'The Showtune Mosh Pit' for May 8th, 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:

And the "Big Fish" has sailed. Or some nautical mixed metaphor like that. The pre-Broadway tryout of the new musical based on the 2003 Columbia Pictures film written by John August, with book by him and with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa ("The Addams Family"), directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman ("The Producers") and starring Norbert Leo Butz ("Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," "Catch Me If You Can"), Kate Baldwin ("Finian's Rainbow") and Bobby Steggert ("Ragtime") played for five weeks here at the Oriental Theatre, closing last Sunday, May the 5th. Scheduled to begin previews at Broadway's Neil Simon Theatre in just four months (on September 5, 2013), the Broadway opening night is set for October 6th. But will the show's much publicized "first act trouble" be solved by then? Will many of the helpful suggestions and trouble spots mentioned on internet message boards and social media receive attention by then, with the ending that nearly everyone adores still able work its magic? We certainly hope so. We always do. It got us talking, it got us invested, it got us crying. The show deserves its chance. I mean, look at "Kinky Boots." Last fall's pre-Broadway tryout here now leads the pack of Tony Award nominees! You just never know.

BIG FISH ends its Chicago run

And so our rush and flush of early spring Broadway productions comes to an end. But never fear! We still have "The Book Of Mormon" in town (apparently only through September 8, but no official closing notice has arrived), and of course "Million Dollar Quartet"(not a tour, but the production that spawned the Broadway incarnation) continues its amazing multi-year run at the Apollo Theater. And we've previously noted the one-week return of the 2009 Broadway production of "West Side Story," June 11-16 at the Oriental. Next up will be three shows that have not yet trekked to or through New York. A tour of the hybrid bio show/jukebox show "Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story" will play the Cadillac Palace Theatre for two weeks beginning June 18th. It's unclear to me if this is a UK tour of this 1989 London musical, playing select US cities for the summer, or what. But it doesn't seem like a lot of American theatergoers will see "Buddy" as we will. Hmm. Details to come soon???

http://www.buddythemusical.com/

And the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place will swing back into action as a tourist-friendly venue with "The Australian Bee Gees Show," running July 9-August 4 at the almost-Michigan Avenue performance space. Said to be similar to "Rain," the Beatles tribute show, this show has played Las Vegas and, well, Australia, the original home of the Brothers Gibb. Tickets go on sale this Friday, May 10th. Are they going back to Las Vegas in the fall? Hm.

http://www.abgshow.com/

In August, we will be visited by the ongoing tour of a show that is not yet announced for Broadway, but which surely has aspirations in that direction. It is "Flashdance," based on the extremely popular 1983 movie romance (and those soundtrack songs!) and directed and choreographed by Sergio Trujillo ("Jersey Boys," "Memphis"). Get ready to rock to the title song, plus "Maniac," "Gloria" and "I Love Rock And Roll," plus sixteen new songs with music by Robbie Roth. All this can be yours at the Cadillac Palace Theatre between August 6 and 18.

http://www.flashdancethemusical.com/

And I'd like to flash forward now, past Broadway In Chicago's five fall offerings (that's for another column, my peeps) to a tour that has caused a slight stir in these parts when it was announced last week. In its first American tour in three years, Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom Of The Opera" will begin performances in Rhode Island in November, and will play the Cadillac Palace Theatre here for six weeks, from January 22-March 2, 2014. But this is not your father's "Phantom." It's a new staging of the phonemenally successful musical (the world's most popular stage or film production of all time), retaining Maria Bjornson's costume design from the 1980s but with new sets, lights and stage direction. This version, directed by Laurence Connor, has already been seen on tour in the UK, and is now coming to North America. So, similar to what he did with "Les Miserables," producer Cameron Mackintosh is reinventing a legendary theatrical property, even while the original is still running (and in this case, still running in New York). This should be interesting, folks. Casting is not yet announced.

THE-PHANTOM-OF-THE-OPERA-Comes-to-Chicago

In the heat of the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II mania that the Lyric Opera Of Chicago production of the team's "Oklahoma!" is trying to generate (opening last weekend to mostly strong reviews, but closing May 19th), it's worth noting that the best-reviewed local show of late, and running through June 2, is the Marriott Theatre's production of Rodgers' and Hammerstein's (and Joshua Logan's) "South Pacific," which may be the best reviewed show Chicago has produced this year. Indeed, the Theatre In Chicago website lists nine reviews for the Pulitzer Prize-winner directed by David H. Bell (musical direction by Ryan T. Nelson), and rates every single one of them at "Highly Recommended." That's not to say there aren't tiny quibbles contained in some of the scribe's tomes about the proceedings. But this is a strong, strong production, my peeps, and when a commercial theater in a bedroom community can take a cast of Broadway veterans, storefront graduates and suburban regulars and create art of this caliber, you would be well advised to take notice. Just sayin'. [Insert smiley face here!]

http://www.theatreinchicago.com/south-pacific/5791/

Two adventurous local shows have been successful enough to announce the highly coveted Chicago extension. "Othello: The Remix," the hip-hop adaptation of William Shakespeare's tragedy commissioned by the Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier, is now running there through June 15. And "Smokey Joe's Café," the Jeff and BroadwayWorld Chicago Award-winning production of the Leiber and Stoller jukebox show from Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre that transferred to the Royal George Cabaret Theatre, will now run through June 30. Bravi, you guys!

http://www.chicagoshakes.com/

http://www.theatreinchicago.com/smokey-joes-cafe/6154/

And speaking of David H. Bell and Ryan T. Nelson, they are director and musical director of this year's Waa-Mu Show at Northwestern University, "Flying Home," now halfway through its two-weekend run in Evanston's Cahn Auditorium. This original full-length musical, written and designed by students and with a cast of 43, is subtitled, "Down the Rabbit Hole, Over the Rainbow and Straight on till Morning." It's a post-modern take on the worlds of Wonderland, Oz and Neverland and the characters of Alice, Dorothy and Wendy. Sounds fascinating!

Northwestern-to-Present-2013-Waa-Mu-Show-FLYING-HOME

There are two special events I'd like to highlight. First is a two-night presentation of the rarely seen William Finn/James Lapine musical "A New Brain," from a New Group calling itself Pastiche Productions. Directed and choreographed by Cameron Turner and musical directed by Alex Newkirk, the show will take place at Lincoln Lofts at Lincoln and Wellington, starring Alex Heika, Lauren Paris and Aaron Conklin. Sounds very cool. This group is so new, its website was copyrighted in 2023. Excellent!

Pastiche Productions' A NEW BRAIN

And on May 19 at Stage 773, there's a benefit concert called "Wind Beneath My Wings: Music From Screen To Stage: A Benefit Concert." Performers including Charlie Rasmann, Ryan Powers, Victoria Elena Nones, Austin Sprague, Alexis C. Martino and more will join forces at 7:00 pm, with portions of the proceeds to benefit the Children's Organ Transplant Association. Good cause!

http://www.stage773.com/

Last of all, my peeps, I must warn you about the showdown that will take place on Sunday afternoon (until 9:00 pm). There will in fact be TWO bars in Chicago playing showtune videos at the same time! In celebration of Mother's Day, or perhaps for recovery from same (your call, not mine), both Sidetrack in Lakeview and The Call in Andersonville will be serving up the finest in, er, liquid musical theater video entertainment at the appointed hours. But you can go to both! It's like a $12 cab ride. Or take the Clark bus. Or the Red Line! Let's keep both establishments humming, shall we, and see each other under the video screens. A toast to the mamas who bore us! Showtunes Forever!.....-PWT

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