Trio of Wheaton Symphony concerts in store

Wheaton Symphony Orchestra presents three more concerts this summer season.
Featuring soprano Christine Pfenninger, “The American Musical” will be performed at 8 p.m. Saturday, July 12, at Cantigny in Wheaton. Philip Bauman will conduct. For tickets, call Cantigny at (630) 260-8207.

A classical concert with violin soloist Caroline Chin will be at 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 22, at the Fine Arts Center at Wheaton Academy, 900 Prince Crossing Road, West Chicago. Bauman will conduct music by Elgar, Walton, Turina and Richard Strauss.

Wheaton Symphony Orchestra and Chorus will perform music by Rodgers and Hart at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Aug. 1 and 2, in the academy’s Fine Arts Center. Four vocal soloists will be featured, and Brian Groner will conduct.

Tickets to either of the concerts in the Fine Arts Center are $24 in advance or $32 at the door. Call the symphony at (630) 790-1430 or visit ticketweb.com. The concerts are not a function of Wheaton Academy.

Wheaton youth to star in ‘Godspell’ tour

Coming home to Wheaton to perform, Matthias Austin will portray Jesus in Huntington University’s summer tour of “Godspell” across the Midwest and mid-Atlantic.

The musical will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 1, in Faith Evangelical Church, 2001 Lakeview Drive, Wheaton. Admission is free.

For the third consecutive run of the production, director David Shamburger has incorporated a “Survivor” meets “Castaway” theme, in which Jesus is depicted as a native islander.

A junior theater performance major, Austin also played Jesus in last year’s summer tour. He has had numerous leading roles at the school and is a member of Alpha Psi Omega, the National Honorary Theatre Society.

The director comments, “With references to such classics as ‘Fantasy Island,’ ‘Hawaii 5-0,’ ‘Gilligan’s Island’ and ‘Tarzan’ to the more familiar ‘Survivor,’ ‘Lost,’ ‘Cast Away’ and ‘The Amazing Race,’ we hope to achieve another fresh take on the Gospel of Matthew that will entertain, inspire and transform.”

For information, call (630) 653-4140. For a link to the official “Godspell” blog, log on to www.huntington.edu/godspell.

Buffalo Theatre to premiere ‘Melville Boys’

The professional Buffalo Theatre Ensemble presents the Midwest premiere of Norm Foster’s touching play “The Melville Boys,” about brothers, sisters, rivalry and secrets in a Michigan lake cabin.

The show, which contains adult themes and language, runs from Saturday, July 5, to Sunday, July 27, at the McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn.

“I have loved and wanted to direct this play for years,” director Kurt Naebig said. “It is wildly funny and touches the heart in the same way Neil Simon’s ‘Lost in Yonkers’ does.”

The play concerns brothers Owen and Lee Melville who arrive at their aunt and uncle’s cottage for a weekend of fishing and beer. Lee, a quiet, responsible, married man, hopes to get Owen, his irrepressibly lively brother, to face some serious news about the future with realistic maturity.

But before they get the junk food unpacked, Owen has hailed two beautiful sisters boating on the lake. Also dissimilar, the eldest is steady and unselfish, and the younger sister is a free-spirited flirt who is made to order for Owen. Immediately, Owen is making plans for all four of them, even his married brother, creating unexpected mayhem, delightful temptations, tears and laughter.

The cast includes Bryan Burke as Lee; Adam Sweders as Owen; Emily Bach as Mary; and Simone Roos as Loretta.

Show times are 8 p.m. Thursdays, July 3 (preview), 10, 17 and 24; 8 p.m. Fridays, July 11, 18 and 25; 8 p.m. Saturdays, July 5, 12, 19 and 26; and 2 p.m. Sundays, July 6, 13, 20 and 27.

To purchase tickets, call (630) 942-4000 or visit www.AtTheMAC.org.

First Folio to open ‘Much Ado’

Following a series of sold-out shows, First Folio’s most successful season will close with an outdoor performance of Shakespeare’s comedy “Much Ado About Nothing.”

“Much Ado” is the tale of the bickering Beatrice and Benedick, whose tempestuous relationship is saved when they unite to help sweet Hero save her reputation and win back her love, Claudio. Patrons can bring their own lawn chairs and pack a picnic for Shakespeare under the stars.

Nick Sandys, as Benedick, and Melissa Carlson, as Beatrice, head the cast. Sandys, one of First Folio’s artistic associates, comes directly from Lookingglass Theater’s production of “Around the World in 80 Days.” Last November, he was nominated for a Jeff Award for Actor in a Leading Role for his performance as Henry in “The Real Thing” at Remy Bumppo. He also has been seen as Sigmund Freud in “Oedipus Complex” at the Goodman, in “Pride and Prejudice” at Northlight and at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

Sandys handles fight choreography for the production, a task he has performed with the Lyric Opera and the Metropolitan Opera.

Carlson returns to First Folio, where she last was seen in the title role in “Antigone.” She has appeared at Victory Gardens, Court Theatre, The Lyric Opera and Famous Door.

Supporting cast members include Chicago favorites John Reeger, making his First Folio debut as the ineffable constable Dogberry, and Patrick Clear as the rich and powerful Leonato. Reeger has been a mainstay of the Chicago theater scene for 30 years, having appeared on every major Chicago stage from Steppenwolf to Court to Chicago Shakespeare. Clear has appeared on Broadway in “Hollywood Arms” and “Noises Off.”

“Much Ado” will be directed by First Folio Artistic Associate Michael Goldberg, who directed First Folio’s multi-Jeff nominated production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in 2004. The production will feature original music by André Pluess.

Tickets are available by calling the box office at (630) 986-8067 or by visiting www.firstfolio.org.

All performances in the First Folio Shakespeare Festival will be on the grounds of the historic Mayslake Peabody Estate at 31st Street and Route 83 in Oak Brook. The play will preview July 8 to 10. Curtain is at 8:15 p.m. from July 11 to Aug. 17, with shows at 8:15 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.

DuPage Symphony Orchestra to ‘Dance’

The DuPage Symphony Orchestra begins its 2008 summer concert series at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 28, in downtown Naperville. The free outdoor concert, titled “Dance Mix,” will feature familiar ballets, waltzes, tangos and folk tunes by composers such as Johann Strauss Jr., Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Falla and Leonard Bernstein.

A second free summer concert in Naperville is offered Saturday, July 19. Both will be held at the Community Concert Center in downtown Naperville, just east of Washington Street between Benton and Jefferson.

For more information, visit www.dupagesymphony.org.

Bartlett Festival of the Arts expands

Elizabeth King, fiber artist from Geneva, has been accepted into the sixth annual Festival of the Arts on Saturday and Sunday, June 28 and 29, in Bartlett Park. She combines felting, knitting, dyeing and sewing techniques using recycled wool in her garments and accessories.

The work of 53 artists in a variety of media — oil, watercolor and acrylic paintings, drawings, jewelry, fiber, photography, sculpture, lithography and glass mosaic — will fill Bartlett Park at Oak and North avenues.

Arts in Bartlett, the local nonprofit arts council that produces Bartlett’s only juried fine arts show, has expanded the annual event this year to become a Festival of the Arts. In addition to a record number of visual artists, multicultural music and dance groups, “Tales of Old Bartlett,” children’s art, story and songs, quilting, culinary demonstrations and wine tasting have been added. New this year is the preliminary round of the World’s Fastest Drummer Contest.

A variety of food vendors also are featured. Admission is free, and hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. The full schedule of events and a list of all artists are online at www.artsinbartlett.org. More information is available by e-mailing artsinbartlett@comcast.net or calling (630) 372-4152.

The event is partially supported by the village of Bartlett and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

Special events on tap for Arboretum party

The Morton Arboretum members will host a huge open house from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, June 29, featuring a variety of activities, including free ice cream, lemonade, popcorn, wine tasting, mini-plays with costumed actors, tree-climbing demonstrations, kids’ crafts and behind-the-scenes tours with one-of-a-kind artifacts on display.

Children will take part in storytelling and make leaf rubbings, play “Buggo-Bingo” and get up close to the huge trucks, tractors and cherry-pickers used by arboretum crews. They can bike the 9 miles of paved roads and then get a free bicycle check-up from REI experts.

Guides will take guests on tours of the Arboretum herbarium, which has 176,000 dried plant specimens, including a wild hybrid buckeye from a seed that George Washington collected in 1784.

Other guides will lead guests to the state-of-the-art greenhouses; to the environmentally friendly parking lot with paver bricks that inhibit pollutants from reaching waterways; and to Meadow Lake, whose restoration earned a national award.

Experts from the Plant Clinic can diagnose visitors’ tree or shrub problems. Horticulturists will present demonstrations on container gardening, tree planting and tree and small-shrub pruning.

The events are on a first-come, first-served basis. Tickets, which include Arboretum admission, are $15, $10 for ages 3 to 17. Reserve tickets at (800) 650-5511. The Morton Arboretum is at Interstate 88 and Route 53 in Lisle. Visit www.mortonarb.org or call (630) 968-0074.