Hollywood is known for churning out largely crowd-pleasing popcorn flicks in the summertime. But the warm weather doesn't keep the Chicago theater scene from unveiling new and innovative works.
Chicago and world premieres a plenty
—Low Down Dirty Blues, Northlight Theatre, Skokie, May 27-July 3: Randal Myler and Dan Wheetman, the team behind the popular Broadway revue It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues, offer up the area premiere of their latest blues musical revue. Find out more details on how to get down and dirty by visiting www.northlight.org .
—Sweet and Hot: The Songs of Harold Alren, Theo Ubique Theatre Cabaret Theatre at No Exit Café, June 1-Aug. 8: This Rogers Park company is on an extended award-winning roll, so expect great things from this revue celebrating the composer of such song standards as "Stormy Weather," "Get Happy" and "Over the Rainbow." Visit www.theoubique.org for more details.
—A Better Doctor, Bootstraps Comedy Theatre and Silent Theatre at Prop Thtr, June 4-26: Expect a comedy in the style of a silent Buster Keaton film for this tale of a Good Samaritan doctor amid the Great Depression. Visit www.bootstrapscomedy.com for more information.
—Inherit the Whole, Mortar Theatre Company at Athenaeum Theatre Studio 1, June 4-27: A loner Vietnam veteran gets pressured to dig up his floorboards in search of buried treasure in this world premiere by Dana Lynn Formby. Visit www.mortartheatrecompany.org for more details.
—Sketchbook X, Collaboraction at Chopin Theatre, June 5-June 27: Celebrate 10 years of new and innovative short plays presented in a changing repertory. Also get into each show's performance art vibe as much as possible, too. Visit www.collaboraction.org about this year's lineup.
—Dead Letter Office, Dog & Pony Theatre Company at Storefront Theater, June 9-July 18: A new worker shakes things up and uncovers a major secret in this special branch of the Post Office in Ben Viccellio's world premiere drama. Go to www.dcatheater.org for more information.
—Isoseng, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, June 9-20: South African performer and playwright Omphile Molusi brings his award-winning one-man drama looking at a young man desperate for change in his impoverished post-Apartheid village. Find out more at www.chicagoshakes.com .
—The Tallest Man, The Artistic Home, June 15-Aug. 1: Jim Lynch's world premiere drama looks at a poverty-stricken Irish town facing enormous changes on the cusp of the 20th century. Visit www.theartistichome.org for more information.
—Shakespeare's King Phycus, The Strange Tree Group at The Building Stage, June 16-July 31: No, this isn't an undiscovered Shakespearean text, but a wacky new mash-up that features many of the Bard's famous characters in new contexts. Go to www.strangetree.org for more information.
—Nothin' But the Blues, Black Ensemble Theater, June 19-Aug. 29: Joe Plummer's drama with lots of music explores the life of Theresa Needham, the infamous owner of the South Side Chicago blues club Theresa's Lounge. Get more information at www.blackensembletheater.com
—A Parallelogram, Steppenwolf Theatre, July 1-Aug. 29: This latest world premiere by playwright Bruce Norris ( The Pain and the Itch, The Unmentionables ) is intriguing, especially since the play's heroine seemingly possesses an uncanny ability to foresee and change the future. Visit www.steppenwolf.org for more information.
—Hard Headed Heart, Blair Thomas and Company at Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, July 8-Aug. 8: The famed Chicago puppeteer Blair Thomas combines a trio of solo shows into a new evening of fun. On the bill are The Puppet Show of Don Cristobal, St. James Infirmary and The Blackbird. Go to www.victorygardens.org for more details.
—A Guide for the Perplexed, Victory Gardens Theater, July 9-Aug. 23: Steppenwolf Theatre ensemble member Kevin Anderson stars in Joel Drake Johnson's world premiere about and ex-convict who has to move in with his sister's eccentric family. Visit www.victorygardens.org for more information.
—Shrek The Musical, Cadillac Palace Theatre, July 13-Sept. 15: This big Broadway musical adaptation of the hit Dreamworks animated film launches its national tour in Chicago with a few new tweaks here and there to the material. Find out more information at www.broadwayinchicago.com .
—The Four of Us, Theater Wit, August 2010: Theater Wit's second production in its remodeled Belmont Avenue complex is a Chicago premiere of a comedy about friendship, resentment and artistic success by playwright Itamar Moses ( Bach at Leipzig, Yellowjackets ) . Visit www.theaterwit.org for further details.
LGBTQ for you
And since summer is the time we commemorate the Stonewall Riots, make a point to see a show with gay, lesbian or campy overtones. Here are a few suggestions:
—The Colored Museum, Congo Square Theatre Company at Chicago Center for the Performing Arts, May 28-June 27: Expect plenty of controversy when George C. Wolfe's scathing satire on African-American culture and stereotypes gets revived by Chicago's preeminent theater company inspired by the African Diaspora. Visit www.congosquaretheatre.org for all the details.
—Sugar, Drury Lane Theatre, Oak Brook Terrace, June 3-Aug. 1: Director/choreographer Jim Corti is set to work his magic on this 1972 Broadway musical adaptation of Billy Wilder's drag-heavy film comedy Some Like It Hot. It features a score by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill ( Funny Girl ) and a script by Peter Stone ( 1776, Titanic ) . Visit drurylaneconferencecenter.com for more information.
—An Evening with David Sedaris, Steppenwolf Upstairs Theatre, June 8-13: Tickets are already sold out to see one of America's quirkiest and best-loved memoirist/humorist perform in an ultra-intimate space. Check www.steppenwolf.org for ticket information.
—Summer Lovin', Center on Halsted Hoover-Leppen Theatre, June 19: The Windy City Gay Chorus and Aria: Windy City Women's Ensemble team up for a sunny and Pride-filled concert featuring songs from Grease, Glee and so much more. Visit www.windycitysings.org for tickets.
—Summer Camp, Mayslake Peabody Estate in Oak Brook on June 20; Nettlehorst Auditorium in Chicago on June 25 and 26: The Chicago Gay Men's Chorus shows you can go back again to your childhood with a traveling and campy summer camp concert for Pride season. Visit www.cgmc.org for more details.
—Fucking Men, Bailiwick Chicago at Theatre Building Chicago, June 18-July 25: Joe DiPietro may be best-known for his very hetero-comedies I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change and Over the River and Through the Woods. But DiPietro's updating of the controversial Viennese play La Ronde gets a very gay modern day makeover as it looks at 10 men whose hookups end up circling back on one another. Visit www.bailiwickchicago.com for more details
—Steel Magnolias, Hubris Productions at Greenhouse Theater Center, June 24—July 31: Robert Harling's Southern hair salon comic drama has always been a favorite for fans of the "chic flick" genre. Find out if Hubris Productions can tease up a new bouffant with its revival by visiting www.hubrisproductions.com .
—Aida, Bailiwick Chicago at American Theater Company, July-August: Elton John and Tim Rice's pop updating of Verdi's classic opera set in ancient Egypt has always been a bit of a camp fest thanks to the stylish costumes and sets of the original production. See what Bailiwick Chicago dreams up for its new regional production. Visit www.bailiwickchicago.com for more information.
—Late: A Cowboy Song, Piven Theatre Workshop, Evanston, July 17-Aug. 22: One of former Chicago playwright Sarah Ruhl's early plays was this examination of one woman's obsessive search for true love after a chance encounter with a lesbian cowboy outside of Pittsburgh. Visit www.piventheatre.org for more details.
—Blues for an Alabama Sky, Greenetree Productions at Theatre Building Chicago, Aug. 26-Sept. 19: A revival of Pearl Cleage's entrancing drama set in Harlem during the Great Depression. See what happens when a former gangster's moll and her gay best friend shack up together and encounter a young man from Alabama. Visit www.theatrebuildingchicago.org for more information.
