Theater events: Profiles gives us 'Reasons to be Happy'
Happy days?
Profiles Theatre opens its 26th season with "Reasons to be Happy," its 11th premiere by resident playwright Neil LaBute. A sequel to LaBute's 2008 play "reasons to be pretty," "Reasons to be Happy" revisits Steph and Greg, a former couple now involved with other people, who reconsider their breakup in this examination of romance's rocky road. Profiles artistic director Darrell W. Cox helms this Midwest premiere.
Previews begin at 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 22, at 4139 N. Broadway St., Chicago. The show opens Aug. 28. $20-$40. (773) 549-1815 or profilestheatre.org.
Simon in St. Charles
Signal Ensemble Theatre founder and co-artistic director Ronan Marra makes his Fox Valley Repertory directorial debut with Neil Simon's coming-of-age comedy "Brighton Beach Memoirs." The first in Simon's Eugene trilogy, it centers on 15-year-old Eugene Jerome and the challenges he faces living with his parents and extended family, including a pair of pampered cousins and a widowed aunt.
Previews begin at 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 28, at Pheasant Run Resort, 4051 E. Main St., St. Charles. The show opens Sept. 6. $32, $42. (630) 584-6342 or foxvalleyrep.org.
30 plays/60 minutes
The Neo-Futurists bring their long-running, ever-changing show "Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind" to the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre for a brief run. Now in its 26th year, the show consists of at least 30 plays typically lasting two minutes or less.
8 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, Aug. 28-30, at 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights. $20. (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.com.
- Barbara Vitello