With the 2009-2010 season for most of the area’s major performance companies already wrapped up, summer is a good time to try out some live theatrical events at alternative venues that might otherwise escape your attention. Here are a half-dozen to try:

• “Abie’s Irish Rose,” about a nice Jewish boy who, in 1922, secretly marries his sweetheart, a nice Catholic girl, performed by Act Inc. at Fontbonne University Fine Arts Theatre, weekends from June 4-20, www.actinc.biz.

• “Now I Ask You,” by Eugene O’Neill, performed by Muddy Waters Theatre company at the Kranzberg Arts Center in Grand Center, weekends from June 11-27, www.muddywatersthatre.com

• “Evita” performed by the New Line Theatre at Washington University’s South Campus Theatre, July 8-31, www.newlinetheatre.com

• “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown,” performed by Insight Theatre interns at the Heagney Theatre at Nerinx Hall in Webster Groves, July 21-25, www.insighttheatrecompany.com

• “Cabaret,” performed by the Non-Prophet Theater Company at a venue to be determined, July 23-Aug. 7, www.nptco.org

– Patricia Corrigan