'The Showtune Mosh Pit' for April 7th, 2010

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:

I'm breaking my moratorium on talking about a certain TV show, 'cause it's coming back now...... "Glee" is taking over the world! Or at least the Mosh Pit. The mid-season "premiere" is on Tuesday, April 13th, on FOX, at a special time--8:28 pm, Central Time. And there are so many angles to this story I don't know where to start. People are all over the map about why they are so excited! But they certainly are. Let's see...... 

It's been MONTHS since we saw a new episode (lol), Jon Groff will be a guest star, Idina Menzel will be on, they are having a preview screening in Naperville (of all places!) on Thursday, April 8th (7:30 pm at the Hollywood Palms Cinema, if you are out that way), there is the open casting call for next season going on, there are the two CDs out (with more on the way), there is the appearance of the cast on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" slated for Wednesday, April 7th, there's an all-Madonna episode (the songs for which have already been disclosed), the show won a Peabody Award as well as a Golden Globe, the summer tour is coming up, bars will be playing episodes on either Tuesday or Wednesday........well, you get the idea. Surely this is the biggest thing in entertainment since the first season of "American Idol." Surely. The Facebook chatter is deafening. And I'm exhausted from all this typing. Oh, yeah, it's all about this glee club........ Enjoy the new episodes, everyone!!!! 

The official Glee website is HERE 

Exciting news for us arrived on Tuesday, with the announcement that Tony-winner Sutton Foster will perform a series of shows in September to launch the redesigned and renamed Drury Lane Theatre just off of Michigan Avenue. "An Evening With Sutton Foster" will be presented at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place, under the auspices of Broadway In Chicago. Also exciting to showtune fans is word that, in the spring of 2011, a revised version of the 1978 musical "Working," based on Studs Terkel's best-selling book of the same name, will open at the 550-seat revamped theater, with an eye toward New York. Originally including songs by Stephen Schwartz and a slew of other writers, the show will feature new material by "In The Heights" composer Lin-Manuel Miranda, an idea first tried out two years ago in Florida. 

Sutton and Working in Water Tower Place 

A song from "Working" lends its name to a review of Stephen Schwartz songs that will play Davenport's Piano Bar & Cabaret next month. "It's An Art: The Songs of Stephen Schwartz" will be performed three times only, on May 2, 9 and 16 (those are Sundays), directed by Christopher Pazdernik and music directed by Aaron Benham. Singers Charissa Armon, Courtney Freed and Jeff Award-winner Ryan Lanning will stand and deliver songs from eight Schwartz shows. How do you put "Wicked" and "Godspell" together in the same evening, inquiring minds want to know??? 

Davenport's Piano Bar 

Even as Broadway In Chicago was finalizing its plans for rebranding the Drury Lane Water Tower venue into the Broadway Playhouse, another theater in Chicago which used to bear the "Broadway" name was sadly announcing its plans to close on very short notice. The Lakeshore Theater at the corner of Belmont and Broadway, which at one time was called the Broadway Theater and which hosted a prominent run of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," will be shutting down after this weekend's performances by comedian Jim Jefferies. Owner Chris Ritter made the difficult announcement early last week. What a shame, right? I remember seeing the film "My Own Private Idaho" there as a first-run feature, back in the day. Apparently there's just too much debt. 

LAKESHORE THEATER : The Art of Comedy

Speaking of Broadway In Chicago AGAIN (lol), there was a lot of discussion and disagreement during the last two weeks about the non-Equity tour of Alan Menken's "Beauty and the Beast," which played the Cadillac Palace Theatre. Mosh Pit residents both loved and hated it, and it didn't' seem to matter whether or not one had seen or loved the original long-running Broadway production or the first-class touring show that landed at the Chicago Theatre in the 1990s. The Gaston of Nathaniel Hackmann seems to have gotten the lion's share of attention, but many folks were either pleased at how cleverly the sets were adapted for a smaller scale tour, or they missed some of their favorite spectacle elements. I don't know, but it frequently sounded like people saw two different shows in one. What did you think? Did you like it, and did you compare it to something else? I'm curious to know.

Beauty and the Beast 

A new show that has gotten really good critical reception so far is "My Brother's Keeper: The Story of the Nicholas Brothers," now running weekends at Black Ensemble Theater, 4520 N. Beacon Street. Sounds like a great new tap show with a lot of famous songs, performed by an energetic cast. Has anyone seen it? 

Black Ensemble Theater 

Opening this week and running through June 20th at the Circle Theatre in west suburban Forest Park is "The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas," the 1978 musical about, well, what it says it's about! It's directed and choreographed by the company's artistic director, Kevin Bellie. All those Aggie boys are gonna be mixing it up, we're sure. The girls, too, of course! But when's the last time this show was done in these here parts? I can't remember....... 

Circle Theatre's Whorehouse 

So, what are the best-reviewed musicals of the ones currently up and running throughout our fair Chicagoland? According to one website's reckoning (and remembering that "Billy Elliot" hasn't officially opened yet), the consensus "best musicals" as of today are, in order, "Million Dollar Quartet," "Oh Coward!," "Ragtime" and "Fiddler On the Roof." Two modest-sized long runs, and two big suburban theater outings. Sounds about right, doesn't it? I hope you've seen them! 

Top Rated Plays In Chicago - Theatre In Chicago 

Last but not least, this is the week that two........well, make that three........musicals from here officially open THERE. New York City, I mean. "The Addams Family" opens on Thursday (did you catch them on "David Letterman?"), and "Million Dollar Quartet" opens Sunday (have you seen the new cast photos?). Also opening this week (for a limited run underneath Madison Square Garden) is "The 101 Dalmatians Musical," which neither jumped straight from here to there nor originated here. However, Sara Gettelfinger's performance as Cruella de Vil began here, so I throw it in the hopper with the rest. We wish them all the best. Do Chicago proud! 

The Addams Family A New Musical | Official Site | Home 

Million Dollar Quartet - Official Site 

The 101 Dalmatians Musical 

So, taking a break from the raindrops we've all seen this week, I remain your ever faithful and humble Mosh Pit servant. Thanks (as always) for reading! And throughout the weekend, I'll see you under those video screens.....--PWT

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