'The Showtune Mosh Pit' for December 17th, 2014

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:

Have you voted for the 5th annual BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards yet? You have two more weeks to get your votes in, and to get your friends, subscribers, supporters, loved ones and random strangers to vote as well. Voting will end on December 31. And we've got close races in many of the 36 categories! Earlier this week, only one percentage point separated the leaders in eight different categories: Best Actor in a Musical or Revue (Resident Non-Equity), Best Actor in a Touring Production, Best Actress in a Play (Resident Equity), Best Direction of a Musical or Revue (Resident Non-Equity), Best Lighting Design (Resident Equity), Best Musical Direction (Resident Equity), Best Musical Direction (Resident Non-Equity), and Best Revival of a Musical (Resident Equity). Three more categories were separated by two percentage points. Every vote does count! (though duplicate votes will be eliminated before the winners are declared).

And when will those winners be declared? At our Awards Celebration at Andersonville's Call Bar, of course! Wednesday night, January 7, 2015 is the date for the winter get-together of theater professionals, friends and fans, as those 21 and over will watch showtune videos and learn the winners of each category. Nominees get ribbons, and winners get certificates. And everybody gets a warm fuzzy. Right? So I hope to see you then, and may all the nominees get lots of votes!

Final-Two-Weeks-of-Voting-for-the-BroadwayWorld-Chicago-Awards

You know what opens this weekend, right? The new film adaptation of "Annie" hits movie theaters this Friday, December 19th. You know, the one backed by Will Smith and Jay-Z, starring Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, Bobby Canavale, Rose Byrne and Quvenzhane Wallis as an updated version of the spunky Depression-era orphan who first belted out "Tomorrow" on the Great White Way in 1977. The problem with this film? No critic seems to like it. At all. I can't remember a movie musical of any kind, much less one at least tangentially related to a stage blockbuster, with such dismal notices. I'm not telling you to avoid it, mind you. I never do that. And I haven't seen it. But I read what I read, and it doesn't read good. Too bad, really. It's shaping up to be even more of a missed opportunity than NBC's "Peter Pan" two weeks ago. Ah, well. Le sigh....

Review-Roundup-ANNIE-Reboot-Starring-Quvenzhane-Wallis

Opening locally, and live, on that same day is the Light Opera Works production of "The Merry Widow," running December 19-31 at Cahn Auditorium in Evanston. It's an English adaptation made for the company by Gregg Opelka and Jack Helbig, with Franz Lehar's original Viennese music that set the world on fire more than 100 years ago. The show's costume designs were influential, too. I mean, when's the last time a stage show's clothes were all the rage at department stores? Anyone for a "Newsies" clothing line? I thought so!

http://www.lightoperaworks.org/Widow.html

Among shows already running here, Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre's "Always, Patsy Cline" has received one of those fabled Chicago extensions. Earlier this month, the Rogers Park storefront company announced seven more performances, moving the two-hander's closing date from December 28 to January 31, 2015. Fred Anzevino directs Christina Hall and Danni Smith in Ted Swindley's bio-revue of the C&W queen, with musical direction by Aaron Benham. At the No Exit Café on Glenwood Avenue.

Theo-Ubiques-ALWAYS-PATSY-CLINE-Extended

Also among current shows, it has come to my attention that the annual holiday offering at the Raven Theatre in the Clashland neighborhood of Edgewater has been transformed from a play to something more resembling a musical. Now in its fourth year, "Sherlock Holmes And The Case Of The Christmas Goose," adapted by Michael Menendian and John Weagly from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original story, now includes "songs, dances and a closing sing-a-long." Well, when your credits list Chris Logan as both music director and choreographer, you know something tuneful and fluid is about to happen, don't you? There's a cast of ten, led by Graham Emmons and Damian Conrad as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. (Through January 4th)

Raven-Theatre-Presents-SHERLOCK-HOLMES-AND-THE-CASE-OF-THE-CHRISTMAS-GOOSE

And so, there is only one more weekend before Christmas. What are the consensus best productions among the local holiday and family musicals open thus far? According to TheatreInChicago.com, they are "Mary Poppins" at the Paramount Theatre, "The King And I" at the Marriott Theatre, "A Christmas Carol" at the Goodman Theatre, "The Nutcracker" at the Chopin Theatre (produced by The House Theatre Of Chicago) and "It's A Wonderful Life: Live In Chicago!" at the Greenhouse Theater Center (produced by American Blues Theater). Sounds good to me, man.

http://www.theatreinchicago.com/tictop.php

One show that I may never have mentioned in these five and half years of weekly columns claims to be Chicago's longest running musical comedy. And though it only plays one night a week (Saturdays at 8:00 pm at Stage 773), "Cupid Has A Heart On" has been playing since August 8, 2002! It's a sketch comedy musical created by Stage 773 artistic director Brian Posen, with a rotating cast performing irreverent skits. And Posen plays the piano as well. What's not to love?

http://www.stage773.com/Show?id=99

Speaking of the world of musical sketch, the newish venue MCL Chicago (formerly Studio BE on Sheffield Avenue) has announced a new competition for writers of musicals, called "Premier Premieres!" During the weekend of June 4-7, 2015, the venue will present six new full-length works, shows that will be selected from submissions being taken even now. Can you say, "So many writers of musical theater are calling Chicago home!" I knew you could.

http://www.backstage.com/casting/premier-premiers-54022/

Beginning that same month, and talking about new work, a "Broadway-bound" adaptation of the 1988 Better Midler film "Beaches" will be produced at the Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace from June 24-August 16, 2015, replacing the previously announced "Deathtrap" on the venue's subscription series. Musicals 1, plays 0! The DLO season will already include "Billy Elliot" and "Peter And The Starcatcher," as well as "White Christmas" and "Bye Bye Birdie." Sounds like a winning line-up! I'm not sure if "Wind Beneath My Wings" is in the show, though. Nothing says it is. Surely it is! Guess we'll find out. And Eric Schaeffer from Virginia's Signature Theatre will direct.

BEACHES-Musical-Set-for-Pre-Broadway-Try-Out-in-Chicago

And speaking of seasons, our Black Ensemble Theater announced its 2015 season on December the 3rd. And speaking of new works, the season will include not one, not two, but three new stage works! First up will be a new play with music, "The Trial Of Moses Fleetwood Walker," written by Ervin Gardner and directed by company founder Jackie Taylor (February 7-March 15). Next up will be a more typical BET offering, the new revue "Sounds So Sweet, written and directed by Rueben Echoles and featuring the songs of girls groups from the sixties to today (April 11-May 17). After a revival of BET's "A Tribute To The Incomparable Bill Withers," written and directed by Daryl Brooks (June 20-August 16) will come "The Black White Play," a tribute to the late Chicago film critic Roger Ebert, written and directed by Jackie Taylor (September 19-November 1). And then will come Taylor's 2001 superstar tribute, "Dynamite Divas," directed by Brooks (December 6, 2015-January 12, 2016). What a great mixture of old and new for this company, still growing after all these years.

Official-Roger-Ebert-Musical-and-More-Set-for-Black-Ensemble-Theaters-2015-Season

Hope you got all that! And I hope you've been caroling, or at least encountered some carolers. They (and by "they" I mean, "we") are all over the place this time of year. It's a little bit musical, a little bit theater. Puts the tune in the show, if you know what I mean. Anyway, keep your head covered and your voice warmed up, and you know I'll see you under the video screens.....Happy Holidays, everyone!-PWT

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