Spotlight: Cirque du Soleil brings 'Corteo' to Hoffman Estates' NOW Arena

Cirque in the 'burbs

Cirque du Soleil returns to Chicago for the first time in four years with its production of "Corteo." The show, which last played here in 2006, features aerialists, acrobats, jugglers, clowns and other cirque artists telling the story of a clown who, nearing the end of his life, recalls his most memorable moments.

7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, June 1-2; 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 3; and 1 p.m. Sunday, June 4, at NOW Arena, 5333 Prairie Stone Parkway, Hoffman Estates. $44 and up. Masks optional. cirquedusoleil.com/corteo.

Magic to do

Music Theater Works revives "Pippin," the 1972 musical by Stephen Schwartz and writer Roger O. Hirson about a young prince striving to find meaning and purpose in his life. Connor Ripperger plays the titular character and Sonia Goldberg plays the Leading Player, whose mysterious performance troupe narrates Pippin's tale. Producing artistic director Kyle A. Dougan directs.

Preview at 1 p.m. Thursday, June 1, at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie. The show opens Friday, June 2. $39-$106. Masks recommended. (847) 673-6300 or musictheaterworks.com.

A matter of faith

Faith and science collide in John Pielmeier's three-hander "Agnes of God," about a novice nun who gives birth, which she claims resulted from a virgin conception. Redtwist theatre's revival stars Soleil Perez as Agnes, Debra Rodkin as the Mother Superior who embraces the possibility of a miracle, and Jacqueline Grandt as Dr. Martha Livingston, the psychiatrist sent to investigate the young nun's claims.

Previews at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, June 1-3, at 1044 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Chicago. The show opens Sunday, June 4. $15-$40. Masks required. (773) 728-7529 or redtwisttheatre.org.

In other news

Check with venues about their COVID-19 precautions.

• Theatre Y Partners with Chicago Shakespeare Theater for "Little Carl," a puppet theater work that incorporates masks and poetry in an examination of gun violence. The show is for ages 12 and older. Performances are at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 27, and 4 and 7 p.m. Sunday, May 28, at Navy Pier, 800 E. Grand Ave., Chicago. (312) 595-5600, chicagoshakes.com or theatre-y.com.

• Bambi Banks-Couleé hosts "Bambi's Black Box," a monthly musical theater-based drag show as part of Steppenwolf Theatre's LookOut series at the 1700 Theater, 1700 N. Halsted St., Chicago. Performances are at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 27, June 29, July 27 and Aug. 31. (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org/lookout.

• Douglas Post examines the unlikely friendship between playwright George Bernard Shaw and world heavyweight boxing champ Gene Tunney in Grippo Stage Company's premiere of "Shaw vs. Tunney." Previews continue through Sunday, May 28, at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. The show opens Tuesday, May 30. Remy Bumppo Theatre's Nick Sandys directs Richard Henzel as Shaw, Sam Pearson as Tunney and Maddie Sachs as his wife, Polly Tunney. See grippostagecompany.com or theaterwit.org.

• Chicago Children's Theatre introduces five new Walkie Talkies, the original podcasts of stories created by local theater artists that accompany walking tours of neighborhoods and locales. They include downtown Chicago, Montrose Point on Lake Michigan, Lincoln Square and others. The podcasts are available at Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or at chicagochildrenstheatre.org/event/walkie-talkies.

• Performances continue through August for "The Empire Strips Back: A Burlesque Parody" at the Logan Square Auditorium, 2539 N. Kedzie Ave., Chicago. See theempirestrikesback.com/chicago.

• Child's Play Touring Theatre hosts its annual benefit from 6-9:30 p.m. June 7 at St. Ignatius College Prep, 1076 Roosevelt Road, Chicago. The event includes entertainment, drinks and appetizers, and a silent auction. See cptt.org.

• Shattered Globe Theatre has extended its U.S. premiere of "London Road," a musical based on the murder of five sex workers in a suburban London town in 2006. Performances run through June 11 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. Masks required. (773) 975-8150 or sgtheatre.org/london.

• Citadel Theatre announced its 2023-2024 season will begin Sept. 13 with Agatha Christie's classic "The Mousetrap," in which snowbound manor guests realize a killer is among them. The play opened in London in 1952, switched theaters in 1974 and is still running there today. That's followed by "She Loves Me" (Nov. 17-Dec. 17), a musical adapted from the 1937 play "Parfumerie" and the 1940 film "The Shop Around the Corner" (remade in 1998 as "You've Got Mail"). The tuner is about two clerks at a perfume store who respond to a "lonely hearts advertisement," then fall in love through their letters to each other. Up next is Lauren Gunderson's "Silent Sky" (Feb. 14-March 17, 2024), about 19th-century astronomer Henrietta Leavitt. The season concludes with "Baby, The Musical" (April 17-May 19, 2024), about three couples ranging from 20-something college students to middle-age empty nesters grappling with becoming parents. The season also includes family-friendly shows "Snow White - An Original Musical" (July 21-30) and "Eleanor's Very Merry Christmas Wish - The Musical" (Dec. 22-31). Most performances take place at 300 S. Waukegan Road, Lake Forest. Season subscriptions are $70 for two shows, $100 for three shows and $120 for four shows. See citadeltheatre.org.

• City Lit Theater's announcement of its 43rd season was accompanied by the news that it will be the last for producer/artistic director Terry McCabe, who announced his retirement in June 2024. The season consists of three premieres, beginning with "The Innocence of Seduction" (Aug. 25-Oct. 8), the second in Mark Pracht's projected "Four-Color Trilogy" about the beginning of the comic book industry. "The Innocence of Seduction" examines the 1950s Congressional investigation into the supposed link between comic books and juvenile delinquency and the effect of that investigation on three comic book artists. That's followed by the premiere of the stage adaptation of Davis Grubb's "The Night of the Hunter" (Oct. 20-Dec. 3), the true story of serial killer Harry Powers who preyed on lonely widows during the Depression. Next up is a double bill of one-acts titled "Two Nights in a Bar" (March 8-April 21, 2024), which consists of the musical "Waiting for Tina Meyer," about two actors awaiting the arrival of the titular Tina, and the premiere of "Text Me," about a group of people at a bar trying to make connections ... on their phones. The season concludes with a revival of T.S. Eliot's "Murder in the Cathedral" (May 3-June 16, 2024), about the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket at the hands of his onetime friend King Henry II. Performances take place at Edgewater Presbyterian Church, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Chicago. Season subscriptions are $99, $77 for preview performances. (773) 293-3682 or citylit.org.

• A Red Orchid Theatre member and Academy Award nominee Michael Shannon returns to his artistic home for a world premiere production, one of two the company has planned for its 31st season, which begins Sept. 7 with the premiere of ensemble member Brett Neveu's "Revolution." It's about a woman celebrating her 26th birthday by building "friendships in our ever-evolving, ever-disconnecting world." That's followed by the Chicago premiere of "In Quietness" (Jan. 11-March 3, 2024), Anna Ouyang Moench's drama about a woman who follows her born-again husband to a seminary, where she learns to become an ideal homemaker. The season concludes with the premiere of "Turret" (April 25-June 15, 2024), featuring Shannon as one of two men hiding out in the Pacific Northwest woods while something terrible looms. Performances take place at 5631 N. Wells St., Chicago. A subscription is $140, a preview subscription is $105. (312) 943-8722 or aredorchidtheatre.org.