Late Nite Offer
Chicago-area theater veteran and Dominican University faculty member Rose Guccione takes on the role of the cantankerous sister in a special anniversary performance of “Late Nite Catechism.” Vicki Quade and Maripat Donovan’s interactive comedy centers on Sister teaching her distinctive style of Catholic catechism. A limited number of tickets for this performance will be available at the original 1993 ticket price.
2 p.m. on Sunday, May 29 at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. For this performance only, 29 tickets will be available at a cost of $8 at the box office. Other tickets are $35. Proof of vaccination and wearing a mask is mandatory. (773) 404-7336, greenhousetheater.org or nuns4fun.com.
Under the sea
The Music Theater Works season continues with “Disney’s The Little Mermaid.” Adapted from the tale by Hans Christian Andersen and the 1989 animated film, the musical by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater tells the story of the mermaid Ariel who falls in love with a human and makes a deal with a sea witch to be with her beloved. Joselle Reyes stars as Ariel in the revival co-directed by Stacey Flaster and Joshua Castille.
Previews at 1 p.m. Thursday, June 2 at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie. The show opens June 3. $39 – $106. Face masks recommended but not required. (847) 673-6300 or musictheatreworks.com.
ABBA tuner
BrightSide Theater concludes its 10th anniversary season with “Mamma Mia!” jukebox tuner ABBA about Sophie, a 20-year-old bride-to-be searching for her biological father who learns through her mother’s diary that he might be one of three former suitors. Unbeknownst to her mother Donna, Sophie invites the three men to her wedding, hoping that one of them will walk her down the aisle. Artistic director Jeffrey Cass directs.
8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 3 and 4 and 3 p.m. Sunday, June 5 through June 19 at the Meiley-Swallow Hall Theatre, North Central College, 31 S. Ellsworth St., Naperville. $28, $31. Mandatory face masks. (630) 447-8497 or brightsidetheatre.com.
In other news
Check with sites regarding COVID-19 precautions.
• The Goodman Theatre’s Future Labs series to develop new work continues on Saturday May 28 with a reading of “White Monkey”, Charlie Oh’s absurd play about a man who lends white actors to Chinese companies who want to strengthen their international prestige. The reading takes place at 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. Admission is free, but registration is required. Proof of COVID-19 vaccination and wearing of mask required. See goodmantheatre.org/whitemonkey.
• (sub)version productions is hosting The Chicago Puntathlon — Redux pun competition at 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 1, at The Call Bar, 1547 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Chicago. Rounds and rules will be announced on facebook.com/thechicagopuntathlon. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door. See subversionproductions.com.
• Free Street opens ’57 Blocks’, an immersive play examining education, immigration and incarceration directed by Katrina Dion, Marilyn Carteño and Sebastian Olayo, on Friday May 27th. Performances begin at Pulaski Park, 1419 W. Blackhawk St., Chicago, after which audience members board a bus and walk down Ashland Avenue to The Storyfront, 4346 S. Ashland Ave., Chicago. The play “is an incredibly important culmination of youth voices at a time when our country and our school systems are facing social injustices. It is not enough to be an ally, we must be accomplices with young people, and this show shows what it looks like,” Olayo said in a prepared statement. See freestreet.org.
• The Raven Theater has extended its Chicago premiere of “The Luckyest,” Melissa Ross’ drama about a terminally ill woman and how she, her mother and her best friend are coping with the news . Performances run through June 26 at 6157 N. Clark St., Chicago. Proof of COVID-19 vaccination and wearing of mask required. (773) 338-2177 or raventheatre.com.
• The Tony Awards Committee recently announced that the Court Theater in Chicago, now in its 67th season, will receive the 2022 Regional Theater Tony Award, which comes with a $25,000 grant. The Regional Tony honors a professional non-profit regional theater company in the United States that has displayed a continuing level of artistic achievement contributing to the growth of theater nationally. The award “belongs to the Court community, the South Side community and the University of Chicago community,” artistic director Charles Newell said in a prepared statement. “It belongs to everyone who has fought to see themselves on stage. And belongs to everyone who has been touched by the power of storytelling. That’s why we do what we do.” Court is the sixth theater in Chicago to be so recognized, following Lookingglass Theater Company (2011), Chicago Shakespeare Theater (2008), Victory Gardens Theater (2001), Goodman Theater (1992), and Steppenwolf Theater (1985).
• The Rhapsody Theatre, formerly known as Mayne Stage, is set to open in June at 1328 W. Morse Ave., Chicago. Physician and illusionist Dr. Ricardo T. Rosenkranz, of “The Rosenkranz Mysteries,” will serve as Artistic Director and Managing Partner of the space. Performances are due to begin this summer. See rhapsodytheater.com.
• For its 26th season, which will take place at 615 W. Wellington Ave., Chicago, TimeLine Theater will stage two premieres and a revival. The 2022-23 season opens Aug. 11 with the premiere of “Campaigns, Inc.”, the comedy-drama from ensemble member Will Allan — developed by Timeline’s Playwright’s Collective. Based on the true story of Leone Baxter and Clem Whitaker, the first political campaign consultants, it is about the fantastical libel orchestrated during the 1934 race for governor of California between novelist Upton Sinclair and Frank Merriam. This is followed by a revival of “Trouble in Mind” (Nov 10-Dec 18), Alice Childress’ behind-the-scenes drama/satire set in the mid-1950s about the conflict between a black actress playing in an anti-lynching drama and its white director on his interpretation of the play. The season concludes with the premiere of “Boulevard of Bold Dreams” (February 16-March 26, 2023), LaDarrion Williams’ drama about race, class and gender in 1940s Hollywood. Flex Pass subscriptions range from $74.50 to $178. (773) 281-8463, ext. 6, or timelinetheatre.com.
• Remy Bumppo Theater Company celebrates the resilience of the human spirit during its 2022-2023 season consisting of plays about people whose life journeys take unexpected turns. The season opens Oct. 12 with “Routes,” Rachel De-lahay’s drama about immigrants in conflict with the law who struggle to return home. This is followed by a cover of Nilo Cruz’s “Anna in the Tropics” (February 8-March 19, 2023) on a reader who, in 1929, read Leo Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina” to cigar factory workers whose passions boil over as the story progresses. The season ends with “God’s Spies” (April 5-May 14, 2023), Bill Cain’s 1603 play about a famous playwright who, when a plague afflicts London, is forced into self-quarantine with a lawyer and a sex worker. Performances are held at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. Season passes and flexible packages available. (773) 244-8119 or remybumppo.org.
• The Chicago Opera Festival opens its second season on July 8 with Gioachino Rossini’s “L’inganno felice (The Fortunate Deception)” at the Athenaeum Center, 2936 N. Southport Ave., Chicago. It is followed on July 15 with “Tebaldi @100,” a tribute to Italian soprano Renata Tebaldi, at Ganz Hall, Roosevelt University, 430 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago Season closes July 22 with Giuseppe Verdi’s “Il Corsaro” at Cahn Auditorium , Northwestern University, 600 Emerson St., Evanston See operafestivalchicago.org.
