Thirty-five years ago, as her birthday present, I took my wife out for our first “classy” date to the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse. I had arranged for a dear friend (shout-out to Bill Sensenbrenner) to be our Bootlegger, and wanted to treat my wife to the thrill of seeing Circa '21 produce the musical Annie for the very first time. It was an elegant evening boasting a topnotch performance that we both remember to this day. Fast forward 35 years, and we found ourselves doing the exact same thing on November 9 by enjoying an elegant evening of food, friends, and Circa '21’s latest extraordinary production of – what else? – Annie!

Life is full of many different highs and lows that make up the human experience. We may have trials and tribulations, unexpected loss, unforeseen disappointment, and sadness, but we also have happiness, joy, and love. Memories are stored in our brains that, over time, can fade or become distorted. Now what would it be like if we downloaded those memories into a computerized holograph? So goes this science-fiction play by Jordan Harrison, called Marjorie Prime.

With actor/playwright Jeff Daniels' comedy described by Variety magazine as “laugh-out-loud stuff” that “proceeds at a fast clip,” Geneseo's Richmond Barn Theatre closes its 2018 season of returning audience favorites with Escanaba in 'da Moonlight, a riotous and heartwarming tale of Midwestern male bonding that, according to the Chicago Tribune, “manages to be both politically incorrect and comedically accurate.”

Enjoying an area-theatre presentation mere months after its film version emerged as a $100-million-grossing springtime hit for Disney, Madeleine L'Engle's iconic children's-book A Winkle in Time wraps up the Playcrafters Barn Thatre's 2018 season with a family-adventure bang, its November 9 through 18 run treating audiences to a stage work the Chicago Reader deemed “a spirited retelling that captures the heart of (L'Engle's) magic.”