'The Showtune Mosh Pit' for August 25th, 2010
By: Paul W. Thompson Aug. 25, 2010
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:
There were two fun events going on earlier this week, benefiting local theater companies. At Sidetrack on Monday night, "Flip Flop" was an annual concert of local theatrical luminaries performing songs originally intended for the other gender. Benefiting the About Face Theatre, this year's edition (the fourth) featured songs of the 1980s, sung by the likes of Amy Matheny, Bruch Reed, Ryan Lanning, Rob Lindley, Elizabeth Laidlaw and Benjamin Sprunger. I understand that all went swimmingly well! And the full Mosh Pit opened for business on time, to boot.
And up in Highland Park, the energetic Music Theatre Company held its two-night performance of its latest edition of "48-hour musicals," this one called "Status," on Monday and Tuesday. Based on status updates from Facebook, each of the four 15 minute musicals was written in a two-day time period, and then rehearsed for the next two days. Something like that. The show was directed by Alan Paul and featured Michael Mahler, Laura Scheinbaum, Alan Schmuckler, Jarrod Zimmerman, Emily Rogers and others. Sounds like a blast, but I haven't heard a first-hand account. Somebody fill us in!
Chicago has been going a little Rodgers and Hammerstein crazy this past week. "Carousel" at Light Opera Works has gotten people in a mid-forties kind of mood--a carry-over from Ravinia's "Annie Get Your Gun," maybe, with more seriousness and much more ballet. The reviews and the word of mouth around the Mosh Pit were all really good! It closes this weekend (unfortunately).
Light Opera Works - Carousel
And the PBS/"Live From Lincoln Center" broadcast of "South Pacific" last Wednesday reminded folks of the power and timely vitality of this Pulitzer Prize-winning war and discrimination musical. Maybe the two old men knew what they were doing, after all? Defining a genre, setting the standard against which all others were compared for a half-century... Not bad, even from a perspective of over sixty years later. And so many people recorded this broadcast--just like the good old days of pre-internet VCRs. Ah, live theater--even on video, there's nothing like it.
Live From Lincoln Center | PBS
Speaking of television, the theater world was pleased on Sunday to hear that the 2009 CBS broadcast of the Tony Awards (the one with "Billy Elliot" and Neil Patrick Harris, and Bret Michaels getting conked in the nose with a backdrop) won the Emmy Award as Outstanding Special Class Program, defeating the Academy Awards and the Opening Ceremonies of the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Hurray for our side! Take that, naysayers.
Our local theater scene will really be perking up in September. One show announced rather recently is "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights (September 23-November 6). Patrick Tierney, Michael Herschberg, James Nedrud and Stephanie Souza are among the cast. Is it just me, or have there been A LOT of productions of this show recently? I guess it really is a good show! No surprise, just nice to be reassured.
Also in northern Cook County, and beginning a week earlier, will be one of the most-anticipated shows of the fall--the new musical "Daddy Long Legs," on the boards at Northlight Theatre in Skokie from September 16-October 24. With music and lyrics by Paul Gordon ("Jane Eyre") and book and direction by John Caird ("Les Miserables," anyone?), this show is being presented in association with TheatreWorks in the San Fransisco Bay area, the Cincinnati Playhouse In The Park and the Rubicon Theatre Company in Ventura, California. It will star Megan McGinnis and Robert Adelman Hancock. As the show has already been presented at other theaters, perhaps is it ready for the big time?
Daddy Long Legs - Northlight Theatre
The Chicago Children's Theatre has announced that it is remounting its big hit musical show from last year, "The Hundred Dresses," at the North Shore Center For The Performing Arts in Skokie (home of Northlight, btw), from November 3-December 2. It played the Royal George Theatre in Lincoln Park last fall, and was very, very well received.
Chicago Children's Theatre - | The Hundred Dresses
On the downtown scene, we learned last week that Broadway's Emily Skinner will be leaving "Billy Elliot" in September. Getting a promotion of sorts in the Elton John tuner will be Chicagoan Susie McMonagle, who will move from the role of Mum into Skinner's role as Mrs. Wilkinson, the dance teacher who opens Billy's eyes to the possibilities before him. That's great to hear! And may make the show a repeat viewing for her many fans here. The show runs through January 15, 2011 at the Ford Center For The Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre on Randolph Street. You've seen it, right?
And, last but not least, alert Chicago musical theater fans learned that 2010 Pulitzer Prize-winner "Next To Normal" will indeed play here in the spring of 2011, though not quite as early as had been predicted by some. Though it is not yet listed on the Broadway In Chicago website, the show's own website lists Chicago for April 26-May 8, 2011 (a two-week run) at the LaSalle Bank Theatre (now the Bank Of America Theatre). Saints be praised! I'm so alive! And this highly anticipated tour is expected to star Tony-winner Alice Ripley, too. Funny that I mentioned Emily Skinner earlier in this column, as the two starred (and were jointly Tony-nominated) in "Sideshow," singing the power ballads "Who Will Love Me As I Am?" and "I Will Never Leave You" back in the day. Funny how things work out sometime, ain't it?
Well, that's it! Benefits, broadcasts, surburban and downtown theater, and a national tour in the jetstream direct to the Windy City. Sounds like a pretty nice week here in the Mosh Pit. How was it for you? Tell me all about it, 'cause I'll see you next weekend, under the video screens.....--PWT
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