollege.edu/show.
Blast from the past
Trap Door Theatre concludes its 30th anniversary season with a re-imagined production of its 2002 hit “Nana” adapted from Emile Zola’s novel about a young woman who — over the course of her evolution from streetwalker to high-class prostitute — ruins every man with whom she interacts. Managing director Nicole Wiesner reprises the role she originated 22 years ago under director Miguel Long. Opens at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 11, at 1655 W. Cortland St., Chicago, and runs at 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays through May 19. $30. (773)-384-0494 or trapdoortheatre.com.