Yank!, Pride Films & Plays, through March 18. A fine cast and excellent musical direction spark this musical WWII gay love story, partly like an LGBT South Pacific. JA

Southern Gothic, Windy City Playhouse, through May 18. Leslie Liautaud’s kaleidoscopic farce surrounds its audience with the birthday party from dixieland hell, but David H. Bell’s dazzling direction makes it more fun than a three-ring roller-coaster. MSB

Surely Goodness and Mercy, Redtwist Theatre, through March 18. Beneath the surface sentimentality rendered in this portrait of humble citizens neglected by their peers and their society lies a wealth of savvy insight into practical solutions. MSB

Near Death Experience, Rosehill Cemetery, 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, March 10-11. Neil Tobin’s latest piece has an ideal setting: the usually closed May Chapel in Lincoln Square’s Rosehill Cemetery. Don’t expect cheap scares or cheesy tricks—Tobin’s magic is largely in his storytelling and his often eerie insights. CES

—By Abarbanel, Barnidge and Sullivan