'The Showtune Mosh Pit' for October 26th, 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! 

Shows :: Maestro 

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.