Theater events: Valentine's Day and a show

Valentine's treats

• Steel Beam Theatre founder Donna Steele and Villa Park native Jay Cook star in Steel Beam Theatre's revival of A.R. Gurney's “Love Letters,” an epistolary play about the relationship between a buttoned-up man and a free-spirited woman. 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10, and 5 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, at 111 W. Main St., St. Charles. The $35 tickets include champagne, Graham's Fine Chocolates and hors d'oeuvres from Preservation Bread & Wine. (630) 587-8521 or steelbeamtheatre.com.

• Williams Street Repertory celebrates the holiday with the pop-infused “I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change,” a musical revue celebrating romance and relationships. 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10, and 4 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, at Raue Center for the Arts, 26 N. Williams St., Crystal Lake. $33-$39. (815) 356-9212 or wsrep.org.

• Members of the Improv Playhouse ensemble riff on love, Elizabethan style, in their improvised Valentine's Day show, “Shakespeare's in Love.” 7:30 and 9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, at 735 N. Milwaukee Ave., Libertyville. $10 for the show, $25 for the show and dinner at Trattoria Pomigliano, 602 N. Milwaukee Ave., Libertyville. (847) 968-4529 or improvplayhouse.com.

Griffin's ‘Frindle'

Griffin Theatre returns to the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre with its family-friendly production of “Frindle,” adapted from Andrew Clements' book about a class clown named Nick who causes a ruckus when he creates his own word. Monday, Feb. 13, through Wednesday, Feb. 22, at 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights. $12-$14. (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.com.

What's new

• Paradise Playhouse revives John van Druten's comedy “Bell, Book and Candle” about a comely witch who casts a love spell on an unsuspecting publisher. Performances run Friday, Feb. 10, through Sunday, Feb. 26, at Open Door Theatre, 902 S. Ridgeland, Oak Park. (708) 829-5050 or paradiseplayhouse.net.

• Next up at Quest Theatre Ensemble is “The People's Barnum!” — the Cy Coleman, Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble musical inspired by the life of showman Phineas Taylor Barnun and the circus performers who made him famous. Andrew Park directs the production which opens Friday, Feb. 10, at the Blue Theatre, 1609 W. Gregory St., Chicago. Admission is free but donations are appreciated and reservations are recommended. (312) 458-0895 or questensemble.org.

• Chicago area leading lady Hollis Resnik and pianist/musical director Doug Peck team up for a concert of musical theater hits at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10, at The Music Theatre Company, 1850 Green Bay Road, Highland Park. Tickets are $30. (847) 579-4950, ext. 2 or themusictheatrecompany.org.

• The performers with Tommy Gun's Garage “Roaring ‘20s Musical Comedy Revue” re-enact the St. Valentine's Day Massacre after each show from Friday, Feb. 10, through Tuesday, Feb. 14, at 2114 S. Wabash Ave., Chicago. (312) 225-0273 or tommygunsgarage.com.

• Dancers and performers Mindy Upin, from Buffalo Grove, and her choreographic partner Lindsey Kelly perform their show, “The Ratio of Mindsey to Kelpin” Friday Feb. 10 through Sunday, Feb. 12, at Links Hall, 3435 N. Sheffield Ave., Chicago. (773) 281-0824 or linkshall.org.

• A straight businessman on the run from the mob ducks into a gay bathhouse where he encounters some bizarre characters in Terrence McNally's musical farce, “The Ritz.” Director and set designer Bob Knuth helms Circle Theatre's revival which features choreography from Kevin Bellie. The show begins previews Friday, Feb. 11, at 1010 Madison St., Oak Park. It opens Wednesday, Feb. 15. (708) 660-9540 or circle-theatre.org.

• 100 percent recycled. That's how The Actors Gymnasium describes the remount of last year's “Lost and Found: A Recycled Circus” comprised of “cast-aside junk and castoff characters.” Created by director Lawrence DiStasi and Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi, the show incorporates aerial arts, clowning, physical theater and found objects. It features original music by Greg Hirte, with choreography by Nicole Pellegrino. The show has its gala opening and reception on Saturday, Feb. 11, at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes St., Evanston. Regular performances begin Sunday, Feb. 12, and run through March 11. Call (847) 328-2795 for gala tickets (800) 838-3006, brownpapertickets.com or actorsgymnasium.com for all other tickets.

• Claymore Productions hosts its next installment of “Exquisite Corpse,” its adults-only, monthly sketch comedy party at 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. See claymoreproductions.com.

• Emerald City Theatre invites families to a Happily Ever After Valentine's Weekend on Saturday, Feb. 11, and Sunday, Feb. 12, in conjunction with its production of “Snow White As Performed by Professor TJ Barker's Troupe of Theatricals,” running through May 8, at the Apollo Theatre, 2540 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. Kids will make a craft before the show and leave with a gift bag after it. Additionally Emerald City offers a free adult ticket with the purchase of every children's ticket. Use the discount code “snow” when ordering tickets. (773) 935-6100 or emeraldcitytheatre.com.

• A woman awakes from a coma convinced she cannot die, a thought that slowly erodes her sanity in “Kill Me,” by Scott T. Barsotti. WildClaw Theatre, a company that brings horror to the Chicago area theater scene, presents the world premiere beginning Monday, Feb. 13, at the Athenaeum Theater, 2936 N. Southport Ave., Chicago. See wildclawtheatre.com for tickets and more information.

• E. Faye Butler, currently co-starring with Susie McMonagle in Northlight Theatre's “Black Pearl Sings!” performs her cabaret show titled “My Funny Valentine” at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 13, at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, 201 E. Randolph St., Chicago. $25 tickets include cabaret seating and two complimentary drinks. $15 seats are available in the choral balcony. (312) 742-8497 or millenniumpark.org.

• The Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights, hosts a Valentine's Day interactive murder mystery titled “Who Killed the '80s?” and featuring performers from Without a Net Entertainment. The combination dinner and show begins at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14, at the Doubletree Arlington Heights, 75 W. Algonquin Road. Tickets are $55. (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.com.

• The touring production of the 2008 Tony Award-winning revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein's “South Pacific” returns to the area for a two-week run. Performances begin Tuesday, Feb. 14, at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St., Chicago. (800) 775-2000 or broadwayinchicago.com.

• National Pastime Theater opens its new space on Tuesday, Feb. 14, with a speakeasy-style jazz show and fundraiser, Beginning of the Big Time, featuring food and entertainment. The event takes place from 7 to 11 p.m. at Preston Bradley Center, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago. Vintage attire is encouraged. Tickets for the BYOB event are $50 per couple, $25 for singles in advance; $60 for couples and $30 for singles at the door. Proceeds go to helping to restore the space. (773) 327-7077 or nationalpastimetheater.com.

• Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, hosts a couple of adult-only, Valentine's Day inspired shows. “Love and Liabilities: The St. Valentine's Day Conflict Cabaret” examines the best and worst aspects of love and runs at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14. It's followed at 9 p.m. by “A Very Special Valentine's Nude Hope: A Star Wars Burlesque” featuring an inappropriate Cupid and the song, “Looking for Love (In Alderaan Places).” (773) 598-4549 or gorillatango.com.

• Tracy Letts' “Superior Donuts,” which premiered at Steppenwolf Theatre in 2008, gets a revival courtesy of Mary-Arrchie Theatre Company. Performances begin Tuesday, Feb. 14, at Angel Island, 735 W. Sheridan Road, Chicago, for director Matt Miller's production of Letts' comedy about an aging anti-war activist (played by Mary-Arrchie artistic director Richard Cotovsky) who runs a failing donut shot in Uptown and hires the fast-talking Franco Wicks (Preston Tate Jr.) who's determined to write the great American novel. The show opens Feb. 16. (773) 871-0442 or maryarrchie.com.

• Four students perform Shakespeare's most familiar tragedy in Joe Calarco's “Shakespeare's R and J,” beginning previews Thursday, Feb. 16, at The Side Project Theater, 1439 W. Jarvis Ave., Chicago. Tristan Brandon directs the Idle Muse Theatre production. The show opens Feb. 18. (800) 838-3006 or idlemuse.org.

• Two men try to make a meaningful connection while dealing with their body image issues in J. Julian Christopher's play, “Man Boobs,” beginning previews Thursday, Feb. 16, at Mary's Attic, 5400 N. Clark St., Chicago. The show opens Feb. 18. (800) 838-3006 or pridefilmsandplays.com.

• “Are You There Judy? It's Me, Cancer,” writer/performer Judy Fabjance's one-woman show chronicling her battle with breast cancer when she was 34, continues at 9 p.m. Fridays through Feb. 24, at Donny's Skybox Theatre, 8 N. Wells St., Chicago. (312) 337-3992 or gayco.com.

• The Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, hosts talkback sessions every Thursday following performances of Mark Saltzman's “Clutter: The True Story of the Collyer Brothers Who Never Threw Anything Out.” The sessions will address hoarding and other issues examined in the play based on the true story of the wealthy, reclusive brothers who were found dead in the 1940s surrounded by tons of the junk they had collected over several decades. (773) 404-7336 or greenhousetheater.org.

• Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Deaerborn St., Chicago., has performances of its hit production of David Mamet's “Race” at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12 and 19. (312) 443-3800 or goodmantheatre.org.