Playwright Edward Albee will speak in Chicago on Friday at 6 p.m. in the Art Institute of Chicago’s Fullerton Hall. Former Tribune critic Richard Christiansen will lead an interview. … Live Bait Theater’s 2008 season (its 21st) will include Mary Scruggs’ “Missing Man,” a solo piece about a cross-country motorcycle trip Scruggs took with Vietnam veterans; and “Heat Wave,” a major new docudrama adapted by Steven Simoncic from the book by Eric Klinenberg and based on the fatal Chicago heat crisis of 1995. … “Altar Boyz” has extended at the Drury Lane Water Tower through March 8. And following the Dec. 23 show, the boys will sing holiday carols. … The Chicago performance group Blair Thomas and Friends says it is expanding its staff and programming. … The touring production of “The Phantom of the Opera,” currently at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago, has a new Phantom. Jason Mills will perform here through Jan. 5.
