'The Showtune Mosh Pit' for November 10th, 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:

Well, it was wacky at Sidetrack this past Monday night! The Mosh Pit crowd for Showtunes night was a little sparse, which seemed odd for a day of such nice weather, but some of the cast members from "Traces" amazed everybody by walking around two by two, and that set us in a much better frame of mind! That is, there was a guy with another Guy Standing on his shoulders, and then another set of two more guys, doing the same thing. They were all giving out chances for free tickets to their show, now through December 19, 2010 at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place. This is a circus-type show beginning its national tour here in Chicago, and it has gotten some pretty impressive reviews. It's not a musical, per se (though it does have music); however, it sure does have those good reviews. And hunky acrobats! 

Chicago Traces 2010 Tickets | Broadway in Chicago 

And if that weren't enough, a crew from the website http://nudehippo.com was there, filming the crowd enjoying their usual Monday night fix of showtunes and friends. It's a website of Chicago nightlife, fashion and music, affiliated with WMAQ-TV, Channel 5.  They interviewed yours truly! I'm not sure what I said. The interview isn't up as of this writing. Somebody, please tell me if you see the finished product! 

NUDE HIPPO | SIMPLY CHICAGO'S BEST SINCE 1997 - 

Some in the crowd were celebrating the Sunday night opening of "Departure Lounge," the fledgling musical which opened in London only a week and a half prior to its U.S. debut here at the Royal George Cabaret Theatre in Lincoln Park. Bailiwick Chicago is mounting it, along with producers Andy Barnes, Joseph Smith and Hilary A. Williams, now through December 12th. Its music, lyrics and book are all the work of the young actor and writer/composer Dougal Irvine. I have a feeling that he wanted to get a good look at the show and how if fares in front of an American audience, prior to attempting a run at an Off-Broadway house in New York. Not a bad strategy. 

Bailiwick Chicago - Home 

And speaking of how a show will look outside of New York, Chicago is now home to the first high-profile production of the regrettably failed musical "The Story Of My Life" since Broadway, where it starred Malcom Gets and Will Chase. Broadway legend and original director Richard Maltby, Jr., ("Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Baby" are his, among many other shows) has been in town reworking the show (written and revised by the team of Neil Bartram and Brian Hill). It opened this week at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, courtesy of the new musical development group known as Chicago Muse. Jack Noseworthy and Davis Duffield star, now through January 2, 2011. This is all pretty exciting! 

Now Playing | The Story Of My Life 

There's a musical in town courtesy of a very, VERY unlikely source, the Commonwealth Theatre Company, the summer dinner theater program of Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, Kentucky (a Cincinnati suburb). The show? "Church Girls." The cast of six is guys in drag. The show closed in Kentucky on July 25th and opened here at Stage 773 last week, November 4th. It will be here through November 21st. Does anybody know anything else about it? Inasmuch as it is a show within a show with a religious setting, it sounds sort of like a Protestant, drag "Nunsense," which sounds good so far. Possibly. Hmmm. I wonder who wrote it. And who's in it? 

Stage 773 "Church Girls" 

Treading slightly more familiar turf is the high-profile Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, which is preparing Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Cats" for their/its trimmed-down debut at the No Exit Café this month (13 actors play 26 cats). Performances begin November 18, and they end January 2, directed and choreographed by Brenda Didier. 

Cats « Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre 

As luck would have it, a touring production of the 1980s "Cats" plays one performance, also on November 18, at the Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville, Indiana! Who even knew that this show had a tour still going? Talk about a clash of performance styles! Somebody should do a "compare and contrast" paper for class. No, seriously. 

CATS in Merrillville 

Also from the "left field" department is this weekend's appearance by the Tony winner Stew and his collaborator Heidi Rodewald, the authors of  the musical "Passing Strange," at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art. Formally titled "Stew and the Negro Problem," the writer/performers and their band are appearing Friday and Saturday, November 12 and 13, at 7:30, as part of the MCA's composers series (who knew they had one?). I bet it will be fascinating. 

Stew at the Museum of Contemporary Art 

At Black Ensemble Theater, the show that really put the company and its guiding force, Jackie Taylor, on the map has returned again, to some really stellar reviews. "The Other Cinderella" is running now through December 26, 2010. Now, ordinarily, bringing back a show for the sixteenth time would be a bit much for one company, but that is over a 34-year period, and audiences must still like it. Critics love it! Good for BET. 

The Other Cinderella - Black Ensemble Theater 

Out in Oak Park, Circle Theatre's production of the Cole Porter romp "Kiss Me, Kate" is ready to begin performances this weekend, running all the way through the end of January. It's at the company's new, larger digs at 1010 Madison Street, by the way--the better to accommodate a cast of 23. Bob Knuth directs, with choreography by Kevin Bellie. "Another Op'nin,' Another Show." 

Kiss Me, Kate - Circle Theatre 

And so, fall hurtles on a-pace, with Daylight Savings Time a mere memory. In a week that saw Stephen Sondheim's new book hit the best-seller lists, and the original cast recording of Stephen Schwartz's "Wicked" certified as double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, I'd say that our art form is safe for another week. Therefore and ergo, I'll see you soon to celebrate, under the video screens.....--PWT

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