‘Dreamgirls’ comes to Philly’s Malcom X Park. ‘Rent’ will be staged at West Chester University.

To Joseph Xavier-Mack, a lead actor in Theatre in the X’s production of Dreamgirls, the musical (later a movie) builds on seduction.

There’s the inherent seduction of the music, of course. And the plot, based loosely on Motown and The Supremes, turns on how competing record company managers and songwriters seduce and manipulate members of The Dreams, a female trio, often with heartbreaking consequences.

But there are seductive relationships among the male characters through power and greed, Xavier-Mack explains. He plays Jimmy Early, a singer for whom The Dreams perform as his backup chorus.

In his interpretation of the role, Xavier-Mack said he’s channeling Little Richard, who came out as gay in 1995.

“Little Richard was a pioneer,” Xavier-Mack said. “I wanted to dig a little bit deeper. He wasn’t just into men. He had a family. He battled between rock and roll in a secular role, and being a minister.”

Xavier-Mack said he plays the role as if there are also seductive relationships among the male characters — with attraction and ruthless competition working together.

“We’re playing on that,” Xavier-Mack said.

Part of being masculine, he said, are skills reinforced by society. “Regardless of your sexual orientation, as a man, you can wield your power any kind of way,” he said.

“You can very much be queer and be a womanizer. You can put that character on. You can put that flirtatious act on.”

Xavier-Mack, who grew up in the Philadelphia area and moved to New York to study acting, said he always paid attention to the lyrics. After attending Marymount Manhattan College, he traveled around Europe singing and performing.

“I surrendered to the experience,” said Xavier-Mack, who often performs under the name Ankh Fyre. “I love to act and I love to perform.

He hopes his joy will inspire the Dreamgirls’ audience “to live out their true souls’ desires without the expectations and all the prescribed ideas of what the result should be.”

Meanwhile, the Dreamgirls’ cast is giving sneak previews. Theater in the X’s rehearsal space is near 52nd and Market Streets, where passersby can see the troupe working on the dance numbers through the large windows. Xavier-Mack said he has noticed folks on the sidewalk dancing the shows’ routines.

“People are walking by and see the development and the evolution of the process,” he said. “They are possessive and protective.”

Aug. 18-21, Theatre in the X, Malcolm X Park, 5100 Pine St., Philadelphia. Free. Bring your own chair. Rain date, Aug. 28. Theatreinthex.com.

Actors sit with the audience in The Grown-Ups, a show so hot in New York that tickets were simply unavailable. But tickets are available for the production staged by Theatre with a View, Pottstown’s professional outdoor theater company. The show takes place around a campfire.

Nina Covalesky, executive director and founder of Theater with a View, said her group is partnering with Nightdrive, a Brooklyn-based group, which developed the play and presented it to audiences in a Brooklyn backyard during the pandemic.

“It’s fun summer camp setting is a great fit for Theater with a View, and the play speaks cleverly to our society right now,” she said in a statement.

In the play, camp counselors try to mold future leaders, even as the future looks increasingly bleak. Written by Skylar Fox and Simon Henriques.

Aug. 17-27, Theater with a View, Sycamore Hill Estate, 481 Ebelhare Rd., Pottstown. 484-925-1547 or theaterwithaview.com

When New Light Theatre Company stages a play, it always twins the production with a related cause, using performances to raise awareness for a charity and deepen empathy for others. Its production of Rent is no exception. In Rent, a group of artists struggle to make the rent and live their lives, even as the looming threat of HIV/AIDS widens. For this production, the company is partnering with AIDS Delaware.

Aug. 19-28, New Light Theatre Co., E.O. Bull Center, Mainstage Theatre, West Chester University, 2 E. Rosedale Ave., West Chester. Newlighttheatre.com.

Isn’t it fun to see a play that is both weird and set in a town in our region? What could be weirder (and more fun) than Jenkintown people drifting into the sky and turning into goldfish even as the Montgomery County borough is about to be flooded? Maybe it has something to do with the Marvin’s Aquarium Guy. (Remember Martin’s Aquarium – the now-closed discount pet store in Jenkintown?)

All that and more magically abounds in the world premiere of Hannah + The Healing Stone by playwright Dan Kitrosser, presented by terraNOVA Collective.

Kitrosser grew up in Mount Airy, building a career in New York and Portland, Oregon. Now he has returned home to Philly with his husband, Jordan Siegel, who plays Geffen, a screenwriter. Meagan Kimberly Smith stars as Hannah, who seems to be the only one who can save her town. Other cast members are Ryan Pater, Kelly McCaughan, Fionx Chin, and Olivia Gendrone. Kyle Metzger directs.

Aug. 18-28, terraNOVA Collective, Louis Bluver Theatre at The Drake, 302 S. Hicks St., Phila. Tickets via terraNOVA Collective and Eventbrite.

After 10 years at the Delaware Theatre Company as its artistic and executive director, Bud Martin has announced that he will retire next year. Managing director Matt Silva will take his place.

Martin spent 10 years in the world of theater, from 1972 to 1982, before turning to corporate finance. From 1982 to 2008, he started five successful companies and, in 2006, was named Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst and Young, an accounting firm. In 2008, he returned to theater, first leading Act II Playhouse in Ambler before joining the Delaware Theater Co. in 2012.

Four years ago, Martin brought Silva on with the hopes that Silva would follow him as the company’s leader. To ease the transition, Silva takes on the executive director part of Martin’s role this week and will assumeleadership of the Wilmington-based company in June 2023.

“Bud Martin has been an invaluable mentor and friend for many years,” Silva said in a statement. “In just four short years, he has helped me create lasting relationships in our community and strong ties in our industry. I’m honored to be selected as the next executive director.”

Martin will remain connected to the company as a consultant, directing one play a season. On tap for next year is One Man, Two Guvnors by Richard Bean, set to run in February.

Check with individual venues for COVID protocols.