Metropolis to open season with 'Pump Boys and Dinettes'
Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights opens its main stage season with the southern-fried "Pump Boys and Dinettes," a disarming, roots-rock revue about small town life. Robin M. Hughes directs.
Info: Previews continue through Saturday, Sept. 26, at 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights. The show opens Sunday, Sept. 27. (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.com.
Musical with a message
Ross Lehman heads up the all-star cast director/choreographer Marc Robin has assembled for Marriott Theatre's production of "Hairspray," the musical inspired by John Waters' 1988 film about a plus-size activist and TV dance show star Tracy Turnblad, who teaches 1962 Baltimore about tolerance and acceptance. Lehman plays mom to Marissa Perry's Tracy. Hollis Resnick, Gene Weygandt and E. Faye Butler also star.
Info: Previews continue through Sunday, Sept. 27. The show opens Wednesday, Sept. 30, at 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire. (847) 634-0200 or marriotttheatre.com.
Seasonal fare at First Folio
An ancient prophecy that spells the end of a nobleman's family line and position inspires him to desperate measures in "The Castle of Otranto," the 18th century gothic novel by Horace Walpole. The novel marks the latest literary adaptation from First Folio Theatre's David Rice, who scored a hit several years ago with his adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe stories and poems.
Info: Previews begin Wednesday, Sept. 30. The show opens Friday, Oct. 3, at Mayslake Peabody Estate, 1717 W. 31st St. Oak Brook. (630) 986-8067 or firstfolio.org.
What's new
• Peter Parnell examines boyhood friendship in "Scooter Thomas Makes It to the Top of the World," opening Friday, Sept. 25, at Stage Left Theatre, 3408 N. Sheffield, Chicago. (773) 355-1752 or facebook.com/scotterthomaschicago.
• Two young girls learn firsthand the harm that teasing inflicts on a classmate in "The Hundred Dresses," Ralph Covert and G. Riley Mills' musical adaptation of Eleanor Estes' 1944 children's book examining stereotypes and bullying. Chicago Children's Theatre presents the world premiere directed by The Hypocrites' Sean Graney and beginning previews Friday, Sept. 25. The musical opens Sunday, Oct. 4, at the Royal George Theatre, 1641 N. Halsted St., Chicago. (312) 988-9000 or chicagochildrenstheatre.org.
• Previews begin Friday, Sept. 25, for Victory Gardens Theater and Teatro Vista's world premiere of "The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity," Kristoffer Diaz's comedy about pop culture and pro wrestling. Eddie Torres directs the play which opens Monday, Oct. 5, at 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. (773) 871-3000 or victorygardens.org.
• Profiles Theatre has enjoyed a string of successes with its productions of Neil LaBute plays. The company hopes to continue that trend with the Midwest premiere of LaBute's post-Sept. 11 play, "Mercy Seat," about a man presumed dead in the attacks on the World Trade Center, who uses the opportunity to remake his life. Previews begin Friday, Sept. 25, at 4147 N. Broadway, Chicago. Joe Jahraus directs Profiles ensemble member Darrell W. Cox and Cheryl Graeff in the production, which opens Thursday Oct. 1. (773) 549-1815 or profilestheatre.org.
• Theater Oobleck reprises its 1999 production of "An Apology for the Course and Outcome of Certain Events Delivered by Doctor John Faustus on This His Final Evening," Mickle Maher's tragicomic version of the Faust legend. The 10th anniversary celebration opens Friday, Sept. 25, at Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St., Chicago. (773) 347-1041 or theateroobleck.com.
• MPAACT and Pegasus Players team up for the world premiere of "Ten Square," by Shepsu Aakhu ("Kiwi Black"), beginning previews on Friday, Sept. 25, a the O'Rourke Center at Truman College, 1145 W. Wilson Ave., Chicago. Set in an America that pays reparations to African Americans descended from slaves, the play centers on a young black soldier living in Ten Square, a city built by reparation money, who is charged with protecting America's new world order. The play opens Tuesday, Oct. 6. (773) 878-9761 or pegasusplayers.org.
• When the entertainment fails to show for the class of 1958's high school prom, four songbirds fill the bill in "The Marvelous Wondrettes," a 1950s musical revue featuring the tunes "Mr. Sandman," "Dream Lover," "It's My Party" and others. Northlight Theatre's Chicago area premiere marks the start of the company's 35th anniversary season. The show, written and directed by Roger Bean, opens Saturday, Sept. 26, at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie. (847) 673-6300 or northlight.org.
• Annoyance Theatre adapts Roger Corman's 1970s horror film "Bucket of Blood" - about a killer who turns his victims into art - into a musical. The show opens Saturday, Sept. 26, and runs through Oct. 31, at 4830 N. Broadway, Chicago. Also opening at the Annoyance on Saturday, Sept. 26, is the company's slasher film parody "Splatter Theater," running Saturdays through Oct. 31. A Friday double feature is $20. Special Halloween shows. (773) 561-4665 or theannoyance.com.
• Former Columbia College theater department chairman Sheldon Patinkin adapts and directs Anton Chekhov's "Ivanov" for SiNNERMAN Ensemble. Jeremy Fisher stars in the titular role of the despairing Ivanov, who falls out of love with his wife and becomes obsessed with the daughter of his neighbor. Previews begin Wednesday, Sept. 30, at the Viaduct Theater, 3111 N. Western Ave., Chicago. The production opens Thursday, Oct. 1. (773) 296-6024 or viaducttheatre.com.
• Eric Ziegenhagen performs as part of Theater Oobleck's Cabaret Oobleck, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1, at the Chopin Theater, 1543 W. Division St., Chicago. (773) 347-1041 or theateroobleck.com.
• New Jersey transplant Lucy Bauer examines various manifestations of desperation in her one-woman sketch comedy show "Desperate," running at 6 p.m. Saturdays through Oct. 3, at Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. (773) 598- 4549 or gorillatango.com.