theater

Wheaton Drama’s next production is the Michael Brady play “To Gillian On Her 37th Birthday.” The poignant and often funny family drama won the 1983 Oppenheimer Award for Best Play.

David, who is mourning Gillian, his beloved late wife, has withdrawn from his family and taken an early retirement from teaching. Concerned about his disconnection from life, his family conspires to bring him back into the world during a special summer weekend. The cast features Traci Cidlik as Kevin, Jeni Dees as Esther, Katie Kanturek as Rachel, Erica Pezza as Cindy, Ish Rios as Paul, Lisa Schmela as Gillian, and Craig Witt as David.

The musical “Beauty and the Beast” will be presented this weekend at Hadley Junior High School, 240 Hawthorne Blvd., Glen Ellyn.

More than 100 students in grades six through eight are involved in the production. Curtain is at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 19; 3 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 20; and 2 p.m. Sunday, March 21.

Tickets cost $6 and can be purchased at the door, or ordered ahead of time by e-mailing khwinter@sbcglobal.net or calling the school at (630) 790-6450.

The Geneva Underground Playhouse production of “Play Ball” — also known as “Chicago: The Non-Musical” — will be staged from now through Saturday, April 3. Performances begin at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 3 p.m. Sunday.

Written by Maurine Dallas Watkins, the 1926 play later was adapted into the musical “Chicago.” To avoid confusion, the original play became “Play Ball.” 

The show is directed by community theater veteran Craig Gustafson of Lombard, who says the original play is “sharper, tangier, more bitter” than its musical counterpart.

The Children’s Theatre of Western Springs presents “The Stinky Cheese Man (and Other Fairly Stupid Tales),” adapted for the stage by William Massolia. It plays March 5 to 14 at 4384 Hampton Ave., Western Springs. Directed by Leslie Price, CTWS artistic director, the comedy is recommended for all ages.

 
The Stinky Cheese Man delights in his horrible smell while the Little Red Hen, Jack, and the Giant are overwhelmed by the stench in the Children’s Theatre of Western Springs production of “The Stinky Cheese Man (and Other Fairly Stupid Tales).” In the cast are Madeline Gosz (from left), Claire Sullivan, Kellyn Maguire and Meghan McDermott. SUBMITTED PHOTO

The Wheaton Academy Theatre presents a classic musical for its spring show, with more than 200 students involved in the cast, pit and crews of the production.

The theater group performs "Singin' in the Rain" on Feb. 26 and 27 and March 4, 5 and 6. All shows begin at 7 p.m. at the Wheaton school.

"Singin' in the Rain" is one of the most well-known and loved musicals of all time because of the catchy songs, meticulous tap-dancing, dramatic films, and of course, the rain. Set in Hollywood in 1927, the story shows how silent film stars made the transition to talking pictures.

Tickets are $10 and available at wheatonacademy.org.

Tickets are available for Rising Star Theatreworks’ second fundraising gala from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27, at Riverview Banquets in Batavia.

The event will feature silent and live auctions, dinner, and entertainment by Elizabeth Krahulec and Bethlehem Brass. In addition, guests will be the first to hear about RST's 2010-11 productions.

Auction items will feature getaways to Door County, Wis., and Longboat Key, Fla., as well as closer-to-home venues such as Key Lime Cove in Gurnee, Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles, and Herrington Inn of Geneva.

Little is known about Mary Todd Lincoln’s road to insanity, but her life following the assassination of her presidential husband will be told through a dinner-theater performance on Sunday, Feb. 28 at Batavia’s Lincoln Inn Restaurant. The play, written and performed by Donna Daniels of Wheaton, focuses on Mrs. Lincoln during her widowhood, which includes her insanity trial and hospitalization at Bellevue Sanitarium in Batavia. Daniels, who has been portraying Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln with her husband, Max, since 1988, have struggled with playing this portion of the former first lady’s life, but she found her own way of approaching it.

Donna Daniels of Wheaton portrays Mary Todd Lincoln during the Lincoln Inn Dinner Theater in 2007. The performance explored the tragic 17 years of Mary Todd Lincoln's widowhood, including a stay in Batavia. FILE PHOTO

Join Rising Star Theatreworks at Sanfratello’s in Geneva at 6 p.m. tonight, Feb. 15, for an evening of food and fun at 7 W. State St. at the corner of North River Lane. Sanfratello's, which features pizza and other specialties, will donate 10 percent of receipts back to the Rising Star community troupe.

All are welcome. Former cast members can reunite; young actors and their families can find out more about Rising Star Theatreworks; and theater patrons can support RST by purchasing tickets to the coming gala benefit or simply dining at Sanfratello’s that evening and mentioning Rising Star. Tickets for the gala’s 50/50 Raffle will be available.

For more information, call the RST hotline at (630) 262-5027.

A sold-out run of “Jeeves Intervenes,” featuring the unflappable English valet Jeeves and his hapless employer, Bertie Wooster, has led to the much-anticipated sequel, “Jeeves in Bloom,” playing at First Folio Theater. Artistic Director Alison Vesely talks about the new comedy, for which she’s brought back the original stars, Christian Gray as Bertie and Jim McCance as Jeeves.

Alison Vesely, artistic director of First Folio Theater, directs the British comedy “Jeeves in Bloom.” Behind her is the play’s English garden set. STAFF PHOTO BY JOHN COX

Fox Valley lawyer by day, Bernie Weiler by night directs his second show at Steel Beam Theatre in St. Charles. A secret ballot at intermission allows theater-goers to decide whodunit in the Alan Ayckbourn comic mystery “It Could Be Any One of Us,” which opens this month.

Director Bernie Weiler leads a read-through of the comic mystery “It Could Be Any One of Us” at the professional Steel Beam Theatre in St. Charles. STAFF  PHOTO BY STEVE BITTINGER