Theater events: Premieres dominate Greenhouse, Steppenwolf, 16th Street fall theater schedules

• Previews begin Friday, Aug. 30, for Mercury Theater Chicago's revival of "Monty Python's Spamalot," a musical sendup of the King Arthur and Knights of the Round Table legends "lovingly ripped off" from the film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." Walter Stearns and Eugene Dizon serve as director and music director for the production, which opens Sept. 8 at 3745 N. Southport Ave., Chicago. (773) 325-1700 or mercurytheaterchicago.com.

• Pride Films & Plays hosts a Fundraiser Friday event Friday, Aug. 30, that benefits Chicago House, which assists people living with AIDS. The fundraiser is in conjunction with PFP's current production "All That He Was," about a man's struggle with AIDS. The company will donate $5 from every ticket sold that day to Chicago House. The performance is at 4147 N. Broadway, Chicago. See pridefilmsandplays.com.

• Folk singer/songwriter Mark Dvorak plays a Steel Beam Theatre fundraiser at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 31, at 111 W. Main St., St. Charles. Dvorak will play originals and familiar tunes from the American heartland. Tickets are $20. Proceeds benefit the theater. (630) 587-8521 or steelbeamtheatre.com.

• Performances begin Tuesday, Sept. 3, for The Second City's 108th main stage show. The as yet unnamed show will be directed by Ryan Bernier and its run will coincide with the company's 60th anniversary on Dec. 16. The theater is at 1616 N. Wells St., Chicago. Tickets start at $31. (312) 337-3992 or secondcity.com.

• "The Band's Visit," about a misunderstanding that results in an Egyptian police band showing up at a remote Israeli town instead of the Arab arts center where they were scheduled to play, comes to Chicago as part of its national tour. The musical, adapted from the 2007 film and directed by Skokie native David Cromer, plays Tuesday, Sept. 3, through Sept. 15 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St., Chicago. (800) 775-2000 or broadwayinchicago.com.

• Greenhouse Theater Center and Proxy Theatre collaborate on the Midwest premiere of "Midsummer (A Play With Songs)" by Scottish playwright David Greig with music by Gordon McIntyre. It's about a couple (Chaon Cross and Patrick Mulvey) who indulge in a weekend of wine, song and romance in what producers describe as "a genuine love letter to Edinburgh with an un-Hollywood ending." Previews begin Wednesday, Sept. 4, at 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. The show opens Sept. 7. (773) 404-7336 or greenhousetheater.org.

• Steppenwolf Theatre presents the Chicago-area premiere of Lauren Yee's "The Great Leap," which begins previews Thursday, Sept. 6, at 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago. Set during 1989, the play centers on Manford Lum, a star basketball player living in San Francisco's Chinatown who secures a spot on a U.S. college team traveling to Beijing for a "friendship game" rife with cultural tension. The play opens Sept. 16. (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org.

• Eager to step out of his older brother's shadow, a college freshman tries out for the football team. But a tragedy thwarts him in "His Shadow" by Loy A. Webb. The 16th Street Theater premieres the play under director Wardell Julius Clark. Previews begin Thursday, Sept. 5, at the North Berwyn Park District's 16th Street Theater, 6420 16th St., Berwyn. The show opens Sept. 12. (708) 795-6704 or 16thstreettheater.org.

• Otherworld Theatre hosts the 7th Annual Juggernaut Film Festival from Thursday through Sunday, Sept. 5-8, at 3914 N. Clark St., Chicago. The festival features dozens of short films as well as the full-length feature "Yamasong" about a mechanical girl and including the voices of Whoopi Goldberg, Ed Asner, Nathan Fillion and George Takei. The Disney film "The Last Warrior" also will be screened. See otherworldtheatre.org.

• Exit 63 Theatre concludes its season with "Horse Girls," Jenny Rachel Weiner's drama about preteen female members of an exclusive south Florida equestrian club. Performances run Thursday, Sept. 5, to Sept. 22 at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. See exit63theatre.com.

• Previews begin Thursday, Sept. 5, for The Story Theatre's premiere of "At the Wake of a Dead Drag Queen" by resident playwright Terry Guest. Producers describe the AIDS-centered play as a "two-hander about Blackness, queerness and the fine art of drag." The production opens Sept. 7 at Raven Theatre, 6157 N. Clark St., Chicago. See thestorytheatre.org.

• The Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, has extended its premiere of "The One: The Matrix Parody Musical" by Laura Marsh. Performances run through Aug. 31. (773) 697-3830 or thedentheatre.com.

• Theater artist/director Regina Victor has been named Court Theatre's first associate producer; Andrew Berg has been named director of development and dramaturge/director Gabrielle Randle, the theater's new artistic fellow, has been tapped to conduct research for the upcoming "Oedipus Trilogy." "Having Regina, Gabby and Andrew here will help Court reach its ever-growing ambition to produce the kind of innovative theater, intellectual engagement and community service that sets us apart," said executive director Angel Ysaguirre in a prepared statement.

• About Face Theatre announced actors Sheldon Brown, Armand Fields and Delia Kropp along with directors Mikael Burke and Lexi Saunders have been named artistic associates. "The artistic associates are very important contributors to how we interpret our mission to advance the national dialogue on sexual and gender identity. Each of these artists brings a singular voice and incredible set of collaborative skills to these efforts," said artistic director Megan Carney in a prepared statement.

• 16th Street Theater's 13th season, titled "Redemption," begins Nov. 29 with Maya Malan-Gonzalez's "A Xmas Cuento Remix," a contemporary take on Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" featuring a female pub owner named Delores as Scrooge. That's followed by Audrey Cefaly's "Alabaster" (Jan. 30-March 1, 2020), about a famed photographer's encounter with an undiscovered folk artist in rural north Alabama. Next up is "Methtacular!" (March 19-April 4, 2020), Steven Strafford's account of the three years he spent addicted to crystal meth. Debbie Banos chronicles her life and the lives of fellow Salvadoran-American family members living in Arkansas in her semi-autobiographical solo show "American Side Effectos." It runs April 9 to May 2, 2020. After she is knocked unconscious during a 1970 rally, Virginia Moore spends 40 years in a coma during which she experiences an entire life traveling the world in "Wake Up, Mrs. Moore." The play runs July 9 to Aug. 9, 2020. The company's season concludes with a collaboration with Pegasus Theatre Chicago on Lisa Langford's comedy "Rastus and Hattie" about two women whose "perfect, post-racial friendship" is tested after two problematic robots intrude. It runs Sept. 3 to Oct. 4, 2020. Performances take place at 6420 16th St., Berwyn. (708) 795-6704 or 16thstreettheater.org.

• Invictus Theatre opens its 2019-2020 season Oct. 17 with William Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" about Shylock, who takes the discrimination he's endured out on a competitor who must forfeit a pound of flesh if he fails to repay a loan. The season concludes with a revival of Lorraine Hansberry's classic "A Raisin in the Sun," about an African-American family living in Chicago during the 1950s whose members have very different ideas about how to spend money they expect from an insurance payout. It runs Feb. 13 to March 15, 2020. Performances take place at the Pride Arts Center, 4147 N. Broadway, Chicago. See invictustheatreco.com.