The Color Purple, Drury Lane Theatre, Oakbrook Terrace, through Nov. 3Director Lili-Anne Brown allows this speedy musical adaptation of Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning to properly breathe with great emotional performances and gorgeous singing. SCM
X, Sideshow Theatre at the Biograph, through Oct. 27Astronauts stranded in a space station on Pluto contemplate the many meanings of "X" and so do we, in Alistair McDowall's latest sci-fic puzzler. MSB
Whose Body? Lifeline Theatre, through Nov. 10Dorothy Sayers' playboy-turned-sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey solves the case of the body in the bathtub, as adapted in 2002 by Frances Limoncelli, launching a successful decade-long series for Lifeline Theatre. MSB
Love, Chaos & Dinner, Teatro ZinZanni, open runNow refreshed with new acts, this circus-style dinner theater combines clowning, acrobatics, music, fanciful costumes and a tasty four-course meal in an elaborate tent for a special but pricey night out. SCM
By Mary Shen Barnidge and Scott C. Morgan