If you missed the October 2014 premiere of Tales of a Stage 4 Cancer, it's being revived by lesbian comics Judy Fabjance and Kelly Beeman before an anticipated tour to New York and Los Angeles. This "one plus one woman show" is based on Fabjance and Beeman's life as newlyweds facing the ongoing struggle of breast cancer. Second City faculty member Angie McMahon directs, while Amanda Murphy provides music direction. BeeFAB Productions' Tales of a Stage 4 Cancer plays 7 p.m. Saturdays through May 30 in The Chris Farley Cabaret of the iO Theater, 1501 N. Kingsbury St. Tickets are $10. For more information, call 312-929-2401 or visit www.ioimprov.com .
Photo courtesy of BeeFAB Productions
Critics' Picks
Anything Goes, Marriott Theatre, Lincolnshire, through May 31. The classic 1930s Cole Porter musical receive a ship-shape production thanks to the strong work of director/choreographer Marc Robin a very game comic cast. SCM
The Diary of Anne Frank, Writers Theatre, through June 28. The revised script of this familiar drama incorporates long-expurgated diary passages which make Anne more human and less saintly. This production also looks afresh at the charactersAnne's parents, Mr. Dussel, etc.to make them less archetypal and more nuanced. JA
Murder Ballad, Bailiwick Chicago @ Flat Iron Arts Building, through May 9. Running at just over an hour, this gritty and sordid rock-opera packs the visceral punch of the quickie alley-shag that lingers in your memory decades later. MSB
Travesties, Remy Bumppo Theatre Company at Greenhouse Theater Center, through May 3. Take a play about three geniuses and a dotty old raconteur, written by egghead Tom Stoppard, directed by Cambridge-Phud Nick Sandys, mix in some Oscar Wilde and what you get is madcappery at its most highbrow. MSB
By Abarbanel, Barnidge and Morgan