'The Showtune Mosh Pit' for July 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:

In addition to sharing the same birthdate (March 22nd, aka "Musical Theater Day"), Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sir Stephen Sondheim share another characteristic: they both wrote the music for fairly unsuccessful shows that have the word "whistle" in the title. And both of these shows will see the light of day (sort of) in Chicagoland soon. Catch them while you can! ALW's "Whistle Down The Wind," with lyrics written by Jim Steinman, is playing July 26-August 10 in a full production in west suburban Cicero, courtesy of the Jedlicka Performing Arts Center and its adventurous programming. This musical about the rural American South and its relationship to both Jesus and drifters never caught on with American audiences (or producers) the way it did in England, but many Mosh Pit peeps will recognize its title tune. That's not a bad thing. Dante J. Orfei directs.

http://www.jpactheatre.com/Whistle Down The Wind

Many more peeps will surely recognize the title song to SS's "Anyone Can Whistle," along with the songs "There Won't Be Trumpets," "Everybody Says Don't" and "There's A Parade In Town." This 1964 musical, Angela Lansbury's musical theater debut and the beginning of her 45-year association with Sondheim's works ("Gypsy," "Sweeney Todd," "A Little Night Music") is being performed for one night only, September 25, by Porchlight Music Theatre and its new "Porchlight Revisits..." series. Christopher Pazdernik will direct a cast headed by Rebecca Finnegan (Porchlight's "A Catered Affair," Drury Lane's "Cabaret," the Light Opera Works "Side By Side By Sondheim," etc.) as Mayor Cora Hoover Hooper. Others in the cast will be Jenny Lamb and Jason RoBert Smith. Aaron Benham will music direct. For Sondheim's compositional development between "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum" and "Company" (and what a leap THAT was), one must understand "Anyone Can Whistle." See it!

Rebecca-Finnegan-Set-for-Porchlights-ANYONE-CAN-WHISTLE

Speaking of one-night-only concert performances, Griffin Theatre has a whole series of them in August, outdoors at the site of its future home on Foster Avenue, west of Andersonville near the Chicago River. The parking lot at 1940 W. Foster will be the new home of the Griffin Arts Center, and in celebration, the company is presenting the concert reading series "Plays On The Pavement" from August 1-11. Included among plays like "The War Of The Worlds," "Loot" and "You Can't Take It With You" will be the musical "It's A Bird...It's A Plane...It's Superman" by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams ("Bye, Bye, Birdie"), on Friday, August 2nd at 7:30. Sounds fun!

http://griffintheatre.com/plays-on-the-pavement/

Ryan Lanning and Lauren Paris of the new production of "Hedwig And The Angry Inch" performed last Monday night, July 15, at Sidetrack, proving once again that's there's more than corn in Indiana. (Sorry, I just love those old TV commercials for Indiana Beach amusement park. I'm in a summer mood lol.) Proving that Lanning is indeed the real deal when it comes to these musical theater/rock concert hybrids (he starred in the BroadwayWorld Chicago Award-winning "Alien Queen" don't you remember). Haven Theatre's production of John Cameron Mitchell's well-loved but confusing tale of the former East German transsexual and her rock and roll band plays through August 11. Next up for the new company? "The Wedding Singer."

http://www.haventheatrechicago.org/HEDWIG

The much-maligned but still beloved Flaherty and Ahrens musical "Seussical," based on some of the writings of Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel, opened July 11 at the Wallace Bowl in Gillson Park on the shore of Lake Michigan in Wilmette, co-sponsored by Starlight Theatre and the Wilmette Park District. The lovely ballad for Horton the Elephant, "Alone In The Universe," can hardly be bettered, can it? Lovely stuff. Through July 27.

http://www.wilmettepark.org/SEUSSICAL

Speaking of the northern suburbs, the Elvis Presley/Joe DiPietro jukebox musical "All Shook Up" is in production now at Northwestern University's Theatre And Interpretation Center, playing in the Ethel M. Barber Theater on the Evanston campus July 19-August 4. Matt Raftery directs and choreographs, with musical direction by Ryan T. Nelson. This is the show that introduced the world to the glory that is Cheyenne Jackson. Is there an award for that?

http://www.communication.northwestern.edu/tic/performances/all_shook_up/

And up in Lake County, the behemoth financial engine that is the Marriott Theatre (and an old stomping ground of Matt Raftery and many other Northwestern-related peeps) has announced the cast of its upcoming production of Dolly Parton's musical version of "9 To 5," the show that proved a key stepping stone in the career of Megan Hilty. Starring as the three working women who teach their male boss a thing or three will be Kelli Cramer, Susan Moniz and Alexandra Palkovic, with James Moye in the movie's Dabney Coleman role. The show will run August 14 through October 13, directed by David H. Bell and choreographed by Raftery.

David-H-Bell-to-Direct-9-TO-5-at-The-Marriott-Theatre

In addition to the outdoor shows I've already mentioned from Griffin Theatre and the Wilmette Park District, there are outdoor concerts galore going on these days, as Chicagoans have our annual craze of what I call "outdoorism while we can." Among the recent treats we showtune folks have enjoyed have been the Rodgers and Hammerstein concert at the Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park (very well attended, I understand) and Idina Menzel's concert at the new RiverEdge Park in Aurora. Tangential Showtune figure Paul McCartney (how many shows about the Beatles are there now?) performed in Milwaukee, with a lot of Chicagoans in attendance. It's too bad that the Ravinia Festival has (for now, anyway) seemingly abandoned us, as the big-screen-with-live-music showings of "The Two Towers" on August 15 and 16 (with yours truly in the chorus) are the only things remotely related to showtunes on the Highland Park venue's schedule this summer. No doubt several hearts leaped when "Aida" was spotted on the schedule (for August 3rd), but alas, it is the Giuseppe Verdi one, not the Elton John one (I'll be in the chorus for this, too). Not a bad piece, certainly, but "O Patria Mia" and the "TriumpHal March" are not quite the same as "The Gods Love Nubia" and "My Strongest Suit," I'll grant you. Maybe next year.

http://www.ravinia.org

If you noticed a certain missing element in Chicago over the last two weeks, particularly among those who do musical theater and opera in equal measure, you may have been perceiving the temporary talent drain caused by an exciting event! I'm talking about the European premiere of the musical "Persuasion," based on Jane Austen's novel, that took place first at the Shanklin Theatre on the Isle Of Wight and then in Winchester, England, England (twice there, at the Theatre Royal, on July 19 and 20). Chamber Opera Chicago world premiered the work in 2011, and adapter and star (and company Artistic Director Barbara Landis) took the show to England, along with her company and co-star Jeff Diebold, after a revival production in Chicago last month. I'm told that the show was very well received, and all returned safely and happily to Chicago in the last few days. Well done, you guys!

http://www.chamberoperachicago.org

And lastly, the untimely death of "Glee" star Cory Monteith and the Emmy nomination of "Nashville" star Connie Britton have combined to remind me of the progression of TV movies and shows based in a showtune mindset, but geared toward a little outreach for our species. Not a bad thing, as sometimes folks especially the young) need something to get them started down the road that leads to Jason Robert Brown, Stephen Sondheim and Kurt Weill. Next up on this continuum, that stretches through "Smash," "High School Musical" and the musical episode of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer," all the way back to "The Carol Burnett Show" and "The Mickey Mouse Club," is "Teen Beach Movie" on the Disney Channel. It premiered on July 19, 2013, starring Ross Lynch and Maia Mitchell. "Seussical"'s Kevin Chamberlin and "The Rocky Horror Picture Show"'s Barry Bostwick took small roles. I have a feeling this one will be broadcast a lot.

http://disneychannel.disney.com/teen-beach-movie

So take care, peeps! You never know what life will bring (birthdays), or where life will lead you (summer stock jobs), or how your friends will fare under job stress or family pressure (where to live and work). But we do have the showtunes. And we have each other! So enjoy the summer weather, and seek out these musical theater opportunities that surround us so wonderfully. I'll see you at some of them soon, I hope, and under the video screens as well.....-PWT

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