Spotlight: Folk music animates Northlight’s ‘Porch on Windy Hill’ – Daily Herald

Old music, new play

During the COVID-19 quarantine, a classical violinist and her folk-music-loving boyfriend leave their Brooklyn apartment seeking respite, inspiration and reconciliation at her family's mountain home in "The Porch on Windy Hill: a new play with old music." Northlight Theatre's production stars co-writers Lisa Helmi Johanson, Morgan Morse and David M. Lutken and is directed by Sherry Lutken, who also conceived the play-with-music.

Previews at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 14-15; 2:30 p.m. Sunday, April 16; 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 18, and Thursday, April 20; and 1 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 19, at The North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie. The show opens April 21. $30-$89. Masks recommended. (847) 673-6300 or northlight.org.

Vicki Quade remounts her interactive comedy "Bible Bingo" at the Greenhouse Theater Center.- Courtesy of Vicki Quade

Vicki Quade and Nuns 4 Fun Entertainment remount "Bible Bingo," the interactive comedy in which former nun Mary Margaret O'Brien hosts a bingo trivia fundraiser for a fictional parish. Vicki Quade, Liz Cloud and Nancy Greco alternate in the role of Mary Margaret.

8 p.m. Friday, April 14, 21 and 28, and 8 p.m. Saturday, April 15, 22 and 29, at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. $35. Masks recommended. (773) 404-7336 or greenhousetheater.org.

Citadel Theatre concludes its season with "Airness," Chelsea Marcante's comedy about budding air guitarist Nina (Julia Rowley) and the oddball enthusiasts she meets when she signs up for an air guitar competition. Joe Lehman directs.

Previews at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, April 19-20, at 300 S. Waukegan Road, Lake Forest. The show opens April 21. $20-$45. Masks recommended. (847) 735-8554, ext. 1, or citadeltheatre.org.

Brendan Ragan takes over later this month as the new artistic director of the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights.

Arlington Heights' Metropolis Performing Arts Centre named Brendan Ragan its new artistic director. Ragan, founding co-artistic director of Florida's Urbanite Theatre, an ensemble known for producing new works, begins his tenure April 24.

"Brendan brings a wealth of compassion, empathy, passion, and high-quality production value to Metropolis," said board president Stephen Daday in a prepared statement. "I believe donors, subscribers, patrons, staff and the talented artists who grace our stage will be very excited for what is to come."

"It became clear to me right away that the organization is much more than a neighborhood theater," Ragan said in a prepared statement. "From the important endeavors at the School of the Performing Arts to the many dozens of exciting, presented works throughout the year, MPAC has the rare merit of being not just a professional theater but a vital cultural center. I'm ecstatic to join this organization."

Check with venues about COVID-19 precautions.

Magician Joshua Jay -- who's appeared on "The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon," "The Late Show With James Corden" and "Penn & Teller's Fool Us" -- performs his new show, "Look Closer," through April 30 at Rhapsody Theater, 1328 Morse Ave., Chicago. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and 2, 7 and 9 p.m. Saturdays. Tickets are $25-$75. rhapsodytheater.com.

The Raue Center for the Arts, 26 N. Williams St., Crystal Lake, hosts Lucy's Comedy, a stand-up comedy showcase featuring Dame Grant, Tim Piotrkowski and headliner John Knight at 8:30 p.m. Friday, April 14. Tickets start at $25. (815) 356-9212 or rauecenter.org.

New York City scientist and comedian Ben Miller brings his multimedia show "Stand-Up Science" to the Lincoln Lodge, 2040 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. Miller incorporates pictures, graphs and videos into his set to entertain and educate. He performs at 7 p.m. Friday, March 14. $10. thelincolnlodge.com.

The Gift Theatre hosts its Gift Gala 2023: We've Only Just Begun from 6-10:30 p.m. Friday, April 14, at the Greenhouse Loft, 2545 W. Diversey Ave., Chicago. The evening includes food and drink, live and silent auctions, and live music, improv, excerpts from The Gift's radio drama "Mud City" and a Q&A with ensemble member Andrew Hinderacker, creator of Netflix's "Away" and Showtime's "Let the Right One In." Raffle prices include two tickets to the Broadway revival of "A Doll's House" starring Jessica Chastain and Gift co-founder and ensemble member Michael Patrick Thornton. Single tickets are $150. Proceeds support programming and operations. (773) 283-7071 or thegifttheatre.org.

Performances begin Saturday, April 15, for Chicago Children's Theatre's "The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show," a stage version of Eric Carle's children's book created by Jonathan Rockefeller. The show, which runs at 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. Saturdays through June 4, at 100 S. Racine St., Chicago, boasts more than 75 puppets including the titular caterpillar, Brown Bear, 10 rubber ducks and a very busy spider. Tickets are $35.25. Masks recommended. (312) 374-8835 or chicagochildrenstheatre.org.

The new musical "Coming of Age in the Age of House" by Campsongs Productions opens Thursday, April 20, at the Center on Halsted's Hoover-Leppen Theatre, 3656 N. Halsted St., Chicago. The musical about the origins of house music, tells the story of a young man who finds the courage to come out of the closet after he sneaks into the Warehouse Club, the birthplace of house music. $25-$30. centeronhalsted.org.

"Broadway Barbara Live! In Chicago" comes to The Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, for one performance at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 20. Leah Sprecher plays the fictional Barbara Dixon in this one-woman music and comedy sendup of the autobiographical cabaret shows of such Broadway notables as Elaine Stritch, Liza Minnelli and Barbara Cook. $26, $41. Masks encouraged. (773) 697-3830 or thedentheatre.com.

Court Theatre announced its 69th season begins Nov. 3 with a revival of James Goldman's 12th century-set domestic drama "The Lion in Winter," about the contentious Christmas that Eleanor of Aquitaine spent with her estranged husband, Henry II, and their children. That's followed by Sophocles' "Antigone" (Feb. 2-25, 2024), another domestic drama with political ramifications about the titular character who defies King Creon's order to leave her brother unburied. Next up is "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" (March 29-April 21, 2024), Tom Stoppard's "Hamlet"-inspired comedy starring two minor characters from Shakespeare's play who wrestle with fate, friendship and the question of existence while a tragedy unfolds around them. The season concludes with the premiere of "Stokely: The Unfinished Revolution," Nambi E. Kelly's drama about civil rights activist Kwame Ture, who was born Stokely Carmichael. It runs May 24-June 16, 2024. Performances take place at 5535 S. Ellis Ave., Chicago. Subscriptions range from $111 to $272. (773) 753-4472 or courttheatre.org.

Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre, in residence at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes Ave., Evanston, announced its 2023 season begins June 10 with "Obama-ology," Aurin Squire's comedy about an African American college student who comes to terms with his sexual and racial identity while working on Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. That's followed by "The Light" (Aug. 5-20), Loy A. Webb's two-hander about a marriage proposal that goes awry. Next up is "The Baldwin|Giovanni Experience," Tim Rhoze and Bria Walker's work inspired by the 1971 broadcast conversation between authors James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni that incorporates original music, a mural and choreography. The season concludes Oct. 28 with "This Bitter Earth," Harrison David Rivers' play about the relationship between an introspective Black playwright and his white, Black Lives Matter activist boyfriend who calls him out for his political apathy. (847) 866-5914 or fjtheatre.com.

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Spotlight: Folk music animates Northlight's 'Porch on Windy Hill' - Daily Herald