The national tour of eight-time Tony-winning Broadway musical Once is back in town, this time with Tony winner and Arlington Heights native Scott Waara joining the cast in the supporting role of Da. Fall in love with this sweet stage adaptation of the Academy Award-winning 2006 film romance again, or experience its many charms for the first time if you missed its previous Chicago stint in 2013. Once continues through Sunday, June 7, at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St. Remaining performances are 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, June 3 to 6, with 2 p.m. matinees June 3, 6 and 7. Tickets are $27-$92; call 800-775-2000 or visit www.broadwayinchicago.com.
Critic’s Picks
The Diary of Anne Frank, Writers Theatre, Glencoe, extended through Aug. 2. The revised script of this familiar drama incorporates long-expurgated diary passages which make Anne more human and less saintly. The production also looks afresh at the characters to make them less archetypal and more nuanced. JA
MIRACLE!, Hell in a Handbag Productions at Mary’s Attic, through July 10. Dan Savage makes sure that you’ll never think of William Gibson’s Helen Keller drama The Miracle Worker the same way again since he has hilariously reset the action in modern-day gay drag and lesbian bars. SCM
Twisted Melodies, Congo Square Theatre at Athenaeum Theatre, through June 14. It takes a brave actor to put himself into the mind of a frightened man preparing to commit suicide, but Kelvin Roston Jr. does it in his solo portrayal of R&B musician Donny Hathaway. MSB
The White Road, Irish Theatre of Chicago at Den Theatre, through June 13. Forget psychological subtext—it’s nothing but men against nature in this docudrama about a party of explorers trekking across the Antarctic ice cap in 1912. MSB
—By Abarbanel, Barnidge and Morgan