Warm up to theater in lakefront showcase

The cruel chill of April may still be with us, but the movers andshakers at Theater on the Lake are ready and waiting for warm summernights.

As usual, the nine-week season, to be staged at the theater thatstands at Lake Shore Drive and Fullerton Avenue, will serve as ashowcase for some of the best productions mounted during the pastyear by this city's smaller but invariably creative troupes. And theprice is right, with individual tickets at $15 and a subscription toall nine plays for $95.

Here's the lineup:

*"Picnic" (June 16-20), Griffin Theatre Company's revival of theWilliam Inge play about a handsome drifter who awakens the passionsin a small Kansas town, circa 1953.

*"500 Clown Frankenstein" (June 23-27), 500 Clowns' anarchic takeon the Mary Shelley classic, told through zany improvisation, gonzocircus stunts and other extreme action-based techniques.

*"43 Plays for 43 Presidents" (June 30-July 4), the Neo-Futurists' whimsical, offbeat and surprisingly profound examinationof the American presidency.

*"Misery" (July 7-11), Pyewacket's highly acclaimed adaptation ofthe Stephen King thriller, about a woman's obsession with a romancenovelist.

*"Second City Goes to War" (July 14-18), a retrospectivecollection of sketches from the Second City archives that look at theCold War, Vietnam, Desert Storm and Enduring Freedom.

*"A Lesson Before Dying" (July 21-25), Romulus Linney's deeplymoving adaptation of an Ernest J. Gaines novel, produced by theSteppenwolf Theatre Company's Arts Exchange. It's the story of ayoung black man on Death Row who is guided to self-knowledge by ateacher.

*"San Valentino and the Melancholy Kid" (July 28-Aug. 1), TheHouse Theatre's rollicking rock musical on all things Western,including sad-faced cowboys.

*"The Maria Chronicles" (Aug. 4-8), Teatro Luna's original work,written and directed by an all-female ensemble, that looks at thestereotypes and realities of being a Latino in Chicago.

*"Hannah & Martin" (Aug. 11-15), TimeLine Theatre Company'sbrilliant production of a new play by Kate Fodor (now in an off-Broadway production as well) about the relationship between Jewishpolitical theorist Hannah Arendt and philosopher Martin Heidegger, aNazi sympathizer.

Subscriptions are available by mail at Theater on the Lake,Chicago Park District, 541 N. Fairbanks, 4th floor, Chicago 60611, orby fax at (312) 742-5393. Single tickets go on sale June 8. Phone:(312) 742-7994.