'The Showtune Mosh Pit' for July 1st, 2015

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 that time once again! Every six months, we pause here in the Mosh Pit to honor the Top Ten Hot Topix that we've been buzzing about since the last Hot Topix list was compiled. And today is the day, folks! So sit back, relax, and learn about the ten things we've been the most obsessed about from January through June of 2015. We've excluded season announcements and awards show news, as those things always occur in the first half of the year. So hopefully, you'll nod in agreement that the following points of repeated discussion were your Top Ten, too. So let's get to it! Er, them!

10. An Intimate "Jesus Christ Superstar" At Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre. Not "unplugged," exactly, but close to it, this unmiked and scaled-down production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's potentially largest rock opera wowed critics when it opened in early March. And audiences felt likewise, powering the show to a run double its originally scheduled length. Featuring a Jeff Award-winning performance by Donterrio Johnson as Judas, and with fast-rising star Danni Smith as Mary Magdelene (three Jeffs for her in two seasons, including two this year alone), Fred Anzevino's production touched a strong chord. And Max DeTogne's version of "Gethsemane" was worth double the price of admission. The Miracle in Rogers Park keeps getting it right.

http://www.theatreinchicago.com/jesus-christ-superstar/7460/

9. The Enduring Cultural Relevance Of Bette Midler. This summer has presented Chicago fans of the Divine Miss M with three reasons to recall her status as something of a show business goddess, and one with plenty left to give. If it wasn't enough that the Drury Lane Theatre is currently hosting what is hoped to be the pre-Broadway tryout of the stage version of "Beaches," Midler's lady-weepy that gave her a huge Grammy win, there's the fact that Hell In A Handbag Productions is now preparing a tribute to Midler's early-1970s appearances at a certain famous Upper West Side establishment. "Bette: Live At The Continental Baths" begins performances at Mary's Attic July 17, with Caitlin Jackson channeling the powerhouse. (Musical direction is by Jeremy Ramey, who did the same honors with Theo's "Jesus Christ Superstar," by the way.) And Midler herself performed two weeks ago at the United Center, receiving universal rave reviews for her performance. The Big Noise from Winnetka is indeed our hero.

Hell-in-a-Handbags-BETTE-LIVE-AT-THE-CONTINENTAL-BATHS

8. "Carousel" at Lyric Opera Of Chicago. During April, the internet was abuzz with the wishes and rumors that Lyric Opera Of Chicago's production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Carousel" was going to imminently transfer to Broadway. This despite the fact that their "The King And I" was preparing to open at Lincoln Center (subsequently winning four Tony Awards) and that this "Carousel" is already announced to play at the Houston Grand Opera next spring, albeit with a different cast. Methinks that wishful thinking and a little bit of myopia was inspiring New Yorkers to assume that a cast this starry SURELY would play New York. I mean, why would these performers play little old Chicago? Well, Steven Pasquale, Laura Osnes, Denyce Graves, Tony Roberts, Jarrod Emick, Charlotte D'Amboise, Jenn Gambatese and friends, directed and choreographed by Rob Ashford, did just fine in the ginormous Civic Opera House, and those who ventured west of the Hudson, or east of the Rockies, to see the production realized that it was created for here, that it fit here, and it may not easily travel to Houston or anywhere else for that matter. Simmer down now, peeps. There's good musical theater in a lot of spots. We've got a lot of productions that should play in New York! Some even star Chicago actors....

http://www.lyricopera.org/blog/blogpost.aspx?id=15517

7. Early And Late Sondheim From Porchlight Music Theatre. This season has been a celebration of Stephen Sondheim from Porchlight Music Theatre's mainstage, in celebration of the master's 85th birthday in March. Last fall's "Sweeney Todd" started things off with a bang, winning a BroadwayWorld Chicago Award for leading man David Girolmo. This spring, the company mounted the rarely seen "Sondheim On Sondheim," the 2010 Broadway production complete with video clips of SS discussing his work. Later, Porchlight took on his first complete Broadway score, "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum," to almost as rapturous a reception. It's not a bad thing when a company mounts a tribute to you and the productions bear little resemblance to one another. Diversification is not just an investment strategy.

Photo-Flash-First-Look-at-SONDHEIM-ON-SONDHEIM-in-Chicago-Debut

Photo-Flash-First-Look-at-Porchlights-A-FUNNY-THING-HAPPENED-ON-THE-WAY-TO-THE-FORUM

6. "The Book Of Mormon" and "The Book Of Merman." The 2011 Tony winner for Best Musical and very nearly everything else played Chicago for 43 weeks just last season, and for 12 weeks this season. Do you think we like it? Or maybe they like us? Or both? Concurrent with the return engagement, and the recipient of multiple run extensions, was a little three-hander called "The Book Of Merman," a satire in which the Queen of Broadway was visited by two Mormon missionaries, and hilarity naturally ensued. Pride Films And Plays presented Leo Schwartz's original work for four months. And why not? Practically the next thing that occurred was marriage equality. Just sayin'.

THE-BOOK-OF-MERMAN-Extends-at-Apollo-Theater-Studio

5. Two Daring Hits In A Row At Mercury Theatre Chicago. Since transferring to the Mercury Theatre from running Porchlight Music Theatre, L. Walter Stearns has been on something of a roll. And this spring was no exception, with two productions that more than one observer has called "better than Broadway." First was "The Addams Family," Andrew Lippa's take on the beloved and macabre family that tried out here, got better, but still didn't take the Great White Way by storm. At the Mercury, in a scaled-down production led by Karl Hamilton's unlikely Gomez, critics raved. Currently, in a production transferred from Munster, Indiana's Theatre At The Center, an even smaller-scale version of the Johnny and June Carter Cash musical "Ring Of Fire" is set to run for four months. Wally Stearns knows Chicago.

http://www.theatreinchicago.com/ring-of-fire-the-music-of-johnny-cash/7364/

4. Two Mammoth Hits In A Row At The Drury Lane Theatre. From January through June of this year, two large-scale productions of well-known shows, famous composers and dance numbers and all, were produced by one of the granddaddies of Chicago's Equity musical theater scene, Oakbrook Terrace's Drury Lane Theatre. "West Side Story" left audiences in tears from January through March, and April through June's
"Billy Elliot," in its locally-produced premiere production, left them cheering and falling over themselves with superlatives. When a well-equipped facility hires the right directors, designers and actors, and puts them in service of superlative material, well, the Mosh Pit notices. Yes, we do.

http://www.drurylaneoakbrook.com/live-theatre/15-16-theatrical-season/

3. The Rise Of The Valentine's Day Musical. For years, theaters have packed audiences in at year end, as "the holidays" have meant family-friendly, sentimental or just plain fun shows to help balance the books and provide theater folk with the ability to buy presents. More recently, the briefer Halloween season has meant blood, gore, mystery and mayhem, especially at theaters drawing the young adult set. This February, Chicago saw three smallish productions specifically geared toward the dating bunch, the local premieres of "Broadway's First Date" at the Royal George Cabaret Theatre (in a commercial production), "Ordinary Days" at the Heartland Studio Theatre (courtesy of the Bohemian Theatre Ensemble) and "Next Thing You Know" from Refuge Theatre Project (at The Den Theatre). Will this become a recurring trend? It's too soon to say, but this has got to be a good thing, right? Heck, "First Date" ran for three months.

http://www.firstdatechi.com/

2. One Hit And One Miss For Our Pre-Broadway Tryouts. For at least the last fifteen years, and increasingly so, Chicago has been the favorite tryout town for Broadway musicals headed to Nederlander houses in New York. The Nederlander Organization, in addition to being Broadway's second largest landlord, owns Broadway In Chicago. So there's that. And this spring, two high-profile productions rehearsed in New York and packed their bags for a jaunt to our shores, to see how we liked them and to let future investors see them in front of live, real people. Well, fifty percent is not a bad average (ask Dorothy Loudon's character in Michael Bennett's "Ballroom.") It seems that the verdict on "First Wives Club" was not a good one, despite valiant work from the three leading ladies. But the current "On Your Feet!" seems to be a winner, even with some work still needed before the show's fall opening in Times Square. Better be quick, though! It closes at the Oriental Theater this Sunday.

http://broadwayinchicago.com/show/on-your-feet-15/

1. The Pervasiveness Of New Homegrown Musicals: In Concerts, Readings And Full Productions, They Are Everywhere! We've already talked about "Beaches," "The Book Of Merman," and the two Nederlander shows that didn't rehearse here but did bow their latest versions in front of us. But that's just the beginning of the tidal wave of new musicals that we are seeing around here. I hardly know where to begin! The Chicago Musical Theatre Festival began last night, premiering 13 new works this summer. FWD Theatre Project (pictured at top are actors Summer Naomi Smart and Brian Acker) has really hit the ground running since its gala fall fundraiser featured the Mueller sisters, presenting five staged readings with Equity casts. Other series of works in development are sponsored by Porchlight, MCL Chicago, Kokandy Productions, Northwestern University and Decatur's Millikin University. We've seen works rehearsed elsewhere ("Louis And Keely: Live At The Sahara"), commissioned works (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre's "Sense And Sensibility," The Music Theater Company's "Mill Girls" and Northlight Theatre's "Shining Lives"), and original children's musicals like "Wonderland." There are many more examples. And all of this in the last six months. Go under a viaduct and on the other side you will probably find yourself in front of a theater working on a new musical. Bring it, I say! Where else can you write and mount a show affordably, with a theater community infrastructure and knowledgeable audiences at your disposal? Probably nowhere else. Just sayin'. And that's why new musicals are our number one Hot Topic!!!

2nd-Annual-CHICAGO-MUSICAL-THEATRE-FESTIVAL-to-Kick-Off-630-at-The-Den-Theatre

http://fwdtheatre.org/20142015-season/

So that's it! That's them! The Top Ten Hot Topix for the first half of 2015. I'll see you back here next week for more about what's current and upcoming on our stages. Until then, maybe I'll see you under the video screens.....-PWT

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