'The Showtune Mosh Pit' for November 17th, 2009

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

Sidetrack and Cattle Call showtune video screens:

 

As we speak, "The Addams Family" is taking Chicago and the international musical theater world by storm! The big-time, big-budget musical, which began performances over the weekend and hasn't officially opened to critics yet, is receiving a tremendous amount of interest, publicity and speculation. Rumor has it that the run at Chicago's Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre is mostly sold out, and that the show has Tony Award viability written all over it. Let's hope that it's all true, and that the buzz apparent from at least one BroadwayWorld.com Message Board thread will carry the production into the same juggernaut stratosphere as its predecessor at the Oriental, "Wicked." Check this out: 

/board/readmessage.php?thread=1007027&dt=116&boardid=1

And it is very true that Chicago theatergoers haven't seen a powerhouse cast like this one in a long, long time. The confluence of Nathan Lane, Bebe Neuwirth, Terrence Mann, Carolee Carmello, Kevin Chamberlin, Jackie Hoffman and the rest is making us drool! All this, plus an Andrew Lippa score, and a Sergio Trujillo-choreographed tango........... 

http://theaddamsfamilymusical.com/ 

One thing that the try-out cast of "The Addams Family" shares with the "Young Frankenstein" tour cast (currently ensconced just down Randolph Street at the Cadillac Palace Theatre) is a willingness to appear at clubs and cabarets in town while they are here, both officially and unofficially. Sure, it's good publicity for the shows, and for the solo aspirations of the performers in question, but it bodes well when productions show some involvement with the local fan base and with the broader community. It's all good. And seriously, no "Broadway show" should be here longer than a week without its cast being seen out and about, right? It sure didn't hurt "Spamalot!" 

http://www.youngfrankensteinthemusical.com/ 

Though we have these two shows, plus "Jersey Boys," all comfortably in the Loop this month (and publicizing themselves like crazy), Showtune Mosh Pit folks are planning ahead all the way to January, when Broadway in Chicago presents the new national tour of "Dreamgirls," currently starting out at the Apollo Theater in HarleM. Starring Moya Angela as Effie Melody White (you do know what she sings, don't you??), it will play the Cadillac Palace the last two weeks of January. We'll be the sixth city to see this rethinking of the legendary story of the Dreams and their dreams. I know you've got your tickets-people are getting so excited! 

http://dreamgirlsonstage.com/ 

In something of a rematch of a famous 1982 Tony Award battle, the stage "Dreamgirls" will be fighting for our attention with the film version of "Nine," which opens here Christmas Day with a jaw-dropping cast of women (Sophia Loren, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Penelope Cruz, Kate Hudson, Marion Cotillard and Fergie). Starring Daniel Day-Lewis as a fictionalized Federico Fellini, the film will reportedly contain three new songs from the pen of Maury Yeston. We are already loving the new song "Take It All," to be sung in the film by Oscar-winner Cotillard and already available for unofficial internet viewing, if you know where to look. Click here for the officially sanctioned audio of Fergie in "Be Italian." Amazing. 

http://nine-movie.com/#/home-page 

On the small screen, we think we hear Emmy Award buzz in the wake of last week's "Wheels" episode of "Glee." By Mosh Pit consensus, the writers of the episode and Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester will have to be serious award contenders at season's end. And who doesn't love a good "Defying Gravity" contest? It may have been better than the previous "Maybe This Time" competition! I mean, really. Can this show keep the brilliance going? The newly released CD, the chart-topping downloads, the guest appearances-it's all so much! Bravo to them, and to the "Gleeks" who've made it so successful so far! You know who you are......... 

http://www.fox.com/glee/ 

Closer to home, Porchlight Music Theatre held a fifteenth anniversary gala Monday night at Theatre Building Chicago on Belmont Avenue. The "Homecoming Benefit & Revue" featured Porchlight alumni singing numbers from such past productions as "Nine," "Ragtime" and "Phantom." Here's to fifteen more years, and congratulations! 

http://www.porchlighttheatre.com/events.htm

A week ago Monday, Bailiwick Repertory Theater announced its reorganization at "Bailiwick Chicago." Now a self-described artist "Collective," with many Mosh Pit friends involved, this revitalized company will hopefully live out the promise of its vaunted name in the best way possible. And, as they promise that three of their five 2010 projects will be musicals, we anticipate a great new voice for our off-Loop musical theater community. Break a leg, you guys! 

http://www.bailiwickchicago.com/ 

Chicago's great and internationally recognized Second City improv troupe has had a big hit on its hands this fall with its mainstage musical revue "America: All Better!" And its next mainstage show, "Taming of the Flu," opens on December 6th, directed by Mick Napier. No, its not a Broadway musical. But I do think it's a Chicago one, and probably pretty darn funny. To see another way that music is used in a theatrical context, hie thee down to Wells Street, pronto. 

http://www.secondcity.com/?id=theatres/chicago/mainstage

In my preview of upcoming non-holiday musicals, I neglected to mention two offerings coming from the operetta end of the showtune spectrum (these things are a continuum, you know). Lyric Opera of Chicago's new production of Franz Lehar's "The Merry Widow" (in English, and directed by the very non-operetta Gary Griffin) opens December 5th, starring the radiant Elizabeth Futral and a whole slough of Chicago theater types. 

http://www.lyricopera.org/

And Evanston's Light Opera Works presents Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Pirates of Penzance," opening December 26th and also in English (!), directed by the also-non-operetta Rudy Hogenmiller. (Ethics disclaimer: I am the Secretary of the Board of Directors there.) Both shows played Broadway back in the day. And who could forget the Linda Ronstadt/Rex Smith "Pirates"?

http://www.light-opera-works.org/the_pirates_of_penzance.html

Last but not least, let me tell you that I had occasion to be in Branson, Missouri over the weekend. This tiny north Ozarks town has seemingly no reason for being, save for the existence of about forty theaters (give or take a few), hotels, restaurants and gift shops, and an eager audience of middle-America middle-class ordinary people, senior citizens and the drivers of their buses. Eschewing the country-and-western shows and the children's shows, I went the nostalgia route, witnessing variety show/vaudeville/TV special evenings presided over by the (nearly) 82-year-old Andy Williams (at the huge Moon River Theater), by the Osmond Brothers (older brother Alan is now represented by his photogenic son David) and by a Japanese-American violinist previously unknown to me named Shoji Tabuchi. All three shows featured plenty of show tunes, believe me. 

While Andy Williams is pretty much the marquee act in Branson (and is still in excellent voice), the Osmonds perform in a more modest theater. Not Shoji! He's been there for twenty years, surrounding himself with about three dozen singers, dancers and instrumentalists, charging top dollar at his 2000-seat theater and giving it all he's got. And yes, the men's bathroom has a billiard table in it. People loved it.

http://www.shoji.com/info.htm

While I didn't take in Branson's only "Broadway musical" of the moment, Cathy Rigby in "Peter Pan," I didn't feel cheated at all. And, while Chicago probably has more than forty theaters, you can't buy tickets to our shows in every restaurant, hotel and timeshare in town. I think we have a few lessons to learn from our Show-Me neighbors! 

http://www.bransonshows.com/bransonShows.cfm 

Speechless now, are you? Sorry about that! But I'm telling you, the Branson theaters could offer just about anything, and people would go. That's showbiz, alright! Contemplate that, while you dissect the ins and outs of the next show you see. And tell me about it, when I see you this weekend under the video screens.....--PWT

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