'The Showtune Mosh Pit' for November 24th, 2010
By: Paul W. Thompson Nov. 24, 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:
The biggest, most anticipated events of this week happen today! Two movies are arriving, which reflect tried and true movie musical techniques, but with a spin on them appropriate to today. Will Mosh Pit residents flock to them, by-passing turkey preparations or travel options? It seems fairly likely....
The first is "Burlesque," which sounds and looks to us like a good old backstage story about a youngster with stars in her eyes and the tough old broad who mentors and molds her. Sure, it's a contemporary R&B/dance-pop movie musical with a lot of Fosse-esque trappings, but I bet they both learn a few lessons about life, love and show biz in the process of working it all out. Reconcile their differences, learn who they love, save the art form they love--that sort of thing. That the youngster is played by pop chanteuse Christina Aguilera (in her big-screen debut), and the seasoned old pro is played by Cher, would certainly put "Burlesque" in the realm of "talked about," if not "already legendary." Do you have your tickets yet? Do you own the soundtrack? Did you get a Cher's-head fan on Monday night (the kind you would use in an un-air-conditioned church, were it not for the title of the movie)? Personally, I'm two out of three. What about you? Just how big is this movie going to be, hunh?
The second movie opening November 24, 2010 is "Tangled," the traditional-animation film from Walt Disney Studios with five songs by legendary film and stage composer Alan Menken ("The Little Mermaid," "Aladdin," "Little Shop Of Horrors," etc.). Using the fairy tale story of Rapunzel as a starting point, giving her a love interest named Flynn (pictured above) and getting her out of that tower as soon as possible are the techniques Disney is using to try and lure little girls, little boys and lovers of all things Disney back into theaters one more time--maybe for the last time with a traditional musical "princess" movie. We are glad to see two-time Tony winner Donna Murphy's name among the voice-over actors, by the way. Will "Tangled" do better than "The Princess And The Frog"? Is it another "Beauty And The Beast?" We will all see, really, really soon.
Back in the realm of live performances, is it just me, or is the showtune action on Monday nights in Chicago really heating up? Nearly all theaters are dark on Mondays, and of course Sidetrack has been offering up its internationally known night of videotaped Show Tunes for a quarter of a century on Halsted Street near Roscoe Street. But Petterino's, the restaurant adjacent to the Goodman Theatre at Randolph and Dearborn Streets in the Loop, has a very popular open mic series on Mondays, hosted by Denise McGowan and Beckie Menzie and called "Monday Night Live"--this week, the cast of Bailiwick Chicago's "Departure Lounge" performed there. And Davenport's Piano Bar, widely considered the city's best, also has an open mic night on Mondays in Wicker Park/Bucktown that we keep hearing about, hosted by George Howe. Within shouting distance of Sidetrack and each other, Spin Nightclub and Roscoe's Tavern and Café are both offering karaoke on Monday nights now. Spin's evening is hosted by John Florida, and Roscoe's is hosted by cabaret star Amy Armstrong--and features live instrumental accompaniment! (Must be a karaoke/open mic hybrid, I guess.) All those actors on their day off have a lot to choose from, or can attend more than one event. Crazy!
The two stage musicals based on the film "Miracle On 34th Street" are open and running here, just in time for the Thursday morning broadcast of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, which inspired the original film. Theatre At The Center in Munster has "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas," the Meredith Willson Broadway musical originally called "Here's Love." Robert Hildreth and David Perkovich are among the cast, and the show runs through December 19th.
Theater at the Center - On Stage - 2010 Season
Chicago's Porchlight Music Theatre is mounting its "Miracle On 34th Street" for the second year (now through January 2nd), though with first-time director Christopher Pazdernik at the helm. Jim Sherman and Mick Weber headline the show, which incorporates traditional holiday music and encourages children to encounter Santa Claus after each performance. It's at Stage 773 on Belmont Avenue.
Miracle on 34th Street: Porchlight Music Theatre Chicago
Several theaters are mounting the same holiday show as last season (certainly they are in good company in this regard). City Lit is offering up "The Wind In The Willows" again, its popular musical by Douglas Post. It will begin December 17 in the Edgewater neighborhood, directed by Terry McCabe.
Hell In A Handbag Productions will be remounting the satirical "Rudolph The Red-Hosed Reindeer" from December 2, 2010 through January 1, 2011 in the Mary's Attic space in the Andersonville neighborhood. There's a character named "Yukon Cornelia."
Nightblue Performing Arts Company is once again putting up the Mindi Dickstein/Jason Howland musical "Little Women" (not necessarily a holiday show, of course, but partly one, perhaps). It's also at Stage 773, opening this weekend and running through December 19th.
Redmoon Theater has opened up its "2010 Winter Pageant" (I've lost count of shows running now through January 2, 2011) at its home on West Hubbard Street. It's not strictly a remount, but rather the next in a series. And it's advertised as incorporating "puppetry, gadgets, a wild transforming set, a host of hilarious characters, and a fantastic soundtrack straight from the 1960's!" Their pictures always look so great, too.
And, last but certainly not least, is Chicago's next American premiere of a crowd-pleasing foreign-born, English-language musical. Hot on the heels of the aforementioned British musical "Departure Lounge," comes the Australian "Boojum!" Subtitled, "Nonsense, Truth and Lewis Carroll," this 1986 down-under "choral nonsense theatre" piece by the Martin Wesley-Smith and Peter Wesley-Smith is being presented by Caffeine Theatre and Chicago Opera Vanguard at the City of Chicago's DCA Storefront Theatre in the Loop, now through December 16th. Exploring the mind of "Alice In Wonderland" author Lewis Carroll, this show sure sounds genre-jumping and mind-expanding, and snarky.... The top-notch non-Equity cast includes such artists as Heather Townsend, Jeremy Trager, Stephen Rader, Sara Sevigny and Michael Reyes. Indeed, when a piece has pulled together (and apparently needed) the backstage musical talents of Jimmy Morehead, Andra Velis Simon, Eric Reda and Myron Silberstein, something significant is going on. It's gotten some pretty interesting reviews so far, and is a virtually unknown twenty-four year-old Australian work. You just never know, do you! Don't you just love Chicago?
Boojum! Nonsense, Truth, and Lewis Carroll
So, eat some turkey! Or, if you'd rather, some fish, some vegetables or some other holiday delight of your choosing. I'm no foodie, but I do know the musical theater world pretty well. As do you. And that's why I'll see you, stuffed to the gills and ready to show the world what you really love, next time, under the video screens.....--PWT
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