Head to Dayton's Nutter Center this weekend to see Cirque du Soleil's classic show, Quidam. The show, at the time a big top production, spent several weeks in Cincinnati in August and September 2006 in a "grand chapiteau" on the Ohio River bank near the Suspension Bridge. It's the story of a bored kid named Zoé whose parents ignore her. We enter the world of her imagination when Quidam, a headless wanderer under an umbrella, hands her his blue bowler hat. As her self-absorbed parents float away, the story moves into the magical reality her imagination, populated by Cirque's physically astonishing performers. There's a "German Wheel," a pair of man-sized double hoops with a guy rolling around the stage; an amazing silk contortionist, high above the stage); and "Statue," a mesmerizing performance by a muscle-bound guy and a powerful woman who slowly balance in various positions. My favorite was Banquine, the finale by 15 acrobats, launching tumblers high into the air and catching them. Through Sunday. Tickets: cirquedusoleil.comOther productions to consider for your theater calendar this weekend: The Odd Couple (just opened on the Showboat Majestic, 513-241-6550); The Hound of the Baskervilles (Cincinnati Shakespeare, 513-381-2273), Nunsense (Commonwealth Dinner Theatre at Northern Kentucky University, 859-572-5465) and, if you're looking to make a theater weekend in Dayton with Quidam on one evening, how about filling the other with the outrageously funny X-rated Sesame Street-inspired Avenue Q at Human Race Theatre Company (888-228-3630).

Cincinnati Shakespeare Company finishes its run of Measure for Measure this weekend (CityBeat review here). It's a dark tale of hypocrisy and manipulation, with a few glimmers of ribald humor. Director Brian Phillips has transported the story from Renaissance-Era Vienna to the United States of the 1920s when Prohibition made everyday occurrences of fast living and bad behavior. (Can you say Boardwalk Empire?)  In 20 seasons, CSC has only staged it once before, but this is a production worth seeing because of the strong acting company — especially Brent Vimtrup, Kelly Mengelkoch and Nick Rose. Billy Chace does a nice job with the comic bits, too, even though they feel weird in this difficult story of self-righteousness and double-dealing. Tickets: 513-381-2273, x1.For those into crooning, sentimental nostalgia, you'll find an ample supply aboard the Showboat Majestic's production of Forever Plaid. Jinx, Sparky Francis and Smudge conjure up a lot of good clean fun and close harmonies for their final concert. And I do mean final — in fact, they're kind of after the fact: Coming back from the great beyond for one last gig after a tragic bus accident on their way to a career-making gig. There's a lot of tomfoolery that makes this show amusing and entertaining. Through June 2. Tickets: 513-241-6550. If you prefer the girls to the boys, Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati is into the extended run of The Mavelous Wonderettes: Caps and Gowns. The spunky gals — who also traffic in tunes from the ’50s and ’60s — provide two more rounds of melodies and moodiness. "Caps" is a reconstruction of their graduation night in 1958, while "Gowns" is a decade later at the wedding reception of Missy, who always has a plan, and Mr. Lee, a teacher she idolized. We get to see what life has brought to her three friends, love-'em-and-leave-'em Cindy Lou, jealous Betty Jean and vapid Suzy. ETC's casting gets an A+. Through June 1. Tickets: 513-421-3555. For our early summer enjoyment, the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park has put together the charming and family-friendly Shipwrecked! An Entertainment: The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (As Told by Himself). I attended the opening on Thursday evening and witnessed three actors who play a host of characters, change costumes in plain view, create wildly imaginative scenery and make their own sound effects. It's a wistful story of adventure that revels in the adventure of storytelling. It's onstage through June 16. Tickets: 513-421-3888.

No matter what your theatrical tastes are, there's something onstage right now for you to enjoy this weekend: A classic story: If you can get a ticket (there aren't many left, I'm told, except perhaps for Saturday matinees at 2 p.m.) to To Kill a Mockingbird, you won't be disappointed. It's a wonderful theatrical retelling of Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize winning novel. It features one of Greater Cincinnati's best actors as the honorable attorney Atticus Finch. Tickets: 513-381-2273, x1. Adventure: Buckle on your swashes (and your sword) and head to the Cincinnati Playhouse for The Three Musketeers. It's a familiar tale of a young man named D'Artagnan who yearns to be a member of the King's guards. He's brash and naive, but his role models, "the three musketeers," are funny and loving and always ready for a good fight. This is one that kids can enjoy. Tickets: 513-421-3888 Contemporary drama with a dose of with: Ensemble Theatre's Good People is the story of a woman who loses her job and struggles to figure out what to do next. She has good, gossipy support from two friends — and a one-time boyfriend who's now a successful doctor. Her story is one that feels like it's about someone you know, trying to make ends meet in today's world. Tickets: 513-421-3555. An old-fashioned musical: Meredith Willson's The Music Man, a Tony Award winner, is getting a charming production on the Showboat Majestic. It's a big cast on a small stage, but it's inventively directed and choreographed by Ed Cohen, Dee Anne Bryll and Jane Green, and you'll definitely leave the theater marching in 4/4 time to "Seventy-Six Trombones" or humming one of the show's other memorable melodies. Tickets: 513-241-6550

If it weren't for the Carnegie's production of Xanadu, there wouldn't much to point you for theater choices in mid-August. I'm happy to report that the judges from the League of Cincinnati Theatres and I  are in agreement that this frothy piece of roller-disco and Greek mythology is a great piece of silly entertainment. (Review here.) It's great to see the work of Alan Patrick Kenny onstage again in Cincinnati. I should mention that this show constituted his master's thesis for his graduate degree from U.C.L.A., and his advisors came to town to pass judgment on it. They apparently gave him a passing grade, completing his academic efforts and green-lighting him for his new job teaching musical theater at the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point. I hope it's not too long before he gets another gig locally, but in the meantime, I bet the folks in central Wisconsin will be highly entertained. If you want to catch Xanadu, you should call for tickets now, since the positive buzz means that tickets will be getting snapped up between now and the final performance on Aug. 26. Box office: 859-957-1940. One other show that some of you might find entertaining is Rounding Third, on board the Showboat Majestic. It's about two wildly different guys coaching a Little League team — one is a win-at-all-costs kind of guy, the other is a geek who just wants the kids to have fun. You can imagine the fireworks. The LCT judging panel recommended it, and I can say that it's got two solid actors performing it. I thought the script was a tad predictable, but it's got some good laughs, and if you love baseball (or if you played Knothole ball here in Cincinnati) you'll find a lot to identify with. Box office: 513-241-6550.

The theater scene is still in vacation mode this weekend, so there are only a few choices. Your best sure bet is the final weekend of The Hound of the Baskervilles at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company through Sunday. [REVIEW LINK]I suspect if you're a Sherlock Holmes fan with a sense of humor, you'll love this production: It does follow the plot of Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle's ace detective's greatest adventure, but it does so in a very tongue-in-cheek and slapstick manner. It's also a romp for three actors who play all the roles, including veteran CSC actor Jeremy Dubin who is Holmes as well as all the villains (or potential villains) in the piece. It's as much fun watching the trio do quick costume changes as it is following the story of a cursed family on a remote moor in Northern England. It's been a busy box office for this production, so be sure to call in advance if you want a ticket. 513-381-2273, x1. The Carnegie Center's production of Xanadu doesn't open until Saturday, but the odds are good that it will be worth seeing since it's being staged by wunderkind director Alan Patrick Kenny. Read more about Kenny here. The musical is based on the cult-favorite cinematic flop from 1980, reinvented more recently as a stage production by a clever creative team. Kenny, who dazzled local audiences for three years with productions at New Stage Collective (2007-2009), returns for a brief directing stint before he moves off to Stevens Point, Wisc., where he'll be teaching theater at a University of Wisconsin campus. He's spent the past two years studying directing at UCLA — and being engaged in some creative staging and a bit of professional work, too, while on the West Coast. He's one of the most inventive and fearless directors to stage work in Cincinnati in recent years, so Xanadu at the Carnegie s a production that's probably going to draw a crowd. (It's only having eight performances, through Aug. 26. Box office: 859-957-1940. I saw the Showboat Majestic's Rounding Third when it opened on Wednesday evening. It's a tale of dads who coach Little League baseball from very different perspectives. I'm afraid the script is rife with cliches and stereotypes, but the actors — it's a two-man show; when they address the team, they're talking to the audience — capture the essence of their characters. Mike Sherman plays a win-at-all-costs head coach while Michael Schlotterbeck is a gentle nebbish who's trying to connect with his geeky son by offering to be an assistant coach. They're differing philosophies are the meat of the story, and they do end up learning from one another — although the story is pretty predictable from the get-go. Nevertheless, a baseball story in August might be just the thing you're looking for in some summer entertainment. 513-241-6550.

It’s a weekend of last chances, as several shows that have been entertaining audiences wind up their runs just before Independence Day. Let’s start with The Second City 2: Less Pride … More Pork. If you haven’t yet caught this evening of poking fun at our local foibles and sacred cows, you have only until Saturday. The cast of five from Chicago’s legendary comedy troupe has been tickling local funny bones since late April, drawing their material from bottomless well of our beliefs and behaviors. Even if you saw the show a month or two ago, you’ll be entertained by a return visit. Improv is the fuel for the evening, and every night they’re up to new tricks to entertain audiences. By the way, that includes involving a few folks in attendance, so be prepared. Box office: 513-421-3888. Sunday winds up Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati’s revival of the Tony Award-winning musical next to normal. (Review here.) The story of a woman struggling with schizophrenia and how it affects her family is even better than it was back in September. The show uses the power of a brilliant Rock score to enhance the impact of this painful story. ETC has reassembled most of its superb cast from last fall, including Jessica Hendy in the central role. Her beleaguered husband is now played by Bruce Cromer, who you might know as Ebenezer Scrooge in the Playhouse’s annual A Christmas Carol. His character’s relationship with Hendy’s makes their struggles all the more deeply felt. Box office: 513-421-3555. Last Sunday I had some good laughs at the classic comedy Arsenic and Old Lace on the Showboat Majestic. It’s an old chestnut (it was a hit in 1944), but it’s one of the funniest shows you’re likely to see, about a pair of off-kilter elderly maiden aunts who keep their rather normal nephew astonished and scrambling to keep them in line. The kind-hearted women take in boarders, quiet elderly men who are “all alone in the world,” and polish them off with elderberry wine laced with arsenic. They convince another nephew, who believes he’s Teddy Roosevelt, to bury them in the basement by telling him they’re Panama Canal works who are victims of yellow fever. A great show for the whole family. Box office: 513-241-6550. Also winding up this weekend is Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). This rambunctious show mentions of all the Bard’s works — although many are completely unrecognizable, thanks the three buffoonish guys who undertake the task. Order your tickets online where you’ll find an automatic buy-one, get-one offer. Website: www.cincyshakes.com. Cincinnati Opera is offering Porgy & Bess for the first time ever, with a performances on Saturday evening (as well as July 6 and 8). (Preview here.) Is it an opera or a musical? Judge for yourself (and read about it in my Curtain Call column in next week’s issue of CityBeat). It’s at Music Hall, with lots of seats, but as always, a limited run. This is one you shouldn’t miss. I saw it Thursday night, and the leading performers are great: Measha Brueggergosman is a conflicted Bess, Jonathan Lemalu conveys Porgy’s dignified but depressed life, Gordon Hawkins is the brutal Crown, and Steven Cole steals the show as the animated, irreverent Sporting Life. And pay attention to the chorus — it’s a wonderful ensemble. Box office: 513-241-2742. Each week in Stage Door, Rick Pender offers theater tips for the weekend, often with a few pieces of theater news.