Crazy for You, Theater at the Center, through June 14. Shawn Johnson? Phooey! You want to see somebody who can really dance? Check out Richard Strimer getting tap-happy (on the roof of a car, no less!) to the Brothers Gershwin. Sure the plot’s ridiculous, but the music is absolutely unstoppable. CS
Macbeth, Babes With Blades at LaCosta Theatre, through May 30. We always knew they could swash buckle with the best, but thanks to Kevin Heckman’s direction, the Babes With Blades also speak Shakespeare more eloquently than the high-paid swells at the Pier. You’ve got one weekend left to hear them do it. MSB
Once on This Island, Porchlight Music Theatre at Theatre Building Chicago, through June 28. Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty’s Little Mermaid-inspired musical gets smartly transplanted from the Carribean to New York City, giving a clever Sesame Street storytelling vibe to this charming tale. SCM
Rock ‘n’ Roll, Goodman Theatre, through June 7. The latest from uber-intellectual Tom Stoppard uses Marxist philosophy and rock music as a symbol of dissent to frame the collapse of Czech Communism, 1968-1992. It’s didactic but splendidly performed. JA
—By Abarbanel, Barnidge,
Morgan and Sullivan