Hairspray, Ford Center/Oriental thorugh Feb. 15. A gleeful musical celebration of fat-girl power and 1960s dance, based on the John Waters film. With the workout they get, how do the plus-size heroines keep their weight up? Forget flowers, send Frangos. (Barnidge)
A Little Night Music, Chicago Shakespeare through Feb. 15. Gary Griffin’s spare, ethereal staging of Sondheim’s most fully realized work is a triumph. As world-weary Desiree, top-notch Barbara Robertson delivers a heartbreaking ‘Send in the Clowns.’ (Reed)
Major Barbara, Remy Bumppo at Victory Gardens, through Jan. 25. A superlative rendering of George Bernard Shaw’s timeless Guns-and Bibles classic, in which a Salvation Army daughter confronts her munitions magnate father. (Barnidge)