'The Showtune Mosh Pit' for January 19th, 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:

It's official--Dolly Parton is in town! The legendary singer-songwriter, movie star and TV talk show guest will make a red carpet appearance tonight at the Bank Of America Theatre, where her Broadway musical "9 To 5" makes its official Chicago debut after a Tuesday night preview performance. Buzz is high for the comedy tuner, which ran briefly in New York in 2009 and now features Dee Hoty, Diana DeGarmo and Mamie Parris. But as the show's composer and lyricist, Miss Dolly is doing her best to draw attention to the tour. The Windy City engagement is no exception. It's here for two weeks only, and those looking for a light-hearted good time with some soul searching ballads and snappy dancing are excited to see the show. As a bonus, look for Dolly's exclusive red carpet interview with BroadwayWorld Chicago's M. William Panek! What a way to make a living.... 

9 to 5 The Musical-Official Site 

As we say a brief hello to "9 To 5," we have to say farewell (again) to "Wicked," which ends its winter return engagement this Sunday, January 23, 2011, at the Cadillac Palace Theatre. The Green and the Tween will have to give up performing "For Good," or at least they will until they get to Appleton, Wisconsin, the next city on their tour. The show set a holiday week box office record in Chicago this time around, but I have a hard time believing it will come back anytime soon. Catch Chicago's all-time favorite Broadway production while you can! 

Wicked The New Broadway Musical - Official Website 

But there is no rest for two of the wicked, Barbara Robertson and Gene Weygandt. These two Chicago theater favorites have been playing Madame Morrible and the Wizard during this engagement, but they are set to go straight into another Broadway In Chicago presentation, one that I didn't mention last week in my review of coming Broadway tours. Why? Well, technically it's a local Chicago production, albeit a very special one. It's "Working," the 1978 one-act musical by a host of songwriters, based on the best-selling book by legendary Chicagoan, the late radio raconteur Studs Terkel. The show has been revised by its original driving force, none other than "Wicked" composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz, and includes material written in the last couple of years by "In The Heights" composer-lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda. There seem to be New York fingers all over this engagement, however, so don't be surprised if "Working" snaps up a New York theater for an opening in the next year. Wouldn't it be great if Robertson, Weygandt, E. Faye Butler or other Chicagoans in this cast make the trek east? As long as they don't stay there too long.... "Working" begins two weeks of previews at the Broadway Playhouse on February 15, opens on March 2, and runs through May 8--a good, long out-of-town tryout sort of length, if you ask me. I bet Julie Taymor wishes she had a run like this one for her current project.... 

Working / Broadway in Chicago 

A couple of extremely well-received local productions, directed by the guiding lights of two long-standing Chicago theater companies, are set to end their successful runs soon. Jackie Taylor's "The Other Cinderella" has only two performances left, this coming Saturday and Sunday, at Black Ensemble Theater. And Sean Graney's "The Pirates Of Penzance," as interpreted by The Hypocrites, has two more long weekends left at the Chopin Theatre. You did see them, didn't you? 

Top Rated Plays In Chicago - Theatre In Chicago 

Paul W. Thompson, a contributor to BroadwayWorld.com since 2007, is a Chicago-based singer, actor, musical director, pianist, vocal coach, composer and commentator. His career as a performer, teacher and writer is centered at Paul W. Thompson Music, located in Chicago’s historic Fine Arts Building, where he teaches the great songs of Broadway to the next generation of musical theater performers. A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Paul was raised in a family of professional musicians and teachers, steeped in classical, gospel, country, pop, sacred and show music. Dubbed a “thin, winsome lad” at the age of 13 by a critic for the Nashville Banner, he earned two degrees in musical theater (a B.F.A. with Honors from Baylor University and an M.M. from the University of Miami, Florida), plus an M.B.A. with Distinction from DePaul University. Paul’s memberships include Actors’ Equity Association, the American Guild of Musical Artists, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (proud voter for the Grammy Awards!), the National Association of Teachers of Singing and New York’s Drama League. Moving easily between the worlds of classical music, religious music, classic pop and musical theater, Paul has appeared onstage or in the orchestra pit in concerts, musicals, operettas and operas in 30 states and in Europe, in a career spanning more than 35 years. His Chicagoland stage credits include “Forever Plaid” at the Royal George Theater and twenty mainstage productions at Light Opera Works. Paul joined the Chicago Symphony Chorus in 1995 (he was Tenor I Section Leader for four years and sings on two Grammy-winning recordings), and is one of Chicago’s foremost liturgical singers, marking 20 years as a member of the choir at St. James Cathedral (Episcopal) in 2011.He has composed and arranged a number of anthems, hymns and songs for worship and concert use, and collaborates on the creation of new works of musical theater. Paul can be found on Monday nights watching showtune videos at the world-famous Sidetrack nightclub, the inspiration for his weekly column, “The Showtune Mosh Pit.” His proudest achievement is that he has seen the original Broadway production of every Tony Award-winning Best Musical since “Cats.” No, really. Since “Cats!”

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