Spotlight: ‘Million Dollar Quartet’ revivals open at Stolp Island Theatre, Metropolis
Double ‘Quartets’
• Paramount Theatre inaugurates its new venue, Stolp Island Theatre, with a revival of the jukebox tuner “Million Dollar Quartet,” a fictionalized account of a 1956 jam session at Sam Phillips’ Sun Records between Johnny Cash (Bill Scott Sheets), Jerry Lee Lewis (Garrett Forrestal), Carl Perkins (Christopher Wren) and Elvis Presley (Alex Swindle). Previews at 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, July 10-11 and 18; 8 p.m. Friday, July 12; 3 and 8 p.m. Saturday, July 13; 1 and 5:30 p.m. Sunday, July 14; and 1:30 and 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 17, at 5 E. Downer Place, Aurora. The show opens July 19. $65. (630) 896-6666 or paramountaurora.com.
• Metropolis Performing Arts Centre’s revival of “Million Dollar Quartet” stars Dom Alesia as Johnny Cash, Keegan Sells as Elvis Presley, Austin Dean Shaw as Jerry Lee Lewis and Joey Chelius as Carl Perkins. Michael Rader directs. Previews at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, July 11-12, and 3 p.m. Saturday, July 13, at 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights. The show opens at 7:30 p.m. July 13. $30-$45. (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.com.
American Blues Theater premiere
American Blues Theater premieres “The Last Wide Open,” a romantic comedy with music by writer/lyricist Audrey Cefaly, composer Matt M. Nielson and Katarzyna Müller (Polish adaptation and consultant). Michael Mahler plays Polish immigrant dishwasher Mikołaj and Mahler’s real-life wife, Dara Cameron, plays weary waitress Lina in a play about “the mystical ways the universe conspires to bring us all together.” Executive artistic director Gwendolyn Whiteside directs. Previews at 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 5; 4 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 6; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, July 7, at 5627 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. The show opens Thursday, July 11. $29.50-$69.40. (773) 654-3103 or americanbluestheater.com.
Indulge in ‘Savor’
“Dancing With the Stars” alum and Broadway dancer Maks Chmerkovskiy (“Burn the Floor,” “Forever Tango”) stars in the dance show “SAVOR After Hours.” Chmerkovskiy’s brother and fellow “Dancing With the Stars” alum Val Chmerkovskiy joins him onstage Aug. 6-18. The preview is 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 9, at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place, 175 E. Chestnut St., Chicago. The show opens Wednesday, July 10. $46.50-$82. savorafterhours.com or broadwayinchicago.com.
A grown-up bedtime tale
After divorcing three husbands, Dora Hand is resigned to being a milkman’s mistress until a swan — a man-child she names Bill — crashes into her living room window in “The Swan,” a “psychosexual fever dream” by Elizabeth Egloff. Theatre L’Acadie’s production stars Brandii Champagne as Dora and Kevin Blair as Bill. Previews at 8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, July 10-11, at Facility Theater, 138 N. California Ave., Chicago. The show opens July 12. $20. theatrelacadie.com.
Hedwig returns
Haven Chicago revives the groundbreaking rock musical “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” about a queer East German singer leading a fictional rock band. Tyler Anthony Smith plays the titular role. JD Caudill directs. Previews at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, July 5-6 and 9, and 3 p.m. Sunday, July 7, at The Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. The show opens Wednesday, July 10. Previews are pay-what-you-can; regular run $36, $46. (773) 697-3830 or havenchi.org.
Hero’s quest
Eighteen-year-old Dontrell Jones ventures into the Atlantic Ocean in search of an ancestor lost during the Middle Passage in “Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea,” Nathan Alan Davis’ play about the lengths people go to redeem history’s wrongs. Pegasus Theatre Chicago’s production is directed by producing artistic director Ilesa Duncan. Previews at 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, July 11-13, at Chicago Dramatists, 798 N. Aberdeen St., Chicago. The show opens July 14. $15-$30. pegasustheatrechicago.org.