Previews continue for Marriott's 'Aladdin'

Previews continue for the Marriott Theatre for Young Audiences production of "Aladdin," inspired by the 1992 Disney film about an urchin whose life transforms when a genial Genie offers him three wishes.

Previews continue through Thursday, Nov. 6. Opens Friday, Nov. 7, at 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire. (847) 634-0200 or marriotttheatre.com.

Comedy explores American dream

His childhood in Brooklyn during the 1960s inspired musician Jake Ehrenreich's one-man show "A Jew Grows in Brooklyn," a comedy with music about growing up the son of Holocaust survivors. North Shore Center for the Performing Arts hosts the Chicago-area premiere.

Runs Wednesday, Nov. 5, to Sunday, Nov. 9, at 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie. (847) 673-6300 or northshorecenter.org.

BIC discounts tickets for voters

Broadway in Chicago, producers of long-running hits "Jersey Boys" and "Wicked" along with the recent addition "Dirty Dancing" in its pre-Broadway run, offer $44 tickets to any production on Tuesday, Nov. 4. Seats regularly priced at $44 remain that price. Use the promo code "vote" when ordering.

Performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Order tickets online at www.broadwayinchicago.com/specialoffers or by phone at (312) 902-1400.

What's new

•In its inaugural season, Dramatis Personae debuts its seasonally inspired "Monster Mash" featuring Dracula, Frankenstein and the Mummy. The late-night show runs Friday, Oct. 31, at Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. (773) 598-4549 or gorillatango.com.

•"Tomorrow Morning," the musical that opened two years ago in London, whose Americanized version was a 2008 finalist for the National Alliance for Musical Theatre's festival of new works, receives its Chicago premiere at the Victory Gardens Greenhouse Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. The show centers on two couples, one at their beginning of their relationship and the other facing the end of theirs. Previews continue through Nov. 8. The show opens Nov. 9. (773) 404-7336.

•The Factory Theater's Halloween offering is "Bustin' Out of Hell," Scott Oken's comedy about a dead guy who has a lot of questions about the afterlife. The last preview is Friday, Oct. 31. The show opens Sunday, Nov. 2, at Prop Thtr, 3502 N. Elston Ave., Chicago. (866) 811-4111 or thefactorytheater.com.

•Village Players Theatre takes on "Betrayal," Harold Pinter's stinging and artfully structured examination of infidelity, which uses a reverse chronology to reveal the origins and aftermath of an extramarital affair. Previews are Friday, Oct. 31, and Saturday, Nov. 1. The play opens Sunday, Nov. 2, at Village Players Theatre, 1010 Madison St., Oak Park. (866) 764-1010 or villageplayers.org.

•An Englishman, Irishman and an American held hostage by a Middle East terror group help each other maintain their sanity in "Someone Who'll Watch Over Me," Frank McGuinness' terse 1992 drama inspired by former hostages Brian Keenan and John McCarthy. Piven Theatre Workshop's production has previews Saturday, Nov. 1, and Sunday, Nov. 2, at 927 Noyes St., Evanston. The show opens Monday, Nov. 3. (847) 866-6597 or piventheatre.org.

•"The Adventures of Captain Marbles and His Acting Squad," a 1960s children's musical that originated at Chicago's Hull House with a book by Academy Award nominee William H. Macy and David Kovacs and music and lyrics Alaric Jans and John Stasey returns to Chicago in a revamped version. The original show, about a quirky group of thespians led by a Captain who continually loses his marbles, began as a series. In the 1970s Jans, Macy and Kovacs teamed up to create new episodes which retired Chicago Tribune critic Richard Christiansen hailed as the "sweetest, sunniest, funniest little show in Chicago." The latest incarnation opens Saturday, Nov. 1, at the Storefront Theater, 66 E. Randolph St., Chicago. (312) 742-8497 or dcatheater.org.

•Redtwist theatre opens its 2008-2009 season with William Nicholson's "Shadowlands," inspired by the romance between British scholar/writer and devout Christian C.S. Lewis ("The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe," "The Screwtape Letters") and American poet Joy Gresham, a lapsed Jew and the divorced mother of two. Goodman Theatre's Steve Scott directs. Previews begin Friday, Oct. 31, at 1044 W. Bryn Mawr, Chicago. The play opens Monday, Nov. 3. (773) 728-7529 or redtwist.org.

•Apple Tree Theatre hosts a free, staged reading of Wilmette playwright Joe Bendy's "Ordinary Miracles," about a feminist nun trying to keep her college open while coping with an overbearing businessman, fresh-faced publicist and a pop star alumna. The reading takes place Monday, Nov. 3, at the Karger Recreation Center, 1850 Green Bay Road, Highland Park. (847) 432-4335 or appletreetheatre.com.

•20% Theatre Company, an ensemble dedicated to raising the profile of women in theater by producing works written, directed or designed by women, presents the world premiere of "Tester" written by Northwestern University MFA graduate Jennifer Dobby. The play about a troubled couple who encounter a mysterious woman, begins previews Thursday, Nov. 6, at the Viaduct Theatre, 3111 N. Western Ave., Chicago. It opens Saturday, Nov. 8. (773) 296-6024 or twentypercentchicago.org.

•Facing South Productions makes its debut with the James McLure one-acts "Laundry and Bourbon" and "Lone Star," each of which deal with a troubled marriage from the perspective of the parties involved. The production opens Thursday, Nov. 6, at National Pastime Theatre, 4139 N. Broadway, Chicago. (910) 231-2516.

•A young couple uses public access television to spread news of the end of the world predicted by the Mayan calendar in Chris Churchill's comedy "2012." The show opens Thursday, Nov. 6, at Elsewhere Theater, 3036 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago. (773) 290-0081.

•Polarity Ensemble Theatre hosts its Dionysus Cup Festival of New Plays beginning Thursday, Nov. 6, at the Josephinum Academy, 1500 N. Bell, Chicago. The in-development works featured throughout November include Lisa Rosenthal's "The Good Harvest," Bryce Wissel's "Ephemera" and Darren Callahan's "The Double Negative." The mini-festival also includes a reading of Callahan's "The White Airplane," which has its world premiere next year at Polarity Ensemble. (847) 293-7705 or pettheatre.com.

•Found Objects Theatre, in cooperation with Curious Theatre Branch, presents "An Increasingly Un-Cordial Invitation," involving Harry Houdini and his wife Bess, his onetime friend Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the college student suspected of killing Houdini, J. Gordon Whitehead. The show opens Thursday, Nov. 6, at Acme Art Works, St. Paul's Church, 2215 W. North Ave., Chicago. (312) 451-8289.

- Barbara Vitello