Battling pancreatic cancer at age 47 sans insurance, Chicago actor Will Schutz has been getting support from many of the troupes with which he’s appeared over the years. Jan Blixt of A Crew of Patches Theatre Company has organized the “Because Will Schutz Is Beloved” gala, which will feature a cash bar (Schutz gets a cut), raffle, silent auction, and hors d’oeuvres. Sunday 2/8, “8 PM to whenever,” Sofo Bar, 4923 N. Clark, 773-784-7636.
And City Lit Theatre–where Schutz has played Dr. Watson in adaptations of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories–will turn over 100 percent of the gate for a previously announced staged reading of Robert Sherwood’s Abe Lincoln in Illinois. Thursday 2/12, 7:30 PM, City Lit Theatre, Edgewater Presbyterian Church, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr, 773-293-3682, brownpapertickets.com, $5.01 (the total value of all U.S. currency with Lincoln’s face on it).