'The Showtune Mosh Pit' for March 27th, 2013

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:

The "Big Fish" is about to land, Chicagoland! The pre-Broadway tryout of the latest Susan Stroman musical is entering its second week of tech rehearsals now at the Oriental Theatre, in preparation for its first public performance on Tuesday, April 2, 2013. The official press opening is scheduled for two weeks later, with the show running through May 5th. Stars Norbert Leo Butz, Kate Baldwin and Bobby Steggert are hard at work in rehearsals, in promotional appearances and, at least in the case of Baldwin and Steggert, in reconnecting with friends who live here. What's not to love? It's Chicago in springtime! It IS spring, isn't it? Well, the show is set in Alabama, and it's warm there....

http://www.broadwayinchicago.com/BigFish

In Butz's case, he is about to see some ticket competition from the national tour of the show for which he won the 2011 Tony Award for Best Actor In A Musical, "Catch Me If You Can." The Shaiman-Wittman musical about Frank Abagnale, Jr., directed by Jack O'Brien and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell ("Kinky Boots") will be at the Cadillac Palace Theatre from April 2nd through the 14th. Wonder if Norbert will stop by (it's like three blocks)? Wonder if he'll tell the young touring cast he's coming? (Merritt David Janes is playing Carl Hanratty here.) But the big question--will the two casts meet at Sidetrack on a Monday night? The "Priscilla" cast was there this past Monday, and not one but two casts of "The Book Of Mormon" were there the week before that. And trust me, the "Big Fish" cast knows the way there....

http://www.broadwayinchicago.com/CatchMeIfYouCan

There are locally produced shows starting performances, too. One of the most anticipated is "Barnum," the Cy Coleman circus musical which begins performances tonight at the Mercury Theater, officially opening next Thursday, April 4, 2013. Veteran Chicago star Gene Weygandt has reportedly learned a lot of magic tricks to perform in his role as P.T. Barnum, and the cast has been hard at work on the circus choreography given them by Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi of the Actors' Gymnasium. Award winning actresses Cory Goodrich and Summer Naomi Smart co-star as Charity and Jenny, directed by L. Walter Stearns, co-choreographed by Brenda Didier and Andrew Waters, and musical directed by Eugene Dizon. The show runs through June 16. Come, follow the band!

Gene-Weygandt-to-Star-in-Mercury-Theatres-BARNUM

The other big musical with a character named Charity is of course "Sweet Charity," another show with a Cy Coleman score. While it isn't new, the Writers' Theatre production of this important title has extended for two additional weeks up in Glencoe, and will be running through April 14 rather than March 31. Not bad for a January opening! Michael Halberstam directed, with musical direction by Doug Peck and choreography by Jessica Redish. Tiffany Topol stars as the dancer with her heart on her sleeve.

http://www.theatreinchicago.com/sweet-charity

Redish's choreography will soon be on display at the company she founded and leads, just up the road from Glencoe in Highland Park, as The Music Theatre Company presents "The Pajama Game" directed by Jess McLeod, from April 18-May 19. Matt Deitchman is musical directing the classic 1954 musical comedy. Starring as Sid and Babe are David Sajewich and Sarah Bockel, with Dana Tretta as Gladys. Also in the cast are Kelley Abell, Donald Brearley, Patrick Byrnes, Frankie DiCiacci, Allyson Graves, Nancy Kolton, Christopher Logan, Tyler Ravelson, Jason Richards, Carly Robinson, Creg Sclavi and Kelly Davis Wilson.

The-Music-Theatre-Company-Announces-THE-PAJAMA-GAME-Cast

While we're talking about Highland Park, have you seen this summer's schedule for the Ravinia Festival? Now, I have performed there almost every summer for the past fifteen years or so, and I will in fact be performing there this summer. But not in a musical. There are, in fact, no musicals on the schedule, and no concerts by musical theater stars, either. It's shocking. I realize that Ravinia's "Sondheim 75" initiative is overdue to be over (he is now 83), but the dearth of showtune offerings up there is just hard for many observers to understand. Sting? Josh Groban? Judy Collins? If you find something, let me know.

http://www.ravinia.com/

Actually, there is one Sondheim-related offering on the Ravinia schedule, though it is very nearly a repeat of a concert taking place in downtown Chicago next Sunday, April 7th. On Sunday, August 25, in Ravinia's Bennett-Gordon Hall, New York pianist Anthony de Mare will perform "The Liaisons Project," subtitled, "Re-Imagining Sondheim From The Piano," his ongoing project that commissions a variety of contemporary composers to adapt a Sondheim song for solo concert piano. On April 7, his concert will take place at "Music In The Loft," in Chicago's Fine Arts Building on Michigan Avenue. The two concerts may very well be quite different, as de Mare has several dozen arrangements at his disposal. And it's a good thing that he's been hired by Ravinia. But showtune fans will have to go elsewhere for a rollicking good time this summer. How do you feel about that, Mosh Pit peeps?

Anthony de Mare's "LIAISONS Project" Continues Nationwide Tour

The man with whom Stephen Sondheim shares a birthday (it was last week, March 22) is Andrew Lloyd Webber, and his rarely seen "Aspects Of Love" opened earlier this month in a well-received production by Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, at its home base at the No Exit Café in Rogers Park through April 21st. It's a tricky work, and Fred Anzevino's production may not have fully solved its issues. But it seems as if the company has made as good a case for a chamber version of this soapy post-war game of love roulette as is likely to be seen in these parts for a long time to come. The cast has come off very well, making the case for an intimate staging even stronger.

http://www.theatreinchicago.com/AspectsOfLove

And Theo Ubique's fall 2012 production of "Smokey Joe's Café," the show whose original production was the only viable challenger to Lloyd Webber's "Sunset Boulevard" at the 1995 Tony Awards, has reopened in a transfer to Lincoln Park's Royal George Cabaret Theatre, where it is announced through May 26th. It's a rare non-Equity production for the prominent brick venue across the street from the Steppenwolf Theatre Ensemble, and Theo's first commercial transfer. Critics have been supportive, and the Mosh Pit hopes that audiences are as well. Let's hope that Theo and its producing partners have the deep pockets to reach into the tourist and the downtown fun-seeker crowd. That's certainly a success story we would like to see happen!

http://www.theatreinchicago.com/SmokeyJoesCafe

Lest we forget the western suburbs, I will remind you that the Drury Lane Theatre is now readying its big spring production, "Oliver!," which begins performing on April 4, and will run through June 2. Chicago veteran actor John Reeger is offering his take on the legendary Fagin, with Heidi Kettenring as the ill-fated Nancy and young Brady Tutton as Oliver Twist himself. Rachel Rockwell is directing and choreographing, and her mother, Glory Kissel, is in the cast as Mrs. Bedwin. So is her son, Jake Helm, one of the orphans. Roberta Duchek is musical directing the cast also including Larry Adams, Don Forston, John Gawlik, George Keating, Michael Aaron Lindner, Catherine Lord, Benjamin Magnuson, Rebecca Pink, Catherine Smitko and Patrick Tierney. And those are all actors with supporting roles! I think the cast totals 40 performers in all, which is huge for any theater. That's impressive!

Drury-Lane-Theatre-Presents-OLIVER

So this is the last Mosh Pit of March! Time moves on, no? Spring in Chicago always brings exciting theater, and I hope I'll see you out and about at it! At any rate, I know I'll see you under the video screens.....And thanks for reading.-PWT

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