Spotlight: Musicals on tap this week at Citadel, Drury Lane and Metropolis
Elgin Fringe Festival
Whatever happens ... happens. That's the motto for the Elgin Fringe Festival, which continues this weekend at the Elgin Art Showcase, The Theater at Side Street Studio Arts, the Elgin Public House and other downtown venues. An uncurated showcase of music, theater, dance, comedy, performance art, visual arts and film, EFF includes performances that range from family-friendly to adults-only. Geekspeare Theatre Co., Elgin Theatre, Children's Theatre of Elgin and Night Moose are among the artists and ensembles participating.
Performances continue from 2 to 11 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13; noon to 11 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14; and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 15, at venues in downtown Elgin. A $3 Elgin Fringe Festival button is required for admission to all events, which range from free to $10. Buttons are available at Fringe Central at Side Street Studio Arts, 15 Ziegler Court, Elgin. See elginfringefestival.com for the schedule and ticket prices.
Celie's story
The 2018 Joseph Jefferson Award-winning director Lili-Anne Brown helms Drury Lane Theatre's revival of "The Color Purple," the musical adaptation of Alice Walker's well-loved novel about identity, faith and strength. The show centers on Celie, played by Eben K. Logan, and other African-American women living in rural Georgia during the early 20th century.
Previews at 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13; 3 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14; 2 and 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 15, and through Sept. 18 at 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace. The show opens Sept. 19. $50-$70. (630) 530-0111 or drurylanetheatre.com.
'Peter Pan' prequel
Sold into servitude and bound for a remote island, several orphans meet a young girl who's accompanying a trunk of magical starstuff in the-coming-of-age play-with-music "Peter and the Starcatcher," a prequel to J.M. Barrie's "Peter Pan." Jayson Lee plays Peter, the original lost boy, and Mariah Copeland plays apprentice starcatcher Molly in Citadel Theatre's revival directed by Jeremy Aluma. Adrian Danzig, co-founder of 500 Clown, is the villainous Black Stache.
Preview at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 18, at 300 S. Waukegan Road, Lake Forest. The show opens at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 19. $20-$45. (847) 735-8554, ext. 1, or citadeltheatre.org.
High-seas romp
The Metropolis Performing Arts Centre revives "Anything Goes," a Cole Porter classic that includes such favorites as "You're the Top," "I Get a Kick Out of You" and the titular "Anything Goes." A musical romp set on an oceanliner bound for London, the show is about the romantic misadventures of a Wall Street broker in love with an heiress; her stuffy fiance; and a nightclub singer, her gangster boyfriend, and their assorted family members and associates.
Previews at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Sept. 19-20, and 3 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, and through Sept. 26 at 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights. The show opens Sept. 27. $35, $40. (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.com.