Top Chicago Theater Picks For Feb. 21, 2008: ‘A Big Blue Nail,’ ‘Skin in Flames,’ ‘Botanic Garden’

CHICAGO – Free or half-price Chicago theater and comedy tickets. No catch. Just click the link, take just a moment to make a free Goldstar account (or log into your existing Goldstar account) and you’re on your way.

This week, we feature the phantasmagorical tale “A Big Blue Nail” at the Victory Gardens Theater, the mysterious drama “Skin in Flames” at Stage Left Theatre, “Botanic Garden” at the Victory Gardens Theater from Academy Award winner Olympia Dukakis, the award-winning musical “Ain’t Misbehavin’” at the Center for Performing Arts and the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama “The Time of Your Life” at the Viaduct Theater.

For each of the Chicago productions we feature below, Goldstar requires you to create a free account, which takes but a minute. You’ll then have access to all the free and half-price tickets to top-quality productions that your heart desires. Here are this week’s selections and deals!

Title: “A Big Blue Nail” Venue: Victory Gardens Biograph Theater Dates: Feb. 21 to March 2, 2008 Full Price: $37-$45        Partner Price: $18.50-$22.50! Description: This is a phantasmagorical tale that examines explorer Robert Peary’s fame as the first man to reach the North Pole, which obscured the contributions of Matthew Henson (his African-American cohort who could rightfully claim the title). Now at the end of his life with the estranged Henson knocking at his door, Peary is swept into a hallucinatory nightmare on the chaotic Polar Sea, the coast of Maine and the terrifying landscape of his guilt-ridden mind. Snag your half-price “A Big Blue Nail” tickets now!

Title: “Skin in Flames” Venue: Stage Left Theatre Dates: Feb. 21 to March 29, 2008 Full Price: $20-$25        Partner Price: Free-$12.50! Description: In this award-winning drama by Guillem Clua (translated from the Catalan), a young girl looks gently into the camera lens – her clothes and hair aflame – thrown through the air by an exploding bomb. Twenty years later, the photojournalist returns to this war-torn country and agrees to an interview with an upstart female reporter who challenges his standing as a national hero. But the hotel room where they meet holds more secrets than either expects. Snag your “Skin in Flames” tickets now!

Title: “Botanic Garden” Venue: Victory Gardens Greenhouse Theater Dates: Feb. 22 to March 8, 2008 Full Price: $35        Partner Price: $17.50! Description: Directed by Oscar-winning actress Olympia Dukakis, “Botanic Garden” is the story of Kate. She faces the daunting and humorous prospect of her first date since the death of her husband. Kate takes a stark look at her present and the choices she must make. Snag your “Botanic Garden” tickets now!

Title: “Ain’t Misbehavin’” Venue: Center for Performing Arts at Governors State University Dates: March 1, 2008 Full Price: $33        Partner Price: $16.50! Description: The joint will be jumpin’ when the Tony Award-winning musical revue “Ain’t Misbehavin’” transforms the theater into a Harlem jazz hall. It’s an evening of dazzling, jazzy fun with Fats Waller favorites like “Honeysuckle Rose,” “Tain’t Nobody’s Bizness If I Do” and “It’s a Sin to Tell a Lie”. Snag half-price “Ain’t Misbehavin” tickets now!

Title: “The Time of Your Life” Venue: Viaduct Theater Dates: Feb. 22 to March 2, 2008 Full Price: $25        Partner Price: $12.50! Description: It’s 1939 in San Francisco. Surrounded by a world on the brink of war and ravaged by depression, Nick’s Pacific Street Saloon attracts an assortment of “important nobodies” who share the common bond of searching for purpose. Their dreary routines of survival are sparked by brilliant flashes of hope and beauty as the events of a single day change their lives forever. Snag your “The Time of Your Life” tickets now!

By ADAM FENDELMAN Editor-in-Chief HollywoodChicago.com adam@hollywoodchicago.com