Datebook

EXPOS

Home-based businesses wanted

Local home-based business owners are invited to market their products and services at the annual Small Business Expo Saturday, June 28, and Sunday, June 29, at Spring Hill Mall, Illinois 72 and Illinois 31, West Dundee. For space allocations and fees, call Neil Lopez at (847) 428-2200.

AUDITIONS

'Damn Yankees'

Schaumburg Summer Theatre will hold auditions for lead roles, supporting parts, dancers and chorus singers to be cast in the baseball-themed musical, Damn Yankees. Auditions will begin at 7 p.m. Monday, May 19, and Tuesday, May 20, at the Prairie Center for the Arts, 201 Schaumburg Court, Schaumburg. Auditions are open to all college and high school students, who should prepare a short vocal selection (one-verse chorus) and will be required to read from the script. Dance auditions will be held concurrently with vocal and reading auditions. Everyone auditioning will be required to dance. A $50 registration fee to participate in the program will be due at the audition. Call (847) 923-3607.

'Once Upon a Mattress'

Youths ages 11 to 18 are invited to audition for Noble Fool Theatricals Performing Arts Academy's summer production of Once Upon a Mattress. Open auditions will be held from 5:30-9:30 p.m. Sunday, May 18, and 5-9 p.m. Monday, May 19, on the main stage at Pheasant Run Resort, 4051 E. Main St., St. Charles. Children should prepare and memorize a one-minute monologue and 16 bars of a song with sheet music. Everyone will be taught a dance combination, and children may be asked to cold read from the script. Head shots and resumés are required. For more information, call (630) 364-0550.

'Hair'

Open auditions for Hemmens Cultural Center's Elgin Summer Theatre production of Hair will be from 7-9 p.m. Tuesday, May 13, and Wednesday, May 14, in the lower level of the Hemmens, 45 Symphony Way, Elgin. The director is looking for singers, dancers and actors 18 and older who should bring a prepared song or be ready to dance or cold read from the script. For more information, visit www.hemmens.org.

'Pirates of Penzance'

The Kane Community Opera group has announced auditions for its inaugural production, The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan. Auditions will be open for all roles and chorus members from 7-9 p.m. Friday, May 16, and 4:30-9 p.m. Saturday, May 17, at State Street Dance Studio, 9 N. Fourth St., Geneva. For information, call Steve Hanson at (630) 346-1842 or visit www.kanecommunityopera.org.

'Cabaret'

Elgin Community College Musical Theatre will hold auditions for the summer production of Cabaret, a musical made famous in the 1996 Broadway production and 1972 film. Auditions will be held from noon-3 p.m. Saturday at Elgin Community College's Visual and Performing Arts Center, 1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin. Callbacks will be at 7 p.m. Monday. To schedule an appointment, call (847) 214-7188.

SOUND CHECK

East meets West

Preservation Partners of the Fox Valley will present a musical performance by vocalist Summer Kwai and guitarist Steve Koerber. The two will interweave traditional Japanese music with American jazz for a performance at 3 p.m. Sunday in the Fabyan Japanese Garden in the Fabyan Forest Preserve, Illinois 31 at Fabyan Parkway, Geneva. Admission is $3. Bring a blanket or lawn chairs. (630) 377-6424.

Elgin Symphony Orchestra

The Elgin Symphony Orchestra will finish its 2007-08 season with Mozart & Mahler, June 13, 14 and 15 at Hemmens Cultural Center, 45 Symphony Way, Elgin. Single tickets start at $15 for most events. For information, call (847) 888-4000 or visit www.elginsymphony.org.

ON STAGE

'I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change'

A comical celebration of the modern-day mating game, Noble Fool Theatricals will present off-Broadway's musical comedy revue, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change through July 19 at Pheasant Run Resort Mainstage Theater, 4051 E. Main St., St. Charles. Tickets are $27 on Thursdays and Fridays and $38 on Saturdays and Sundays. Dinner-show and overnight packages are available, too. Call (630) 584-6342 or visit www.noblefool.org.

Janus Theatre

Janus Theatre will present The Greatest Story eBertolt: A Brecht Review through May 18 at the Elgin Art Showcase, 164 Division St., Elgin. For this project, Sarafina Vecchio of Elgin adapted the material from Bertolt Brecht's writings. She will direct the show. In a collage of music, theater and poetry, six actors find themselves together in a rundown German café. With only their will and charisma, they tell the story of Brecht, a poet who found fame in Germany as a playwright, but because of his strong opposition to Hitler's ideas, he was forced to flee Germany only to find a new enemy. Performances are at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturdays and 6 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $15 general admission, $12 for students and seniors, and $10 for groups of eight or more. Call (847) 931-0637 or visit www.janustheatre.org.

Noble Fool Theatricals

Part catechism class, part stand-up comedy routine, Late Nite Catechism, already the longest-running one-person show in Chicago's theater history, will run through May 31 at Pheasant Run Resort's Preservation Hall, 4051 E. Main St., St. Charles. Show times are at 6 p.m. Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $27 with dinner packages available from $49. Call (630) 584-6342 or visit www.ticketmaster.com.

'The Last Five Years'

Steel Beam Theatre, 111 W. Main St., downtown St. Charles, will stage The Last Five Years through May 18. This contemporary musical, written and composed by Jason Robert Brown, chronicles five years in the lives of Jamie, a writer, and Cathy, an actress, who find love but ultimately go their separate ways. Tickets are $25 for adults and $23 for seniors and students. Call (630) 587-8521 or visit www.steelbeamtheatre.com.

'Robin Hood, the Musical'

Steel Beam Children's Theatre will present Robin Hood, the Musical on Saturdays at the theater, 111 W. Main St., downtown St. Charles. Directed by Amy Steele of Chicago, the show features Marc Barrowclift of St. Charles in the title role along with Emma Perry of Elgin as Maid Marian and Ryan Bieber of St. Charles as Little John. Performances are at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. through May 24. Tickets are $10 and are available at www.steelbeamtheatre.com or (630) 587-8521.

Elgin Theatre Company

The 2007-08 season concludes with Nunsense II, May 9, 10, 16 and 17. All performances take place at Theatre 355, 355 E. Chicago St., Elgin. Single tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for youth and seniors. Season tickets are available. (847) 741-0532.

THAT'S FUNNY

The Improv

5 Woodfield Road, Schaumburg. Lineup includes: Ralphie May, May 1-4; Gabriel Iglesias, May 8-11; Steve Trevino, May 22-25; and Greg Behrendt, May 29-June 1; Judah Friedlander, June 5-8; Mark Curry, June 12-15; Alonzo Bodden, June 19-22; and Doug Benson, June 26-28. Show times are at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays; 8 and 10:15 p.m. Fridays; 7 and 9:15 p.m. Saturdays; and 7 p.m. Sundays. To make reservations, call (847) 240-2001 or visit www.improv.com.

ART EXHIBITS

Art for All

Art for All, with 36 members from Elgin and the greater Fox Valley, will host its spring show through June 1 at the Campbell House in the Kane County Events Center on Cherry Lane off Kirk Road in Geneva. The show will include water colors, oil paintings, photography, sculpture, pen and ink, and jewelry. Call (847) 741-7375 or visit www.artforall-elgin.com.

Arts in Bartlett

The public is invited to view Arts in Bartlett's spring exhibit through May 9 in the second-floor gallery in Bartlett Village Hall, 228 S. Main St., Bartlett. View works of pencil, acrylic, photography, watercolor, ceramic, oil and mixed media. The gallery is open to the public from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9 a.m.-noon Saturday. Call (630) 372-4152 or visit www.artsinbartlett.org.