Steel Beam announces 2013-2014 season

St. Charles’ Steel Beam Theatre begins its 13th season Sept. 13 with “Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks,” Richard Alfieri’s dramedy about a retired woman living in Florida who hires an acerbic instructor to give her dance lessons.

The 2013-14 season also features holiday fare with Dan Goggin’s “Nuncrackers: The Christmas Musical” (Nov. 23-Dec. 22). It’s another in a series of musical comedy revues centered around the Little Sisters of Hoboken, a quirky and resourceful group of nuns who put on a cable access Christmas show with help from the audience.

Next up is Ken Ludwig’s “Postmortem” (Jan. 10-Feb. 9, 2014), a mystery thriller about an actor known for playing Sherlock Holmes who assembles the cast of his latest Broadway hit to discern who among them is trying to kill him.

That show is followed by the world premiere of “The Bay of Portugal” (Feb. 21-March 16, 2014), a comedy by Richard Culliton (“Another World,” “General Hospital,” “As The World Turns”) about a divorced couple trying to “get through their daughter’s engagement party without killing each other.”

Opening April 4, 2014, is the James Valcq-Fred Alley musical “The Spitfire Grill,” inspired by the 1996 film about a young woman recently released from prison who tries to start anew in a small Wisconsin town.

The season concludes with Ken Ludwig’s comedy “Be My Baby” (May 9-June 1, 2014), about a cantankerous Scotsman and an uptight English woman called upon to care for a newborn.

Performances are at 111 W. Main St., St. Charles. Season subscriptions are $149 and available by phone at (630) 587-8521 and online at steelbeamtheatre.com.