'The Showtune Mosh Pit' for December 16th, 2009

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:

 

This past week was a pretty astounding one, once you think about it! Capping it all off (or towering over everything else, if you'd rather) was the 50th anniversary celebration at The Second City, the internationally recognized source of much of the world's sketch comedy, as well as the comedians who make it. The troupe's Old Town comedy complex (on Wells Street, at North Avenue) was lit up with more famous names than you can shake a stick at (Stephen Colbert, AndRea Martin, Martin Short, Rachel Dratch, Richard Kind, Amy Sedaris, Jim Belushi, Nia Vardalos, George Wendt, you name it.....), and the music used in the revues produced by this talent shouldn't be overlooked by Mosh Pit residents, either. Too bad the ticket prices were so large, and the performance spaces so small..........We all could have learned a thing or two, I reckon. 

http://www.secondcity.com/About/News 

And yes, I even surprise myself that I talked about Second City before talking about "TAF!" ...Er, I mean, "The Addams Family." The much-anticipated pre-Broadway musical officially opened last Wednesday, halfway through its two-month run here at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre. Critical opinion, for the most part, seems to be that the show is at least partially successful, and is oh-so-close to being great. Word of mouth is that audiences are finding much to like, but that they sense there could be even more musical comedy gold in this tale of "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner." But everyone agrees that the cast (headed by Nathan, Bebe, Kevin, Terry, Carolee, Wesley, Krysta, Adam, Zach and Jackie) is peerless perfection. What a great lineup! And who around here needs their last names anymore?? I believe that we worship them. 

http://www.theaddamsfamilymusical.com/news.php?page=reviews 

And then there's the Golden Globe-nominated "Glee," on quite a roll this week with its mid-season finale ("Sectionals") being a great audience success, and its second collection of recorded music already a chart success in its first week of release. Broadway veterans Matthew Morrison and Lea Michele (aka "Matthew" and "Lea") are Globe-nominated as well. Can anything stop this juggernaut of popular entertainment? It had better not! And how will we make it through the winter? With repeated hearings of Lea-Barbra's "Don't Rain On My Parade," of course! 

http://www.fox.com/glee/ 

Also last week, the new Walt Disney animated musical film "The Princess and the Frog" was number one at the nationwide box office, with its new Disney Princess voiced by Anika Noni Rose (of Hollywood's "Dreamgirls" and Broadway's "Caroline, or Change"). Let's see....that means showtune projects were a hit on film, television and recordings, and in theaters and comedy clubs, all in the last week. We are truly everywhere! 

http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/princessandthefrog/ 

On a more locally-produced level, two of Lakeview's leading LGBT arts organizations went head-to-head with their scheduling last weekend, forcing some audience members to choose between them. The Chicago Gay Men's Chorus presented "Christmas Follies" at the Athenaeum Theatre, and About Face Theatre put up "Oklahomo for the Holidays" in the Hoover-Leppen Theater at the Center on Halsted. Maybe next year, they could pick different weekends? I'm just sayin'.... 

http://www.cgmc.org/

http://aboutfacetheatre.com/

So, now that most holiday shows are up and running here, what are the must-see musical theater offerings in Chicago right now? One website (Theatre in Chicago) that ranks shows by their critical reception has them ranked this way (as of this writing): the downtown Goodman Theatre's perennial play with music, "A Christmas Carol" is rated highest in the area, followed by the rarely-mounted revue "Oh Coward!" at Writers' Theatre in Glencoe. Two long-running success stories about all-male quartets are ranked next, "Jersey Boys" at the "BOAT" (Bank of America Theatre) in the Loop and "Million Dollar Quartet" at the northside Apollo Theater. 

Next on this list come "Thoroughly Modern Millie" at Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace Theatre (which closes this coming Sunday) and the new revue at The Second City, "Studs Terkel's Not Working," followed by two more holiday offerings, "The Christmas Schooner" at Theatre at the Center in Munster, Indiana, and "A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant" at A Red Orchid Theatre. Last to make this very, very elite list is "Souvenir," another play with music, this one at Northlight Theatre in Skokie (which also closes Sunday). That's nine extraordinary, and vastly different, productions. As I've said before, as long as you have the time and the money, you have no excuse but to spend every single evening of your life in a local theater, seeing some great stuff! 

http://www.theatreinchicago.com/tictop.php 

One new show that almost makes Theatre in Chicago's list (if my analysis is correct) is City Lit Theater Company's "The Wind in the Willows." Some of its cast were at Sidetrack Monday night, holding down the fort for showtune videos at the front table in the main bar's Mosh Pit area. Actors Jeremy Trager and Thomas M. Shea (author of the book "Broadway's Most Wanted") were a welcome sight there. 

http://www.citylit.org/home/index.html

http://www.amazon.com/Broadways-Most-Wanted-Showstoppers-Box-Office/dp/1574885960/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1235630531&sr=1-1 

As if all this local activity weren't enough excitement for one weekend, please note that the Catherine Zeta-Jones--Angela Lansbury revival of "A Little Night Music" opened in New York on Sunday, to somewhat mixed reviews. And among its cast members are two ex-Chicagoans, actors Stephen R. Buntrock and Kevin Vortmann! Buntrock played a lot of young romantic baritone leads here in the early 1990s before moving east, and Vortmann, a recent Northwestern University graduate, played Chris in "Miss Saigon" out at the Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace Theatre a little less than one year ago. How exciting for them, and for us! 

http://www.nightmusiconbroadway.com/

There may be more familiar Chicago faces on Broadway soon, as the aforementioned "Million Dollar Quartet" is opening a company there this spring, in time for Tony Award consideration. We know that many of the cast members of the Apollo Theater production were in New York this Monday, we just don't know why yet....... 

http://www.milliondollarquartetlive.com/ 

And as for new shows opening here, this week brings two biggies. And the first, "In the Heights" (which opened on Tuesday at the Cadillac Palace Theatre), brings to mind the fact that in a very short span of time, Chicago will see first-class productions of the last four Tony Award winners for Best Musical. Of course, "Jersey Boys" (2006) is ending its long run here in a few weeks. And back in September we saw a too-short run of "Spring Awakening," the 2007 Tony champ. "In the Heights," which will be burning up our early winter with the heat of a New York summer for these next three weeks at the Cadillac Palace, won the big Tony in 2008, and is the current cast album Grammy champ as well. And, you may know that "Billy Elliot," the big, big Tony winner of 2009, will arrive here in March. We are an important theater town, and producers know it. 

http://www.intheheightsthemusical.com/

Speaking of "Billy Elliot," it won't be the only Elton John musical in town this spring. It was announced this weekend that Bailiwick Chicago will be mounting Sir Elton's Tony-winning effort, "Aida" in 2010, in what seems to be the show's first local mounting since our last viewing of the original production, first seen here at the Cadillac Palace and directed by Robert Falls. Good choice, Bailiwick! 

http://www.bailiwickchicago.com/ 

Opening on Wednesday, up at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, is this week's second big opening, "My Fair Lady," the Lerner and Loewe classic musical, directed by Dominic Missimi and starring local favorites Kevin Gudahl and Heidi Kettenring as Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle. Musical direction is by wunderkind Michael Mahler. "Ascot Gavotte," anyone? 

http://www.marriotttheatre.com/show.aspx?show=11 

In recording news, we are glad to know that this fall's Broadway revivals of both "A Little Night Music" and "Finian's Rainbow" (with "Xanadu" graduate Cheyenne Jackson, Northwestern graduate Kate Baldwin and a host of other actors with Chicago area credits) are being recorded. Iit will be nice to have alternate (and digital) versions of these important scores. 

http://www.finiansonbroadway.com/ 

And, last but not least, "Nine" is coming! The Rob Marshall-directed tuner, a big-screen adaptation of the Tony Award-winning Maury Yeston musical (originally directed and choreographed by Tommy Tune) opens on the outer coasts this coming weekend, and in Chicago and elsewhere on Christmas Day. If you are reading this column, if you've ever been anywhere near a Showtune Mosh Pit, you will see this film before the New Year dawns. I'm just sayin.' 

http://nine-movie.com/#/home-page

Yeah, "Nine" is coming. It may not be "Nine," the stage musical, but it is "Nine," the movie musical. The mind boggles, doesn't it? Lewis, Kidman, Cotillard, Loren, Cruz, Hudson, Ferguson and Dench. And "Be Italian," in a soundstage filled with sand. Can't wait...........And with that, I will bid you "Happy holidays," and I promise to see you soon, under the video screens.....--PWT

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