Streaming theater this week: Chicago Shakes' 'Peter Pan,' Congo Square's comedy series

Family favorite

Chicago Shakespeare Theater streams its 2018 production "Peter Pan - A Musical Adventure," directed and choreographed by Amber Mak, new works development director for Paramount Theatre in Aurora. According to Mak's prepared statement, J.M. Barrie's tale "has endured for so long because it inspires that imagination, hope and freedom. Now more than ever, young people - and all of us, in fact - need that." CST's 80-minute musical for young audiences features a score by the "Mary Poppins" and "Honk!" creative team of composer George Stiles and lyricist Anthony Drewe along with book writer Elliott Davis.

Streams from Saturday, Dec. 19, through Jan. 1 at chicagoshakes.com. Free, but donations are accepted.

Congo Square comedy

Congo Square Theatre Company streams biweekly webisodes of its sketch comedy series "Hit 'Em on the Blackside," created and directed by ensemble member Anthony Irons. He describes it as "gut-punching, thought-provoking, laugh-out-loud satire with some deep, artistic kind of stuff thrown in for good measure." Featured performers include: Ronald L. Conner, Alexis J. Roston and Kelvin Roston Jr., and friend of Congo Square Tiffany Addison.

Streams beginning Saturday, Dec. 19, at congosquaretheatre.org. Free, but donations are accepted.

Holiday extravaganza

Black Ensemble Theater hosts a virtual seasonal celebration featuring BET veterans performing classic holiday tunes. Rhonda Preston, Kelvin Roston Jr, Alexis Roston, Vincent Jordan, Aeriel Williams, Dwight Neal, Robin DaSilva, Kevin Pollack and Cynthia Carter perform such favorites as "Winter Wonderland," "The Little Drummer Boy" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" accompanied by music director/drummer Robert Reddrick, guitarist Gary Baker, keyboardist Dolpha Fowler and bassist Mark Miller. Performances were filmed at the theater and at performers' homes.

Streams from Friday, Dec. 18, through Dec. 25 at blackensembletheater.org. Tickets are $25.

Singalong with Santa

Steel Beam Theatre invites families to a Zoom Singalong with Santa and Mrs. Claus. The St. Charles theater asks parents to provide email addresses for all elves who will be joining the festivities.

11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 19, at steelbeamtheatre.com. Tickets are $10 per household.

In other news

• LevityTV, which aims to reduce anxiety, loneliness and depression through virtual experiences, hosts a "Big Fat Socially Distant Holiday Adventure Show," a free, interactive event featuring artists, educators and mental health professionals. It's preceded by panel discussions, music and other entertainment beginning at noon Saturday, Dec. 19, at twitch.tv/thelevitychannel. The show streams live at 5:30 p.m. that same day on the same channel. See levitytv.com for a lineup.

• Once again, pianist/adapter/director Hershey Felder channels a beloved classical composer to raise funds for theaters forced to close as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In his next performance streamed live from Florence, Italy, at 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 20, Felder plays Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Tickets for "Hershey Felder Presents Tchaikovsky" are $55 per household. A portion of the proceeds benefit Porchlight Music Theatre. See porchlightmusictheatre.org/events/tchaikovsky. Tickets are also available at eventbrite.com/e/hershey-felder-presents-tchaikovsky-live-from-florence-tickets. A four-concert pass - which includes admission to Felder's upcoming performances as author Sholem Aleichem, Giacomo Puccini and Sergei Rachmaninoff - costs $148.50. See eventbrite.com/e/hershey-felder-presents-live-from-florence-world-premiere-pass-tickets.

• Newcomer Possibilities Theatre Company presents the "12 Days of Holidays Festival," a virtual showcase of 12 seasonal plays streaming through Dec. 23 on Zoom and SoundCloud. Tickets are available at eventcombo.com/e/The-12-Days-of-Holidays-Festival-41424. The mini-fest includes the audio play premiere of Chicago writer Aaron Mays' comedy "Black Santa" and the world premiere of "Hard-Boiled Eggnog: A Christmas Noir," a mystery comedy by Chicago playwright Zac Peercy about an elf detective investigating Santa's murder. See the theater company's Facebook page for more information.

• First Folio Theatre associate artistic director Melanie Keller interviews actor and artistic associate Joe Foust, who has performed with Goodman, Court, Steppenwolf and Remy Bumppo theaters among others. The interview is the latest in a series of Keller's chats with First Folio artistic associates. Type in "First Folio interviews" on youtube.com to access the interview. Also available online are Keller's interviews with artistic associates Christopher Kriz, Diana Coates, Nick Sandys, Hayley Rice, Christian Gray, Heather Chrisler, Wendy Huber and Cassy Schillo. In addition, the theater company's YouTube channel offers a family-friendly winter reading series.

• The producers of the family-friendly "Eleanor's Very Merry Christmas Wish - The Musical" announced 23 theaters around the country will present the streamed production of the musical. Participating theaters include the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie and Dominican University in River Forest. Performances run through Dec. 27. See eleanorswish.com.

• PlayMakers Laboratory named Raven Stubbs as its new program director responsible for overseeing PML's educational activities including in-school and after-school programming.

• Broken Nose Theatre announced a dozen new ensemble members: Cat Davis, Catherine Dildillian, August Forman, Liz Gomez, Tony Ingram, Arielle Leverett, Ben F. Locke, Therese Ritchie, William Anthony Sebastian Rose II, Rachel M. Sypniewski, Seth Torres and Revon Yousif.

"These 12 incredible artists have worked with us across the span of our entire production history," said artistic director Elise Marie Davis and managing director Rose Hamill in a prepared statement.

Broken Nose also named Rachel DuBose and Lane Anthony Flores the company's Paper Trail Playwrights for 2020-2021. Paper Trail is the company's new play development program, which provides writers dramaturgical and institutional support along with table readings to help authors refine their scripts.

• Underscore Theatre Company executive director Rachel Elise Johnson will stop down from her role to serve as festival artistic producer for the Allen & Gray Musical Festival, which showcases new works by marginalized artists. Johnson helped establish the Chicago Musical Theatre Festival, which has introduced 50 new musicals in the five years since it debuted. Underscore will accept applications for its executive director position through Jan. 31. See underscoretheatre.org for a job description or email Laura Stratford at lcstraatford@gmail.com.

• Corn Productions follows its digital drinking show with a seasonal version titled "Happy Holly Daze: A Digital Drinking Game Performance!" The adults-only, interactive show takes a comedic look at holiday-related interactions including Zoom conversations and game-playing. Tickets are $5 and donations are accepted. See cornservatory.org.