'The Showtune Mosh Pit' for March 4th, 2015

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:

Broadway In Chicago announced its fall subscription season yesterday. We already knew that the Tony-winning "A Gentleman's Guide To Love And Murder" is launching its national tour here (September 29-October 11, 2015) at the Bank Of America Theatre. And we knew that "Gotta Dance!" is holding its pre-Broadway tryout here at the same theater (December 13, 2015-January 17, 2016): that's Jerry Mitchell's stage version of a 2007 documentary film about a senior citizen dance troupe that Marvin Hamlisch was adapting when he passed away. Matthew Sklar has completed the score (lyrics by Nell Benjamin), with a book by both Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin. We did not know that "Dirty Dancing" is coming back (August 18-30, 2015, at the Cadillace Palace Theatre), that "Cabaret" is touring through (February 9-21, 2016 at the Bank Of America Theatre), and that FINALLY we will get to see "If/Then" (February 23-March 23, 2016 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre) and, especially, "Matilda" (March 22-April 10, 2016 at the Oriental Theatre). But there are three other fall shows already announced that I guess are not part of the "season" per se, "N--The Queen Of Paris, "Beautiful" and "The Lion King," plus a lot between then and now, including the three shows playing now: "The Book Of Mormon," "First Wives Club" and "For The Record Presents Dear John Hughes." Whew!

GENTLEMANS-GUIDE-Tour-IFTHEN-GOTTA-DANCE-More-Coming-to-the-Windy-City

Four new local productions are set to open in the coming days. "Jesus Christ Superstar" has been in the offing at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre for a while now (nice timing for Holy Week), and begins previews on Friday, March 6, running through April 12 at the No Exit Café in Rogers Park. The team of Fred Anzevino (direction), Brenda Didier (choreography) and Jeremy Ramey (music direction) is helming a cast of thirteen. And no, they don't play Jesus and the twelve apostles, at least not exclusively. Max DeTogne is Jesus, Donterrio Johnson is Judas, with Michael Ferraro as Peter and Caleb Baze as Simon. Jeff Award winner Danni Smith is Mary, Ryan Armstrong is Pilate, Jonah Winston is Caiaphas and Jeff Award winner Tommy Bullington is Herod. The rest of Jerusalem is essayed by Will Wilhelm, Shariese Hamilton, Steven Perkins, Jomar Ferreras and Khaki Pixley. The music for the production is billed as "acoustic and unplugged!" Interesting.

http://www.theo-u.com/jesus-christ-superstar

The historic Woodstock Opera House in far northwest McHenry County will host the TownSquare Players' production of "The Drowsy Chaperone" on weekends from March 6-22. David Gasior is the Man In Chair, with Katherine Damisch as Janet van de Graaf and Catherine Yore as the titular Chaperone. Roger Zawacki directs, with Rosemary Aiello as music director. Yore choreographs.

http://www.woodstockoperahouse.com/2015Drowsey_Chaperone.html

Next up is the Kokandy Productions production of "The Full Monty," the little-seen show with that other song called "Let It Go." Directed by John D. Glover and choreographed by Danny Spagnulo, with music direction by Kory Danielson, the show will reveal all from March 10-April 12 at Theater Wit in Lakeview. Eric Lindahl stars as Harold, with Garret Lutz, Scott Danielson, George Toles, Randy Johnson and Greg Foster as the other boys in the band, so to speak.

http://www.kokandyproductions.com/the-full-monty/

The high-flying Paramount Theatre in Aurora is preparing for its "Les Miserables," beginning performances March 18 and running through April 26. Artistic director Jim Corti is directing and choreographing, and Tom Vendafreddo is music directing and conducting. Robert Wilde and Rod Thomas will square off as Valjean and Javert, and the young freedom fighters are headed by Travis Taylor (Enjolras) and Devin DeSantis (Marius). Their ladies are Hannah Corneau (Fantine), Erica Stephan (Cosette) and Lillie Cummings (Eponine), with the latter's parents embodied by George Keating and Marya Grandy. The kids are Ricky Falbo, Nicole Scimeca and Savannah Groh, and Nicholas Foster sings the Bishop of Digne. And the large ensemble? Aubrey Adams, Ben Barker,Victoria Blade, Nathan Gardner, Jesse Grider, Sophie Grimm, Jason Kraack, Molly Kral, Elizabeth Lanza, Russell Mernagh, Jeff Meyer, Brandon Moorhead, Chelsea Morgan, Rob Riddle, Patrick Rooney, Steve Russell and Patrick Tierney. Young actors include Shane Frantz, Madeline Hotham and Gianna Groh.

http://paramountaurora.com/events/les-miserables/

Recent weeks have seen a rare confluence of local stagings of important works of contemporary opera, that close relative of the American musical that often features state-of-the-art stagecraft and searing drama along with music that pushes the work of Stephen Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein and Ricky Ian Gordon one step further. If you didn't catch Jake Heggie's and Terrence McNally's "Dead Man Walking" at Northwestern University or Tobias Picker's "Thesese Raquin" at Chicago Opera Theater, you can still catch Mieczyslaw Weinberg's "The Passenger" on the main stage at Lyric Opera Of Chicago through March 15. It concerns a former SS officer who, later in life, spots a fellow ship passenger who may have been her prisoner at Auschwitz.

http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2015/02/chicago-area-premiere-of-dead-man-walking.html

http://www.chicagooperatheater.org/the-season/therese-raquin

http://www.lyricopera.org/passenger/

And tonight and tomorrow are the final performances of the world premiere klezmer opera "The Property" by Wlad Marhulets, commissioned and mounted by Lyric as part of its Lyric Unlimited community education and engagement program, and thematically linked with "The Passenger." The March 4 and 5 performances are at the North Shore Center For The Performing Arts in Skokie. The cast of six includes international opera stars Jill Grove and James Maddalena, with local rising stars Anne Slovin and Nathaniel Olson. Our own Maxwell Street Klezmer Band provides the accompaniment.

http://www.lyricopera.org/property/

In case I haven't pointed it out before, Mosh Pit peeps have a rare opportunity right now to see the first and (perhaps) last Broadway musicals of Stephen Sondheim on back-to-back evenings. The very well-received Drury Lane Theatre production of "West Side Story" (music by the aforementioned Leonard Bernstein) continues through March 29th.

http://www.theatreinchicago.com/west-side-story/6708/

And the very well-received Porchlight Music Theatre staging of "Sondheim On Sondheim" continues through March 15 only, at Stage 773 in Lakeview.

http://www.theatreinchicago.com/sondheim-on-sondheim/7449/

This Sunday, March 8, at that same Stage 773 is this month's installment of "Option Up!," and Christopher Pazdernik and Aaron Benham promise another evening of song, anecdote, hilarity and insider appreciation about Chicago's showtune community. Rumor hath it that the aforementioned "Les Miserables" star Travis Taylor will be singing songs from Jason Robert Brown's "The Bridges Of Madison County." You may want to hear this....

https://www.vendini.com/OPTIONUP!

The following Saturday, March 14, will be the latest Chicago appearance of a local favorite, Linda Eder. One of the women who pioneered the high belt sound of contemporary Broadway 20 years ago, Eder will appear in concert at Dominican University in River Forest, in the larger-than-it-looks Lund Auditorium.

http://events.dom.edu/linda-eder-35th-annual-benefit-concert

And looking ahead a bit to another special evening, we're learning more details about the Sarah Siddons Society gala in honor of Tony Award winner Jessie Mueller, which I first reported about three weeks ago. "So Beautiful!" will take place on April 27, 2015 at the Marriott Theatre, accompanied by fellow Tony and Siddons award winners Heather Headley and Deanna Dunagan. Mueller and her three performing siblings, Abby, Andrew and Matthew, will be introduced by their actor parents, Roger Mueller and Jill Shellabarger. Sun-Times columnist Bill Zwecker will host, Court Theatre's Charles Newell and the Marriott's Terry James will appear, and the audience will get a peak at a number from the Marriott's production of "Anything Goes," with Stephanie Binetti and Jameson Cooper (begins April 8). Doug Peck is the evening's music director. Dominic Missimi helms the whole shebang.

SO-BEAUTIFUL-at-Marriott-Theatre-This-Spring

And so, spring springs! I think. Or it will, anyway. So much to get out and see and do. Let's not let a little chill dampen our doings. I'll see you at a theater somewhere, I'm sure, or, at least, I'll see you under the video screens.....-PWT

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