The cruelest month? Bah. April launches a springtime resurgence of musicals in and around Chicago, from the hyper-publicized ( The Color Purple ) to the comparatively obscure ( Shenandoah ) . The spectrum ranges from nobility ( Camelot ) to infamy ( Jerry Springer: The Opera ) on stages in the coming months, with plenty of song-and-dance extravaganzas in between. Here's a look at 10 we found especially intriguing:
1. Ragtime, Porchlight Music Theatre at the Theatre Building, 1225 W. Belmont, April 6-May 27; 773-327-5252
Harry Houdini, the Gilded Age's iconic illusionist, serves as one of the most thrilling metaphors in musical theater history in Terrence McNally ( book ) , Lynn Aherns ( lyrics ) and Stephen Flaherty's ( music ) adaptation of E.L. Doctorow's magical and justly acclaimed novel, Ragtime. Porchlight Music Theatre tackles the sweeping epic with direction by Walter Stearns and musical direction by Eugene Dizon. Characters both real—activist Emma Goldman raging against the machine, and captain of industry Henry Ford spewing anti-Semitic vitriol—and fictional—such as ragtime pianist Coalhouse Walker, making the music that defined the era—populate the richly detailed saga swirling at the intersection of race, class and syncopation.
2. Forbidden Broadway—Special Victims Unit; open run, Royal George Theatre, 1641 N. Halsted; 312-988-9000
Crimes committed against the theater-going public set to music; now there's a concept. How about a big production number featuring, oh, singing cats for example? The concept takes the stage as the Royal George hosts Forbidden Broadway—Special Victims Unit in an open run. Gerard Alessandrini's Forbidden Broadway franchise has proven its commercial chops by skewering the wretched excesses and lowest-common-denominator pandering of commercial theater for the better part of a decade. SVU plans to take the satirical tradition to criminal heights.
3. The Color Purple; opens April 17; Cadillac Palace. 151 W. Randolph; 312-977-1700
This little musical's been flying below the radar so you night not have heard of it. Right. The Color Purple is based on the book of the same name by Alice Walker, and is directed by Chicagoan Gary Griffin, who has come a long way since his days helming community theater productions out at the Village Theatre Ensemble out in Glen Ellyn. And, oh yes, Oprah's the top-of-the-line producer. Having played in New York and Atlanta, it's about time The Color Purple made its way to Chicago. Watch for Felicia P. Fields to blow the audience to kingdom come—in a good way.
4. Hats; opens April 20; Royal George Theatre, 1641 N. Halsted; 312-988-9000
With the April 20 opening of Hats at the Royal George, producers no doubt hope to pick up some of the Menopause demographic. ( One can only hope Hats treats women as more than a stereotyped collection of symptoms. ) The production centers on a 49,999-year-old-woman distraught about hitting the big 5-0 until she runs into a group of feisty females of a certain age who teach her that life begins at 50,000. Given that roles for women over 40 are about as common as, oh, real-life singing cats, we're rooting for the show to work.
5. The Frogs, opens April 27; Pegasus Players 1145 W. Wilson; 773-878-9761
The amphibiously titled musical by Burt Shevelove, Nathan Lane and Stephen Sondheim makes its Midwest premiere April 27, as Pegasus stages the swimming-pool set adaptation of Aristophanes' ancient Greek tragedy. In Arisophanes' tale, Euripides and Asechylus pontificate and argue over who was the better dramatist. In the contemporary Frogs, the debate is between William Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw.
6. Camelot; May 1-13; LaSalle Bank Theatre, 18 W. Monroe; 312-977-1700
King Arthur, Lancelot, Guinevere and the mighty Merlin hold court starting May 2 at the LaSalle Bank Theatre in Camelot. The lavish touring production of the Lerner and Lowe classic features Michael York ( most recently of Austin Powers fame, but also known for his work in Cabaret and The Three Musketeers ) and a golden score fit for royalty. ( If Ever I Would Leave You is an aching masterpiece, and showtunes don't get much more rousing than the title tune here. )
7. Kiss Me Kate, Light Opera Works, June 1-10; Chan Auditorium, Evanston; 847-869-6300
Light Opera Works presents Taming of the Shrew, in modern English with music by the incomparable Cole Porter. The plot's a problem in modern times: How do you sell the story of a headstrong, determinedly single woman brought to heel and ground down into domestic tranquility by an overbearing macho love interest?
8. Shenandoah; April 25-June 24; Marriott, Lincolnshire, 10 Marriott, Lincolnshire; 847-634-0200
War—what is it good for? Absolutely nothin'. Except maybe a few showtunes, penned once the war has passed from the realm of current event into distant history. Shenandoah, opening April 25 at the Marriott, deals with a pacifist forced into action when his son becomes caught up in the Civil War.
9. Jerry Springer—The Opera; opens May 14; Bailiwick Repertory, 1229 W. Belmont; 773-883-1090
It's always nice to feel superior, even if it's only to trailer-park dwelling meth-head inbreds who subsist on grape soda and Cheez Whiz. And that's one of the reason the The Jerry Springer show is enduring. No matter how skaggy you're feeling, the brawling low-life louts on Springer are skaggier. The Bailiwick Repertory Theatre scored a major coup in snagging the rights to Jerry Springer—The Opera, which opens May 14. Herein, Jerry's singing guests include two-timing lovers with tawdry secrets, all desperate for their moment in the spotlight. The show then veers toward the surreal, as Springer is forced to experience the worst day of his life.
10. Fire on the Mountain; May 19-June 17, Northlight Theatre, 9501 N. Skokie, Skokie; 847-673-6300
There's a primal, haunting and irresistible undertow to the music of Appalachia. And when it's performed by the likes of Mississippi Charles Bevel, it becomes indelible. Bevel stars in Northlight's Fire on the Mountain, the bluegrass-steeped story of a group of Appalachian coal miners. Master fiddler Dan Wheetman intensifies the melody on the strings in the musical he wrote with Dan Randal Myler.