Times are tough and if your vacation funds are low, you may have to consider a "staycation" this summer. Oh sure, that phony buzzword has been ubiquitous across the media landscape lately, but hey, it makes fiscal sense.
For those of you stuck home, why not check out these suggested shows? You'll theatrically go to places both far and near, plus save a lot on travel expenses. All shows in Chicago unless otherwise noted.
Broadway in ( and around ) Chicago
Why visit New York City when Broadway stars and shows make stops in Chicago? We have our own sit-down production of Jersey Boys, while tours like Mary Poppins ( through July 12 ) and Legally Blonde The Musical ( through June 7 ) are currently playing. Check out these upcoming shows and concerts with impressive Broadway credentials:
—Fiddler on the Roof, Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre, June 10-28. This production ( not based upon David Leveaux's controversial 2004 Broadway revival ) , is billed as Chaim Topol's farewell tour. Topol, of course, was the star of the original London production, the 1971 film version and the 1990 Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof. See him return to his iconic role of Tevye for one last time.
—Spring Awakening, ( Photo by Paul Kolnik ) Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre, Aug. 4-18. Spring Awakening may be set in the late-19th century, but the angst over teenage sexuality is up to date thanks to a rocking score by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater. This show won a boatload of critical acclaim and eight Tony Awards when it bowed on Broadway in 2006. See for yourself if it lives up to all the hype.
—Camelot in concert, Ravinia Festival, Highland Park, June 5. Two-time Tony Award-winner George Hearn ( La Cage aux Folles, Sunset Blvd., ) headlines this concert staging of the beloved 1960 Lerner & Lowe musical set at the court of King Arthur. Soprano Sylvia McNair and baritone Rod Gilfry also star.
—Patti LuPone with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Ravinia Festival, Aug. 8. Two-time Tony Award winner Patti LuPone ( Evita, Gypsy ) teams up again with conductor James Conlon and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in an all-Kurt Weill concert. On the bill is the sung Brecht ballet The Seven Deadly Sins, plus selections from Weill's Broadway shows like One Touch of Venus, Lady in the Dark and more.
—Night & Day: A Cole Porter Evening featuring David Hyde Pierce and Victoria Clark, Ravinia Festival, Sept. 6. Tony Award winners David Hyde Pierce ( Curtains ) and Victoria Clark ( The Light in the Piazza ) twist their tongues around Cole Porter's tricky wordplay and soaring jazz melodies in this concert featuring songs from shows like Anything Goes, Kiss Me Kate and more.
—A Tribute to Rodgers & Hammerstein featuring Kelli O'Hara and Paulo Szot, Ravinia Festival, Sept. 6. The stars of the hit 2008 Broadway revival of South Pacific, Tony Award-winning Brazilian baritone Paulo Szot and three-time Tony Award-nominee Kelli O'Hara, reunite for a special concert honoring Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.
—Debbie Reynolds, Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace, Aug. 6-9. Debbie Reynolds is best known for being Hollywood royalty in films like Singin' in the Rain and The Unsinkable Molly Brown. But she, too, has been a big hit on Broadway ( Irene in 1973 ) .
Traveling abroad
If an overseas vacation isn't in the cards, consider these shows to whet your wish for far away places:
—Cirque Shanghai: Bright Spirit, Navy Pier's Pepsi Skyline Stage, June 3-Sept. 7. Chinese acrobats, contortionists and gymnasts come back to Chicago for the fourth annual stint of Cirque Shanghai at Navy Pier.
—La Cage aux Folles, Bohemian Theatre Ensemble at Theatre Building Chicago. Now to July 11. St. Tropez on the French Riviera is the setting for Jerry Herman and Harvey Fierstein's hit 1983 musical involving family values and high-kicking drag queens.
—Greek, Chicago Opera Vanguard at St. Paul Arts Center, June 2-13. The Oedipus myth gets updated to 1980s Great Britain under Margaret Thatcher in the Chicago premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage's expletive-filled opera.
—A Little Night Music, Light Opera Works at Cahn Auditorium, Evanston, June 5-14. Sweden in summer is where the mixed-up lovers of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's 1973 musical wistfully play games of the heart.
—Aladdin, Chicago Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier, July 1-Aug. 30. To lure in the tourist crowds, Chicago Shakespeare Theater turns to a stage adaptation of Disney's classic 1992 animated feature set in the mythical Middle East. Watch out for audiences singing along to "A Whole New World."
—Cyrano de Bergerac, Oak Park Festival Theatre, July 15-Aug. 15. Everyone knows why the dashing title hero of this classic French drama doesn't think he can be romantically loved. His long nose, of course.
—The Light in the Piazza, Marriott Theatre Lincolnshire, July 22-Sept. 20. Travel to 1950s Florence, Italy, with an overprotective mother and her daughter in Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas' critically acclaimed 2005 musical based upon Elizabeth Spencer's romantically complex novella.
—Cabaret, Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace, Aug. 13-Oct. 11. Weimar Republic Berlin was a swinging place to be for hedonists—that is, until the Nazis rose to power. See this classic Kander and Ebb musical which features such hit songs like "Wilkommen," "Maybe This Time" and "Cabaret."
Traveling stateside
No need to pile the kids into the station wagon and drive for hours on end. See these shows set in various states ( and territories ) around the U.S.A.
—Pump Boys & Dinettes, Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace, now through Aug. 2. If only real-life gas station attendants and waitresses were as talented at singing country music as the characters are in this hit 1980s musical. You'd never want to leave that roadside diner.
—Bat Boy: The Musical, Village Players Theatre, Oak Park. May 29-June 28. The tabloid headlines are true! A bat boy has been found in a West Virginia cave and now he's out looking for love!
—Fifth of July, Oak Park Festival Theatre, June 10-July 11. Rural Missouri in the 1970s is a place for ruefulness and disillusionment in this Lanford Wilson drama concerning the Talley family.
—Up, Steppenwolf Theatre, June 18-Aug. 23. This Chicago premiere play by Bridget Carpenter is not to be confused with that new Pixar film of the same name. Although the poster art shows a man being held aloft by balloons in a lawn chair, this comic drama is all about an American family trying to escape their many boundaries.
—Boleros for the Disenchanted, Goodman Theatre, June 20-July 26. Jose Rivera's magical realist drama concerns a Puerto Rican woman who gets swept off her feet to America, only to face some uncomfortable truth many years later from a visiting angel.
—Tupperware: An American Fable, The New Colony at La Costa Theatre, July 13-Aug. 9. Travel to 1950s Kissimmee, Fla., to visit Brownie Wise, the marketing genius behind Tupperware home party sales in this new musical by the creators of Love is Dead: A Necromantic Musical.
Staying at home
There are lots of things to explore at home. You fill the blanks with these two suggestions:
—The Crowd You're in With, Goodman Theatre, Now through June 21. What could be more relaxing than a backyard barbeque in Chicago? Well, it won't be comfortable in Rebecca Gilman's comic drama tackling three couples with very different approaches to parenting.
—Clitoris Stories, A Reasonable Facsimile Theatre Company at Cornservatory. June 5-30. Tina Haglund takes a page from Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues to explore another vital part of the women's anatomy, located "down there."
