'The Showtune Mosh Pit' for January 5th, 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:

 It's the Great Mid-Season Closing Time, again (unfortunately).  The GMSCT has gained notoriety in the past few years, with the recession weighing heavily on theatrical decisions regarding the timing of short-run shows, and on the closing notices of open-ended ones as well. So, for this particular time of year, it means that seasonal offerings go by the wayside, and so do some non-holiday productions, too. I mean, we get it, it's cold outside!

And so, as of this coming Sunday, January 10th, Chicago will bid farewell to "Jersey Boys" after its two-year-plus run at the Bank of America Theatre. We've enjoyed you, fellas! But Elton John's "Billy Elliot" will be in town before too long, thank goodness, to give us another long-running Tony-winning hit to rally around! Don't you fear! 

http://www.jerseyboysinfo.com/chicago/

http://www.billyelliotchicago.com/land/ 

Also closing this Sunday, preparing for its big move to Broadway (and making way for "Billy Elliot" to move into the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre), is "The Addams Family." Word of mouth on this tryout engagement has been improving steadily in the past few weeks, and changes have been made. We will keep our fingers crossed that new show doctor Jerry Zaks can make this tuner all that we have seen it could be (a blockbuster triumph, that is). Hopefully, a national tour will return here in glory in a couple of years. Until then, we can't wait to see highlights on the Tony Awards telecast, so we can sing along with this great cast at our favorite watering holes. The Mosh Pit knows what it wants! 

http://www.theaddamsfamilymusical.com/ 

Noting that TAF and JB were two of our top three shows in last week's "Top Ten Hot Topics" for the latter half of 2009, we mention that "Glee" (at number two) is in the news as well. This even though no new episodes will be broadcast under April 13th, at which time the FOX-TV megahit will have moved to Tuesday nights. The show is planning an episode built around songs made famous by Madonna, and at least one episode will feature new songs, written for the show by hit-maker Diane Warren and others. Sounds crazy, no? Sounds awesome! 

http://www.fox.com/glee/ 

And, while we have no new news or gossip to report about our number four topic, "Million Dollar Quartet" (other than that the cast worked very hard last week entertaining their audiences), we note that topic number five, the film version of "Nine" is, um, not doing as well as some Mosh Pit residents were hoping. People are still going to the multiplexes and talking about it, but the mixed-to-negative critical notices the Rob Marshall film received in December seem to be panning out amongst us as well. Opinion is divided over whether the fault for its perceived problems lies with the script, the direction, comparisons to Fellini's films or to the lack of so many songs when compared to the stage version. The cast seems to be above reproach. 

But note that the film is not without importance. We hear that theaters will begin incorporating some of the songs written specifically for the film into stage productions in 2010 (unprecedentedly quick, if you ask me). But, such is the power of the Hollywood movie musical and those Golden Globe nominations, long may they thrive. 

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

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/ 

But, do not despair! Even though "Nine" came in..........tenth in last week's Hollywood box office list, there was a film musical higher on the list, at number seven! That movie, of course, was "The Princess And The Frog," the animated film from Walt Disney Studios featuring a score mostly by Randy Newman and a cast headed up by showtune starlet Anika Noni Rose. Folks are liking this film. And we can't wait until a year from now, when Disney brings us their animated "Rapunzel," with the voice of two-time Tony-winner Donna Murphy as the film's villainess. A one-two punch. Awesome!

http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/princessandthefrog/index_full.html?int_cmp=dcom_moviespage_patf_nowplaying_Intl 

Among other shows closing here in early January is "Banana Shpeel," the pre-New York offering from Cirque du Soleil that played the Chicago Theatre. I don't know of anyone who bought a ticket after the dismal reviews came out. The Cirque people have their work cut out for them, before the show begins performances at New York's Beacon Theatre on February 25th. 

http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/banana-shpeel/tickets.aspx?icid=home_page%2fpromo%2fbanana-shpeel 

But a show that has closed in New York is coming here, in July! We will be the first city to witness the national tour of "Shrek," the musical based on the popular animated film that ran for a little over a year in New York. The ogre and his friends will visit the Cadillac Palace Theatre from July through September. So, I guess you could say that we are trading a Cirque for a Shrek. Who's getting the better end of the deal? 

http://www.shrekthemusical.com/

One locally produced show with a holiday theme is bucking the closing trend, and got a reprieve to extend performances until January 17th! A Red Orchid Theatre's presentation of "A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant" will continue for two more weekends in the Old Town neighborhood. This cast of kids must be putting on a wallop of a production! Congratulations to them. 

http://www.aredorchidtheatre.org/index.html 

In news about upcoming productions, the Jule Styne bio-tuner that made a star out of the young Barbra Streisand, "Funny Girl," began performances New Year's Eve at the Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace. Starring Broadway actress Sara Sheperd ("Cry-Baby") as Fanny Brice (a real-life person, if you didn't know), it is being co-directed by the theatre's artistic director William Osetek and by Gary Griffin, hot off of staging "The Merry Widow" for the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Starring as Fanny Brice's real-life low-life husband Nick Arnstein is soap opera ("Loving" and "Guiding Light") and Broadway ("Cyrano" and "Fiddler On The Roof") actor Paul Anthony Stewart. Performer Matt Raftery choreographs, and choreographer Tammy Mader performs as Emma. The official opening is this week, and the show runs through March 7th.

http://www.drurylaneoakbrook.com/live_theatre/now_playing.php

Speaking of "The Merry Widow" (it's in English, you remember), the Franz Lehar smash operetta continues until January 16th at the Lyric. 

http://www.lyricopera.org/

North suburban Northlight Theatre has announced the return to area stages of actress and Tony-nominee Felicia P. Fields, for the first time since her appearances in the Broadway and national tours of Gary Griffin's "The Color Purple." Fields will appear in the world premiere of the musical "Low Down Dirty Blues" from Memorial Day through Independence Day, co-starring with bluesman and Jeff Award-winner Mississippi Charles Bevel. The show is by the creators of "Fire On The Mountain" and "It Ain't Nothin' But The Blues," Randall Myler and Dan Wheetman. 

http://www.northlight.org/pages/low_down_dirty_blues/82.php 

In media news, Spike Lee's film of the 2008 Tony-winning Broadway musical "Passing Strange" (it won for Best Book) begins airing on public television this month. And we in the Mosh Pit will not be disappointed! The film will be shown on WTTW (Channel 11) on "Great Performances," from 9-11 pm on Wednesday, January 13th. Those who did not see the show in New York really do owe it to themselves to check it out. This was a musical like no other, and promises to be a film like no other, shot at close range at Broadway's Belasco Theatre, both with and without audiences present. If you care about the American Musical, you will see this film. 

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/episodes/passing-strange/preview-the-rock-musical/903/ 

And last but not least, when a CD of songs named after a showtune sells three million copies in five weeks, and is number one in Billboard all five weeks, I've got to mention it. Of course, I'm talking about Susan Boyle's "I Dreamed A Dream." She's had her own Christmas television special (in which she duetted with her idol, Elaine Paige), and no, this is not her official website (I don't think she has one). She was unknown a year ago. More power to her. You go, lady. 

http://www.susanboyleblog.com/ 

And on that note, I will take my leave. Keep warm, my friends, and keep those showtunes going! And I will see you, warm and toasty, under the video screens.....--PWT

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