'The Showtune Mosh Pit' for May 18th, 2011

THE LATEST IN UNAUTHORIZED GOSSIP AND BUZZ

FROM THE HEART OF CHICAGO'S SHOWTUNE VIDEO BARS,

AND MUSICAL THEATER NEWS FROM CHICAGO TO BROADWAY

by Paul W. Thompson

Overheard last weekend under the showtune

video screens at Sidetrack and The Call:

There is so much good musical theater in town right now! And I'm talking about Chicago, of course, and local (non-touring) productions, too! I mean, a lot of theaters are in top form at the moment. The "Theatre In Chicago" website lists (as of this moment) "42nd Street" at the Marriott Theatre, "Million Dollar Quartet" at the Apollo Theater, "Working" at the Broadway Playhouse, "Some Enchanted Evening" by Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, "The Original Grease" at American Theatre Company, "The Absolute Best Friggin' Time Of Your Life" at Second City, and "Passing Strange" from Bailiwick Chicago as the musicals in performance right now which received the best consensus critical reviews. Just look at that diversity--of style, subject matter, theater size, budget--and look at all that quality. It's yet another awesome time to be a resident of the Showtune Mosh Pit in Chicago! 

Top Rated Plays In Chicago - Theatre In Chicago 

Speaking of Theo Ubique's Rodgers and Hammerstein, revue, "Some Enchanted Evening" has announced a second extension, through July 3rd now. They've hired Stephanie Herman to go on for Dana Tretta at two performances in order to make the schedule work. Apparently, people like this show! 

Home « Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre 

"Porgy And Bess" at the Court Theatre certainly hopes to be on the above list once they officially open (on May 21, 2011, this weekend!), but they've already done "Some Enchanted Evening" one better. They announced their extension (also to July 3rd) before the show even started preview performances last week! There's simply a tremendous amount of interest in a small-cast, theatrical treatment of this large-scale George Gershwin property right now, and Court just may have the goods to pull it off. Keep an eye out for those reviews, or just try and score a ticket of your own! 

Court Theatre 

Not to be outdone by its South Side classical theater rival, even Chicago Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier is getting into the musicals game again (seems like it's been a while). And it's with a new work, "Murder For Two," freshly opened in the smaller, upstairs theater, the Thoma (running through June 19). This show (music by Joe Kinosian, lyrics by Kellen Blair and book by both) is a whodunit for two actors who also play the piano. The further conceit is that one actor (Kinosian himself) plays all 13 of the murder's suspects, and the other actor-pianist (Alan Schmuckler, fresh from "Merrily We Roll Along" at the Music Theater Company in Highland Park) plays the detective. Northwestern University's David H. Bell directs. If it works, a lot of theaters will want to do it! 

Chicago Shakespeare Theater - Murder For Two-A Killer Musical 

Not to be outdone by a downtown murder mystery musical, the Citadel Theatre Company in Lake Forest is currently presenting something of a rarity, the short-lived 1976 Agatha Christie-style Broadway musical, "Something's Afoot," from May 6-June 5. The cast of ten is directed by Wayne Mell, with musical direction by Nick Sula. Might be worth a trip north! 

Citadel Theatre Company - Home Page 

Speaking of rarities in the northern suburbs, this weekend only you can catch the 1947 Kurt Weill/Langston Hughes Broadway musical, "Street Scene," based on the Elmer Rice play and now pretty much the exclusive property of the opera world. (Maybe Court Theatre should get a hold of it!) It's at Cahn Auditorium in Evanston, courtesy of the Northwestern University voice and opera program. Jay Lesenger directs, and Robert G. Hasty conducts. 

Kurt Weill's 'Street Scene' to Heat the Stage 

You can look even further north for a more recent, smaller-scaled hybrid music theater piece, one that's also based on an Elmer Rice play. I'm talking about the off-Broadway musical, "Adding Machine," by Joshua Schmidt and Jason Loewith, that began its life at Evanston's Next Theatre. It's opening this week at Skylight Opera Theatre up in Milwaukee, where it's directed by Chicagoan Kate Buckley. It runs at the Cabot Theatre through June 12. This seems pretty awesome to me. 

Skylight Opera Theatre 

Speaking of Joshua Schmidt, his musical, "A Minister's Wife," written with Jan Levy Tranen and the legendary Austin Pendleton, is also running through June 12. Only this show, which began life at the Writers' Theatre in Glencoe, is at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at New York's Lincoln Center, directed by Michael Halberstam and starring Chicago's very own Kate Fry as George Bernard Shaw's Candida. It's received some pretty remarkable reviews, as those who saw it at Writers' would certainly expect! Fry is joined by Marc Kudisch, Bobby Steggert, Drew Gehling and Liz Baltes in the cast. Did I mention that Schmidt does his own orchestrations? Pretty awesome.

Lincoln Center Theater : A Minister's Wife 

A little closer to home, but still to the north, the Marriott Theatre just released some details about its summer production, "Shout!" This 2006 off-Broadway musical, which ran for a short time at the Drury Lane Theatre at Water Tower Place in 2008, is being "completely reimagined," we are told, "with the permission of the original producers." Rachel Rockwell will direct and choreograph a cast led by Carey Anderson, Tammy Mader and Jessie Mueller, with Ryan Nelson as musical director. This new "Shout!" will run June 15-August 14, with a June 24th opening. It's a late 60s girl-power sort of thing. 

Marriott Theatre Presents A Brand New Twist on SHOUT! 

And I've been alerted to an unusual casting call for the Marriott's show that follows "Shout!." It's for the world premiere stage adaptation of the Bette Midler movie musical, "For The Boys," on stage from August 17-October 16. The theater is looking for two boys, one to play age 4 and one to play age 14, and the audition will be on Friday, May 27, from 3 to 5 pm at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire. No singing required! For an appointment, please e-mail Peter Sullivan at Peter.Sullivan@Marriott.com with a picture and resume or with basic information of the young performer. Once the audition time is confirmed, a portion of the script, a "side," will be e-mailed. Pretty awesome! 

"For The Boys" at the Marriott Theatre In Lincolnshire 

And that's it for this week! I hope everybody does well with all their endeavors this week, and before you know it, I'll see you under the video screens.....Mosh Pit!-PWT 

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