Lyric Opera of Chicago general director Anthony Freud has reteamed the collaborators behind the world’s first mariachi opera (Cruzar la Cara de la Luna) to create the second one, El Pasado Nunca se Termina (The Past is Never Finished). Set in 1910 on the eve of the Mexican Revolution, this work by librettist/director Leonard Foglia and composer José “Pepe” Martinez features the world famous mariachi band Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlín. These Chicago performances are the opera’s official world premiere, and it will be seen later this year in San Diego and Houston. El Pasado Nunca se Termina plays 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 28, and 2 p.m. Sunday, March 29, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, 20 N. Wacker Dr. Tickets are $25-$125; call 312-827-5600 or visit www.lyricopera.org/pasado. Photo by Todd Rosenberg
Critics’ Picks
First Date, Royal George Cabaret, extended to April 26. How this fun and intimate musical about the perils and pitfalls of a first date played on Broadway is questionable since it fits so perfectly in the intimate confines of the Royal George Cabaret. SCM
One Came Home, Lifeline Theatre, through April 5. A feisty tween sets out in 1871 on mule-back to find her missing sister and ends up capturing a gang of crooks in this exciting page-to-stage adaptation of Amy Timberlake’s award-winning novel. MSB
Macbeth, The Artistic Home, through April 4. Director Scott Westerman ramps up the creepiness for Shakespeare’s classic tragedy along with including a timely environmental message on the scarcity of clean water in a dystopian future. SCM
West Side Story, Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace, through March 29. OK, this is the all-English original vs. the newer part-Spanish version. Not PC, but Broadway-worthy in most respects: scenic design, crisp sound, sharp orchestra, athletic dancing. Huge, attractive cast with Chicago’s own Christina Nieves standing out as Maria. JA
—By Abarbanel, Barnidge and Morgan