Tony & Tina returns to St. Charles for one show
Noble Fool requests the honor of your presence at "Tony n' Tina's Wedding," when the interactive comedy centered around an Italian-American couple's outrageous nuptials returns to Pheasant Run Resort & Spa this weekend for one performance only.
Info: 7 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 29, at 4051 E. Main St., St. Charles. (630) 584-6342 or noblefool.org.
Janus opens season
A man falls in love with a woman he notices on a bus in Hugh McDermott's "repeat w/Madeline," a play about romantic pursuits. Janus Theatre Company serves up the comedy in an Elgin eatery.
Info: Opens Thursday, Sept. 3, at Al's Café, 43 DuPage Court, Elgin. (847) 742-1180 or janustheatre.wordpress.com.
"Purple" returns
"American Idol" winner Fantasia Barrino stars as Celie in the touring production of "The Color Purple," the musical based on Alice Walker's novel and Steven Spielberg's film. Marriott Theatre veteran Felicia P. Fields returns as Sofia, the role she originated on Broadway and the role Oprah Winfrey played in the film.
Info: Runs Wednesday, Sept. 2, through Sunday, Sept. 6, at the Arie Crown Theater, 2301 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago. (800) 745-3000 or colorpurple.com.
What's new
• Silent Theatre Company returns with "The Set-Up," a 1928 "noir poem" written by Joseph Moncure March and inspired by the first black heavyweight champion, Jack Johnson. The play unfolds during professional boxing's darker days, when taking a dive was de rigueur. Silent Theatre's production opens Friday, Aug. 28, at Prop Thtr, 3504 N. Elston St., Chicago. (773) 597-5403 or silenttheatre.com.
• Director Nick Minas incorporates music and nontraditional (read gender-reversal) casting into Theo Ubique's production of Shakespeare's well-loved comedy, "The Taming of the Shrew," about firebrand Kate who meets her match in the mercurial, materialistic Petruchio. Previews begin Friday, Aug. 28, at No Exit Cafe, 6980 Glenwood Ave., Chicago. The production opens Sunday, Aug. 30. (773) 347-1109 or theoubique.com.
• Promethean Theatre Ensemble is the latest company featured as part of Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs Incubator Showcase which assists emerging ensembles in developing new works. In-development works showcased include Brian Pastor's stage adaptation of the Victorian detective novel "The Moonstone" and Ed Rutherford's new take on "The Wizard of Oz" filtered through H.P. Lovecraft. The showcase takes place at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 31, at the DCA Studio Theater in the Chicago Cultural Center, 77 E. Randolph St., Chicago. (312) 742-8497 or dcatheater.org.
• Apple Tree Theatre hosts a free reading of the one-act plays "The Creator," by Highland Park's Jessica Puller and "Do Us Part" by Rob Smith at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 3, at the Karger Center, 1850 Green Bay Road, Highland Park. Both plays center around grief and loss. "The Creator" examines it from a child's perspective and "Do Us Part" looks at loss from the viewpoint of an adult, unable to let go of his fiance, who dies the day before their wedding. (847) 432-4335 or appletreetheatre.com.
• Scuba Mission, comprised of Shawn Bowers and Colin Hogan, debut their first sketch comedy show "Timeless is More" - about a pair of performers trying to change the world - on Friday, Sept. 4, at Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. (773) 598-4549 or gorillatango.com.