Theater spotlight: Tributes to Judy Garland, Harry Truman grace local stages

Posted October 02, 2018 6:00 am

'Rain or Shine'

Joseph Jefferson Award winner Angela Ingersoll brings her show "Judy Garland: Come Rain or Come Shine" to Evanston's Nichols Concert Hall as part of Music Theater Works' season. Ingersoll's homage to the singer/actress, seen last spring on WTTW, includes such numbers as "Get Happy," "Over the Rainbow" and "The Man That Got Away." "Rain or Shine" begins its run at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5; shows through Sunday, Oct. 14, at Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Ave., Evanston. $34-$64. (847) 920-5360 or musictheaterworks.com.

My ogre and me

Reclusive ogre Shrek agrees to rescue Princess Fiona in exchange for being left alone in his swamp in "Shrek The Musical," adapted from the hit film by Jeanine Tesori and David Lindsay Abaire. Shea Coffman stars as Shrek, Jonathan Butler-Duplessis plays his pal Donkey and Jacquelyn Jones plays feisty Fiona in a Marriott Theatre for Young Audiences production directed by Scott Weinstein. Previews at 10 a.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 5-6, at 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire. The show runs through Dec. 30. $18.23. (847) 634-0200 or marriotttheatre.com.

ABT opener

American Blues Theater opens its season with a revival of Pearl Cleage's "Flyin' West," about three African-American women, former slaves turned pioneers, who settle in the all-black town of Nicodemus, Kansas, in 1898. ABT artistic associate and Goodman Theatre resident director Chuck Smith directs. Previews at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 5-6, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 7, at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. The show opens Oct. 11. $19-$39. (773) 654-3103 or americanbluestheater.com.

Libertyville native Tim Kough plays Harry S. Truman in the premiere of "Truman and the Birth of Israel" at the Greenhouse Theater Center. Courtesy of Michael Brosilow

Greenhouse premiere

Libertyville native Tim Kough stars in Greenhouse Theater Center and Forum Productions' premiere of "Truman and the Birth of Israel," an historical drama by David Cohen (aka William Spatz). The play tells the story of Missouri native Harry S. Truman - the farmer turned soldier turned haberdasher turned president - and the role he played in the founding of the state of Israel. Previews at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 11-13, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 14, at 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. The show opens Oct. 15. $25-$35. (773) 404-7336 or greenhousetheater.org.

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