Spotlight: Writers Theatre collaborates on digital premiere for timely 'Ride Share'
'50s, '60s Flashback
Music Theater Works resumes live, in-person productions with the musical revue "Legends of the '50s and '60s: Greatest Hits." Performed outdoors with physical distancing, the revue features songs made famous by artists including Buddy Holly, The Temptations, Aretha Franklin, Doris Day, The Supremes and Elvis Presley among others.
Opens at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 19, outdoors at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie. Performances continue through June 27. $39 standard seating, $48 preferred seating. (847) 673-6300 or musictheaterworks.com/boxoffice. For information on health and safety guidelines, see northshorecenter.org.
Digital 'Ride Share'
Writers Theatre and Black Lives, Black Words International Project debut the filmed premiere of "Ride Share," Reginald Edmund's play about a newlywed who becomes a ride share driver after an unexpected layoff. The production stars Peoria native Kamal Angelo Bolden, who played the titular role in Victory Gardens Theater's premiere of "The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity." Black Lives, Black Words co-founder Simeilia Hodge-Dallaway directs.
Streaming from Wednesday, June 23, to July 25 at writerstheatre.org. Tickets are $40 for a solo viewing, $65 for a duo, $85 for a trio and $100 for four or more people, not including fees. No charge for WT classic subscribers. (847) 242-6000.
Streaming premiere
Interrobang Theatre Project concludes its 11th season with the digital premiere of "Dingleberries," Susan Chenet's dark comedy about a middle school teacher and aspiring playwright whose dreams appear to come true when a local theater produces her play. That is, until she receives a video call from the play's director. Managing artistic director Georgette Verdin directs.
Streams at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 24, through July 18 at interrobangtheatreproject.org. $15.
In other news
• American Blues Theater's online programming continues at 7 p.m. Friday, June 18, with ensemble member Denzel Tsopnang performing "An Evening of Legends," a 60-minute tribute to such musical artists as Sammy Davis Jr., Nina Simone and Dinah Washington among others as part of ABT's "The Garage" music series. That performance is followed by Ada Cheng's solo performance "Loving Across Borders" at 7 p.m. June 25. Part of ABT's "The Room" reading series, the autobiographical show is about love, heartbreak and women's status in America. Tickets are pay-what-you-can with a suggested donation of $25. (773) 654-3103 or americanbluestheater.com.
• The Chicago Latino Theater Alliance presents actress/comedian Marian Pabón's new one-woman show "Sola en la Pandemia está Cañón (Being Alone in a Pandemic is Hard)," about coping with a global pandemic at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 19, in person at Joe's Bar, 940 W. Weed St., Chicago. Tickets are $25 and are available at clata.org.
• Chicago Dramatists' Network Playwright 10-minute Play Festival takes place online at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 19. The free festival streams on the ensemble's Twitch page at twitch.tv.
• PrideArts presents a gender-bending online reading of William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 22, at pridearts.org. To that end, director Peter Vamvakas has cast several roles with actors of the gender opposite the gender indicated by the text as a way of demonstrating "the universality of love regardless of gender pairings of lovers," according to a prepared statement. Tickets are $10. (773) 857-0222.
• Award-winning actress Annette Bening and film executive Sherry Lansing will be feted during Steppenwolf Theatre's Women in the Arts 2021 virtual event at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 22. Joseph Jefferson Award winner Carrie Coon hosts the free event, which will stream on Steppenwolf's YouTube and Facebook pages. Advanced registration is encouraged at steppenwolf.org/wia21.
• Collaboraction hosts "Moonset Sunrise," an outdoor performance and party benefiting its 25th season, from 6-10 p.m. Thursday, June 24, at Rockwell on the River, 3057 N. Rockwell St., Chicago. Set on the evening of the next full moon, the event includes dining, dancing, screenings of digital premieres and snippets of Collaboraction productions from the last 24 years. "'Moonset Sunrise' will embody how Collaboraction uses theater to engage with Chicago's most critical social issues, celebrate how far the company has come and honor the people who have sustained us," said Collaboraction artistic director Anthony Moseley in a prepared statement. Tickets are $150, free for anyone who signs up for a $25 or more monthly membership. (312) 226-9633 or collaboraction.org.
• About Face Theatre announced $2,000 grants to LGBTQ+ playwrights Hannah li-Epstein and BeeBee Cooper Brown to support their work. "These two artists have already been writing bold visions into the world and challenging the status quo," said About Face Theatre artistic director Megan Carney in a prepared statement. "We recognize that the creative process takes many forms and needs to be supported at different stages along the way. Grants like this are vital for supporting important LGBTQ+ voices in the arts community."
• Silk Road Rising co-founder and co-executive artistic director Malik Gillani has been named a 2021 Leader for a New Chicago by the Field Foundation of Illinois in cooperation with the John D. and Catherine T. Mac Arthur Foundation. Established in 2019, the leadership awards recognize leaders in the pursuit of racial justice and organizations that address Chicago's historically underserved communities.
• L.A. Theatre Works's on-demand streaming production of Roundabout Theatre Company's Broadway production of Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest" continues through June 30 at latw.org/hd-screenings. Star Brian Bedford directs this sendup of morality and marriage rooted in mistaken identity. Tickets are $15 per household.