'The Showtune Mosh Pit' for September 17th, 2014

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:

So let's talk about the Broadway Playhouse for a minute. Originally the Drury Lane Water Tower Place, the theater has in recent years hosted sit-down tours of "Xanadu" and "Rock Of Ages," local sit-downs of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" and "Shout" and the re-working of "Working." And it revealed its promise as a house for tourist-friendly children's shows with a multi-year run of "Pinkalicious." So far, so good.

The house has its work cut out for it this year, with a pretty busy schedule of bookings. First comes the tour of "Evil Dead," full of Chicago actors and essentially opening here after two stints out of town this month. The Toronto and Off-Broadway hit will make its Chicago debut September 23-October 12 before heading onto the road for the remainder of the year. Do you want to sit in the Splatter Zone??? The next musical in the BP will be the world premiere of "Dee Snider's Rock And Roll Christmas Tale," featuring the rock legend in a show he's written himself (November 4, 2014-January 4, 2015). Nearly simultaneous to that will be a world premiere children's show, "Hansel & Gretel: A Wickedly Delicious Musical Treat," as we have previously announced here in the Mosh Pit (November 22, 2014-January 4, 2015).

http://www.theatreinchicago.com/theatredetail/BroadwayPlayhouse

Newly announced onto the schedule for Mag Mile playgoers is the return in triumph of "50 Shades: The Musical Parody," incubated by the Chicago musical improv troupe "Baby Wants Candy" and enjoying great success off-Broadway right now. Pictured is one of the promo shots for the production, booked for the Broadway Playhouse the week of January 13-18, 2015. I'm assuming this is a touring cast, as I haven't seen any plans to terminate the New York run. Get your leather ready!

http://www.50shadesthemusical.com/

While the run of "Evil Dead" doesn't fall as felicitously on Halloween here as it will in some future tour city, the musical "Musical Of The Living Dead" has been timed to do exactly that for the last five years, and this year is no exception. The Cowardly Scarecrow Theatre Company, Inc. will once again mount this original Chicago musical for your Halloween enjoyment, running October 9-November 8, 2014 at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Avenue. Marc Lewallen and Brad Younts direct their book and lyrics, with music by Mary Spray and choreography by Carisa Barreca. Can you say, "Dueling Splatter Zones?" For the weekend of October 9-12, you absolutely can.

Cowardly-Scarecrow-Theatre-Companys-MUSICAL-OF-THE-LIVING-DEAD

Two shows were added to the Broadway In Chicago line-up at their other theaters recently. The off-Broadway percussion extravaganza dating to the early 1990s, "Stomp," will tour through the Bank Of America Theatre the week of January 20-25. I'm not sure whether it involves showtunes or not, but it's music and it's in a theater, so there's that. Is it a concert? Not sure. But it's back.

STOMP-Heading-Back-to-Chicago-in-January-2015

And the Beatles tribute experience "Rain," which I think has been here three times before, will play the Oriental Theatre April 14-19. Pretend that it's "Jersey Boys" without the book scenes. And about a different band.

RAIN-A-TRIBUTE-TO-THE-BEATLES-Returning-to-Chicago-in-April-2015

The other "50 Shades Of Grey" parody musical (yes, there are two, at least!), "Spank: The Fifty Shades Parody," will play our area for only one night, on Friday, October 24, 2014 at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora. The kitties of "Cats" will have vacated the stage by then, though some of their outfits might translate well....

SPANK-THE-FIFTY-SHADES-PARODY-Playing-Auroras-Paramount-Theatre

Somehow, two original musicals that double as an action hero parody and as a board game parody escaped my notice during the summer. They are "Assemblers 3" and "Don't Pass Go," playing on Friday and Saturday nights, respectively, through the weekend before Thanksgiving. The place of all this action is pH Productions in Andersonville. Emerging from the world of sketch comedy (as did both of the "50 Shades" shows), these shows are scripted, but were developed through improv and the other comedy techniques Chicago is world famous for. We do this better and in higher volume than anywhere else.

pH-Productions-to-Present-ASSEMBLERS-3-and-DONT-PASS-GO

Next Monday night at 8:00 is the highly anticipated gala benefit launch for the FWD Theatre Project, the incubator for new musicals that is the brainchild of actress Amber Mak and some likeminded and diversely skilled colleagues. A whole bunch of actors will be on hand to perform songs from the five shows that FWD has chosen to shepherd through the develop process. And headlining the evening, at City Winery on the Near West Side, will be three local natives who have gone on to success in New York, one in a spectacular way. Tony winner Jessie Mueller will make her first Chicago appearance since her Tony win, as she continues to perform in "Beautiful" at Broadway's Stephen Sondheim Theatre. Her sister Abby Mueller ("Kinky Boots") will perform too, as will stage and cabaret star Karen Mason, whose latest Broadway adventure was in Frank Wildhorn's short-lived "Wonderland," though it was supposed to be as Mrs. Danvers in the ill-fated "Rebecca." I'll be on hand to soak up all the gossip and buzz. Will you be there?

FWD-Theatre-Project-Releases-Additional-Tickets-for-this-Months-Launch-Concert

The fall revue from Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, "A Kurt Weill Cabaret," begins performances this week, performing at the No Exit Café in Rogers Park from September 19 through October 19. But it's not every night you'd think, as the company's summer blockbuster, "A Musical Tribute To The Andrews Sisters," still has a few select dates left to play through October 6. That's more than four months for the sisters of boogie-woogie. Weill, the German-American master of sophisticated musical theatricals (he collaborated with all the leading wordsmiths of his day, including Bertolt Brecht, Maxwell Anderson, Langston Hughes, Elmer Rice, Ira Gershwin, Alan Jay Lerner and Moss Hart), will be celebrated in Theo style by a cast of five. Jeff and BroadwayWorld Chicago Award winner Jeremy Ramey provides the arrangements and musical direction.

A-KURT-WEILL-CABARET-Begins-9-19-at-No-Exit-Cafe

Another master of the mid-century musical, Cole Porter, will be saluted in similar fashion by Light Opera Works, and the company is now preparing the company of its original show, "Cole Porter's Greatest Hits," with a cast of four and musical direction by Roger L. Bingaman. Performing at the Nichols Concert Hall in Evanston will be three veterans and a fresh face, James Harms, James Rank, Mary Robin Roth and Katelin Spencer. October 3-12 is the timeslot.

Light-Opera-Works-to-Present-COLE-PORTERS-GREATEST-HITS

And lastly, oh Mosh Pit peeps, do you think I would let pass by the monumentous occasion of the release of a Barbra Streisand album? Oh ye of little faith! Streisand's "Partners" was released yesterday, September 16, 2014, and its supporters are hoping it will enter the charts at #1, thus giving her a chart-topping release in six consecutive decades. While many of us were under the video screens on Monday night, la Streisand was the only guest on Jimmy Fallon's "The Tonight Show" on NBC, dueting with the scampering host and displaying some pretty nice pipes for a lass of her age. The album is all duets, and does include some Broadway material, such as "Come Rain Or Come Shine" (with John Mayer) and her hit "People" (with Stevie Wonder). Now, we're not saying that the cover art is the best photograph of Barbra ever taken, but it got your attention, didn't it? And, like another musical theater icon, Julie Andrews, we haven't seen her natural hair color since the 1960s. So? Your point is???

Barbra-Streisand-On-Recording-With-Elvis-Presley-For-PARTNERS

So fall is apparently really upon now. But thank goodness we have all this musical theater to keep us moving from place to place. The leaves haven't changed yet, so get out there and see some shows! And I'll see you afterwards, under the video screens.....-PWT

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