There are plenty of vintage classics and more recent theater pieces to look out for this spring. All shows are in Chicago unless otherwise noted.
Of LGBT interest
Tea and Sympathy, The Artistic Home at Stage 773, now to April 22. Just how will this drama about a sissy male student at a boarding school who is pressured to "butch it up" come off in our more enlightened age? Find out in this rare revival of Robert Anderson's 1953 play. 773-327-5252 or www.theartistichome.org
Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and Perestroika, Court Theatre, March 30-June 3. Tony Kushner's epic 1990s plays set during the Reagan Administration touch upon homosexuality, AIDS, Mormonism, McCarthyism and so much more. Kushner himself has given his blessing to artistic director Charles Newell to stage his epic plays, so expect great things on the intimate Court Theatre stage. 773-753-4472 or www.courttheatre.org
The Turn of the Screw, First Folio Theatre at Mayslake Peabody Estate, Oak Brook, March 28-April 29. Jeffrey Hatcher's acclaimed two-person adaptation of Henry James' spooky novella about an English governess who suspects that the children in her charge are under the influence of the ghosts of their abusive former caretakers. 630-986-8067 or www.firstfolio.org
Doubt, AstonRep Theatre Company at Heartland Studio Theatre, April 5-May 5. Is Father Flynn abusing an African-American student, or is just the unbending suspicions of a zealous nun? Take your sides in this revival of John Patrick Shanley's 2005 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama. 773-828-9129 or www.astonrep.com
Being Shakespeare, Chicago Shakespeare Theater at Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place, April 18-29. Celebrated out British actor and playwright Simon Callow returns to Chicago with a one-man show looking at the life and works of the immortal Bard. 312-642-2000 or www.chicagoshakes.com
Rent, American Theater Company, April 27-June 17. Jonathan Larson's 1996 Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical about New York artists finding love and loss in the age of AIDS (inspired by the 1896 Puccini opera La Boheme) returns in a newly conceived production. 773-409-4125 or www.atcweb.org
Text appeal
The Sea, Theatre Mir at Theater Wit, now to April 15. Edward Bond's 1973 comic drama concerns the dynamics of an East Anglia town in the U.K. and how it reacts when a stranger and a drowned local wash ashore. 773-975-8150 or www.theatremir.com
MeTube, Collaboraction at Flat Iron Arts Building, now to April 8. If you missed Yuri Lane's two-show only presentation at Victory Gardens Theater on what life has been like for a beat-boxing YouTube sensation, then don't miss his show as it is remounted by Collaboraction. 312-226-9633 or www.collaboraction.org
A Moon for the Misbegotten, Seanachai Theatre Company at Irish American Heritage Center, March 23-April 29. Eugene O'Neill's classic drama about two lonely outcasts who find hope with each other gets revived in a production directed by Kevin Theis. 866-811-4111 or www.seanachai.org
The House of Yes, Hubris Productions at Greenhouse Theater Center, March 22-April 28. Watch out for that murderous mentally unstable twin sister who has an obsession with Jackie-O! See how fun a dysfunctional family can be in this revival of Wendy Maceod's dark comedy. 773-404-7336 or www.hubrisproductions.com
The Sweetest Swing in Baseball, Step Up Productions at Athenaeum Theatre, March 23-April 22. Rebecca Gilman's dark 2004 comedy focuses on an artist facing who starts identifying with the troubled baseball player Darryl Strawberry when she faces a mental crisis. 312-902-1500 or www.athenaeumtheatre.com
The Butcher of Baraboo, A Red Orchid Theatre, April 5-May 20. First presented in 2006 as part of Steppenwolf Theatre's First Look Repertory of New Work, Marisa Wegrzyn's dark comedy is all about a town cop who tries to sniff out the dark secrets of a family in Baraboo, Wis. 312-943-8722 or www.aredorchidtheatre.org
Enfrascada (A Hoodoo Comedy of Jarring Proportions), 16th Street Theater at Berwyn Cultural Center, April 5-May 12. Tanya Saracho's 2008 play Jarred has been renamed and reworked to look at a Latina woman who turns to the underworlds of Brujeria, Santeria and Hoodoo for magic recipes. It's from the same playwright behind Our Lady of the Underpass and Kita y Fernanda. 708-795-6704 or www.16thstreettheatre.org .
The Rainmaker, Bohemian Theatre Ensemble at Theater Wit, April 6-May 6. Before it was transformed in the musical 110 in the Shade, N. Richard Nash's 1954 drama told the Depression era tale of a drifter who promises a drought-suffering small town a miracle rainfall. 773-975-8150 or www.bohotheatre.com
As You Like It (A New Adaptation), Strangeloop Theatre at Trap Door Theatre, April 6-May 6. Shakespeare's classic romantic comedy is reinterpreted with a new take in this updated adaptation. 773-757-6689 or www.strangelooptheatre.org
The Duchess of Malfi, Strawdog Theatre, April 19-May 26. John Webster's ultra-violent Jacobean political thriller is back complete with murderous revenge and phony Christian piety. 773-528-9696 or www.strawdog.org
Pride and Prejudice, Lifeline Theatre, April 20-June 10. Christina Calvit has spruced up her acclaimed adaptation of Jane Austen's beloved 1813 novel for another go round. 773-761-4477 or www.lifelinetheatre.com
The Iceman Cometh, Goodman Theatre, April 21-June 10. The appearance of stars Nathan Lane and Brian Dennehy in a revival of Eugene O'Neill's epic drama directed by artistic director Robert Falls is unquestionably one of the most anticipated theatrical events of the year. 312-443-3800 or www.goodmantheatre.org .
Timon of Athens, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, April 24-June 10. Ian McDairmid (Star Wars) stars in one of William Shakespeare's lesser-known dramas about a wealthy Athenian gentleman who finds out who his true friends really are when he loses everything. Artistic director Barbara Gaines directs the revival. 312-595-5600 or www.chicagoshakes.com .
Arcadia, New Leaf Theatre at Lincoln Park Cultural Center, May 3-June 16. Tom Stoppard's brilliant 1990s time-shifting comic drama is back again to challenge and confound audiences with its topics of English gardening, chaos theory and that old standby of love. 312-742-7726 or www.newleaftheatre.org .
Bang the Drum Slowly, Raven Theatre, May 15-July 14. Eric Simonson's adaptation of Mark Harris' acclaimed baseball novel is back for another Chicago run around the bases. 773-338-2177 or www.raventheatre.com .
Same old song?
Pippin, Music Theatre Company, Highland Park, March 22-May 6. There will be magic to do with a revival of Stephen Schwartz's popular 1970s musical about Charlemagne's son trying to find himself in a world filled with war and violence. 847-579-4900 or www.themusictheatrecompany.org .
The Pirates of Penzance, Marriott Theatre, April 4 through June 10. Gilbert and Sullivan's ever-popular 1879 comic operetta about easily fooled pirates returns to a new staging in the round in Lincolnshire. 847-634-0200 or www.marriotttheatre.com .
Jersey Boys, Bank of America Theatre, April 5-June 2. The world-wide smash-hit Broadway musical about the rise to fame of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons is back in Chicago for another run (albeit shorter than the previous time around). 800-775-2000 or www.broadwayinchicago.org .
Little Shop of Horrors, Street Tempo Theatre at Stage 773, April 9-May 11. The killer alien plant Audrey II is back in this perennial 1960s-styled off-Broadway favorite by the Academy Award-winning team of composer Alan Menken and the late librettist Howard Ashman. 773-327-5252 or www.stage773.com .
Hairspray, Drury Lane Theatre, Oakbrook Terrace, April 12-June 17. The smash hit 2002 Broadway musical based upon John Waters' 1988 film celebrating Baltimore teen dance shows of the early 1960s is back. 630-530-0111 or www.drurylaneoakbrook.com .
tick, tick… BOOM!, Porchlight Music Theatre at Stage 773, April 27-June 10. Before Jonathan Larson skyrocketed to tragic fame with Rent, he penned this intimate semi-autobiographical musical about a young composer facing down his 30th birthday. 773-327-5252 or www.porchlightmusictheatre.org .
A Little Night Music, Writers' Theatre, Glencoe, May 1-July 8. Get your tissues ready to weep to the song "Send in the Clowns" when Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's Tony Award-winning Broadway musical romantic comedy is revived in the intimate space of Writers' Theatre. 847-242-6000 or www.writerstheatre.org
Cats, Cadillac Palace Theatre, May 1-6. Andrew Lloyd Webber's massive world-wide hit musical dance revue set to playful feline poems by T.S. Eliot comes back to town in a touring non-Equity production. 800-775-2000 or www.broadwayinchicago.com
Camelot, Light Opera Works at Cahn Auditorium, Evanston, June 1-10. Nick Sandys is set to star as King Arthur in Lerner and Loewe's classic 1960s musical filled with numerous song hits like "If Ever I Would Leave You" and its title song. 847-920-5360 or www.lightoperaworks.com
Rock of Ages, Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place, June 5-Aug. 5. See whether or not the forthcoming movie musical based upon this Broadway jukebox show will drive or detract from ticket sales from this return extended Chicago summer engagement. 800-775-2000 or www.broadwayinchicago.com