Spotlight: Wilder's 'Christmas Dinner' in Elgin; lyrical 'Light in the Piazza' in Chicago

Family matters

Janus Theatre Company presents "The Long Christmas Dinner," Thornton Wilder's family drama that chronicles the history of the Bayard family over 90 years through their annual Christmas dinners. Richard Pahl directs.

8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13, and Saturday, Dec. 14; 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 15, and through Dec. 22, at Al's Cafe, 43 DuPage Court, Elgin. $15. Dinner reservations available. (847) 742-1180 or alscafe.com.

'Bluebeard' returns

The Ruffians remount the poignant holiday show "Burning Bluebeard" again this year at a new venue. Porchlight Music Theatre presents the play by writer/actor Jay Torrence. It's inspired by the Iroquois Theatre fire, one of the nation's deadliest, which claimed the lives of more than 600 people on Dec. 30, 1903. In Torrence's play, the clowns performing in that 1903 holiday pantomime re-emerge from the ruined theater to finish the production cut short by tragedy.

Previews at 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13, and Saturday, Dec. 14. The show opens at 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 15, at The Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. $45. (773) 777-9884 or porchlightmusictheatre.org or goruffians.org.

'Light' at Lyric

Lyric Opera hosts a limited engagement of the Tony Award-winning musical "The Light in the Piazza," composer/lyricist Adam Guettel and writer Craig Lucas' musical adapted from Elizabeth Spencer's novel. Set in 1953, the musical takes place in Italy where Margaret Johnson (Renee Fleming, reprising her role from the London and Los Angeles productions) is on vacation with her daughter Clara (Solea Pfeiffer), who falls in love at first sight with local boy Fabrizio (Rob Houchen).

Opens at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14, and runs through Dec. 29, at the Lyric Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive, Chicago. $49-$219. (312) 827-5600 or lyricopera.org or lightinthepiazzathemusical.com.