For the longest time, music director Robert Ollis has wanted to get his hands on The Boy from Oz. And now he has since Pride Films and Plays is presenting the Chicago premiere of The Boy from Oz this month at Stage 773.
First seen on Broadway in 2003, The Boy from Oz was a bio-jukebox musical about the life of gay Australian singer and songwriter Peter Allen. The Boy from Oz was the first Australian musical to play Broadway, and it was a box office sensation thanks to film star Hugh Jackman ( X-Men, Kate & Leopold ) and his Tony Award-winning performance as Allen.
But for some reason, the regional staging rights to The Boy from Oz were withheld for more than a decade after it closed on Broadway in 2004 when Jackman left the show. There was no American tour of The Boy from Oz, though Jackman did tour Australia in an arena-scale adaptation of the show after Broadway.
"I think it was unusual on Broadway that after Hugh Jackman left, the producers decided that they couldn't find a replacement so they closed the show down. There might have been the perception that he was the only person for that role," Ollis said. "I am of the opposite opinion because I think it is wonderful show with interesting characters in addition to Peter Allen, and that there's a fascinating story that doesn't only depend on one actor in order to pull off the show. In some ways, I think it will be a revelation to people as a wonderful ensemble piece."
Pride Films and Plays artistic director David Zak helms the production of The Boy from Oz, and he says audiences will be pleasantly surprised at how much they'll recognize Allen's pop songs written exclusively by him or with collaborators.
"When people come to see the show, there's a lot of the music he's written or songs that people know, but they just don't know it's him," said Zak, referring to songs like "I Honestly Love You," "Don't Cry Out Loud" and "Arthur's Theme ( Best That You Can Do )," which won Allen an Academy Award for Best Song. "I think people will be surprised by the complexity of the music, there's some soft-shoe and the 'I Go to Rio' finale is really great. They're definitely going to be walking out singing the music."
Zak also emphasized that The Boy from Oz will be the biggest production he's staged in Chicago since he helmed the local premiere of Jerry Springer: The Opera for the former Bailiwick Repertory. Pride Films and Plays has engaged a six-piece band for The Boy from Oz, and it will features a cast of 18 donning around 140 costumes.
Starring as Peter Allen in Chicago is out actor Chris Logan, who has notably appeared in ensembles of revues for Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre and in Murder Ballad for Bailiwick Chicago. Though Logan almost appears constantly onstage as Allen singing and dancing, he says perhaps the most difficult aspect of his performance is getting Allen's Australian accent down right.
"I've been watching all the Peter Allen interviews, watching his performances from Radio City Music Hall, I've been watching Aussie movies and I even went to the library to get this audio cassette tape of Aussie dialects," Logan said. "I literally had to go out to buy a boom box just so I could play it."
Logan is also extremely grateful to the opportunity finally be taking on such a large leading role in Chicago's theater scene, and an out character on top of that.
"It's actually kind of fun being able to play a gay character because that's something as a fellow gay man that you don't have to think about," Logan said. "He was just a showman and it's tough just making it all look easy."
In addition to the music, Zak and Ollis think The Boy from Oz will be a big hit with gay audiences since Allen notoriously was married early on in his career to Liza Minnelli. Both she and her mother, Judy Garland, appear in the musical, so Ollis and Zak joked that audiences will get three gay icons for the price of one.
But another interesting tie-in for Ollis is that he once appeared onstage with the real-life Allen. It was at the Chicago Theatre back in the 1980s for a star-studded fundraising show sponsored by the former department store Marshall Field's.
"It featured a lot of prominent stars including Peter Allen, Chita Rivera, Angela Lansbury and quite a few others and fortunately it also featured the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus," Ollis said. "As a member of the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus at the time, we were a backup for the full group numbers and the finale at the end."
Pride Films and Plays' Chicago premiere of The Boy from Oz plays now through Sunday, Aug. 30, at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave. Preview performances are Aug. 5-6, with an official press opening 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7. Tickets are $25-$40 and $20-$35 for seniors; call 773-327-5252, or visit either www.stage773.com or www.pridefilmsandplays.com .
