Theater events: Kennedy family matriarch 'Rose' in spotlight at Greenhouse Theater

'Rose' returns

Linda Reiter reprises her 2017 Joseph Jefferson Award-winning performance as the titular character in "Rose," Laurence Leamer's portrait of Kennedy family matriarch Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. In this solo show, Rose chronicles the rise and fall of her politically powerful family. Steve Scott, who retired last year after 37 years as Goodman Theatre producer and director, helms the production. Previews begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 12, at Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. The show opens Monday, Jan. 15. $20-$45. (773) 404-7336 or greenhousetheater.org.

High-finance dramedy

Steel Beam Theatre stages the Chicago-area premiere of "Dry Powder," Sarah Burgess' dramedy set in the world of high finance. It centers on efforts by senior employees at a private equity firm to counter the public relations disaster that resulted from their boss throwing himself an extravagant party the same week he laid off thousands of grocery store workers. Sean Hargadon, artistic director of Elgin's Janus Theatre, helms the production. Opens at 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 12, at 111 W. Main St., St. Charles. $22-$28. (630) 587-8521 or steelbeamtheatre.org.

True identity tale

A routine medical procedure gone wrong prompts the parents of infant twin boys to raise one of them as a girl in "Boy," Anna Ziegler's examination of gender identity and choice based on a true story of a Canadian boy born in 1965 who transitioned back to male during his early teens. Damon Kiely directs TimeLine Theatre's Chicago-area premiere, which picks up the story in the 1980s, when Adam (Theo Germaine) discovers love for the first time. Previews continue at 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at 615 W. Wellington Ave., Chicago. The show opens Wednesday, Jan. 17. $25-$54. (773) 281-8463, ext. 6, or timelinetheatre.com.

Other theater events

• Ten 2018, The Gift Theatre's annual showcase of 10 10-minute world-premiere works by Gift associates and guest artists, continues through Sunday, Jan. 14, at 4802 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. The lineup includes playlettes by Tracy Letts, ensemble members David Rabe and Will Eno, J. Nicole Brooks and Rammel Chan among others. The mini-fest also includes performances by Gift's improv ensemble Natural Gas and giftLIT, the company's salon. Tickets are free for subscribers, $10 for everyone else. (773) 283-7071 or thegifttheatre.org.

• Lifeline Theatre hosts the 21st annual Fillet of Solo Festival celebrating storytelling and solo performances Friday, Jan. 12, through Sunday, Jan. 28, at Chicago's Lifeline Theatre, 6912 N. Glenwood Ave., and at the nearby Heartland Studio Theatre, 7016 N. Glenwood Ave. Featured performers include Lily Be, Ada Cheng, Nestor Gomez, Shelby Marie Edwards, Julie Graney, Carly Jo Geer, R.C. Riley and Jameson Wentworth. The storytelling collectives performing during the festival include Around the World: Immigrant Stories, GayCo, the kates, Stir Friday Night, The Sweat Girls and Tellin' Tales Theatre among others. Tickets are $10, $50 for a full festival pass. They're available at the Lifeline box office, (773) 761-4477 or lifelinetheatre.com.

• "Saturday Night Live" alum Julia Sweeney workshops her stand-up comedy show, "Julia Sweeney: Older and Wider," at Judy's Beat Lounge at The Second City, 230 W. North Ave., Chicago. Sweeney is known for creating the androgynous character Pat. Performances run Friday, Jan. 12, through March 18. (312) 337-3992 or secondcity.com.

• Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble member Molly Regan ("Good People," "Tribes," "The Herd") brings "The Accidental Curator," a solo show she wrote and performs, to the 1700 Theatre, 1700 N. Halsted St., Chicago, for three performances beginning Friday, Jan. 12. Encouraged by the late artistic director Martha Lavey, Regan examines what it's like to become "the keeper of one's family keepsakes, the repository of family memory" in this LookOut Series production. (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org.

• Opening Friday, Jan. 12, at the Annoyance Theatre is the sketch-comedy show "Eric and Claire Present: Park Ridge Mall" by Eric Rahill and Claire Favret. Also opening Friday, Jan. 12, and running through March 30 is "Shark Tank the Musical" adapted from the TV show. Annoyance alum Faith Soloway hosts a recorded performance of her musical satire "Jesus Has Two Mommies" at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 14. The viewing party is a benefit for Equality Illinois, which advocates for members of the LGBTQ community. Continuing Mondays through Jan. 22 at the theater is "Meat Cute," a dark comedy written by and starring Alice Stanley Jr. as a vegetarian undergoing an existential crisis. Also, the ensemble Huggable Riot hosts a best-of revue "Hug It Out" at 8 p.m. Wednesdays. The Annoyance is located at 851 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. (773) 697-9693 or theannoyance.com.

• The young ewe Montauciel's name means "climb to the sky." But she's always been earthbound until she meets the Montgolfier brothers and helps them invent the first hot air balloon in "Montauciel Takes Flight," the new musical by writer James E. Grote and composer/lyricist Russell Coutinho. The show's world premiere comes courtesy of Lifeline Theatre KidSeries. The production begins performances Saturday, Jan. 13, at 6912 N. Glenwood Ave., Chicago. (773) 761-4477 or lifelinetheatre.com.

• Curious Theatre Branch and Prop Thtr team up for the 29th Annual Rhinoceros Theater Festival, running from Saturday, Jan. 13, through Feb. 25 at Prop Thtr, 3502 N. Elston Ave., Chicago. Curious Theatre, Prop Thtr, Full Moon Vaudeville, CreativePush Collective, Kite and Key Theatre, InterPlay Chicago, El Bear and Abaisses Theatre are among the ensembles performing during the festival, which consists of 32 shows performed six days a week for six weeks. Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 at the door. (773) 742-5420 or curioustheatrebranch.com or propthtr.org.

• Silk Road Rising examines privacy in the digital age as part of P3M5: The Plurality of Privacy Project in 5-Minute Plays, a mini-festival showcasing staged readings of seven plays and screenings of two plays on video. Produced in association with the Goethe-Institut in Washington, D.C., it runs Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 13-14, at 77 W. Washington St., Chicago. "Over the past two decades, many Americans have come to view privacy as a commodity with diminishing returns," said Silk Road co-founder and artistic director Jamil Khoury in a prepared statement. "But not every country is as resigned to 'transparency' as ours. Germany, for one, remembers a time when personal information was used as a weapon ... as a result, Germans of today are extremely protective of personal data." Tickets are $10. (312) 857-1234, ext. 201, or silkroadrising.org.

• Chicago Children's Theatre helps launch the city's "Year of Creative Youth" during a free open house from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 13. Family events will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, Jan. 15, at the company's new home, The Station, 100 S. Racine Ave., Chicago. The free MLK Day events include interactive theater activities and Michael Taylor reading from his children's book "The Skin You Live in." Also at the Chicago Children's Theatre, previews begin Tuesday, Jan. 16, for Gloria Bond Cunie's "My Wonderful Birthday Suit!" a combination birthday party and play for children ages 4 to 7 that encourages understanding and acceptance of diversity. (872) 222-9555 or chicagochildrenstheatre.org.

• Eta Creative Arts Foundation hosts Magic Box Series III showcasing female music and theater artists Sunday through Friday, Jan. 14-19, at 7558 S. South Chicago Ave., Chicago. The series consists of play and poetry readings. (773) 752-3955 or etacreativearts.org.

• Composer/poet/jazz artist Denise La Grassa brings her jazz-theater piece "The Blues Ain't a Color," written in response to the 2012 shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin, to Elastic Arts, 3429 W. Diversey Ave., Chicago, on Sunday, Jan. 14. (773) 772-3616 or elasticarts.org.

• Writers Theatre in Glencoe begins its 12th annual tour of "The MLK Project: The Fight for Civil Rights" by Yolanda Androzzo at 10:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 15, at the Chicago History Museum, 1601 N. Clark St., Chicago. Incorporating hip-hop, poetry and history, Androzzo's one-woman show follows her transformation through her study of the civil rights movement. The production will tour more than 40 venues during its six-week run, including a Jan. 27 performance at Writers, 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe. (847) 242-6000 or writerstheatre.org.

• The New Colony recently named Fin Coe and Stephanie Shum as the company's new co-artistic directors, succeeding co-founding artistic directors Andrew Hobgood and Evan Linder. Ensemble member Coe served as Halcyon Theatre associate artistic director and was the co-founding producer of the Chicago Nerd Comedy Festival. Fellow ensemble member Shum served as New Colony managing director for five years and is a company member and associate producer with Red Tape Theatre.

• Lookingglass Theatre Company's board of directors appointed Rachel L. Fink as the theater's new executive director. Fink comes to Chicago from the San Francisco Bay Area, where she served as managing director of Theatre Bay Area after spending 16 years at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Fink takes over Feb. 19.