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Theater spotlight: Karen Mason headlines Drury Lane's cabaret series

Karen Mason returns

Chanteuse and Arlington Heights native Karen Mason returns to the Chicago area to headline Drury Lane Theatre's cabaret series. The Broadway veteran, whose credits include "Hairspray," "Mamma Mia!" and "Sunset Boulevard," performs her new show, "Karen Mason: For the First Time," at the Oakbrook Terrace venue.

7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 17-18, and 6:30 p.m. Sunday, May 19, at 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace. $60, $70, plus a $25 food and/or beverage minimum per person. (630) 530-0111 or drurylanetheatre.com.

War drama

Griffin Theatre revives the rarely staged anti-war drama "For Services Rendered," W. Somerset Maugham's 1933 examination of the aftermath of World War I on returning soldiers and their difficulty reassimilating as well as the impact the war had on their families. Ensemble member Robin Witt directs.

Previews at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 19; 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 21, and Thursday, May 23; and 7:30 p.m. May 24 and 25. The show opens May 26 at The Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. $28-$37. (773) 697-3830 or griffintheatre.com.

Oil Lamp Theater presents the romantic comedy "Beau Jest" starring Ken Rubenstein, back row left, Alex Ireys, Julie Mitre, Zachary Finch, front row left, Madeline Baird and Mathias Blake. Courtesy of Gosia Photography

Romantic farce

Sarah Goldman, a nice Jewish Kindergarten teacher whose parents want her to marry a nice Jewish boy, has fallen in love with a Christian advertising executive named Chris Kringle. To avoid a confrontation with her family, Sarah hires an actor to pretend to be her Jewish boyfriend. So successful is his performance, her parents invite him over for Passover, which leads to more complications in "Beau Jest," James Sherman's romantic comedy about family and identity. Elizabeth Mazur Levin directs Oil Lamp Theater's revival, which stars Madeline Baird as Sarah, Mathias Blake as Chris and Zachary Finch as the actor who wins over her family.

Opens at 8 p.m. Thursday, May 23, at 1723 Glenview Road, Glenview. $40. (847) 834-0738 or oillamptheater.org.

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