Stage events: A tribute to soldiers at Pheasant Run

FVR honors soldiers

Fox Valley Repertory presents its second annual armed forces tribute, “Letters Home: A Memorial Day Remembrance,” held in cooperation with Fox Valley Troop Support and the Fox Valley Concert Band at the Pheasant Run Resort. FVR artistic director John Gawlik created the event, which features the recitation of letters written by servicemen and women from the Fox Valley to their loved ones during their times of service, all of it accompanied by patriotic and original music. The letters include ones written by Private Nicholas Miller to his wife Jane of Geneva during the Civil War; World War I letters written from Private Frank C. Danielson of Geneva as well as current letters written from a lieutenant serving in Afghanistan to his wife, a Naperville native. 8 p.m. Friday, May 25, and Saturday, May 26, at 4051 E. Main St., St. Charles. $20. (630) 584-6342 or foxvalleyrep.org.

Theo Ubique at FVR

Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre heads west to remount its Jeff-nominated production of “Some Enchanted Evening: The Songs of Rodgers & Hammerstein” in St. Charles as part of Fox Valley Repertory's Annual Summer Theater Fest. Artistic director Fred Anzevino directs St. Charles native Danielle Floyd, Chad Ballantyne, Amanda Batcher, Amanda Hartley and Matt McNabb. Wheaton native Elizabeth Doran serves as accompanist for the show, which runs weekends through July 22. Previews begin Thursday, May 31, at the Pheasant Run Resort, 4051 E. Main St., St. Charles. The show opens June 9. $32-$52. (630) 584-6342 or foxvalleyrep.org.

LOW's ‘Camelot'

Remy Bumppo Theatre artistic director and First Folio artistic associate Nick Sandys stars as King Arthur in Light Opera Works' revival of the Lerner and Loewe musical “Camelot.” Jenni Sophia plays Arthur's beloved Guenevere, and William Travis Taylor plays Lancelot in the Rudy Hogenmiller production. Previews Friday, June 1, at Cahn Auditorium, 600 Emerson St., Evanston. It opens June 2. $32-$92. (847) 920-5360 or lightoperaworks.com.

What's new in theater

• The Organic Theater Company opens its season with Eugene Ionesco's absurdist drama “Rhinoceros,” an examination of the danger of conformity in which one man stands alone when his fellow citizens are turned into rhinos. It opens Friday, May 25, at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, where it runs in repertory with Organic's remount of its original stage adaptation of Herman Melville's “Bartleby the Scrivener” about a low-level clerk in a legal office who one day refuses to perform a simple task he was ordered to do. “Bartleby” opens Saturday, May 26. Artistic director Alexander Gelman directs both plays. (773) 404-7336 or organictheater.org.

• American Demigods debuts its new scary-funny show, “The Factory That Makes Devils,” comprised of short plays combining horror and humor. In one, a couple flees unseen terror, in another a woman has to decide what price she'd pay to change her fate. The show opens Friday, May 25, at the Apollo Studio Theater, 2540 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. (773) 935-6100 or apollochicago.com.

• The next edition of “The City Life Supplement,” the urban counterpart to the “Prairie Home Companion,” takes place at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, May 26, at Transistor Chicago, 3819 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. $10 suggested donation. This month's theme is sex. (214) 460-1735 or citylifesupplement.org.

• Previews begin Wednesday, May 30, for Walkabout Theater's world premiere of “Crow,” Jeremy Sher's physical solo piece set in 1969 about one man running a solo race by sea around the world who disappears just as he's about to achieve victory and whose empty boat is found in the North Atlantic with only his logbook and its wild ramblings to explain his disappearance. The show opens Friday, June 1, at Victory Garden's Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. Writer/actor Sher — who collaborated with Walkabout's Seth Bockley, 500 Clown's Adrian Danzig and Lucky Plush Productions' Meghann Wilkinson — stars. See walkabouttheater.org or victorygardens.org for information and tickets.

• California theater artist and magician Christian Cagigal brings his semi-autobiographical show “Now and at the Hour,” about growing up with a father who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and schizophrenia, to Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. The performance is on Thursday, May 31. (773) 598-4549 or gorillatango.com.

• Commedia Beauregard concludes its season with an original William Shakespeare/Mario Puzo mashup by David Mann titled “Corleone: The Shakespeare Godfather” which imagines how “The Godfather” might have turned out had Shakespeare written the best-selling novel about an American crime family. The preview is at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 31, at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. The show opens June. 1. (773) 404-7336 or cbtheatre.org.

• Bob Fisher's adaptation of E.T.A. Hoffmann's folk tale “The Sandman” opens Friday, June 1, at Oracle Productions, 3809 N. Broadway, Chicago. Running in repertory are a pair of one-act plays by Oracle ensemble member Rory Jobst. Opening June 5 is “Samuel Beckett, Andre The Giant, and The Crickets” about a prizewinning playwright who drives his friend's 12-year-old son to school because he can't fit in the bus. That son grows up to be professional wrestler Andre the Giant. The double-bill also includes Jobst's “Daniel Day-Lewis and The Big Potatas,” about a female film fan who runs into actor Daniel Day-Lewis at a pet cemetery where he is preparing for a role. Admission is free but donations are accepted. See oracletheatre.org for more information.

• Dan Weissmann welcomes four Chicago area comic artists to a discussion about how comic books are adapted for film, television and theater as part of the WBEZ 91.5 FM's latest Off-Air Series at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. “Superhero Summit: Hollywood's Rewriting of History” is at 7 p.m. June 1. see wbez.org/events for more information.

• Performances continue through June 30 for Trap Door Theatre's “Anger/Fly,” Ruth Marraff's absurdist play inspired by a Eugene Ionesco film treatment about what befalls a quiet town when all the husbands simultaneously find flies in their soup. Kate Hendrickson directs the show which runs at 1655 W. Cortland Ave., Chicago. Also at Trap Door: a performance by the International Voices Project highlighting global writers. Fabrice Melquiot's “Candle” is about a couple who invites a stranger into their lives, jeopardizing their marriage. The performance is at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 29, at the Alliance Française de Chicago, 54 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago. Admission is free but reservations are required. See trapdoortheatre.com for information on that show and “Anger/Fly.”

• Circle Theatre, 1010 Madison St., Oak Park, has added performances of its production of “Almost an Evening,” Ethan Coen's trio of darkly comic plays examining hell on earth and in the hereafter. The additional performances are at 8 p.m. Thursdays, June 14, 21 and 28; 8 p.m. July 6 and 7 and 3 p.m. July 8. (708) 660-9540 or circle-theatre.org.

• Writers' Theatre announced an extension of its revival of “A Little Night Music,” the Stephen Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler musical inspired by Ingmar Bergman's film “Smiles of a Summer Night.” Performances continue through July 22 at 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe. (847) 242-6000 or writerstheatre.org.

• The Mammals Theatre Company has extended its production of the “All Girl Moby Dick,” adapted from Herman Melville's novel. The show will run Fridays and Saturdays through June 9 at Zoo Studios, 4001 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago. (866) 593-4614 or themammals.blogspot.com.

• The Factory Theater has added performances of its remount of its hit show “White Trash Wedding and a Funeral” on Saturday, May 26, and Saturday, June 2, at 3502 N. Elston Ave., Chicago. (866) 811-4111 or thefactorytheater.com.

• American Theater Company will present a restored and revised revival of “Hair” on its 45th anniversary as part of the company's 2012-2013 season which begins Sept. 6 with repertory performances of John Patrick Shanley's “Doubt” and John Peilmeier's “Agnes of God.” Next up are a pair of radio plays in repertory, “It's A Wonderful Life,” adapted from the Frank Capra film, and “The Wizard of Oz” (rights pending), adapted from the L. Frank Baum story accompanied by the Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg score (Nov. 15-Dec. 30). In 2013, ATC presents the world premiere revised version of “columbinus” (Jan. 25-Feb. 24, 2013), conceived and directed by ATC artistic director PJ Paparelli and inspired by the 1999 mass slaying at a Colorado high school. The season concludes with “Hair,” running April 26-June 16, 2013. Performances take place at 1909 W. Byron St., Chicago. Season subscriptions are available online at atcweb.org or by phone at (773) 409-4125. Discounts available for subscribers who purchase season tickets or flex passes before July 1.

• Eta Creative Arts Foundation announced its 2012-2013 season which begins Sept. 20 with “The Amen Corner” by James Baldwin. That's followed by Lonne Elder III's “Ceremonies in Dark Old Men” (Nov. 8-Dec. 23); “Wine in the Wilderness” and “Florence” by Alice Childress (Jan. 10-March 3, 2013); “Jar the Floor” (March 31-May 12, 2013) by Cheryl L. West and Khatori Hall's “Hoodoo Love” (May 23- July 28, 2013). Performances take place at 7558 S. South Chicago Ave., Chicago. (773) 752-3955 or etacreativearts.org.