Spotlight: Charming tuner ‘Spelling Bee’ concludes Paramount’s current Bold Series
How do you spell ‘charming’?
Six precocious middle school students compete to represent their school in the National Spelling Bee in “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” by composer/lyricist William Finn and book writer Rachel Sheinkin. Stephen Schellardt, in his Paramount directorial debut, helms Paramount Theatre’s revival of the Tony Award-winning tuner, which concludes the theater’s 2024-2025 Bold Series. Kory Danielson serves as music director.
Previews at 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, March 12-13; 8 p.m. March 14; 2 and 8 p.m. March 15; and 1 and 5:30 p.m. March 16 at the Copley Theatre, 8 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora. $40-$55. (630) 896-6666 or paramountaurora.com/.
Theo Ubique revives solo show
A young British woman seeks success, companionship and love in New York City in “Tell Me On a Sunday,” a one-act, one-woman musical by composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Don Black. Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre’s revival stars Dani Pyke, in her Theo Ubique debut. Keely Vasquez directs.
Previews at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 7 and 8; 6 p.m. Sunday, March 9; and 7 p.m. March 14 at 721 Howard St., Evanston. The show opens March 15. $25-$60. (773) 939-4101 or theo-u.com.
Chicago premiere
Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble, in collaboration with Fat Theater Project, presents “Funny Like an Abortion,” Rachel Bublitz’s future-set, dark comedy about a woman who finds herself unexpectedly and undesirably pregnant in an America where saying the word “abortion” is a crime. Eileen Tull directs the Chicago-area premiere.
The preview is at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 10, at 1650 W. Foster Ave., Chicago. $30 suggested donation or pay-what-you-can. danztheatre.org.
'Beetlejuice' returns
“Beetlejuice,” the musical adapted from Tim Burton’s 1988 film about a comically malevolent ghost hired by a recently deceased couple to rid their home of its new residents, returns for the third time in less than two years for a brief run.
7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, March 11-13; 7:30 p.m. March 14; 2 and 7:30 p.m. March 15; and 1 and 6:30 p.m. March 16 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St., Chicago. $44-$154. broadwayinchicago.com.
(End of) ‘Winter’s Tale’
Invictus Theatre Company opens its season with William Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale” about a king who, suspecting his wife has been unfaithful, banishes their baby daughter, who is adopted by a shepherd. Director Charles Askenaizer’s production has a cast of 16 and an original score by Petter Wahlbäck performed live by vocalists and instrumentalists.
Previews at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 11, and March 14; 1 and 7 p.m. March 15; and 1 p.m. March 16 at Windy City Playhouse, 3014 W. Irving Park Road, Chicago. The show opens March 17. $25, $38. invictustheatreco.com.
Just the facts?
In the process of fact-checking an essay by a famous writer, a Harvard University graduate interning at a prestigious New York magazine uncovers liberties the writer apparently made up in “Lifespan of a Fact,” a comedy by Jeremy Kareken, David Murrell and Gordon Farrell based on the book by John D’Agata and Jim Fingal. Oil Lamp Theater’s revival stars Marianne Embree, Tim Walsh and James Wheeler. Artistic director Elizabeth Mazur Levin directs.
Preview at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 13, at 1723 Glenview Road, Glenview. The show opens March 14. $30, $55. oillamptheater.org.
Ever timely 'Scandal'
A young bride from the country married to a wealthy middle-aged man is introduced to London society where vicious, scandalmongering aristocrats delight in maligning, deceiving and seducing people, including their own friends and family members in “The School for Scandal.” Idle Muse Theatre Company revives Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s 18th-century comedy of manners, which presaged influencer culture by some 300 years. Artistic director Evan Jackson directs.
Previews at 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, March 13-14, at The Edge Off-Broadway Theater, 1133 W. Catalpa Ave., Chicago. The show opens March 15. $20, $30. (773) 340-9438 or idlemuse.org.
‘Hamlet’ reimagined
Chicago Shakespeare Theater, in cooperation with the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance and Lima, Peru’s Teatro La Plaza, present a reimagined production of William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” that incorporates pop music, dance and humor. The production — which examines inclusion, discrimination and the question: “to be, or not to be?” — features an ensemble of young theater artists with Down syndrome.
Previews at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, March 13-14, at Navy Pier, 800 E. Grand Ave., Chicago. The show opens March 15. $30-$50. (312) 595-5600 or chicagoshakes.com.