'The Showtune Mosh Pit' for October 19th, 2011

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:

Monday night, October 17, 2011 at Sidetrack was epic! "Show Tunes" (as the video evening is formally called) was graced by the presence of Brent Barrett, Broadway star and currently in town starring in "Follies" at Chicago Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier, directed by Gary Griffin and choreographed by Alex Sanchez (also starring Caroline O'Connor and a whole slew of Chicago stage legends). Barrett (that's him on the left, with yours truly) sang two numbers just after ten o'clock, "All I Care About Is Love" from "Chicago" and "The Road You Didn't Take" from "Follies." Co-star Susan Moniz was unable to make it as originally announced, so we were lucky indeed that Barrett was willing to sing his "Chicago" chestnut alongside the real reason he was there. But he was charming and gracious, and the crowd was great, and included cast members from the "Mary Poppins" national tour, folks from both "Follies" and "Murder For Two" at ChiShakes, and, among other assorted showbiz types, Broadway actor Bobby Steggert ("Ragtime" and "Yank") and director David Cromer ("Our Town"). Barrett and Steggert had not met before that night, as it happens. Well, a great time was had by all, courtesy of VJ Michael Morehead and the hardworking Sidetrack staff. "Follies," by the way, received phenomenal reviews, has extended one week, to November 13, and continues to attract national internet interest, alongside its Broadway counterpart (a lady named Peters in is that one).

Chicago Shakespeare Theater - Home

And so, Halloween is nearly upon us! Every year at this time, the Showtune Mosh Pit takes notice of some of the many scary and ghoulish theatrical entertainments that pop up in Chicagoland for the Eve of All Saints Day. It would probably be impossible to list them all, but let's hit the highlights, shall we?

I know of two productions of "The Rocky Horror Show," thought there are probably more somewhere out there in the dark. The first I'll mention runs weekends from October 20-30 at The Underground Lounge in Chicago's Wrigleyville neighborhood, 952 W. Newport Avenue. It's courtesy of a new musical theater company called Underscore Theatre Company, and it features new orchestrations by David Kornfeld. The group's members have been active on the midwest's fringe circuit. Anthony D'Amato stars as Dr. Frank-n-Furter.

The Rocky Horror Show in Chicago, Fall 2011!

The second "Rocky" is a little further north of the Loop, in McHenry County, actually. The town of Woodstock is artsier than you might think, and the Raue Center For The Arts plays host to the Williams Street Rep, whose mounting of the musical runs October 21-30, starring Chicagoan John Cardone as Frank, directed by T. Paul Lowry. They've got a cast of 14 and an orchestra of 5. Here's a nice article from Monday's "Northwest Herald:"

Northwest Herald | Do the 'Time Warp'

Not quite so far northwest is production I've mentioned before, Frank Wildhorn's musical "Dracula," now running at Cutting Hall in Palatine, a co-production of Theatre Nebula and Music On Stage. There's a lot of information on the Theatre Nebula website about the various incarnations of the show leading up to this current one, its Midwest premiere. The production runs through November 6th. Check it out, or you may not get another chance, even though Wildhorn and co-bookwriters and lyricists Don Black and Christopher Hampton are all major names. Go figure.

Dracula

The theatrical concert event "Alien Queen" is making yet another appearance (its fourth, I think), starring Jeff Award-winner Ryan Lanning as Ridley in this parody mash-up of the "Alien" film franchise and the music of the band Queen. It's one night only at the Metro nightclub on Clark Street, Friday, October 28. The evening will also include "Battlestar Fantastica," a "sci-fi comic burlesque." Check out the outrageous video trailer! This will be anything but boring.......

Metro | Chicago

There's another encore musical mashup performance appropriate to the season, "Musical Of The Living Dead," playing October 13-November 12 at the Charnel House, 3421 W. Fullerton Avenue. Back for its second year, this "musical zombie comedy" is a parody of classic zombie films and traditional musical theater, with original music by Mary Spray "inspired by everything from Gershwin to Green Day." It's produced by The Cowardly Scarecrow Theatre Company, Inc. and directed by Marc Lewallen and Brad Younts (they also wrote the book and lyrics). There's a cast of eleven, and a "splatter zone" in the front rows of the theatre. And I have to admit, a show like this (whose poster includes the tagline "They Won't Stop Singing!!!") strikes me as pretty darn clever!

http://www.musicalofthelivingdead.com/

Opening last Friday and playing on Friday nights only, but through November 25, is the return of 2009's "Salem! The Musical" at the Annoyance Theatre in Uptown. I guess revivals of musical parodies are in this year! This one, of course, has that sketch comedy, improv vibe. Megan Johns directs the all-female cast, with songs by Dan Wessels, musical director at ComedySportz and of the singprov troupe "Baby Wants Candy."

http://www.salem-the-musical.com/

But there are non-scary musicals too! I would be remiss if I didn't mention that our two most important suburban Equity houses are both beginning performances of their next shows this weekend. The Drury Lane Theatre will be housing Rachel Rockwell's staging of "The Sound Of Music" for a very long run (from October 20, 2011 through January 8, 2012), starring local leading man Larry Adams, Broadway leading lady Patti Cohenour and newcomer Jennifer Blood in the iconic role of Maria Von Trapp. McKinley Carter, just done with "Putting It Together" at Porchlight Music Theatre, is Elsa. This will all be in Dupage County's Oakbrook Terrace, of course.

Drury Lane Oakbrook - Now Playing at Drury Lane Theatre

And up in Lake County's Lincolnshire, the Marriott Theatre is mounting "White Christmas," the Irving Berlin movie musical that played a few Christmases on Broadway of late and landed last season briefly in the Chicago Loop. It's a pretty solid-looking cast, too, led by Tammy Mader and Stephanie Binetti as the "Sisters" and Andrew Lupp and Rod Thomas as the showbiz men they pair up with. Alene Robertson, David Lively, Michael Weber, Anne Gunn, Buddy Reeder and Bernie Yvon are among the familiar names leading the large ensemble. "White Christmas" will be on view October 19-January 1.

Marriott Theatre In Lincolnshire

Lastly, let it be known that Broadway raconteur and musical director Seth Rudetsky is coming to Chicago a week and a half from now, to perform and teach at the Mayne Stage in Rogers Park. The Sirius/XM satellite radio host will present "Deconstructing Broadway," his own brand of analysis, snark and fanatical love for the artform, on Friday night, November 4 at 8:00 (tickets are $40). The next morning, starting at 10:00 am, he will be leading an auditioning master class, working with 24 Chicago performers (who'll pay $100 for the privilege) on the journey toward perfecting their audition material and presentation thereof. Super-serious actors and aficionados have already reserved their spots (spectator tickets are only $15). Have you? Gotta be quick, peeps!

Mayne Stage - Upcoming Events

So, fall is in force, and musical theater is everywhere! Sounds about right. Thanks again to Brent Barrett for celebrating it all with us on Monday. Where were you? Which showtune video night do you observe? Just pick a spot! Or make your own, in your own living room. Better yet, run down the street to the theater which has a live musical onstage for you! Awesome. Then tell me about it, the next time I see you under one of our video screens.....-PWT

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Photo Credit: Isaac Loomer

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