The phrase "boob tube" may take on another meaning March 6, when one of the hottest events of the year, Chicago Takes Off ( CTO ) —which showcases hot male and female dancers—takes on classic television. Windy City Times spoke with CTO co-producer Todd Kiech and Test Positive Aware Network ( TPAN ) Associate Director of Special Events Rhett Lindsay about, among other things, what the audiences can expect.
Windy City Times: Todd, tell me about your dancing background and how you became involved in "Chicago Takes Off."
Todd Kiech: I came from concert dance, from modern dance, so I danced with a couple modern-dance companies here in Chicago: Akasha Dance Company and Chicago Repertory Dance Ensemble. So I was in that arena for many years. Then I stopped dancing—but you really never stop dancing. I did some musical theater and some more commercial work—cruise ships, a show for Disney.
Then, I started choreographing special events. I worked with Sidetrack, and I wanted to do something with men—and then with men in less and less clothing. [ Laughs ] I got introduced to a show in New York City called Broadway Bares; it's amazing. When I saw the first production number, I said, "Oh, my God! That's it!" It's so fun and sexy and [ filled with ] great performances, so anytime I had an event I patterned it after that.
And I was, of course, friends with [ CTO co-founder ] Keith [ Elliott ] ; I was helping out with "Dance Divas," which is a spin-off of Dance for Life. He mentioned that he would be doing this event for TPAN and I said that I would be doing these burlesque-y things, and he said, "You should help with this."
WCT: It's being held March 6 this year. Wasn't it held in February in previous years?
Todd Kiech: The first two years it was in February.
Rhett Lindsay: Yes. The committee decided it was a better fit for March. It allowed for more time for ticket sales after the holidays—and it has been a better fit, not only [ regarding ] ticket sales but also for the agency; it gives us a chance to break up things more and devote more time to this event.
WCT: Last year's event raised how much?
RL: About $70,000. It's usually between $70,000 and $100,000.
WCT: I guess this is more of a question for you, Rhett. Just so people have an idea, where will the money specifically go?
Todd Kiech: That's a good question. Funding continues to just dry up—on the corporate side, on the foundation side and through the government, especially. We're still operating our programs that were state-funded. We're still waiting on some funding from the state from last year, so we're continuing to operate those programs through events like these and other revenues we can find.
We have two new programs; one is the Power Program that works with at-risk individuals who are in substance abuse or who are coming out of those programs as well as other mental-health services.
WCT: How did you decide upon this theme?
Todd Kiech: I don't remember. [ Laughs ] I remember just tossing it out at a wrap-up we had last year.
RL: There's always a bucket of ideas and themes, and this one was generated from that bucket last year.
Todd Kiech: I remember telling one of my close friends about this idea—"Yeah, I was thinking we could do some sort of retro TV theme, like Nick at Nite." And he said, "Oh, that's it! Think of all the options." And that's how other people [ responded ] . And [ with this idea ] , there's so much to mine from.
WCT: [ Joking ] I can't wait for the Mr. Belvedere skit.
Todd Kiech: [ Kiech and Lindsay laugh. ] That's the thing—we had so many things to pick and choose from. How do you choose? You know somebody's gonna be like, "You didn't do a Dallas number. That was my favorite TV show." [ But ] we had to think what fit in the show. We had to whittle some numbers out; it was tough. But it's not going to be, like, a literal I Dream of Jeannie number; we're using that as the starting point to make something creative, sexy and, hopefully, humorous show.
WCT: And this is all retro TV, so there's no Jersey Shore.
Todd Kiech: There will be no Snookis; the stage will be a Snooki-free zone. I think the way we start the show is fun—and I'm going to leave it at that.
WCT: People want to know. Can you provide one detail to tease the readers?
Todd Kiech: One detail from the show? [ Kiech and Lindsay whisper to other, hands over mouths, leading the interviewer to say, "I feel like I'm at a congressional hearing." Kiech and Lindsay laugh. ]
One thing I'm very excited about is our MC, [ drag king ] Murray Hill. I met Murray a couple years ago in New York—just hilarious. I've seen him a couple times since; [ he ] totally knows how to work an audience and is so connected and fun. I saw him again in Key West earlier this year and I said, "You have to come to Chicago." He was this '50s-'60s lounge-act comedian vibe.
WCT: So he fits in perfectly with the theme of the show.
Todd Kiech: Yes. I'm really excited to have Murray in the show.
WCT: And the dancers are all volunteers, correct?
Todd Kiech: Yes. They're volunteers, there's a volunteer staff, all the choreographers come on board and there's this huge creative staff. I'm guessing about 70.
WCT: Can you give me some idea of the work that goes into this production so our readers can appreciate how big it is?
Todd Kiech: There's a lot of work that goes into it. It starts with the creative—it's usually Keith and me deciding on the theme. Once we decide on the theme, we look at what we might want to slide into the show. Then we start contacting choreographers to see who's interested in participating and what's exciting for them. That's one of the things: I want it to be fun and exciting for you.
Then we start pulling dancers from all over the city—a lot by e-mail and word of mouth. And then we slot them into the [ skits ] , but scheduling is the toughest part. It's trying to find time for everyone.
RL: Trying to find a rehearsal space large enough for the cast [ is tough ] .
Todd Kiech: It's a lot of juggling.
RL: That's on the production side. But there's also a committee of about 25 people that always gives us great ideas; that's how [ the pre-event competition ] Bar-lesque was born, which raised $25,000 last year. So there's another layer of volunteers that spearheads ticket sales, marketing, decor, raffle. There's another part of building revenue for the event.
WCT: I just realized something: The "secret" you gave me about what's happening in the show is coming out in a press release. Can you give me another detail?
Todd Kiech: Let me scan through the show in my mind. OK—we're incredibly excited because this year Jeremy Plummer, who's an amazing choreographer and aerialist, is back. He did a duet aerial act a couple years ago.
RL: It's for the Dukes of Hazzard number.
Todd Kiech: I'm just excited to see an aerial act in boots.
"Chicago Takes Off: TV Land—Outside the Box" will take place Saturday, March 6, 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m., at the Park West, 322 W. Armitage. See www.ChicagoTakesOff.org and www.TPAN.com for tickets and more information.
