OPENING
'Girls Only: The Secret Comedy of Women'
Before there was Twitter or Facebook or blogs, there were diaries. Like many women, Barbara Gehring and Linda Klein used to have them. For those two actresses, however, the secrets scribbled on the pages of their junior high journals became the basis for the comedy "Girls Only." Set in a slumber party atmosphere with a two-woman cast, "Girls Only" runs the gamut of female experience, from periods and pantyhose through breastfeeding and menopause. With a combination of improv, sketch comedy, songs and audience participation, the show encourages theatergoers to reflect on what it means to be a woman in all its innocence, ridiculousness and hilarity. (7:30 p.m. Fri., 2:30 & 7:30 p.m. Sat., 2:30 p.m. Sun., 7:30 p.m. next Thu. Ends April 19. $19.50-$29.50. New Century Theatre, 615 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls. 612-455-9501 or www.hennepintheatretrust.org.) Erica Rivera
'The 7 Dwarfs'
Playwright Kevin Kling and director Michael Sommers have decided to "reinvestigate" a play that they did in 1988 at Theatre de la Jeune Lune. Kling set his comic tale in the dwarfs' "post-Snow White era." The little folks are called "Browsers" who annually commemorate their brief association with the princess. This is a good chance to catch "early Kling" that has been revisited by the older man who has written so much about the place of myth in our lives. (7:30 p.m. Thu.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends March 8. Rarig Center, 330 21st Av. S., Mpls. $6-$16. 612-624-2345 or www.theatre.umn.edu.) Graydon Royce
SATURDAY-SUNDAY
'The Second City Hits Home'
Chicago's celebrated improvisational and sketch-comedy troupe the Second City is touring its untouchable comedy show across the country, offering its legendary laughs as per usual, but adding a special twist. For "Second City Hits Home," the troupe does background research on each location they'll be playing, looking to local cultural artifacts, news headlines and "hot-button" issues to inform their jokes. The Twin Cities area is loaded with content prime for satiric revue, so this performance should be a blast. Expect the crew to somehow make "Don't Ya Know" funny again, among jokes about snow, cold and gray ducks. Betsy Hodges, beware. (8 p.m. Sat., 7 p.m. Sun. $27.50-$37.50. Fitzgerald Theater, 10 E. Exchange St., St. Paul. 651-290-1221. www.etix.com.)Alex Nelson
