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Spotlight: ‘Some Like It Hot’ heats up Cadillac Palace, BrightSide scares up thrills with ‘Dracula’

‘Hot’ times in Chicago

The national tour of the Tony Award-winning musical “Some Like it Hot” stops briefly in Chicago. Adapted from Billy Wilder’s hit 1959 screwball comedy, the musical by composer/lyricist Marc Shaiman and lyricist Scott Wittman and writers Matthew Lopez and Amber Ruffin is about a pair of musicians who, after witnessing a mob hit, escape by disguising themselves as women and joining an all-female band. Matt Loehr plays Joe/Josephine, Tavis Kordell plays Jerry/Daphne and Leandra Ellis-Gaston plays Sugar. Performances are at 7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, Oct. 22-24; 7:30 p.m. Oct. 25; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Oct. 26; and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Oct. 27 and through Nov. 3, at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St., Chicago. $26.50-$146.50. broadwayinchicago.com.

A thriller in Naperville

BrightSide Theatre opens its 13th season with Steven Dietz’s adaptation of “Dracula,” Bram Stoker’s tale about the Transylvania vampire who’s pursued by fearless people determined to halt his reign of terror. Danny Parrott plays the bloodthirsty count and Mike Boyna plays his nemesis Van Helsing in this revival, which features original music by Paul Scherer. 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 18-19, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 20, and through Nov. 3, at the Theatre at Meiley-Swallow Hall, North Central College, 31 S. Ellsworth, Naperville. $32, $37. (630) 447-8497 or brightsidetheatre.com.

August Wilson revival

Recently released from jail, blues guitarist Floyd Barton (who had a hit song before he was incarcerated) is eager to further his career. He returns home to a Pittsburgh tenement in 1948 to collect his girlfriend Vera and several musician buddies to go to Chicago to record his first album. But fate has other ideas in August Wilson’s “Seven Guitars,” one of the works making up Wilson’s 10-play cycle chronicling the African American experience in the 20th century. City Lit Theater’s 30th anniversary production is directed by Manny Buckley. Previews at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, Oct. 18-19 and 25-26, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 20, at 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Chicago. The show opens Oct. 27. $25-$35, $12 for students and military. (773) 293-3682 or citylit.org.

Christine Watt, center, plays Malady in The Conspirators' retooled “Commedia Divina: It’s Worse Than That.” The cast also includes Meghan Lynam, left, and Jailine Hernandez. Courtesy of Candice Conner, Oomphotography

Divine comedy retooled

The Conspirators remount the retooled “Commedia Divina: It’s Worse Than That,” whose run was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. Sid Feldman’s satire is about a Georgia business heiress escorted by Father Virgil through Dante’s updated Nine Circles of Hell. Opens at 7 p.m. Friday through Sunday, Oct. 18-20, and through Nov. 10 at Otherworld Theatre, 3914 N. Clark St., Chicago. $30. conspirewithus.org.

Zach Wyatt plays Pericles and Leah Haile plays his wife, Thaisa, in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of “Pericles,” which marks the RSC’s first Chicago production in 30 years. Courtesy of Johan Persson

Royal Shakespeare Company returns

The Royal Shakespeare Company returns to Chicago for the first time in 30 years with its production of William Shakespeare’s “Pericles,” about a man forced to leave his homeland after uncovering incest within the royal family. His subsequent adventures include winning the hand of a princess, then losing her and their newborn child during a storm at sea. Previews at 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 20, and 7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, Oct. 22-24, at Chicago Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier, 800 E. Grand Ave., Chicago. The show opens Oct. 25. $58-$120. (312) 595-5600 or chicagoshakes.com.

Jimmy Hogan plays Seymour Krelborn in Music Theater Works’ revival of the musical “Little Shop of Horrors.” Courtesy of Anthony La Penna

Another timely tuner

Music Theater Works’ season continues with a revival of “Little Shop of Horrors,” the Howard Ashman-Alan Menken musical based on Roger Corman’s 1960 horror comedy about nebbishy Seymour, a flower store employee who nurtures an unusual plant that has an appetite for human blood. Jimmy Hogan plays Seymour and Kayla Shipman plays his beloved Audrey, the murderous plant’s namesake. The preview is at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24, at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie. The show opens Oct. 25. $19.50-$106. (847) 673-6300 or musictheaterworks.com.

Brittany Bradford and Jon Michael Hill star in Steppenwolf Theatre's premiere of the play with blues music “Leroy and Lucy.” Courtesy of Joel Moorman

Steppenwolf premiere

Steppenwolf Theatre’s 49th season continues with the premiere of “Leroy and Lucy,” a play-with-music by Ngozi Anyanwu. Inspired by the Robert Johnson legend about how the bluesman sold his soul at the crossroads in exchange for guitar mastery, the play centers on two lost souls who meet, flirt and make sweet music. Ensemble member Jon Michael Hill and Brittany Bradford star in director Awoye Timpo’s production. Previews at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Oct. 24 and 31; 7:30 p.m. Oct. 25, 29, 30 and Nov. 1; 3 and 7:30 p.m. Oct. 26; and 3 p.m. Oct. 27 at the Ensemble Theater, 1646 N. Halsted St., Chicago. The show opens Nov. 3. $20-$92. (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org.

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