Spotlight: Interrobang Theatre Project streams 'Here Lies Henry'
Love is in the air
BrightSide Theatre veterans share love songs online as part of the theater's monthlong efforts to warm patrons' hearts during the coldest season. Performances will be posted daily in February on the Naperville theater's Facebook page.
"This is a project we came up with to engage our audience even though we can't be together safely during the pandemic," said artistic director Jeffrey Cass in a prepared statement. "It also is a great way to give our performers/artists the opportunity to showcase their talent."
Performances posted daily at facebook.com/brightsidetheatre.
'Henry' returns
Interrobang Theatre Project's production of "Here Lies Henry," the one-man play by Daniel MacIvor whose March 2020 revival was canceled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, returns this week in digital form. Joseph Jefferson Award nominee Scott Sawa stars as the titular Henry, a man wrestling with his life choices, in this version recorded last year.
Streams on demand Feb. 5-25 at interrobangtheatreproject.org. $15.
Before 'Fiddler'
Pianist/actor/director Hershey Felder channels 19th-century writer Sholem Aleichem as part of Felder's ongoing concert series streamed live from Florence, Italy. In his show "Before Fiddler," Felder portrays Aleichem, whose stories about Tevye the milkman inspired the musical "Fiddler on the Roof." Felder is accompanied by the ensemble Klezmerata Fiorentina.
7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 7. Tickets cost $55 per household. The concert is available on demand through Feb. 14. A portion of the ticket price goes to Porchlight Music Theatre if ordered through porchlightmusictheatre.org/events/fiddler.
In other news
• MadKap Productions celebrates seven years in residence at the Skokie Theatre with a digital cabaret retrospective of past productions including "Next to Normal," "Funny Girl," "The Drowsy Chaperone" and "Sweet Charity" among others. Performances stream at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 5-6, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 7. $15 per household. See skokietheatre.org/madkap-anniversary.
• The Annoyance Theatre's sketch comedy show "Green Show Live" livestreams at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 5, on twitch.tv/annoyancetheatre.
• PrideArts hosts a premiere reading of "Shut Up and Kiss Me," a comedy/drama by Sophia Zinger and Claire Dobbs about the hours following a first date between two Gen Z women. The reading takes place at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 9, at pridearts.com. Tickets are $10.
• The Second City's Happy Hour, a biweekly improv comedy show, has returned for 2021. The show streams live at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 11 and 25 and March 11 and 25 at secondcity.com. Tickets are $15.
• Chicago Children's Theatre debuted a new, family-friendly podcast with an audiocast of the play "X Marks the Spot," which premiered at CCT in 2019. Created with visually impaired audiences in mind, "X Marks the Spot" encourages youngsters to explore their senses. The play is about four adventure-seeking siblings who discover a wishing fairy near their Lake Michigan home. Half-hour episodes drop at noon Fridays. See chicagochildrenstheatre.org.
• Looking for a unique Valentine's Day gift for a loved one? Consider a Pop-Up Puppet-Gram courtesy of the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival. Puppeteer Mark Blashford and his marionette will deliver a message of love to the recipient's doorstep between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Feb. 5-7, 12-14, 19-21 and 26-28. The fee is $75 and includes a watercolor painting and a rose. See chicagopuppetfest.org.
• The Actors Gymnasium in residence at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center in Evanston opened a new studio space that allows it to expand clown training as well as dance and acting training. In-person classes resume this month at the Actors Gym with reduced capacity, distancing and other safety measures in place. See actorsgymnasium.org.
• Oak Park Festival Theatre announced it will return to its outdoor home at Austin Gardens on July 17 with a socially distanced production of William Shakespeare's "The Tempest." That's followed Oct. 16 with "The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe: A Love Story" by First Folio Theatre co-founder and executive director David Rice and staged at The Cheney Mansion in Oak Park. Prior to that, OPFT will host several virtual performances beginning with "Nat Turner in Jerusalem," by Nathan Alan Davis, on March 27. The play chronicles the last night of Turner, who led a slave rebellion in 1831 Virginia and was subsequently jailed and executed. The theater, in cooperation with Kane Repertory Theatre, presents a May 8 virtual performance of "The Venetians." The new play by Matthew Barbot brings together characters from Shakespeare's "Othello," "The Merchant of Venice" and "Titus Andronicus." It will be available on demand through May 15. See oakparkfestival.com.