City of Dreadful Night, The Den, through March 16. Whether viewed as poker-faced parody or hard-boiled romance, this homage to the golden age of film noir is replicated with museum-grade accuracy by a deftly laconic cast under the direction of Ron Wells. MSB
A Grand Night for Singing, Mercury Theater, through March 10. A slick revue of three dozen-plus songs by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, mostly familiar but with a few lovely or clever lesser-knowns thrown in. It's well-sung and well-played on a set evoking a nightclub. JA
Julius Caesar, Chicago Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier, through March 24. The classroom classic gets a sexy new Twitter-and-SmartPhone makeover from guest director Jonathan Munby, with the most spectacular assassination scene since Jerome Hines played Boris Godunov. MSB
Sunset Boulevard, Drury Lane Theatre , Oakbrook Terrace, through March 24. There may be some casting quibbles, but director William Osetek delivers a solid production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1990s musical inspired by Billy Wilder's classic 1950s film about a dethroned and demented Hollywood queen of the silent screen. SCM
—By Abarbanel, Barnidge
and Morgan
