Theater events: Second City e.t.c. opens 40th revue

e.t.c.'s new revue

Second City e.t.c. opens its 40th revue, "A Red Line Runs Through It," which asks the questions: How does the past sculpt the future and are we all guided by anger? Sketches riff on new moms, local news and more. Lisa Beasley, Aasia Lashay Bullock, Peter Kim, Katie Klein, Julie Marchiano and Scott Morehead wrote and perform the show. Previews begin at 8 p.m. Friday, April 29, at Piper's Alley, 230 W. North Ave., Chicago. The show opens May 5. $23-$48. (312) 664-4032 or secondcity.com.

Writers' 'Parody'

Writers Theatre inaugurates its new Gillian Theatre with "Death of a Streetcar Named Virginia Woolf: A Parody." A mashup of some of America's greatest dramas created by Tim Ryder and Tim Sniffen in collaboration with The Second City, this comedy brings together Blanche DuBois, Stanley Kowalski, Willy Loman and the hard-drinking George and Martha under the watchful eye of a folksy Stage Manager. Artistic director Michael Halberstam and Stuart Carden co-direct. Previews continue at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 29, at 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe. The show opens Wednesday, May 4. $35-$80. (847) 242-6000 or writerstheatre.org.

Suddenly, Seymour

Michael Mahler and Dara Cameron, who are married in real life, star as meek florist assistant Seymour and his beloved Audrey in American Blues Theater's revival of "Little Shop of Horrors," the rock and doo wop-inspired musical by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken about a man-eating plant that threatens humankind. Jonathan Berry directs the production, which features West Chicago's Lorenzo Rush Jr. as the voice of Audrey II. Previews begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 29, at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. The show opens May 6. $19-$49. (773) 404-7336 or americanbluestheater.com.

Other theater events

• The Lyric Opera of Chicago's production of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein's beloved "The King and I" previews Friday, April 29, and opens Saturday, April 30, at the Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive, Chicago. The production, directed by Lee Blakeley (who staged its 2014 Paris premiere), marks the fourth in Lyric's American Musical Initiative. Broadway veteran Kate Baldwin stars as Anna Leonowens, a widowed British teacher who accepts a position as tutor for the children and wives of Paolo Montalban's King of Siam. (312) 827-5600 or lyricopera.org.

• A new boyfriend disrupts the relationship between twin sisters in Sue Cargill's dark comedy "The Eviller Twin." Curious Theatre Branch's production, under director Stefan Brun, begins performances Friday, April 29, at Prop Thtr, 3502 N. Elston Ave., Chicago. (773) 742-5420 or curioustheatrebranch.com.

• Saint Sebastian Players conclude their 35th season with a revival of "The Woman in Black." A ghost story by Susan Hill adapted for the stage by Stephen Mallatratt, it's about a British lawyer who - believing he is cursed - hires an actor to tell his story and exorcise his fear. SSP's production stars Joe Feliciano and Ian Maryfield. Performances begin Friday, April 29, at St. Bonaventure, 1625 W. Diversey, Chicago. (773) 404-7922 or saintsebastianplayers.org.

• Eta Creative Arts Foundation presents the world premiere of Michael Bradford's "Migration," a play with music chronicling the migration of millions of African-Americans from the South to the north. The production, directed by Kemati J. Porter, opens Friday, April 29, at 7558 S. South Chicago Drive, Chicago. (773) 752-3955 or etacreativearts.org.

• Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago, inaugurates its late-night, adults-only, one-act festival Skin in the Game, on Friday, April 29. The festival, which runs through May 27, showcases more than 40 theater artists from Chicago's storefront scene who will create 10-minute plays in which nudity is an essential element. Participating theaters include Right Brian Project, Organic Theater Company, Indie Boots Theatre, The Ruckus, Hobo Junction Productions and The Living Canvas, each of which will create new works examining "the beauty, vulnerability and hilarious truths about the human body." (773) 327-5252 or stage773.com.

• Metropolis Performing Arts Centre hosts its 16th annual fundraising gala from 5:30 to 11 p.m. Saturday, April 30, at Rolling Green Country Club, 2525 W. Rand Road, Arlington Heights. Tickets for the black-tie-optional event are $125 per person and include hors d'oeuvres, open bar, dinner, a season preview, live and silent auctions and performances by performing arts school students and faculty. Proceeds benefit Metropolis' theatrical and arts education programs. (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.com.

• Previews begin Saturday, April 30, for Goodman Theatre's revival of Lorraine Hansberry's rarely produced "The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window." Dominic Comperatore stars as the titular Sidney, a 1960s intellectual who finds himself at odds with his wife and neighbors after he buys an independent newspaper to express his opinions on issues and politics. Anne Kauffman directs the revival, which opens May 9, at 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. Additionally, Goodman announced several events in conjunction with a citywide celebration honoring Chicago native Hansberry ("A Raisin in the Sun"). Goodman resident director Chuck Smith and Northwestern University professor Harvey Young revisit Hansberry's interview with Studs Terkel at 7 p.m. Monday, May 2. Young leads a discussion on Hansberry's plays that will feature readings by local actors at 7 p.m. May 10. Kauffman and Joi Gresham, executive director of the Lorraine Hansberry Literary Trust, discuss the play at 5 p.m. May 8. (312) 443-3800 or goodmantheatre.org.

• Writer/producer and Illinois native Kay Cannon ("Pitch Perfect," "30 Rock") hosts "Laughs for Limbs Chicago," an iO Chicago fundraiser for Steps of Faith Foundation, an organization that provides prosthetic limbs for amputees who cannot afford them. The improv fundraiser begins at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 30, at 1501 N. Kingsbury and features TJ Jagadowski, Susan Messing and "Saturday Night Live" writer Katie Rich among others. "Every time I see a person walk for the first time it reinforces what a great cause Steps of Faith is," said Cannon, a Steps of Faith board member in a prepared statement. "A little bit of money goes a long way and we can help so many people." (312) 929-2401 or stepsoffaithfoundation.org.

• Emerald City Theatre hosts its second Wicked Soiree, Saturday April 30, at The Untitled Supper Club, 111 W. Kinzie St., Chicago. The adults-only event begins at 6 p.m. with a whiskey-tasting followed by dancing, live entertainment and refreshments. General admission is $150. VIP tickets, including the whiskey tasting, are $300. (773) 529-2690 or emeraldcitytheatre.com. Also, the company announced Jose Nateras will take over the titular role in Emerald City's family-friendly production "Skippyjon Jones in the Cirque de Ole," while Kelly Maryanski takes over the role of Jilly Boo/Don Diego. Performances run through May 26 at the Apollo Theater, 2540 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago.

• WildClaw Theatre Company, an ensemble specializing in horror theater, will accept submissions to DEATHSCRIBE 2016, its ninth annual international Festival of Radio Horror Plays from Sunday, May 1, through July 31. Ten-minute radio plays from the top five finalists will be performed Dec. 5, and the author of the winning entry will receive $100. There are no restrictions as to content or tone. Judges seek scripts that are scary, suspenseful or grotesque. See wildclawtheatre.com/deathscribe for submission rules and regulations.

• Previews begin Tuesday, May 3, for TimeLine Theatre Company's Chicago-area premiere of "Chimerica," Lucy Kirkwood's play inspired by the photograph of the lone man who stood in front of a tank during the pro-democracy rally in China's Tiananmen Square in 1989. The geopolitical drama, set 20 years later, is directed by TimeLine associate artistic director Nick Bowling. The production opens May 11 at 615 W. Wellington Ave., Chicago. (773) 281-8463 or timelinetheatre.com.

• For its sixth incarnation, The One-Minute Play Festival celebrates female and female-identified playwrights and directors. More than 70 Chicago-area theater artists - including writers Laura Jacqmin, Calamity West and Sara Sevigny - will participate in the marathon event, which takes place at 8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, May 3-4, at The Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. Tickets are $18 and are available at brownpapertickets.com. See oneminuteplayfestival.com for the schedule.

• A salesman hires an escort to celebrate New Year's Eve in a Gold Coast hotel and discovers things about his life he had not imagined in "Twisted Knots," a new play by Chicago Dramatists playwright Dale Danner in its world premiere. Previews begin Wednesday, May 4, at the Royal George Cabaret Theatre, 1641 N. Halsted St., Chicago. Tara Branham directs Danner's examination of modern marriage, which opens May 15. (800) 982-2787 or theroyalgeorgetheatre.com or twistedknotschicago.com.

• Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble concludes its 15th season with "A Piece of My Heart," Shirley Lauro's dance and theater piece that recounts the experiences of six women working in Vietnam during wartime. The preview is May 5 at Ebenezer Lutheran Church, 1650 W. Foster Ave., Chicago. The show opens May 6. Admission is free for veterans. (773) 486-8261 or brownpapertickets.com or danztheatre.org.

• Sonja Parks plays 14 characters - including an 8-year-old Vietnamese girl and a geriatric busybody from Eastern Europe - in "Seedfolks," a family-friendly play about how a garden transforms a community. Chicago Children's Theatre presents the Children's Theatre Company of Minneapolis production based on the novel by Paul Fleischman. Performances begin Thursday, May 5, at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. (877) 222-9555 or chicagochildrenstheatre.org.

• Theatre at the Center, 1040 Ridge Road, Munster, Indiana, presents the Chicago-area premiere of "Nice Work If You Can Get It," a musical comprised of songs by George and Ira Gershwin. Previews begin Thursday, May 5. The show opens May 8. (800) 511-1552 or (219) 836-3255 or theatreatthecenter.com.

• Brown Paper Box Co. opens its 2016-2017 season with "Mary's With a 'Z'" a re-creation of the 1972 Emmy Award-winning TV special "Liza With a 'Z'" starring Liza Minnelli. Brown Paper Box ensemble members, friends and alumni re-create the show at 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, May 5-6, at Mary's Attic, 5400 N. Clark St., Chicago. See brownpaperbox.org.

• Lifeline Theatre hosts its 33rd annual benefit You-Nite, from 6:30 to 10 p.m. Thursday, May 5, at The Women's Club of Evanston, 1702 Chicago Ave., Evanston. Proceeds will help Lifeline share its programming with people with disabilities. The event includes food, refreshments and entertainment. (773) 761-4477 or lifelinetheatre.com.

• Light Opera Works announced recently that after 35 years, it will change its name to Music Theater Works effective Jan. 2, 2017. "Light Opera Works was a wonderful name for a long time but we felt it no longer told the full story of who we are and what we do," said general manager Bridget McDonough in a prepared statement. "The company will remain a home for light opera, but we are also the home of Broadway classics, great American songbook concerts and popular educational programs for young people." Light Opera Works opens its 2016 season in June with "My Fair Lady." (847) 920-5360 or lightoperaworks.org.

• Improv Playhouse Theater in Libertyville recently received a $10,000 grant to upgrade technology as a regional winner in the 2016 Comcast Innovations 4 Entrepreneurs Contest. "We were looking for ways to upgrade our technology without broadening our environmental footprint," said founder and executive director David Brian Stuart in a prepared statement. "We need to invest in energy-efficient lighting systems ... and enhance our ticketing operations (and) Comcast is providing a means."

• Sideshow Theatre Company announced the appointment of Stephanie Weddell, formerly the drama and dance school director at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights, as its new executive director. Weddell succeeds Megan A. Smith, who has run the company with artistic director Jonathan L. Green since its 2007 inception. "With Megan's incredible talents and foresight, Sideshow's first nine seasons have allowed the company to grow from a tiny, itinerant storefront into a flourishing sustainable home," said Green in a prepared statement. "We are incredibly fortunate to welcome Stephanie into her new role and I can't wait to be a part of the further growth of Sideshow under her leadership."