'The Showtune Mosh Pit' for October 26th, 2011
By: Paul W. Thompson Oct. 26, 2011
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:
A hit show at Chicago Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier has recently been joined by a second one, you know? Which shows am I talking about, you ask? Well, of course "Follies" is one....., but it's the new one. What OTHER hit musical is currently playing at ChiShakes, and has been since May 12th? Why, "Murder For Two," of course, the two-man musical whodunit by the young team of Joe Kinosian and Kellen Blair and directed by David H. Bell. It's been extended yet again, and is now booking through November 27th, for a run of longer than six months. Kinosian continues in the cast, but the other role, originally played by Alan Schmuckler, is now being played by Adam Overett. What are these two New York actors doing in Chicago these days? Loving it, that's what! And they've been at Sidetrack two Monday evenings in a row for Showtunes night. Just sayin.'
Chicago Shakespeare Theater's "Murder For Two"
A show that has had a long life in Nashville has moved, pretty much intact, to Chicago's Royal George Theatre, where it has racked up some great reviews in the cabaret space toward the back and is scheduled to run until New Year's Eve. It's "The Doyle And Debbie Show," an affectionate parody of country music stereotypes that must be really good, or (word has it) it wouldn't have landed on our shores to begin with. Bruce Arntson and Jenny Littleton play the title creations, an older singer and his younger female sidekick (sounds like Porter Waggoner and Dolly Parton to us old folks). I wonder how many of us will eventually play this show in smaller suburban venues and summer stock settings? Might as well see the real deal........
Shows : The Doyle & Debbie Show
Joining Doyle and Debbie at the Royal George, over in the mainstage theater, for a run from November 1 though December 30 will be "Maestro: The Art Of Leonard Bernstein," starring Hershey Felder and directed by Hollywood's Joel Zwick. Felder has made a career in the last decade or so by bringing to life famous figures of classical piano music (George Gershwin, Frederic Chopin and Ludwig van Beethoven, to be exact), and Lenny, the famous conductor, composer and pianist, will be the fourth. I'd like to think it's not a coincidence that both Gershwin and Bernstein composed shows for Broadway, or that their careers in doing so play a large part in Felder's theatrical evocations of these key figures in American music of many kinds. But Bernstein hasn't been dead that long. It will be interesting to find out how audiences react to this show!
Just up Halsted Street from the Royal George, and hang a slight left up Lincoln Avenue, and you arrive at the landmark Victory Gardens Biograph Theatre, where the Chicago Children's Theatre is opening "Goodnight Moon: The Musical" a week from Sunday, November 6, 2011, after previews beginning October 27. Scheduled to run through December 23 on a Theater For Young Audiences schedule, this show, written by Chad Henry and directed by David Kersnar (based on the beloved children's book by Margaret Wise Brown), has new music arrangements by Mark Messing, musical direction by Andra Velis Simon and choreography by Tommy Rapley. The likeable cast consists of Alex Goodrich, Sara Sevigny, Becky Poole and Aaron Holland.
Chicago Children's Theatre - | Home
In the West Loop, on Lake Street to be exact, is the Bottom Lounge, a new performance venue for the Showtune Mosh Pit column. However, on Tuesday, November 8th, that will be the location for the only Chicago stop of "The Space Tour," the fourteen-city tour by Chicago's very own Team StarKid. For the uninitiated, this is the group behind the internet sensation "A Very Potter Musical," the cast album sensation "Me And My Dick" and the stage musical "Starship," which premiered at the Center On Halsted's Hoover-Leppen Theater in 2011. Oh, and this is the group that launched Darren Criss to television, recording and (very soon) Broadway stardom. Criss won't be appearing at the Bottom Lounge, however--though that fact didn't sway the group's fans from making it a nearly instant sell-out. It's a concert of songs from their various theater-based projects, done in a decidedly non-Loop-theater way.
StarKid presents THE SPACE TOUR | bottomlounge.com
Go far enough west on Lake Street and you hit the suburb of Oak Park, long an artistic haven. And that is where Open Door Repertory Company has emerged from a long hiatus to produce the very well-written jukebox revue, "Smoky Joe's Café," running October 21 through November 20 in a new 73-seat venue on Ridgeland Avenue. McKinley Johnson has directed and choreographed a cast of eight in these songs by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller ("Hound Dog," "Stand By Me"). You know you love it!
With Halloween fast approaching, Christmas can't be far behind, and one holiday musical offering, "Another Night Before Christmas," very nearly slipped off the Mosh Pit radar. For some reason I didn't realize it's a musical, even though it will star Hollis Resnik, one of our brightest musical stars. After wowing them as Carlotta Campion in the ChiShakes "Follies," Resnik will be half of the cast of a musical in Munster, courtesy of Theatre At The Center, joined by Don Forston. November 17 through December 18 are the performance dates for this two handed holiday tuner by Sean Grennan and Leah Okimoto. William Pullinsi directs the show in its Chicago area premiere.
Theatre at the Center - On Stage - Another Night Before Christmas
A perennial local holiday favorite, last seen in Munster, will appear this year at the Mercury Theater on Southport Avenue. I'm talking of course about "The Christmas Schooner," onstage November 16 through December 30. John Reeger and Julie Shannon's story of the ship which annually brought Christmas trees to Chicago in the late 19th century will be directed by L. Walter Stearns and choreographed by Brenda Didier, with musical direction by Eugene Dizon. It ran for twelve years at the old Bailiwick Repertory Theatre, and I bet Stearns hopes for something even remotely similar to occur at the Mercury. And why not?
Looking even further down the road, TimeLine Theatre Company will be producing the Chicago premiere of a London show which made a small splash in New York, "Enron." It's not really a musical, but it does have songs in it. The show, by Lucy Prebble, will be directed for TimeLine by Rachel Rockwell, one of our preeminent directors of musicals, even further piquing Mosh Pit interest. Previews will run January 17-26, with an announced run of almost three months, to April 15, 2012. So timely. Can't wait!
TimeLine Theatre :: Enron :: Overview
Even though the next show at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre is "Pump Boys And Dinettes" (November 26 through January 15), I understand that they've been casting their following show, "The Light In The Piazza," in recent weeks. The Adam Guettel modern operetta will run March 11-April 29. And even the production of "Rent" being done (as a co-production of American Theater Company and About Face Theatre) next April through July is in the casting process now. It's not even cold outside yet!
Our 2011/12 Season « Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre
But that's how it goes, I guess. The better the show, the further ahead it gets all planned out! Well, the cold will be here soon enough. And where will you be? I know--I'll see you under the video screens.....-PWT
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