Comedian Caliendo to perform in Aurora

"Frank TV" plays Aurora

Comedian Frank Caliendo, best known for impersonating George W. Bush, John Madden and David Letterman on "Mad TV" and his own sketch show "Frank TV," brings his cast of characters to the Paramount Theatre for one show at 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, at 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora. (630) 896-6666 or paramountaurora.com.

"Dinner" guests

TV's Jeffrey Donovan ("Burn Notice") and Broadway and television veteran Patricia Kalember ("Sisters") star in "Don't Dress for Dinner," French architect-turned-playwright Marc Camoletti's farce about a philandering husband whose plans for a weekend tryst with his mistress go awry with expected comic results.

Previews begin Friday, Nov. 14, at the Royal George Theatre, 1641 N. Halsted St., Chicago. The show opens Nov. 23. (312) 988-9000 or ticketmaster.com

"The Spew" returns

Metropolis Performing Arts Centre's "The Spew," a spoof of ABC's daytime chat show "The View," proved such a hit at this year's fundraiser, it earned a spot on the theater's comedy series. Assorted guest stars join Whoopsie, Gay, Baba and Jenny on the "show" which satirizes the hosts' onstage and backstage antics.

8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14, at 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights. (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.com.

What's new

• The progressive New York theater group Elevator Repair Service (named for the occupation a career placement test recommended for founder John Collins) brings "Gatz," its six-hour adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby," to the Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave., Chicago. The play opens with a white-collar employee reading from the novel whose characters and plot parallel the life stories of him and his co-workers. The show is presented as two acts, each with an intermission, with an hourlong dinner break in between. It runs from Friday, Nov. 14, to Sunday, Nov. 16. (312) 397-4010 or mcachicago.org.

• Eclipse Theatre Company concludes the first season of its two-year celebration of the 10th anniversary of its "one-playwright, one-season" initiative with Lillian Hellman's "The Autumn Garden," about a group of longtime friends contemplating middle-age. The last preview is Friday, Nov. 14. The production, directed by Eclipse artistic director Nathaniel Swift, opens Saturday, Nov. 15, at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. (773) 404-7336 or eclipsetheatre.com.

• Victory Gardens Theater hosts its 27th annual Casting Auction at 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, at 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. Musical theater lovers can literally buy a role in the theater's upcoming musical "Mame" running Feb. 20 and 21. Admission is $60 and includes entertainment, buffet and open bar. (773) 549-5788, ext. 2140 or victorygardens.org.

• "Cut to the Quick," the Side Project Theatre Company's festival of one-act plays exploring "thwarted love, fractured communication and misplaced ideals" opens Sunday, Nov. 16, at 1439 W. Jarvis Ave., Chicago. Featured plays include Brett Neveu's "Ethnic Cleansing Day," Sean Graney's "Autophagy," Laura Jacqmin's "Space" and Mark Young's "The Rocks." The festival runs Wednesdays through Sundays through Dec. 21. (773) 973-2150 or thesideproject.net.

• Adventure Stage Chicago opens its season with Louis Sachar's stage adaptation of his novel "Holes" about a teenage boy convicted of a crime and sent to a boys' camp where his punishment involves digging huge holes for apparently no reason. Previews are Friday, Nov. 14, and Saturday, Nov. 15, at Vittum Theater, 1012 N. Noble St., Chicago. The show opens Sunday, Nov. 16. (773) 342-4141 or adventurestage.org.

• Previews begin Saturday, Nov. 15, for Signal Ensemble Theatre's production of John Guare's "Six Degrees of Separation," about a young black man who cons his way into the home of wealthy New York couple by claiming he's the son of Sidney Poitier. The show opens Monday, Nov. 17, at Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St., Chicago. (773) 347-1350 or signalensemble.com.

• To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Jonestown Massacre, American Theater Company presents a staged reading at 8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 17, of its acclaimed production of Leigh Fondakowski's docu-theater production "The People's Temple," about the mass suicides by members of Jim Jones religious cult at their compound in Guyana. The reading takes place at ATC, 1909 W. Byron St., Chicago. (773) 409-4125 or atcweb.org.

• Previews continue for Goodman Theatre's world premiere of Lynne Nottage's "Ruined," first seen last year as part of Goodman's New Stages Series. The play examines the plight of women and girls caught up in the civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo through the eyes of Mama Nadi, the savvy cantina owner who protects and exploits the women caught in the conflict. The play, directed by Kate Whoriskey, opens Monday at 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. (312) 443-3800 or goodmantheatre.org.

• Two of the Chicago area's finest, Mary Ann Thebus and Lia Mortensen, star in Next Theatre's production of "Well," Lisa Kron's exploration of a mother-daughter relationship. The Chicago area premiere is Monday, Nov. 17, at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes St., Evanston. (847) 475-1875, ext. 2 or nexttheatre.org.

• "Our Bad Magnet," Douglas Maxwell's drama set in Scotland, about three friends who reunite years after the mysterious disappearance of a childhood chum, gets its U.S. premiere courtesy of Mary-Arrchie Theatre Company. Carlo Lorenzo Garcia directs the production which opens Monday, Nov. 17, at Angel Island, 735 N. Sheridan Road, Chicago. (773) 871-0442 or maryarrchie.com.

• Robin Metz adapts Carl Nordgren's novella, "Anung's First American Christmas" for Vitalist Theatre's world premiere of this pre-Columbian legend of the Anishinaabe People, about a young man's coming-of-age. Elizabeth Carlin-Metz directs the production which opens Tuesday, Nov. 18, at the Theatre Building, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. (773) 327-5252 or vitalisttheatre.org.

• Circle Theatre presents the infrequently produced "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," the Jule Styne and Leo Robin musical about a couple of chorus girls looking for love on a European cruise, which features the standards "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" and "Bye, Bye Baby." Previews continue through Tuesday, Nov. 18, at 7300 W. Madison St., Forest Park. The show opens Wednesday, Nov. 19. (708) 771-0700 or circle-theatre.org.

• Goodman Theatre hosts free readings of three plays comprising Noah Haidle's "Local Time," a 12-play cycle tracing a 24 hour period in the life of a town. Dexter Bullard directs "Local Time 5-7 am" about a couple who discover a newborn on their doorstep who grows to adulthood within an hour; Henry Wishcamper directs "Local Time 7-9 am" about the morning routine of an unusual family; and Chuck Smith directs "Local Time 9-11 am" about a father and son grave diggers who are confronted by mourners and ghosts as they go about their work. The readings are at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18, Nov. 24 and Dec. 1 at 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. (312) 443-3800 or goodmantheatre.org.

• Puppet artist Blair Thomas & Company incorporate shadow puppets, clowning, actors, music and oversize Japanese Bunraku puppets in their production of "The Ox-Herder's Tale" about a down-and-out magician who attempts to pull a bull out of a hat. The show runs Wednesday, Nov. 19 through Nov. 30 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago. (312) 397-4010 or mcachicago.org.

• Before it even opened, Northlight Theatre extended its production of the Tony Award-winning "Grey Gardens," the Doug Wright, Michael Korie and Scott Frankel musical about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis' eccentric relatives Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter Little Edie, who lived in a run-down mansion with 51 cats. The show, directed by BJ Jones with musical direction by Doug Peck and starring local divas Ann Whitney and Hollis Resnik, opens Thursday, Nov. 20, at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie. (847) 673-6300 or northlight.org.

• The Utopian Theatre Asylum (TUTA) puts its distinctive international spin on Shakespeare's classic tragedy with its season-opener "The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet" opening Thursday, Nov. 20, at Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St., Chicago. (773) 680-0826 or tutato.com.

• Greasy Joan & Co. opened its 13th season this week with the world premiere of "Chekhov's Life in the Country," adapted from Anton Chekhov's short stories. The "Lady with a Lapdog," about an aging philanderer's affair with a married woman, serves as the unifying narrative for this production which includes the stories: "The Proposal" about a young man's suit that falls apart over squabbles over minutia; "The Reluctant Tragic Hero" about the difficulties of living in the country while working in the city and "Dangers of Tobacco" about exactly what its title implies. Libby Ford directs. The show runs Thursdays through Sundays through Dec. 21 at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. (773) 404-7336 or greasyjoan.org.