You Can’t Fake the Funk, Black Ensemble through Sept. 22—Funk music tribute with two dozen ’60s, ’70s and early ’80s songs, exceptionally well performed by singers sporting towering platform shoes, billowing Afros and multitudinous spangles! JA
Timeless Magic, Chicago Magic Lounge, through Oct. 2—A souvenir from Chicago’s 1893 Columbian Exposition—which introduced the Ferris Wheel— launches young magician Sean Masterson on a search to identify its owner. MSB
The Recommendation, Windy City Playhouse, through Oct. 6—Environmental theater reigns here, even an entire house once. This time three young men lead audiences through locales of West-coast privilege, although they may lose their way amid the stratagems and squalor. MSB
Love, Chaos & Dinner, Teatro ZinZanni, open run—A special but pricey night out: excellent clowning, acrobatics, singing and elaborate costumes presented with a tasty four-course meal in an ornate, palatial tent on the Cambria Loop Hotel’s 14th floor. SCM
—By Mary Shen Barnidge, Scott C. Morgan and Jonathan Abarbanel