Posted on June 9, 2010 by Scotty Zacher
Yeah, it still rocks Apollo Theater Chicago presents Million Dollar Quartet Book by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux Musical Arrangements by Chuck Mead Directed by Floyd Mutrux & Eric Schaeffer at Apollo Theater, 2540 N. Lincoln (map) through September 5th | tickets: $59-$80 | more info reviewed by Oliver Sava I [...]
Filed under: 2010 Reviews, Apollo Theater, Broadway-bound, Musical Revue, Oliver Sava | Tagged: Sean Sullivan, Million Dollar Quartet, Levi Kreis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, Eric Schaeffer, Colin Escott, Kelly Lamont, Million Dollar Quartet Chicago review, theater review, Apollo Chicago Theatre, Outer Critics Circle, David Lago, Gabe Bowling, Tim Decker, Floyd Mutrux, Chuck Mead | Leave a Comment »
Posted on May 4, 2010 by Scotty Zacher
Yet another movie-turned-musical (e.g., The Producers, Shrek, The Wedding Singer, Billy Elliot, Hairspray, Legally Blonde, 9 to 5, etc.) to be added to the list: Little Miss Sunshine. This in-the-works musical will make it’s debut next winter at the La Jolla Playhouse. The 2006 Oscar-nominated, Sundance hit about a lovably dysfunctional family has signed up [...]
Filed under: Broadway-bound, Theater News, William Finn | Tagged: Into The Woods, Into the Woods Lapine, James Lapine, Little Miss Sunshine, Little Miss Sunshine the musical, Putnam County Spelling Bee, William Finn | 1 Comment »
Posted on January 29, 2010 by Scotty Zacher
“Revisions” for ‘Addams Family’ before Broadway run The producers of Addams Family, set for a spring Broadway opening, have hired the Tony Award-winning director Jerry Zaks as a consultant for the $16.5 million production, attempting to revive the musical from its less-than-glowing reviews. perhaps we were taking a little too much for granted assuming that [...]
Filed under: Broadway-bound, Oriental Theatre (Ford), Personnel Changes, Producing | Production, Theater News | Tagged: Adam Riegler, Addams Family, Addams Family musical, Addams Family reviews, Alena Watters, Andrew Lippa, Angelina Avallone, Barrett Martin, Basil Twist, Bebe Neuwirth, Carolee Carmello, Charlie Sutton, Clark Johnsen, Colin Cunliffe, Erick Buckley, Fred Inkley, Gregory Meeh, Jackie Hoffman, Jerry Zaks, Jessica Lea Patty, Jim Borstelmann, Julian Crouch, Kevin Chamberlin, Krysta Rodriguez, Larry Hochman, Liz Ramos, Marshall Brickman, Mary-Mitchell Campbell, Matthew Gumley, Merwin Foard, Morgan James, Natasha Katz, Nathan Lane, Phelim McDermott, Rachel de Benedet, Rick Elice, Samantha Sturm, Sergio Trujillo, Stuart Oken, Terrence Mann, Tom Watson, Valerie Fagan, Wesley Taylor, Zachary James | Leave a Comment »
Posted on December 21, 2009 by Scotty Zacher
The perfect Chicago-themed holiday stocking stuffer? Acclaimed Chicago restaurant Lawry’s Prime Rib, located in the historic McCormick Mansion, has created, just for Addams Family the Musical, a Creepy and Kooky, Mysterious and Spooky themed dinner. What does this Addams Family Dinner/Theatre package include? Starters: Eye of Newt Shooter, Green Pimento Olive Suspended in Citrus Jello, [...]
Filed under: Broadway in Chicago, Broadway-bound, Marketing, Oriental Theatre (Ford) | Tagged: Addams Family - the Musical, Lawry's Prime Rib, Lawry's Steak House, Lawry's The Prime Rib, McCormic Mansion, Oriental Theatre | 1 Comment »
Posted on December 5, 2009 by Scotty Zacher
Although a few elements of this remarkably uneven spectacle are terrific, it all adds up to a disappointing and chaotic whole. If you’re too impatient to sift through the details, the short version is that Cirque du Soleil’s effort to re-imagine the vaudeville variety show succeeds in the circus acts for which the company has become famous and fails in nearly all of its efforts to be vaudevillian and, notably, the comedy.
Filed under: 2009 Reviews, Broadway-bound, Chicago Theatre, Cirque du Soleil, Leah A. Zeldes, Musical Revue, World Premier | Tagged: Cirque du Soleil, Chicago Theatre, DAvid Shiner, Marx Brothers, Groucho Marx, Leah A. Zeldes, Banana Shpeel, Daniel Passer, Patrick de Valette, Gordon White, Wayne Wilson, Tuan Le, Vanessa Alvarez, Joseph Wiggan, Josette Wiggan, Dominique Lemieux, Patricia Ruel, Bruno Rafie, Claudio Carneiro, Banana Shpeel review, Cirque du Soleil review, Scott Price, The Wiggans, Dima Shine, Jeff Retzlanff, Kelsey Wiens, Joseph and josette Wiggan, Schmelky Spectacular, Jerry Kernion, Laurel and Hardy, The Three Stooges, review Banana Shpeel | 1 Comment »
Posted on November 13, 2009 by Scotty Zacher
UPDATE: Read our review – 3 stars!! click here After months of anticipation, The Addams Family (with music/lyrics by Andrew Lippa), finally begins previews this weekend, starting November 13, 2009 at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre. Starring two-time Tony Award winners Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth as Gomez and Morticia, The [...]
Filed under: Broadway in Chicago, Broadway-bound, Musical, Oriental Theatre (Ford), Theater News, World Premier | Tagged: Adam Riegler, Addams Family, Addams Family - the Musical, Addams Family Nathan Lane, Andrew Lippa, Bebe Neuwirth, Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Kevin Chamberlain, Krysta Rodriguez, Nathan Lane, Oriental Theatre, Pugsley, Terrence Mann, Wesley Taylor, Zachary James | 3 Comments »
Posted on September 2, 2009 by Scotty Zacher
Noreen Heron & Associates has announced that they are offering their first ever Broadway tour of New York Oct 15 – 18 (3 nights.) From the scheduled shows, it looks like a great time will be had by all: 1. First off, they were able to score 40 tickets to THE hottest show on Broadway, [...]
Filed under: Broadway, Broadway-bound, Outreach | Education, Tony Awards | Tagged: Elton John, Hugh Jackman, Billy Elliot the Musical, Noreen Henron, A Steady Rain, Daniel Craig, Ray Gaspard, Tavern on the Green | Leave a Comment »
Posted on August 18, 2009 by Scotty Zacher
Check out a great podcast interview with Stef Tovar, one of the producers and stars of High Fidelity…The Musical, currently playing at Piper’s Alley (map). Tovar talks about the show as well as his career. What caused Mozart’s death? A recent study says it might have been strep throat. Another big Hollywood name has [...]
Filed under: Broadway, Broadway-bound, Casting, Financials, Human Interest, Marketing, Physical Environs, Piper's Alley, Theater Gossip, Theater News, Think Fast, Tony Awards, William Shakespeare | Tagged: cocain found on money, cocain on dollar bills, cocain paper money, Hamlet, High Fidelity, Hilton Theater, Jude Law, Jude Law Tony Award, Patrick Sutton, Piper's Alley, Smock Alley Theatre, Spiderman the Musical, Stef Tovar, Theatre in Chicago, Tony Award, William Shakespeare Hamlet, Wolfgang Mozart | Leave a Comment »
Posted on April 1, 2009 by Scotty Zacher
Cirque du Soleil to premiere major new show format in Chicago this fall It will be called “Vaudeville.” And the new Cirque du Soleil show in the works will both rehearse and start in Chicago—most likely at the Chicago Theatre. According to information circulating in New York, Cirque du Soleil is preparing a major new [...]
Filed under: Broadway, Broadway-bound, Chicago Theatre, Theater News, Upcoming Shows, World Premier | Tagged: Cirque du Soleil, Kooza, Chicago Theatre, Cirque du Soleil Vaudeville, DAvid Shiner, Larry O'Keefe, Bat Boy, Legally Blonde the Musical, Jared Grimes, Beacon Theatre, Madison Square Garden Entertainment, Metromix, ChicagoBreakingNews.com | 3 Comments »
Posted on February 6, 2009 by Scotty Zacher
The hit Broadway-musical Xanadu joyously roller-skated its way onto Michigan Avenue last night at Drury Lane Water Tower. Here’s a collection of Xanadu theater reviews: * UPDATED * UPDATED * UPDATED * UPDATED * UPDATED * UPDATED * UPDATED * Christopher Piatt (TimeOut Chicago) You don’t have to be gay to dig Xanadu; [...]
Filed under: Broadway in Chicago, Broadway-bound, Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune, Chris Jones, Drury Lane Water Tower, Hedy Weiss, Musical, Openings, TimeOut Chicago, World Premier | Tagged: Chicago Theater, ChicagoCritic.com, Chris Jones, Christopher Ashley, Christopher Piatt, disco music, Douglas Carter Beane, Drury Lane Water Tower, Electric Light Orchestra, Elizabeth Stanley, ELO, Hedy Weiss, Larry Marshall, LinkedIn, Olivia Newton-John, Starlight Express, TimeOut Chicago, Tom Williams, Xanadu | 1 Comment »
Posted on January 29, 2009 by Scotty Zacher
UPDATE: Read our review – 3 stars!! review Wow – Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have this same list of Broadway stars headline the pre-Broadway Chicago production? And doesn’t Bebe Neuwirth seem like the perfect Morticia Addams? ========================================= Excerpts from the Playbill-Online article: The cast of this developmental workshop includes Nathan Lane [...]
Filed under: Broadway in Chicago, Broadway-bound, Musical, Oriental Theatre (Ford), Playbill, Theater News, Upcoming Shows, World Premier | Tagged: Addams Family - the Musical, Andrew Lippa, Bebe Neuwirth, Broadway in Chicago, Elephant Eye Theatrical, Jan Maxwell, Jersey Boys, Julian Crouch, Kevin Chamberlin, Marshall Brickman, Mary Louise Burke, Mary-Mitchell Campbell, Morticia Addams, Natasha Katz, Nathan Lane, Oriental Theatre (Ford), Phelim McDermott, Rick Elice, Roy Furman, Sergio Trujillo, Shockheaded Peter, Terrence Mann, The Wild Party, Zachary James | 6 Comments »
Posted on January 3, 2009 by Scotty Zacher
Hedy Weiss, theater-critic extraordinaire for the Chicago Sun-Times, has put together an excellent list of her 10 favorite plays of 2008. Along with the list, Hedy notes the wonderful year Chicago theater has had on the national stage: …this was the year that Steppenwolf Theatre picked up five Tony Awards for its Chicago-bred Broadway production [...]
Filed under: Best-of-Year, Broadway in Chicago, Broadway-bound, Cadillac Palace Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare, Chicago Sun-Times, Court Theatre, David Mamet, Goodman Theatre, Hedy Weiss, Hypocrites Theatre, Lookingglass, Next Theatre, Profiles Theatre, Raven Theatre, Remy Bumppo, Shattered Globe, Theater On The Lake, Tony Awards, Tracy Letts, William Inge, William Shakespeare, Writers' Theatre | Tagged: Hedy Weiss, Chicago Theater, Chicago Shakespeare, Next Theatre, David Cromer, Tracy Letts, August: Osage County, Steppenwolf Theatre, Rod Serling, Requiem for a Heavyweight, Writers' Theatre, Raven Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, Stephen Karam, William Inge, William Brown, Larry Yando, Doug Peck, Nick Sandys, E. Faye Butler, Shattered Globe Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Greg Kolack, Tony Awards, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Laura Eason, Sean Graney, Lynn Nottage, LinkedIn, Tony Kushner, Charles Newell, Jeanine Tesori, Elevator Repair Service Theatre, John Collins, PJ Paparelli, Laura Wade, Chicago Sun-Times, Best Chicago Theater 2008, Royal National Theatre, Adding Machine, The Hypocrites Theatre, Neil LaBute, Remy Bumppo Theatre, Christopher Marlowe, Malcolm Durning, Purlitzer Prize, Manhattan Theatre Club, Thronton Wilder, Lou Contey, Peter Schaffer, Gary Griffin, Daniel Ostling, Robert Sella, Robbi Collier Sublett, Elizabeth Ledo, Lance Baker, The Drowsy Chaperone, Cadillac Palace Theatre, Casey Nicholaw, Philip R. Smith, Kevin Douglas, Joe Dempsey, Ravi Batista, Anish Jethmalani, Ericka Ratcliff, Rom Barkhordar, Matthew Klingler, Jamie Abelson | 2 Comments »
Posted on January 3, 2009 by Scotty Zacher
Okay, I know that there’s millions of people out there that love “The Phantom of the Opera“, but I definitely am not one of them. I found/find it horrifically boring (sorry Andrew Lloyd Webber). And the movie was even worse. I believe my loathing of this show also has something to do with Sarah Brightman‘s [...]
Filed under: Broadway, Broadway-bound, Movie Musical, Musical, Theater News | Tagged: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Broadway musical, Coney Island, London West End, Phantom of the Opera, Phantom: Love Never Dies, Sarah Brightman, Shanghai | Leave a Comment »
Posted on December 15, 2008 by Scotty Zacher
As reported on Playbill.com and the Chicago Tribune’s blog “The Theater Loop” by Chris Jones, David Cromer’s acclaimed Chicago production of Our Town, by Thorton Wilder, will make a reappearance in Spring 2009 at an Off-Broadway theatre. This is becoming something of a trend for David Cromer, as his production of The Adding Machine recently [...]
Filed under: Broadway-bound, Chicago Tribune, Chris Jones, Drama, Hedy Weiss, Hypocrites Theatre, Jason Loewith, Jeff Awards, Josh Schmidt, Next Theatre, Playbill, Theater News | Tagged: Chris Jones, Hedy Weiss, The Adding Machine, Jason Loewith, David Cromer, Josh Schmidt, Barrow STreet Theatre, Scott Morfee, Minetta Lane Theatre, Hypocrites Theatre, Thorton Wilder, Our Town, Outer Critics Circle Awards, Lucille Lortel Awards, Obie Awards, Drama Desk, Drama League | Leave a Comment »
Posted on November 24, 2008 by Scotty Zacher
Yep, you read right. The creepy yet lovable Addams family is getting a musical of their own, courtesy of Broadway in Chicago. Making its world premier here in Chicago at the Oriental Theatre (aka Ford Center for the Performing Arts), The Addams Family – A New Musical will begin its pre-Broadway run in November 2009. [...]
Filed under: Broadway in Chicago, Broadway-bound, Musical, Oriental Theatre (Ford), Upcoming Shows, World Premier | Tagged: Andrew Lippa, Broadway in Chicago, Cousin Itt, Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Julian Crouch, Olivier Award, Oriental Theatre (Ford), Phelim McDermott, Sergio Trujillo, Shockheaded Peter, The Addams Family, The Jersey Boys, The Wild Party | 1 Comment »
Posted on July 4, 2008 by Scotty Zacher
Critically-acclaimed The Strangerer (our review), produced by Theatre Oobleck and Scott Morfee, will be pulling up stakes and moving to New York’s Barrow Street Theatre, opening there on July 13th. The minimalistic new musical The Adding Machine, produced by Next Theatre and Scott Morfee, will be ending their long run at New York’s Minetta Lane [...]
Filed under: Broadway-bound, Closings, Comedy, Musical, Next Theatre, Theatre Oobleck, Venus Zarris | Tagged: Barrow STreet Theatre, Minetta Lane Theatre, Next Theatre, Scott Morfee, The Adding Machine, The Strangerer, Theatre Oobleck | Leave a Comment »
Posted on June 22, 2008 by Scotty Zacher
Theater Oobleck’s acclaimed production of Mickle Maher’s The Strangerer will conclude an extended Chicago run on June 29 before taking the show to New York for performances at the Barrow Street Theatre in the West Village, beginning July 9, 2008. Here is an scene from this productions: Produced by Theater Oobleck, in association with [...]
Filed under: Broadway-bound, Closings, Theatre Oobleck, Video, YouTube | Tagged: Barrow STreet Theatre, Brian Shaw, Colm O'Reilly, Guy Massey, Mickle Maher, The Strangerer, Theatre Oobleck | Leave a Comment »
Posted on June 8, 2008 by Scotty Zacher
For Kids and Families: Lyle, Lyle, the Crocodile, Lifeline Theatre June 13th -July 13th; Friday-Sunday at 1pm Tickets: $10 Cirque Shanghai: Gold ; Navy Pier outdoor theater Runs all summer through Sept. 1st Performed at outdoor theater at Navy Pier (just east of Ferris Wheel), so take in the show, then experience the huge fireworks [...]
Filed under: Adaptation, Annoyance Theatre, Bailiwick Chicago, Barrel of Monkey, Bohemian Theatre, Broadway in Chicago, Broadway-bound, Cabaret-Concert, Cadillac Palace Theatre, Chicago Dramatists, Chicago Shakespeare, Children's Theatre, Comedy, ComedySportz, Drama, Drury Lane Oakbrook, Drury Lane Water Tower, Goodman Theatre, Greenhouse Theater Center, Lifeline Theatre, Mayor Daley, Musical, Musical Revue, National Tours, Navy Pier, Neo-Futurists, Prop Thtr, Royal George Theatre, Second City, Shattered Globe, Stephen Schwartz, Steppenwolf, Theatre Building Chicago, Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, TimeLine Theatre, Upcoming Shows, WGN Radio | Tagged: Chicago Shakespeare, Jersey Boys, Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, Drury Lane Oakbrook, Wicked, Steppenwolf Theatre, Bailiwick Theatre, Bohemian Theatre, TimeLine Theatre, Lifeline Theatre, Dead Man's Cell Phone, Neo-Futurists, WGN Radio, Cirque Shanghai, Navy Pier, Blue Man Group, Barrel of Monkeys, Drury Lane Chicago, Heartland Cafe, Second City, Annoyance Theatre, Comedy Sportz, Royal George Theatre, Shattered Globe Theatre, Hizzoner, Prop Thtr, Fiorello, Goodman Theatre, Dennis DeYoung | 1 Comment »
