'The Showtune Mosh Pit' for April 24th, 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:

It's theater awards season! And I don't mean in New York, either. Chicago has multiple theater awards seasons, actually, and this one is for the non-Equity Jeffs. The Joseph Jefferson Awards committee announced its nominees for excellence in non-union Chicago theater at midnight Monday, and revelers at Sidetrack were among those eagerly checking their smartphones and congratulating one another in person and online. And why not? Of the 54 shows nominated in 25 categories, 13 of them are musicals, meaning that a lot of musicals received multiple nominations. Leading among these was Circle Theatre's production of "Reefer Madness," with seven nods in all. A whopping five productions received five nominations each: "Avenue Q" (Nightblue Performing Arts Company), "Floyd Collins" and "The Spitfire Grill" (both from Bohemian Theatre Ensemble), "Smokey Joe's Café" (Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre), and "Under A Rainbow Flag" (Pride Films And Plays). The adaptation of "The Mikado" from The Hypocrites was nominated four times, and receiving three nods were Theo Ubique's "Aspects Of Love," City Lit Theatre Company's "Opus 1861" and "Sexy Baby" from Hell In A Handbag Productions. Filament Theatre Ensemble's "Hank Williams: Lost Highway" was honored twice, and two productions received single nominations: "Improbable Frequency" from Strawdog Theatre Company (Kyle Hamman was nominated for direction) and Bailiwick Chicago's "See What I Wanna See" (Danni Smith was nominated as Best Actress In A Supporting Role--Musical).

We here at BroadwayWorld are pleased to note that five winners of the 2012 BroadwayWorld Chicago Award (as voted online by our readers) are nominated in the corresponding category for the Jeff Award. As the eligibility period for the awards are about a half year apart (April through March, versus November through October), the pool of potential cross-nominees is only half of what it might otherwise be. Still, the BroadwayWorld winners for best musical ("Reefer Madness"), best revue ("Smokey Joe's Café," best choreography (Brenda Didier, "Smokey Joe's Café"), best costumes (John Nasca for "Reefer Madness" and best actor in a musical (Adam Fane in "Avenue Q") are all nominated for Jeffs, and we wish them well! We wish all the nominees well. The Jeff Awards will be handed out in a ceremony at the Park West on Monday, June 3, 2013, and the public is invited. It's always a blast!

List-of-Non-Equity-Jeff-Award-Nominations

Well, "Big Fish" opened its doors to the critics last Friday night at the Oriental Theatre, and their formal opinions seem to equal a lot of what we've been hearing on social media during the three weeks leading up to the press opening. Some people absolutely love it, but most people love it with some reservations, and hope that their concerns can be addressed before this pre-Broadway tryout production opens on Broadway in the fall. The problems seem to be in the first act, but the ending sounds like it works like a charm. BroadwayWorld Chicago's own Misha Davenport calls it "visually stunning, ambitious and thoroughly original," and announces "Tony award-worthy performances by its leading talents Norbert Leo Butz and Kate Baldwin." If you haven't seen it, you have until May 5th only, before this Susan Stroman/Andrew Lippa/Julian Crouch/Donald Holder musical packs it up and heads east for its New York incarnation.

BWW-Reviews-BIG-FISH-an-Epic-Whale-of-a-Tale

"Big Fish" Review Round-Up

There's a new post-Broadway show in town (also running through May 5). It's the tour of the hit revival of "Anything Goes" at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, as directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall. The tour has a legitimate Broadway star as its star: Rachel York, who appeared in Tommy Tune's "Turn Of The Century" at the Goodman Theatre in 2008 and who I dubbed "the Julia Roberts of the Americal musical stage." Erich Bergen, who starred in "Hero" last summer at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, was her original co-star, but he has been succeeded by Josh Franklin. But familiar faces like Dennis Kelly, Fred Applegate and Chuck Wagner are on board. This one is first-class all the way, I'm told. And if you like tap dancing and old-school musical comedy, complete with legendary Cole Porter songs, then this one is for you.

http://www.anythinggoesontour.com/

So with "Anything Goes," Broadway In Chicago's run of seven Broadway musicals in less than two months comes to a close. Whew! I'm exhausted. But there are more in the pipeline, of course! Next up? A return visit by the recent revival tour of "West Side Story," at the Oriental Theatre from June 11-16, originally directed by the show's late bookwriter, Arthur Laurents. This may the last time we'll see WSS for a while, folks. Tickets on sale now.

http://westsidestoryontour.com/

However, we still do have "The Book Of Mormon" in town! And the stars of T-BOM in Chicago, Ben Platt (from "Pitch Perfect"), Nic Rouleau (of "Hello, my name is Elder Price" fame) and Syesha Mercado (ex-"American Idol") are all scheduled to perform with their castmates in a one-night-only benefit from Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS this coming Monday night, April 29, 2013, at The Laugh Factory, the old Broadway Theatre at the corner of Belmont and Broadway in East Lakeview. But they're not doing comedy! It's singing. Simmer down now!

THE-BOOK-OF-MORMON-Cast-Members-Set-for-Benefit-Concert

So, we all know that New York sends us productions, and sometimes sends us performers to appear in our local productions. Less celebrated, perhaps, are those times when we send local productions to New York, or send performers to appear in New York shows. The best-known example of late is Jessie Mueller, the Chicago area native and stage star ("Guys And Dolls" at the Marriott Theatre, "She Loves Me" at Writers' Theatre, etc., who was Tony-nominated for her turn opposite Harry Connick, Jr. in "On A Clear Day You Can See Forever" last season on Broadway. She has subsequently appeared in "Into The Woods" in Central Park (starring Donna Murphy) and on Broadway in the revival of "The Mystery Of Edwin Drood." Mueller is now on the marquee of the Broadway's Imperial Theatre, starring there opposite Matthew Broderick in "Nice Work If You Can Get It," now in its second year. But this very Friday night, April 26, you can see her on your very own television sets, on Channel 11, WTTW. "Live From Lincoln Center" will broadcast the New York Philharmonic's recent semi-staged production of "Carousel," starring Nathan Gunn and Kelli O'Hara, at 9:00 pm. Jessie Mueller co-stars as Carrie, singing "Mister Snow" early in the performance. And here's where it gets great. She first played the role at Chicago's Court Theatre in 2008. So New York (and the world, and posterity, etc.) will get to see what we got five years ago. And I liked her performance then, noting in my review that she "makes a strong impression, with saucer eyes and saucy delivery." Others liked it too, as she won a 2008 Jeff Award for her efforts (her first of two). So, tune in and hear Stephanie Blythe sing "You'll Never Walk Alone," absolutely. But be proud of Jessie Mueller. So proud.

Live-from-Lincoln-Center/Rodgers-and-Hammersteins-Carousel

So what about these local productions, you ask? Well, my peeps, the aforementioned Bohemian Theatre Ensemble (BoHo, if you must), nominated for more 2013 non-Equity Jeff Awards than any other theater company, is about to unveil its production of "Kiss Of The Spider Woman," the Tony-winning musical by John Kander, Fred Ebb and Terrence McNally, directed by the company's artistic director, Peter Marston Sullivan. Starring Jennifer Grubb as Aurora, the Spider Woman herself, with Nathan Carroll as Molina and Evan Tyrone Martin as Valentin, the production will run May 31-June 30 at Theater Wit on Belmont. Elizabeth Doran musical directs, and Linda Fortunato choreographs, with an impressive ensemble cast and artistic team. Expect more success from BoHo!

http://bohotheatre.com/

Porchlight Music Theatre, which celebrated the opening of "Pal Joey" just last night, has announced its 2013-14 season. First up, August 31-October 6, will be the Chicago premiere of Bob Walton and Jim Walton's musical "Double Trouble," set in 1940s Hollywood. (If it doesn't star the Waltons, then it's got to star the Aguilars--just sayin'.) Next will be the always fun "Ain't Misbehavin'," from February 1-March 9, 2014, and then "How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying" from April 26-June 1, 2014, in its first Chicago staging since the recent Broadway revival. Good job, you guys!

Porchlight-Announces-2013-2014-Season

The Chicago Children's Theatre announced its new season as well, and it's quite unique. First up will be a revival of the company's first production, Broadway's "A Year With Frog And Toad," directed by Henry Godinez (October 9-November 24). Then will come a world premiere, "Mr. Chickee's Funny Money," with music and lyrics by Motown legend Lamont Dozier and his son Paris Dozier (January 21-March 2, 2014). And then, the company will present a visiting production, the return of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar And Other Eric Carle Favorites," performed by Nova Scotia's Mermaid Theatre. Very, very interesting!

Chicago-Childrens-Theatre-Announces-2013-14-Season

Lastly, I would like to mention the coincidence (I think) of two recent productions in town, at our two leading opera companies, presenting shows which they are comfortable presenting as operas for a new audience, but which sound to me like perhaps a new breed of show, the "Nostalgic Hispanic Musical." Earlier this month, at the Civic Opera House, at Benito Juarez Community Academy and at the Genesee Theatre in Waukegan, Lyric Opera Of Chicago presented what was billed as "the world's first mariachi opera," "Cruzar La Cara De La Luna," or "To Cross The Face Of The Moon." The music is by Jose "Pepe" Martinez, with book by Leonard Foglia and lyrics by both. At the Harris Theater For Music And Dance, you can still catch one of the three remaining performances of "Maria De Buenos Aires," a "tango operita" presented by Chicago Opera Theater with music by Astor Piazzolla and text by Horacio Ferrer. I believe that both shows contain some spoken dialogue (which isn't an indication of "not an opera" to me, but it is to some). I applaud both opera companies in reaching out to Chicago's Hispanic community, and of course audience building is something that all performing arts organizations should always be doing. And these shows both got great reviews. I think it's fascinating that these two show both utilize traditional musical styles of Latin American countries (Mexico and Argentina, obviously) to tell serious music theater stories in fresh ways. I'm all for it! But what genre are these shows? To a native speaker of Spanish, these shows are the equivalent of a new stage show with a serious theme, using a musical style of what to other ears would be an American bluegrass band, or a traditional Irish band, or an orchestra playing Viennese waltzes. Is that "Violet," or "Once," or "A Little Night Music?" Maybe so. It's interesting to think about the cross-cultural comparisons. And bravo to these companies!

Lyric Opera's "Cruzar La Cara De La Luna"

Chicago Opera Theater's "Maria De Buenos Aires"

So that's what I've got for you this week! I'll be back next week with more fun and frolic from the Mosh Pits, and I hope you have a great week! I'll see you soon, I hope, under the video screens.....-PWT

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