Take Me Out, the big baseball show about a gay Major League superstar slugger, has been extended for three weeks—now through May 22—and added a Sunday performance at the Steppenwolf Upstairs Theatre. Jonny is not surprised. Jonny knew this About Face Theatre production would sell tickets like the Cubs in a pennant race (all right, is this FINALLY going to be the year?). FYI: Jonny has it on VERY good, inside authority that the gentlemen of the cast all fluff before the naked shower scene. Now, Jonny knows almost nothing about naked men, but Jonny doesn’t think they need to fluff, especially not those built-like-brick-shithouses Latino gentlemen.
As faithful readers know, Jonny doesn’t promote every worthy benefit that comes along because there are just too many of them. However, Jonny must mention the May 9 fundraiser for Season of Concern, the on-going theater industry charity for AIDS-related causes. Not only is Season of Concern close to Jonny’s sometimes-hard-to-find heart, but also this particular benefit has a 1970s disco theme, the very era when Jonny was a flaming youth. For $20—a bargain—you get hors d’oeuvres, open bar (beer, wine, well drinks), music, dancing and the chance to don your finest 1970s body shirts, bell bottoms and beads. Concern for Disco is at the Lincoln Tap Room, 3010 N. Lincoln, 9 p.m.-1 a.m. Hey, baby, rock the boat (don’t tip the boat over).
Quiz of the week: what doesn’t seem to belong in the following list: Love, death, sex, war, Louisa May Alcott. Well, it seems that the Victorian lady who wrote Little Women had a lot more on her plate than Aunt Jo. A new play, by DePaul University Theatre School graduate Andie Arthur, explores the dark side and personal biography of the Pennsylvania-born author who wrote Little Women’ in the aftermath of the Civil War. Arthur’s play, In Common Hours, will be presented April 27-May 8 at the Athenaeum Studio Three Theatre, 2936 N. Southport, produced by The Theatre School DePaul. Admission is free, but reservations are recommended; (312) 922-1999.
The City of Chicago Storefront Theatre (66 E. Randolph) and Prop Thtr are teaming to present the fourth Estrogen Fest: Changing the Rules, May 13-June 5. Two dynamically different programs will be presented in rotating repertory, each one offer live music, theater, dance, poetry, visual and performance art looking at how women have broken out of historic and mythical molds. The line-up of talent is phenomenal and too long to detail here. Both Program A and Program B will be previewed at cocktail parties to which you, your girlfriends and boyfriends are invited, May 11 and May 12 at 7:30 p.m. at Gallery 37, the City-owned art space of which the Storefront Theatre is a part. For $25 you get cocktails, eats, live music and a preview performance of one of the Estrogen Fest shows; (312) 742-8497.
FYI: Prop Thtr has told Jonny they will be bringing Paula Killen back to Chicago in a few months for a too-rare return to her home town.
Famous Door Theatre is goin’ girlie, too, with its 11th annual Women at the Door showcase of new plays by women. This event also takes place at the Storefront Theatre on Estrogen Fest off nights, May 23-25. This year, Women at the Door will offer staged readings of Solomon’s Blade by Lisa B. Allen, Foul by Alice Austen, and Crippled Sisters by Susan Nussbaum. Each reading will be followed by a talkback between audience and author, plus cocktails! Admission is free, but a donation ($10 suggested) is requested; (773) 404-8283.
Various Michael Jacksons have been making news lately in the negative category. Now comes Michael D. Jackson, author and director, with some news that may reverse the trend. Functioning as a playwright, Mr. Jackson has written not one play, but 12 plays—an even dozen—encapsulating more than a century of American gay history. He’s published them, too, as Making Progress: America’s Queer History in 12 Plays. Beginning with the tale of two college students in the late 1800s, Jackson’s plays make stops for World War I, the 1920s, World War II right through the Age of AIDS. Those wishing to read one or more of the Jackson oeuvres can purchase them online through AuthorHouse. Jonny does not know Michael D. Jackson (or any of the Michael Jacksons, for that matter), and can make no guarantee of the quality of his work. Jonny thinks it a bit odd that Mr. Jackson would write so many plays without any of them—apparently—having been produced yet.