Grease -- When Grease first opened on Broadway in 1972, everyone had a pretty fresh memory of the hoods in their own schools a decade or so earlier, who were incessantly combing their lubed locks and readjusting their upturned collars, when they weren't filching hubcaps. But the further we get from that era, the more the show's Burger Palace Boys -- and their women's auxiliary, the Pink Ladies -- risk being transformed into pale replicas, thereby sapping energy from these icons of the Eisenhower decade. This production at the Carousel Dinner Theatre generally avoids that problem and gets many of the details right, infusing the evening with a tumultuous momentum that serves the material well. The show's energy is boosted by Robert Kovach's visually spirited set design, featuring stacked TV screens at each side of the stage that show vintage images and ad slogans ("Bosco -- That's the drink for me!"). All in all, it's a very good Grease that, with a little more edge, could be great. Through July 1 at the Carousel Dinner Theatre, 1275 East Waterloo Road, Akron, 800-362-4100. -- Howey
Griller -- When it comes to easy targets for satire, they don't come much fatter than suburbia and its self-satisfied denizens. This nine-character dark comedy by playwright Eric Bogosian features one role that meanders slowly from eccentric and crotchety to truly horrifying, making this a suburban nightmare that will get under your skin and stay there. The host of the proceedings is Gussie, an aging hippie turned travel-agency exec, who has invited his family over to his McMansion for a swim in the pool and a cookout on his new $5,000 grill. Though each character is sketched with comic precision, Griller would be only a rather dark sitcom without the looming presence of Uncle Tony, a friend of Gussie's dad, who's been around the clan forever. He starts out as a harmless old curmudgeon, but reveals a haunted intensity in his eyes, the source of which slowly reveals itself over the two acts. Director Sean Derry coaxes naturalistic, uniformly superior performances out of his players -- especially Jim Viront as Tony. The overall effect Derry creates serves the material beautifully. Through July 9 at the Bang and the Clatter Theatre Company, 140 East Market St., Akron, 330-606-5317. -- Howey
Icarus -- Written in the form of a modern myth, Edwin Sanchez' Icarus depicts an impoverished sister and brother named Altagracia and Primitivo, who become squatters in a small cottage on an unnamed beach. Apparently the wheelchair-bound Primitivo is a world-class swimmer, and his facially disfigured sister is training him to swim so fast that he can "touch the sun" that bobs tantalizingly on the morning horizon. They are accompanied by a mental defective, Mr. Ellis (Clyde Simon), who tends to his stuffed cat, Betty, and is given to obsessive recitations ("I'm not staring, I'm not staring. Am I staring?"). This flawed trio is soon joined by Beau, a man in a stocking mask, who claims to have been horribly mangled in a car accident. In the first act, Sanchez and director Caleb J. Sekeres create a series of telling moments that seems to presage interesting events. But a refreshingly genuine and teasing relationship between brother and sister disintegrates in act two under the weight of too much rib-nudging symbolism. If Sanchez had pulled out all the unnecessary references to touching the sun (We get it -- it's in the freaking title!), Primi and Beau's forced swimming competition, and some clunky poetry, Icarus could have avoided another meltdown. Presented by Convergence-Continuum through July 15 at the Liminis, 2438 Scranton Rd., 216-687-0074. -- Howey
Kiss Me Kate -- You'd think a young cast would relish the opportunity to sink its claws into such a juicy slab of theater, since it features a fangs-out, love-hate battle between the two leads, and more witty and wonderful Cole Porter tunes than you can shake a Dove Bar at. But this exercise is only haphazardly as rousing and sprightly as it ought to be. The difficulties with this Cain Park production are summed up in the second-act reprise of the lovely Porter song "So in Love," which is sung by Steel Burkhardt, playing Fred Graham with virtually no sense of place, time, or character. The handsome but largely unemotive actor plays opposite Emily Krieger, who can't seem to surmount her chirpy-cheerleader good looks and give Lilli the edge and sensuousness she needs. Since their tumultuous relationship ignites only fitfully, the entire enterprise has to work doubly hard to make things click. Now and then, a moment works beautifully -- particularly a long and complex dance built around "It's Too Darn Hot," which displays a galaxy of moves designed by choreographer Martin Cespedes. But overall, this is a Kiss you may want to wipe off on your sleeve. Through July 9 at Cain Park, Lee Rd. and Superior Rd., Cleveland Hts., 216-371-3000. -- Howey