The Short List: Recommended, Openings, Closings.

THE AMERICAN GIRLS REVUE Gretchen Cryer and Nancy Ford's musical features characters from various historical periods as depicted in the American Girls Collection books. The show delivers positive messages about patience, resilience, and responsibility. But halfway through, this 75-minute sales pitch gets a bit tiresome. The anthemlike songs may feel overly earnest to adults, though perhaps they're just the thing for a youngster to belt into her hairbrush at home. (JG) Through 8/31: Thu 5:30 PM, Fri 5:30 and 7 PM, Sat 12:20, 2, and 4 PM, Sun 12:30 and 2 PM, American Girl Place, 111 E. Chicago, 877-247-5223, $28.

BAKING WITH BERTHA: NEW AND IMPROVED Bertha Mason, aka Michael Bowen, spends the evening discussing family recipes, telling stories, and serving up premade baked goods. Each month will feature a new version of the show. Sun 8/17, 9/21, 10/19, 11/23, 12/7, 7:30 PM, Mary's Attic at Hamburger Mary's, 5400 N. Clark, 312-239-8570, $10.

BARRY MANILOW'S COPACABANA The adventures of Lola, Tony, and Rico are retold in this musical by Manilow, Bruce Sussman, and Jack Feldman. Through 8/16: Fri-Sat 7:30 PM, Morton College, Jedlicka Performing Arts Center, 3801 S. Central, Cicero, 708-656-1800, $8-$15.

BEAST WOMEN--AFTER DARK The all-female variety show returns with another program of solo performances. Through 8/30: Sat 10:30 PM, Prop Thtr, 3502 N. Elston, 773-278-1212, $15.

THE BIRTHDAY PARTY Fifty years after the premiere of Harold Pinter's first full-length work it's still unsettling. Set in a seaside cottage, the play revolves around haunted Stanley, pursued for mysterious reasons by a pair of thugs whose chief weapon is a kind of psychological bombardment. Stagings of Pinter can seem mannered and stiff nowadays, so it's refreshing to see that Aaron Snook's Signal Ensemble Theatre production taps into the play's dark humor. Some of the levity comes at the expense of the script's carefully calibrated sense of dread, but it's at least a valuable reminder that Pinter can be funny. (ZT) Through 8/30: Thu-Sat 8 PM, Sun 3 PM, Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division, 773-347-1350, $15-$20.

BLEACHER BUMS The 1970s comedy about a group of die-hard Cub fans, conceived by Joe Mantegna and originally produced by Organic Theatre Company, is directed by John Hildreth. Through 9/6: Thu 7:30 PM, Fri 8 PM, Sat 7 PM, Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, 111 Campbell, Arlington Heights, 847-577-2121, $27.

BLUE MAN GROUP Three silent guys in cobalt blue makeup, accompanied by a small but very loud rock band, perform a wordless, high-tech, highly visual work of participatory conceptual theater. Blue Man Group offers a visceral education in the tenuous division between art and trash. (NG) Open run: Thu 8 PM, Fri 7 PM, Sat 4, 7, and 10 PM, Sun 1, 4, and 7 PM, Briar Street Theatre, 3133 N. Halsted, 773-348-4000, $49-$59.

THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE David H. Bell directs his adaptation of Rodgers and Hart's musical version of Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors. Previews Thu 8/14, 1:30 PM. Opens Thu 8/14, 8 PM. Through 9/28: Wed 1:30 PM, Thu 1:30 and 8 PM, Fri 8:30 PM, Sat 5 and 8:30 PM, Sun 2 and 6 PM, Drury Lane Oakbrook, Roosevelt and Butterfield, Oakbrook Terrace, 630-530-0111, $22-$41.50.

CABARET MIT TEETH Beau O'Reilly hosts a changing lineup of performance, readings, and music. Through 8/16: Fri-Sat 8 PM, Acme Art Works, Saint Paul's Community Church, 2215 W. North, 773-508-0666, $15 or "pay what you can."

CHICAGO DRAMATISTS SATURDAY SERIES This near-weekly program features staged readings of works in progress. Open run: Sat 2 PM. Scheduled for 8/16: Stage Black by Lydia R. Diamond. For 8/23: 10-Minute Workshop. No show 8/30. Chicago Dramatists, 1105 W. Chicago, 312-633-0630, $5.

CIRQUE SHANGHAI: GOLD The basic skills on display are real enough and the young performers have some inherent charm, but Cirque Shanghai's 16 acts are trite by current standards and the overall design is . . . well. Picture a very good but clueless cheerleading squad working a "Mysterious Orient" motif for homecoming. In 1974. Diabolo artists as China dolls. Contortionists whose gauzy bell-bottoms resemble goldfish fins. My wife had a 90-minute giggle fit. (TA) Through 9/1: Wed 2, 6, and 8 PM, Thu-Fri 2 and 8 PM, Sat 2, 6, and 8 PM, Sun 2 and 4 PM, Navy Pier, Skyline Stage, 600 E. Grand, 312-902-1500, $12.50-$29.50.

CO-ED PRISON SLUTS The first, and still one of the best, of the Annoyance Theatre's trademark vile musical comedies. Directed by Mick Napier, this show about a ragtag group of prisoners in a dysfunctional (and, oddly, coed) prison seemed bracingly fresh and original when it opened in 1988. Faith Soloway's songs are at once amazing parodies and solid compositions in their own right. Unsurprisingly, the first production became a late-night hit and ran for 12 years, a record for a musical in Chicago. Now the Annoyance folks are finally reviving what they call their "flagship show." It's been too long. (JHe) Through 8/29: Fri 10:01 PM, Annoyance Theatre, 4830 N. Broadway, 773-561-4665, $15.

CUTTING EDGE CLASSICS SERIES Greasy Joan & Company present a series of three staged readings of new plays, Anthrax: A Contemporary Mash-up of Phaedra and Dr. Faustus by Ann Marie Healy, Orestes/West by Peter A. Campbell, and Lady Into Fox by Joe Meno. Anthrax plays Sat 8/16, 2 PM, Woman Made Gallery, 685 N. Milwaukee. ~^i^~Orestes/West~^/i^~ plays Sat 8/16, 6 PM, Juicy Wine Co., 694 N. Milwaukee. ~^i^~Lady Into Fox~^/i^~ plays Sun 8/17, the Book Cellar, 4736 N. Lincoln. Call 312-458-0718 or go to greasyjoan.org.

DANCING AT LUGHNASA Set in rural Ireland in 1936, Brian Friel's 1990 drama concerns five unmarried sisters penned in by Irish tradition and Catholic sexual mores. Friel's skill lies in dramatizing the sisters' paralyzed lives. Director Belinda Bremner wisely focuses on the intricate interplay between the sisters, which her adept cast handle convincingly. But under a summer evening sky, with airplanes and a sweaty crowd offering distractions every few seconds, Friel's finely orchestrated subtleties can't compete. If someone could quick build a theater around this smart, accomplished production, we might be able to see it. (JHa) Through 8/23: Thu-Sat 8 PM, Sun 7 PM, Oak Park Festival Theatre, Austin Gardens, Forest and Lake, Oak Park, 708-445-4440, $17-$27.

DANGEROUS BEAUTY Jeannine Dominy, Michele Brourman, and Amanda McBroom's musical about a 16th-century Venetian courtesan is presented by the university's American Musical Theatre Project. It stars Jenny Powers and Hollis Resnik. Through 8/17: Thu-Sat 8 PM, Sun 2 PM, Northwestern University, Ethel M. Barber Theater, 30 Arts Circle Dr., Evanston, 847-491-7282, $10-$30.

DARKNIGHT GALLERY V Darknight Theatrical Productions presents three one-acts--Underneath It All, Blameless, and Super Sunny Silly Camping Fun Time, penned by Jane Bagnall, Kim Carney, and Taylor Mauch respectively--designed to pay homage to Rod Serling's classic TV series The Twilight Zone and Night Gallery. Through 8/17: Fri-Sat 8 PM, Sun 3 PM, University of Illinois at Chicago, UIC Theatre, 1044 W. Harrison, 708-492-0273, $15.

ELECTION DAY Set during a hard-fought election campaign in a midsize city, Josh Tobiessen's intermittently amusing one-act concerns two undecided voters (a wishy-washy graphic designer and his slacker sister) and their respective lovers, a zealous campaign volunteer, and a pot-smoking ecoterrorist. Add to the mix an oily mayoral candidate who will do anything--anything--to win the support of the undecideds, and you've got the potential for sharp political satire. But Tobiessen's script is at once too far-fetched for effective satire and not zany enough for good farce. Though it has its funny moments, Theatre Seven of Chicago's production fails to generate the mad pace needed to support the action's escalating absurdity. --Albert Williams Through 8/30: Thu-Sat 8 PM, Sun 3 PM, Chicago Dramatists, 1105 W. Chicago, 773-853-3158, $12-$20.

FAKE LAKE The Neo-Futurists perform Sharon Greene's play, about a group of friends visiting Utah's Lake Powell, at a public swimming pool. Halena Kays directs. "Please dress to be comfortable. Audience will be seated on bleachers around the pool. Reservations are strongly recommended." Previews Thu-Fri 8/14-8/15, 8 PM. Opens Sat 8/16, 8 PM. Through 9/19: Thu-Sat 8 PM, Welles Park, swimming pool, 2333 W. Sunnyside, 773-878-4557, ext. 10, $10-$15.

THE FAMILY TREE Story-theater kids' show based on Bitty Bear's Family Album, recommended for children aged three to six. Open run: Thu-Fri 11 AM, Sat 10 AM, American Girl Place, 111 E. Chicago, 877-247-5223, $7.50-$15.

FILLET OF SOLO FESTIVAL Live Bait Theater's 13th annual showcase of one-person performances runs through 8/16, with shows on the venue's main stage and bucket space. Scheduled are Strip Mauled! The Musical! (see separate listing) and Me and My Dad Stories (see separate listing). Strip Mauled! The Musical! plays Fri-Sat 8/15-8/16, 8 PM, main stage. + Me and My Dad Stories plays Fri-Sat 8/15-8/16, 7:30 PM, bucket space. Live Bait Theater, 3914 N. Clark, 773-871-1212, $15.

THE FLAMING DAMES IN "TORCH" The New Millennium Theatre Company's burlesque troupe presents an evening of classic torch songs. Through 8/24: Sun 8:30 PM, the Spot, 4437 N. Broadway, 312-458-9083, $10.

FRENCH QUARTER BURLESQUE Michelle L'amour performs her striptease act. Open run: Thu 11 PM, Blue Bayou Bar and Grill, 3734 N. Southport, 773-871-3300 or michellelamour.com.

THE FULL MONTY There's nothing wrong with this musical stage version of the popular 1997 movie that a few decades of post-war socialism wouldn't cure. David Yazbek's music and lyrics have a genial lumpen charm. Marc Robin's production moves nicely. And Alene Robertson's a hoot as a Selma Diamond-esque show biz trooper. But when the book writer, Terrence McNally, moved this tale of unemployed steelworkers-turned-strippers from Sheffield, England, to Buffalo, New York, he lost the social context that gave it meaning. See the show for fun, but don't expect the movie's payoff. (TA) Through 9/21: Wed 1 and 8 PM, Thu-Fri 8 PM, Sat 2:30 and 8 PM, Sun 1 and 5 PM, Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, Rte. 21 (Milwaukee Ave.) at Half Day Road, Lincolnshire, 847-634-0200, $45.

GET READY Jaye Stewart, Joe Plummer, and Debi Stewart's musical, about a Temptations-like R & B group attempting a comeback, covers