Addams Family sketch by Charles Addams. Printed with permission from the Tee and Charles Addams Foundation.
Chicago will forever be known in song as 'that toddilin' town.' But don't be surprised if you hear theater folk substituting the lyrics 'that trying-out town' really soon.
Thanks to the boatload of New York plaudits and awards lavished last season on Chicago-area institutions like Steppenwolf Theatre Company ( for August: Osage County ) , Next Theatre ( for Adding Machine ) and Chicago Shakespeare Theater ( the 2008 Regional Theatre Tony Award winner ) , Gotham producers and journalists have been paying much more attention to the Windy City. Even with the jittery economy, Chicago is making a louder bleep than usual on America's theatrical radar.
Expect even more attention with a few more high-profile Chicago shows that are both officially ( and possibly unofficially ) angling for New York berths.
We already have the American premiere of the screen-to-stage Dirty Dancing at the Cadillac Palace Theatre. Like Mamma Mia!, it is touring to a few major cities to make a quick and fast buck before facing down the notoriously vicious New York critics ( Dirty Dancing is already rumored to be eyeing Broadway's Neil Simon Theatre after its current tenant, Hairspray, closes in January ) .
Then there's the recent announcement of two other high-profile Broadway-bound musicals playing Chicago in 2009: The Addams Family and Rob Roy.
The Addams Family has strong Chicago ties, what with Elephant Eye Theatrical ( made up of local producers Stuart Oken, Michael Leavitt and Five Cent Productions ) teaming up with New York producer Roy Furman for its Windy City Chicago tryout.
Expectations are already high, especially since Tony and Emmy Award-winners Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth have participated in workshop productions of this new musical penned by composer/lyricist Andrew Lippa ( The Wild Party, john and jen ) and the playwright team of Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice ( Jersey Boys, Turn of the Century ) .
Lest you think Broadway is stooping to a new TV low for inspiration, Oken is quick to point out that The Addams Family originated as a series of highbrow New Yorker comics by that inestimable cartoonist Charles Addams. ( Oken says the musical's writing team has gone back to the original cartoon sources for crafting their material. )
Coming much sooner is Rob Roy, making a high profile February try out at the long-eschewed Arie Crown Theater in McCormick Place after receiving favorable notices in Edinburgh over the summer. Based upon a Scottish historical rebel who caused much grief to the English crown of George I, Rob Roy boasts Tony-winning actor Len Cariou of Sweeney Todd fame as director and a book, score and lyrics by Canadian David Warrack.
But what's big news for Chicago theatergoers is this bold move by the Arie Crown to win back some of the spotlight that Broadway in Chicago wrested away with its renovated ( and corporately renamed ) historical Loop venues of the Oriental, Palace and Shubert Theaters. I do have to admit that I've never stepped a foot in the Arie Crown since I moved to Chicago five years ago. Perhaps Rob Roy and its newly planned theater marquee along Lake Shore Drive will make me an Arie Crown regular.
There are also two other Chicago shows to keep an eye on for future life out of town: the musical Tomorrow Morning ( reviewed in this issue ) and the British farce Don't Dress for Dinner at the Royal George Theatre.
After its London premiere in 2006, Tomorrow Morning producer Hilary A. Williams opted for a professional Chicago mounting with an all-Equity cast over one in New York. Though I wasn't too impressed by the show itself, Tomorrow Morning could become a strong regional theater property due to its economic cast size and ever-popular marriage subject matter.
Don't Dress for Dinner arrives with recognizable TV stars and a reliable Broadway director attached. Broadway veteran John Tillinger directs stars Jeffrey Donovan ( TV's Burn Notice, the movie Changeling ) and Patricia Kalember ( TV's Sisters, thirtysomething ) in a good-old-fashioned British sex farce. ( Perhaps Don't Dress for Dinner will take off like the London-to-Broadway hit 1960s revival of Boeing Boeing. )
These are just a few productions to keep your eye on, in addition to the regularly consistent good work put out by Chicago's homegrown companies. After all, shows like August: Osage County and Adding Machine were meant solely for Chicago audiences before New York producers took notice. Of course we Chicagoans know what theatrical marvels are constantly being grown here, so it's extra nice when the hometown crowd makes a big splash on and off Broadway.
Please send theater news, information and other tidbits to scottishplayscott@yahoo.com .
