She’s back! On Friday the oval-eyed, red-haired orphan with the heart of gold and the lungs of brass returns to the Rosemont Theatre in the touring production of the Broadway revival. This time Nell Carter is no longer the curmudgeonly, little-girl-loathing Miss Hannigan, scourge of adorable orphans everywhere. That dubious honor goes to two-time Emmy winner Sally Struthers, recently familiar to Chicago audiences as Miss Lynch, the English teacher in “Grease,” and forever famous as Gloria Stivic on “All in the Family.” The show, needless to say, is “ANNIE,” winner of seven 1977 Tony Awards and still the 11th-longest-running show on Broadway. This ever-returning touring version continues to celebrate its 20th anniversary.
“Annie” runs through Sunday at the Rosemont Theatre, 5400 N. River Rd., Rosemont; 312-559-1212.
Other theater openings with which to end the month:
“Murder in Green Meadows,” Circle Theatre, 7300 W. Madison St., Forest Park; 708-771-0700: Opening Friday in a revival by Ty Perry, this murder mystery by Chicago playwright Douglas Post premiered at the Victory Gardens Theater in 1995. It spins a web of deception, sex, murder and mind games as two suburban couples discover their darker sides. The final showdown between a murderer and an aggrieved widow is gripping stuff indeed. Perry’s cast are Bethanny Alexander, Erin Noel Grennan, Bart Petty and Steven Rishard.
“Wang Dang Doodle (The Life of Koko Taylor — Queen of the Blues),” Black Ensemble Theater, 4520 N. Beacon St.; 773-769-4451: Continuing its theatrical biographies of legendary African-American talents (Muddy Waters, Bessie Smith, Lorraine Hansberry, Sarah Vaughan), the B.E.T. celebrates Koko Taylor, who is a regular at blues clubs in Chicago and across the country. Taylor has carved out a career in the male-dominated blues world and has won a 1984 Grammy as well as 10 W.C. Handy Awards, the blues world’s highest honor. Produced, directed and written by Jackie Taylor (no relation), with musical direction by Jimmy Tillman, the rouser opens Sunday and celebrates Chicago blues women of the past, such as Ma Rainey, Big Mama Thornton and Billie Holiday, and of today, such as Big-Time Sarah, Katherine Davis, Barbara LaShore and, especially, Valerie Wellington, as well as Taylor. Audrey “Queen” Roy, a popular blues singer in her own right, takes the title role.
“Crossing Delancey,” Saint Sebastian Players at St. Bonaventure, 1625 W. Diversey Ave.; 773-404-7922: Friday’s opening, staged by Jim Masini, revives Susan Sandler’s ethnic and romantic comedy. It centers on Isabelle Grossman, an independent Jewish woman in no hurry to get married. But Isabelle’s grandmother and a busy matchmaker have plans for her that require a second party. Isabelle must choose between a pickleman from Brooklyn and the moderately successful author who frequents the bookshop where she works.
“The Roses of Heliogabulus,” Chicago Dramatists, 1105 W. Chicago Ave.; 312-633-0630: The theater’s Saturday series of staged readings of plays-in-progress continues with Carson Grace’s Becker’s new work, set in an elite drug rehabilitation center where an ex-husband and wife confront a past life of love, abuse and addiction. Intensifying the encounter is his imminent remarriage and her spiritual revolution. The play was further developed last month at the Montana Rep Writers’ Colony.
“So, I Killed a Few People,” Annoyance Theatre, 3747 N. Clark St.; 773-929-6200: Returning on Friday to the scene of the crime before it plays the New York International Fringe Festival, this wicked concoction by directors Gary Ruderman and David Summers stars Summers as convicted serial killer Archie Nunn. The confessed killer of at least eight souls, he is about to be electrocuted. His last wish is to deliver his own one-man show before he is put to death. The sardonic confessional enjoyed an eight-month run in Chicago and further acclaim in San Francisco.
“Homeward Bound,” Buffalo Theater Ensemble at Theatre 2, College of DuPage, 22nd Street and Park Boulevard, Glen Ellyn; 630-942-4000: Opening Friday in a staging by Craig Berger, Elliott Hayes’ 1991 dark comedy depicts a family that gets together in order to fall apart. A family reunion founders when the paterfamilias announces that he is dying from an incurable disease. The play is a sardonic reflection on how we handle — or refuse to handle — turmoil and tragedy in the 1990s.
