Leslie Jordan , the tiniest Southern queen since Truman Capote, the gayest TV icon since Paul Lynde, is bringing his one-man show to Chicago. Like a Dog on Linoleum will play Bailiwick Arts Center, 1229 W. Belmont, Aug. 4-21. If you don't recognize the name, you certainly will recognize the face, voice and the diminutive persona who has recurring roles on Boston Legal ( returning to ABC on Tuesday nights ) , Reba and Will & Grace in which he plays Karen Walker's Yacht Club nemesis. Jordan has played Like a Dog on Linoleum to considerable critical and audience success in Hollywood, Palm Springs, Provincetown, Toronto, Atlanta and Dallas-Ft. Worth. Tickets are kinda' pricey for an Off-Loop show, at $40-$50, but that's what you pay to see a star. Call ( 773 ) 883-1090. Originally from Tennessee, the 50-year-old Jordan arrived in Hollywood in 1982 and never looked back. He's had one play produced and one screenplay and has a long list of stage, TV and big screen credits. In Los Angeles, he's picked up just about every award for acting there is short of an Oscar.
Paula Killen, still a favorite of Chicago audiences, returns to Prop Theatre, 3504 N. Elston, to premiere her newest show, Since I've Been Gone: briefs from behind the front, Fridays and Saturdays only at 10 p.m. for three weeks beginning July 29. Killen has enlisted Karol Kent as her co-author, Melody Nife and Russ Flack as composers and Shira Piven as director. The show promises outlandish wit, booze, questionable singing and broad characters—hey, it's Paula Killen, right?—intersecting with real life and death and a longing for the place you left behind ( which is Chicago, in Killen's case ) . Tickets are just $10 which really is cheap for all the talent involved; ( 773 ) 539-7838.
Out playwright Joel Drake Johnson will have his newest play, A Blameless Life, presented in a three-week developmental workshop at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Aug. 4-27. The performances are part of the company's First Look Repertory series of new works; $15; ( 312 ) 335-1650. Performances are at the Merle Reskin Garage Theatre, in Steppenwolf's parking facility a few yards south of the main playhouse on Halsted Street. Anna Shapiro is the estimable director ( of the play, not of the parking ) .
The Neo-Futurarium, 5153 N. Ashland, continues its summertime series of live readings of the screenplays of really trashy movies. Members of our community will be directing the last two of these stellar literary events. David Kodeski will guide the Aug. 4 reading of Where Love Has Gone, a film from 1964, and Edward Thomas-Herrera will cap the series Aug. 11 with his staging of Sorority Girls, a classic pulp 'B' movie. Tickets are $10.
GayCo Production's Baby Time Share opens the Chicago Short Comedy Video and Film Festival at the Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport, tomorrow ( July 28 ) . This 8th annual festival spotlights comedy shorts made by Chicago filmmakers and features 37 comedy shorts. Different programs will be screened at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. The Gayco short will be in the 7:30 program only, introduced by its director, Second City alum Jim Zulevic. Tickets are $10. Baby Time Share was written by Andy Eninger, produced by Jacque Day Archer and edited by Tom Pastorelle. Featured performers are Jim Bennett, John Bonny, Andy Eninger, Judy Fabjance and Stuart Ranson. The film was funded in part by the SplitPillow Foundation.
Speaking of babies brings Jonny to mamas. Three of our town's hottest divas are offering a very special show, Mama Can Cook, Aug. 11 only, 7 p.m., at the very swank, city-owned supper club, Maxim's, 24 E. Goethe Street ( at Astor ) . You can catch Beckie Menzie, Sue Conway and Lucia Spina celebrating songs made famous by some of America's legendary 'Red Hot Mamas,' among them Bessie Smith, Ethel Waters, Mama Cass and Rosemary Clooney. Hey, where's Sophie Tucker? Jonny knows she was billed as 'the Last of the Red Hot Mamas.' Tickets are $30 and include appetizers and the show; ( 312 ) 742-1748.
When you look in the mirror, is what you see a horror story? Or a void in the space/time continuum? If so, Hell in a Handbag Productions might need you. The Handbaggers seek script submissions for their upcoming late-night production, Twilight Gallery, in the spirit of classic Twilight Zone and Night Gallery TV shows, only as much parody as homage. Running time should be at least 20 minutes and not exceed 30 minutes. Scripts: scriptsubmissions@handbagproductions.org or Hell In A Handbag Productions, Attn: Twilight Gallery, 2015 W. Ainslie #2, Chicago, IL 60625. Deadline is Aug. 19.
Speaking of The Twilight Zone, Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues has entered its second year at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights. The show is set to continue through Nov. 5 at least, Wednesdays at 7:30. The success doesn't necessarily prove there's sex in the Northwest Suburbs, but it does prove that there are sex parts. Tickets: $25; ( 847 ) 577-2121.