We know it hasn’t much looked or felt like spring but, nonetheless, it’s time to shake off the sluggishness of winter and go out to see a show. Fortunately, the always-busy Chicago theater scene offers a wide variety of choices among plays, musicals and shows of special interest to LGBT audiences. Here, for spring, Windy City Times Theater Editor Jonathan Abarbanel recommends seven plays to applaud, five musicals to sing and five shows that shout ‘Out!’ Shows in each category are listed in order of production.

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Avenue Q. Photo by Carol Rosegg

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Plays

Candles to the Sun, Eclipse Theatre at Victory Gardens Greenhouse, through May 4. Before he called himself Tennessee, 26-year-old Thomas Lanier Williams had his first full-length play produced by the semi-professional Mummers Theatre in his hometown, of St. Louis. Good? Bad? Poetic? Gay? Immature? Judge for yourself this Depression Era drama of striking coal miners and social violence.

A Passage to India, Vitalist Theatre and Premiere Theatre at Theatre Building Chicago, April 8-May 18. This is the U.S. premiere of an adaptation of E. M Forster’s complex 1924 novel of India and empire. Although Forster and adapter Martin Sherman (Bent) are gay, the novel has no obvious LGBT content. However, the novel’s condemnation of British colonialism can be seen to fit many types of social prejudice.

Around the World in 80 Days, Lookingglass Theatre, April 16-June 1. The popular Jules Verne novel of whirlwind adventures while circling the globe, circa 1870, should perfectly suit Lookingglass. Expect them to incorporate circus arts in a robust physical and visual style as the tale passes from England to India to Wild West America.

Not a Game for Boys, A Red Orchid Theatre, April 18-June 1. This is the U.S. premiere of a play about the world of competition ping-pong. Yes, we said ping-pong, which really separates the men from the boys, according to this reportedly intense and slightly dark comedy reflecting on topics ranging from testosterone-induced conflict to geopolitics.

10 Virgins, Chicago Dramatists, April 24-June 1. This world premiere by Laura Jacqmin combines elements of folklore, reality, fantasy and fairy tales in a story of 10 girls who live independently in a rustic swampland. But what happens when they venture into the world outside, and come in contact with Jenny Greenteeth, a witch?

The Mark of Zorro, Lifeline Theatre, May 2-June 22. Here it comes, the annual summertime treat from Lifeline—always a costume romance or a thumping-good mystery. This time, it’s a world premiere adaptation of the original 1919 Zorro story, complete with swordfights, Spanish music and—we’re told—flying horsemen!

A Taste of Honey, Shattered Globe Theatre at Victory Gardens Greenhouse, May 18-July 5. This astonishing character study of a young, pregnant English teenager made a celebrity of its 17-year-old author, Shelagh Delaney, when produced in 1958. Realistic and bittersweet, it’s among the first plays with a major gay character portrayed in a positive—if stereotyped—way, the young heroine’s only friend, Geoffrey.

Musicals

The Drowsy Chaperone, Cadillac Palace Theatre, April 1-13. Don’t fall asleep while listening to old show tunes or the show might come to life— to delightful life—as it does in this Tony Award-winning musical that recalls the romantic flavor of 1920s song-and-dance shows. Presented by Broadway In Chicago for a short stay.

Nine, Porchlight Music Theatre at Theatre Building Chicago, April 4-May 18. Federico Fellini’s famous film about an Italian film director’s mid-life crisis doesn’t seem likely material for Broadway but—as adapted by Mario Fratti (translator), Arthur Kopit (book) and Mary Yeston (music and lyrics) —it’s been a hit many times over. Now the award-winning Porchlight team gives Nine its own, intimate touch.

The Lesser Assassins, Corn Productions at the Cornservatory, April 18-May 17. What do we know about this show? Almost nothing. But the idea intrigues us. A musical, by Kitty Morland, that asks the questions ‘Mistake or murder? What happens when you’re just not careful enough?’ Expect cheeky and non-PC material from Corn Productions.

Avenue Q, Cadillac Palace Theatre, May 21-June 7. At long last, the surprise 2004 Tony Award-winning musical reaches Chicago, with its satire on Sesame Street that includes gay puppets and gay puppeteers. It may seem child-like but this one’s for adults.

Gigi, Light Opera Works at Cahn Auditorium (Evanston), June 6-15. ‘The Night They Invented Champagne’ and ‘Thank Heaven for Little Girls’ are among the bushel of tuneful songs penned by Lerner & Loewe for this famous movie musical, set in Paris during the belle epoque. This stage adaptation now gets the Light Opera Works treatment.

LGBT shows

The Ville, Mary’s Attic, open run. Season two is off and running for this decidedly LGBT tongue-in-cheek soap opera of life in Andersonville, offering a new episode each month. It’s performed Monday nights only. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know who the characters are: there’s sure to be a type you recognize as, well, you!

Blithe Spirit, Oak Park Festival, through April 27. This isn’t an LGBT play, but it’s by the great gay master Noel Coward, so it should be. It concerns a man with two wives, one living and one not, and their catfights are queenly clashes, indeed. Add the campy spiritualist Madame Arcati and you’ve got a classic comedy-of-manners.

Die! Mommie, Die!, Hell in a Handbag Productions at Bailiwick, April 21-June 1. The horrors of family dysfunction are made manifest in this legendary dramatic work by Charles Busch, featuring pretty sons, ugly daughters and mannish mothers, all of them with hairy legs. Let’s all go camping!

Durango, Silk Road Theatre Project at Chicago Temple, May 8-June 15. This world premiere by Julia Cho was developed by Silk Road last year and now receives a full staging. It’s an unexpected look at Asian-American life featuring a father on the road with his sons, one of whom has got a secret … and one that will take you by surprise.

Math and Aftermath, Ludicrous Theatre Company at Heartland Studio, June 13-21. This is a short, Pride Month run of a 1988 fantasy play by out novelist and playwright Jim Grimsley (Dream Boy) in which a gay porn film crew visits Bikini Atoll at the time (the 1950s) it was used for atomic bomb tests—of course, a social and temporal impossibility.