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Theater events: Love, loss and identity explored in 'Love Wounds'

• Chicago Fringe Opera and the chamber ensemble Latitude 49 present works by composer Christopher Cerrone as part of a program titled "Love Wounds," consisting of stories about love, loss and identity. CFO's Catherine O'Shaughnessy music directs. Performances run Friday, May 17, through May 25 at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. See chicagofringeopera.com.

• Shattered Globe Theatre hosts its sixth annual Shattered Soiree fundraiser beginning at 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 17, at the Ravenswood Event Center, 4043 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago. The fundraiser includes dinner, entertainment and an auction. Tickets are $125. Proceeds benefit education and programming. See shatteredglobe.org.

• UrbanTheater Company and Teatro Aguijon collaborate on "No Se Vende," the Spanish-language version of "Not for Sale," Guadalís del Carmen's play about a store owner pressured by developers and by rising property taxes into giving up his longtime business. Performances, performed in Spanish with English subtitles, run Friday, May 17, through June 8 at 2707 N. Laramie Ave., Chicago. See aguijontheater.org.

• Corn Productions presents "The Stepmother Goose Variety Hour," running at 11 p.m. Fridays, May 17, through June 28 at 4210 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. The adults-only show features improvisers, musicians, storytellers and magicians. Tickets are $10. See cornservatory.org.

• Cirque du Soleil brings its new big-top production "Volta" to the Soldier Field South Lot, 1410 Museum Campus Drive, Chicago, beginning Saturday, May 18. BMX, street sports and an urban sports sensibility underscore the show, whose title refers to "a sudden about-face." Tickets start at $49 for the performances, which run through July 6. They're available online at cirquedusoleil.com/volta.

• "Four Chords and a Gun," a play with music about The Ramones and their 1979 "End of the Century" recording session with producer Phil Spector, comes to Chicago. Written by John Ross Bowie ("The Big Bang Theory") and incorporating The Ramones' music, the show begins performances Saturday, May 18, at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place, 175 E. Chestnut St., Chicago. (800) 775-2000 or broadwayinchicago.com.

• Broadway and TV veteran Megan Hilty headlines Goodman Theatre's "Star-struck" fundraiser Saturday, May 18, at The Fairmont Chicago, 200 N. Columbus Drive, Chicago. The black-tie event begins with cocktails at 6:30 p.m. followed by dinner, dancing and Hilty's performance. Tickets start at $1,000. (312) 443-3811, ext. 220, or goodmantheatre.org.

• Arlington Heights resident Michelle Areyzaga, a veteran of Chicago Opera Theater, Lyric Opera and the Ravinia Festival, performs in "Notorious RBG in Song," a "dramatic concert" celebrating the life of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The performance takes place at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 19, at the Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership, 610 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago. Ginsburg's daughter-in-law Patrice Michaels - director of vocal studies at the University of Chicago - composed the music for the 75-minute concert. See spertus.edu.

• Black Ensemble Theater hosts "The Soul of a Powerful Woman," its sixth annual fundraiser supporting the company's mission of attempting to eradicate racism through theater arts. Created by artistic director and founder Jackie Taylor and congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, the event has raised more than $300,000 for BET programs. It takes place at 6 p.m. Sunday, May 19, at 4450 N. Clark St., Chicago. The event includes performances and a champagne reception. Tickets are $250. (773) 769-4451 or blackensembletheater.org.

• Sideshow Theatre Company hosts its annual gala fundraiser titled "In Bloom: Garden Party" from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, May 19, at A New Leaf, 1818 N. Wells St., Chicago. Tickets are $100 for the event, which includes brunch, a Bloody Mary or mimosa and a silent plant auction among other attractions. See sideshowtheatre.org.

• Steppenwolf Theatre's LookOut Series continues Monday and Tuesday, May 20-21, with "Methtacular!" Steven Strafford's autobiographical tale of his years as a crystal meth addict. Performances take place at the 1700 Theatre, 1700 N. Halsted St., Chicago. (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org/lookout.

• Chicago Dramatists continues its Monday Night Drama Series consisting of public readings of in-progress plays at 7 p.m. Monday, May 20, at 1105 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago. Next up is "The Volunteer" by Cassandra Rose. See chicagodramatists.org.

• BoHo Theatre partners with Northwestern University's Playwriting Program for its Next Step Program pairing undergraduate playwrights with professional, Chicago-area theaters who commission and help develop works by the students. In furtherance of that initiative, BoHo presents a free reading of NU senior Madison Fiedler's "Spay" at 8 p.m. Monday, May 20, at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. Set against the opioid epidemic, it centers on two sisters - one of them an addict - and asks the question: Who deserves to be a mother?

• The International Voices Project, a five-week celebration of international plays taking place at the Instituto Cervantes, 31 W. Ohio St., Chicago, continues Tuesday, May 21, with a play by Polish writer Elzbieta Chowaniec titled "Gardenia." Produced in collaboration with Trap Door Theatre, the play examines the personal dramas of four generations of women from one Polish family, all of whom exist at the same age simultaneously. IVP continues Thursday, May 23, with a performance of "George Kaplan," French writer Frederic Sonntag's comedic thriller that centers around the fictional spy in Alfred Hitchcock's "North by Northwest." Performances are at 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. See ivpchicago.org.

• Porchlight Music Theatre welcomes composer and Chicago native Larry Grossman ("Play It Again, Sam," "Minnie's Boys," "Snoopy!!! The Musical") home for its staged concert production of "Minnie's Boys" as part of its series showcasing "lost" musicals. Grossman also will participate in "A Conversation with Larry Grossman" at 4:45 p.m. Thursday, May 23, at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. The musical follows Minnie Marx and her sons - better known as the Marx Brothers - from vaudeville to Hollywood. Performances take place at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 22, and 2 and 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 23. Christopher Pazdernik directs and choreographs the production, which includes "Hello, Big Time!" a number cut from the original Broadway production. (773) 777-9884 or porchlightmusictheatre.org.

• Previews begin Thursday, May 23, for Steppenwolf Theatre's premiere of "Ms. Blakk for President," co-written by ensemble members Tina Landau and Academy Award-winning screenwriter Tarell Alvin McCraney. Landau directs the play inspired by the first black drag queen presidential candidate. It centers on Ms. Joan Jett Blakk who in 1992 set out to "drag queer politics out of the closet and into a future." The show opens June 3 at 1650 W. Halsted St., Chicago. (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org.

• The SAG/AFTRA Senior Radio Players recreates the radio version of "The Philadelphia Story," Philip Barry's 1939 comedy about a socialite and the men infatuated with her. The free performance is at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 23, at the Claudia Cassidy Theater, in the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St., Chicago. See chicago.gov.

• The Moving Dock Theatre Company, in cooperation with Principia College, hosts From Scratch - A Pop Up Festival of New Work. The festival showcases works devised by ensembles "in response to our times" and includes performances and workshops. It runs May 24 and 25 at The Christian Community Church, 2135 W. Wilson Ave., Chicago. (773) 327-1572 or movingdock.org.

• Performances continue for The Agency Theater Collective's production of Hannah Tarr's solo piece "Fight, Flight and Freeze" chronicling a woman's "firsts, lasts, loves and traumas." Performances continue through May 26 at the Pendulum Space, 1803 W. Byron #216, Chicago. See wearetheagency.org.

• Performances continue through June 5 for A Dead Whale Productions' adults-only, talk-show parody titled "The Slather & Gibbs Show" at The Annoyance Theatre, 851 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. It centers on a pair of unpredictable hosts and the producer who struggles to keep them from running amok. Showtime is 8 p.m. (773) 697-9693 or theannoyance.com.

• Producers of the eighth annual Chicago Women's Funny Festival will accept applications from practitioners of all the comedic arts - from sketch and solo to standup, vaudeville and improv - through July 8 for the fest, which takes place Aug. 22-25 at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. More than 400 comedic artists perform in 80 shows during the festival, which is open to female-identifying performers. "Chicago is the ultimate destination for comedy and is home to so many talented, funny women. The Chicago Women's Funny Festival allows women in comedy to unite in one place for four days on four stages from all over the country to do what they love," said executive producer Jill Valentine in a prepared statement. Apply at stage773.com/cwff.

• Refuge Theatre Project artistic director Christopher Pazdernik is stepping down from the position he has held for three years to focus on his role as casting and company manager of Porchlight Music Theatre. "Thank you to Refuge for giving me the opportunity for three years to help create a home in Chicago for underappreciated and underproduced musicals," Pazdernik said in a prepared statement. Theater artists interested in the position should send a resume to executive director Ross Egan at ross@refugetheatreproject.com.

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