Theater events: Karamazov Brothers soar into the Paramount
Flying high
Combine juggling, physical comedy and Monty Python-style humor and what do you get? The Flying Karamazov Brothers, who aren't brothers and don't fly, yet they've entertained audiences for more than 35 years. The members of the ensemble bring their latest show “4-Play” to Aurora's Paramount Theatre for two performances.
4 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 26, at 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora. $28.50-$38.50. (630) 896-6666 or paramountaurora.com.
Griffin @ 23
Griffin Theatre begins its 23rd season in a big way. The company snagged the rights to the Tony Award-winning “Spring Awakening,” Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater's musical inspired by German writer Franz Wedekind's 19th-century play about a group of students' sexual awakening. Jonathan Berry directs and Alison Kane serves as music director.
Previews begin Sunday, Nov. 27, at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. The show opens Dec. 4. $28-$38. (773) 975-8150 or griffin theatre.com.
Elizabeth & William
A troubled queen meets an ailing playwright in “Elizabeth Rex,” Timothy Findley's fictionalized drama that imagines a meeting between Queen Elizabeth and William Shakespeare following a command performance by his company. Stratford Shakespeare Festival veteran Diane D'Aquila stars as Elizabeth in the Chicago Shakespeare Theater production, which co-stars veteran Kevin Gudahl (“Boss”) as Shakespeare. Artistic director Barbara Gaines directs.
Previews begin Tuesday, Nov. 29, at Navy Pier, 800 E. Grand Ave., Chicago. The show opens Dec. 7. $44-$75. (312) 595-5600 or chicagoshakes.com.
• Quest Theatre Ensemble reprises its holiday show “Blue Nativity,” which uses large-scale puppetry to tell the story of the birth of Christ. Conceived and directed by artistic director Andrew Park, “Blue Nativity” tours throughout the Chicago area beginning Saturday, Nov. 26. Quest performs the show in the suburbs at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10, at Christ Community Mennonite Church, 888 S. Roselle Road, Schaumburg, and at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 18, at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights. See questensemble.org for the complete schedule.
• Theo Ubique Cabaret Theater unlocks the Double Cupp Diner and the nearby filling station to remount the very popular country and roots rock musical revue and homage to small-town America, “Pump Boys and Dinettes.” Artistic director Fred Anzevino directs the show, which opens Sunday, Nov. 27, at the No Exit Cafe, 6970 N. Glenwood Ave., Chicago. (773) 347-1109 or theo-u.org.
• An intrepid group of Mother Goose characters unite to save Mother Gooseland from foreclosure in the musical “Babes in Toyland.” The Theater at the Center young audiences production runs Monday, Nov. 28, through Monday, Dec. 12, at 1040 Ridge Road, Munster, Ind. (219) 836-3255 or (800) 511-1552 or theatreatthecenter.com.
• New Leaf Theatre continues its Treehouse Reading Series at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30, with “Untrained in Geometry,” by Emily Dendinger. Set in the 1920s, this romantic comedy centers around a British archaeologist who discovers Apollo's oracle, which shows people their soul mates. The free, staged readings take place at the Lincoln Park Cultural Center, 2045 N. Lincoln Park West, Chicago. See newleaftheatre.org.
• Previews begin Thursday, Dec. 1, for Steppenwolf Theatre's production of “Penelope,” Irish playwright Enda Walsh's tragicomedy about four men attempting to woo Penelope while she awaits the return of her husband Odysseus from the Trojan Wars. Amy Morton directs the production, which features Steppenwolf ensemble members Ian Barford, Tracy Letts and Yasen Peyankov along with Scott Jaeck and Logan Vaughn. The show opens Saturday, Dec. 10, at 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago. (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org.
• “The Doyle & Debbie Show,” about an aging country music star looking to revive his career with a new partner — a single mom with three kids looking to make it big in Nashville — has been extended. Performances will run through March 18, at the Royal George Cabaret, 1641 N. Halsted St., Chicago. (312) 988-9000 or doyleanddebbie.com.
• The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded Chicago's Victory Garden's Theater a $25,000 grant to produce a new play by Jackie Sibblies Drury, which VGT developed last year through its Ignition series. Titled “We are Proud to Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as South-West Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915” the play centers around a group of actors depicting a late 19th century African genocide who discover their own potential for brutality. The play runs March 30-April 29, at 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago.
— Barbara Vitello