[Chicagoguy]

I thought this deserved its own thread as Chicago has become such a growing hotspot for Broadway shows. With Wicked setting a very high bar here in Chicago it has paved the wave for more long running shows to take place here. Jersey Boys has already become an open-end show and will probably be around until late 2009 or 2010, and with Dirty Dancing and Mary Poppins both coming within a year and Mary Poppins not having a determined end date, it is clear that Chicago is establishing itself as a new oasis for theatre.

The only problem I can see is with demand being so high we have no more theaters available for more shows to come. I know it is posing a problem for shows who would like to make Chicago part of their national tour but we just don't have any room for them. Legally Blonde is one that really sticks out to me. It is going to start touring the end of this year and next year and Chicago is not on the tour list due to our lack of theatre space. I know that in recent months the mayor has talked about his plans to build new theatres downtown and I decided to start this thread so that any new information anyone has can be found in one place.

[ginsan2]

Chicago has always been an oasis for theatre. There's a large population of popular artists who started in Chicago, because it has the most highly regarded acting programs in the country. Or so I have been told. There are schools and theatres actors would gnaw their fists off to be accepted into.

That being said, I wouldn't want to go to Chicago to see a Broadway production. Broadway is to theatre what Hollywood is to cinema: a teeth-grating experience you wish would be confined to that side of the country.

[10023]

I don't think Chicago is really missing anything by being left off the Legally Blond theatrical tour. But of course this goes without saying.

Chicago isn't really the place for musicals, which are of course synonymous with Broadway. But personally, I hate musicals, and have only seen one in the past couple of years (and even that was in London).

What Chicago has is great venues for real stage-acting - the Steppenwolf, the Goodman, etc - and even New York theater buffs recognize it as a first tier location for that art form.

[ginsan2]

What Chicago has is great venues for real stage-acting - the Steppenwolf, the Goodman, etc - and even New York theater buffs recognize it as a first tier location for that art form.

Mmmmm, everything sweet and delicious about theatre :P I could blow thousands of dollars every year just on Chicago theatre. And have.

[Chicagoguy]

I don't think Chicago is really missing anything by being left off the Legally Blond theatrical tour. But of course this goes without saying.

Chicago isn't really the place for musicals, which are of course synonymous with Broadway. But personally, I hate musicals, and have only seen one in the past couple of years (and even that was in London).

What Chicago has is great venues for real stage-acting - the Steppenwolf, the Goodman, etc - and even New York theater buffs recognize it as a first tier location for that art form.

I was just using Legally Blonde as an example because that was the one most recently in the news...and it is an amazing performance by the way. And believe it or not Chicago is becoming very popular for musicals. Wicked and Jersey Boys are setting the stage for many to come including Dirty Dancing...which is premiering in the US in Chicago and Mary Poppins which will be be long running shows. This thread wasnt created to argue about whether or not Chicago should get more musicals...it was created to discuss the future plans that are in progress to expand the theatre district. We all know how great Chicago's acting venues are, but now the mayor is working hard to expand the Broadway aspect of it.

[miketoronto]

Great news for Chicago. I have a book on the history of the Loop, and it is amazing to see how much of a destination the Loop was for theatre and nightlife, well into the 70's. So it is nice to see that life is coming back to the heart of downtown.
The book has an old add in it, from when people would go into the Loop for the theatre and dine at all these interesting looking restaurants, some of them with themes in them.

[Chicagoguy]

Great news for Chicago. I have a book on the history of the Loop, and it is amazing to see how much of a destination the Loop was for theatre and nightlife, well into the 70's. So it is nice to see that life is coming back to the heart of downtown.
The book has an old add in it, from when people would go into the Loop for the theatre and dine at all these interesting looking restaurants, some of them with themes in them.

I am thankful as well that we are finally making the loop such a desirable destination!

[VivaLFuego]

I don't think Chicago is really missing anything by being left off the Legally Blond theatrical tour. But of course this goes without saying.

Chicago isn't really the place for musicals, which are of course synonymous with Broadway. But personally, I hate musicals, and have only seen one in the past couple of years (and even that was in London).

What Chicago has is great venues for real stage-acting - the Steppenwolf, the Goodman, etc - and even New York theater buffs recognize it as a first tier location for that art form.

Amen, I couldn't care less about whether Chicago can be a junior version of Manhattan's musical theater scene. I suppose to the extent it's good for tourist tax revenue, it's a worthy endeavor, but Chicago has a very rich unique local theater scene that has nothing to do with such shows.

[alex1]

My girlfriend and I have tried and tried to see a good show in nYc now that we live near it but it just doesn't happen. It's one disappointment after another.

Chicago is IMO the best theater city in the U.S., unless of course you're a fan of musicals. For whatever reason, the strorefront theater has been diminished to a small spattering in Ny as high prices have taken their toll on artists who want to try experimental acts and such.

it's also worth noting that this weekends NY times was heavily laced with Chicago references. Seeing how successful Lett's "August" has been and with Shakespeare winning the Regional Tony and Redmoon staging a show in Ny, Chicago has done well out here.

[Chicagoguy]

Amen, I couldn't care less about whether Chicago can be a junior version of Manhattan's musical theater scene. I suppose to the extent it's good for tourist tax revenue, it's a worthy endeavor, but Chicago has a very rich unique local theater scene that has nothing to do with such shows.

Even though Chicago does have its unique local theater scene, it doesnt attrach near the amount of tourist and people that these Broadway shows do. And just last year alone Broadway in Chicago helped bring in something like 650 million last year. It is great for the city and for regaining life in the loop after dark.

[Master Shake]

I don't think Chicago is really missing anything by being left off the Legally Blond theatrical tour. But of course this goes without saying.

Chicago isn't really the place for musicals, which are of course synonymous with Broadway. But personally, I hate musicals, and have only seen one in the past couple of years (and even that was in London).

What Chicago has is great venues for real stage-acting - the Steppenwolf, the Goodman, etc - and even New York theater buffs recognize it as a first tier location for that art form.

I think your missing the point. Chicago now has BOTH Broadway style musicals and the best in traditional stage plays.

The Broadway musicals attract tourists, brings in revenue and provides much needed jobs to the theatre community. I think Chicago is uniquely positioned to have both strong commercial and artistic theatre.

Its shocking how much the Broadway style theatre has grown in Chicago in the last decade.

[Chicagoguy]

I think your missing the point. Chicago now has BOTH Broadway style musicals and the best in traditional stage plays.

The Broadway musicals attract tourists, brings in revenue and provides much needed jobs to the theatre community. I think Chicago is uniquely positioned to have both strong commercial and artistic theatre.

Its shocking how much the Broadway style theatre has grown in Chicago in the last decade.

Thats exactly the point I was trying to make but some people just seem to be so against Broadway Theatre. They just dont realize they in Chicago we can have the best of both worlds.

[miketoronto]

I can not believe how down many of you are about this.

An amazing theatre city must have not only top name broadway shows, but also local home grown shows. By the sounds of it, Chicago is getting both, and you guys should be happy with that.
One is not better than the other.
You need a taste of both kinds of theatre scenes, and together they can make a great synergy.
I go to both the huge broadway style shows and the local little theatre shows here in Toronto. And to be honest, I would not give either one up. Each one has its own style.
And I gotta say, the Broadway shows are a hit. Dressing up, going into those grand theatres, spending the evening downtown.
And its also fun going to those back alley theatres downtown and sitting in a makeshift theatre, watching a homemade show also.

Enjoy both.

[OhioGuy]

Chicago isn't really the place for musicals, which are of course synonymous with Broadway. But personally, I hate musicals, and have only seen one in the past couple of years (and even that was in London).

I don't think you can really claim that Chicago "isn't really the place for musicals" considering very few cities in this country can support open ended musicals. With the great success of Wicked and Jersey Boys, it's obvious that people throughout the Midwest are very interested in coming here to see musicals. It's fine for the city to be recognized for non musical theater, but I don't think that means Chicago should just ignore the demand for musical theater as well. I know you're not a fan of musicals, but believe it or not there is a pretty sizeable population that does enjoy them. My sister was just in town in March to see Wicked and my mom is planning on coming over to Chicago at some point this summer to see Jersey Boys. When my aunt & grandparents visited last summer, we all went to a musical as well. It's easier for them to come to Chicago to see the shows than head all the way to NYC, which I think is a factor for a lot of midwesterns.

[jcchii]

Wicked does seem to have changed the scene. It proved you could camp a big show here and make a trillion dollars

[Chicagoguy]

Wicked does seem to have changed the scene. It proved you could camp a big show here and make a trillion dollars

Wicked really did show how much of a demand Broadway shows can have here in Chicago and now Jersey Boys is on that same path as well. Dirty Dancing is likely to stay for around 4 months and Mary Poppins is hoping to continue in Wicked's and Jersey Boys' footsteps! There were talks of new theaters possibly in the works for the theatre district...has anyone heard any updates on this?

[tdawg]

Chicago is a great breeding ground for New York's theatre talent, as are San Diego and Denver. I have many friends on Broadway and my boyfriend is a musical theatre college professor so this statement "Broadway is to theatre what Hollywood is to cinema: a teeth-grating experience you wish would be confined to that side of the country" really irks me. You obviously have no idea of the sheer breadth of the Broadway, off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway community here. It's more than what you'll find in the confines of the Times Square area. Probably the best show in the city right now is the revival of South Pacific at Lincoln Center, 25 blocks north of 42nd Street.

[ignatius]

Chicago is a great breeding ground for New York's theatre talent, as are San Diego and Denver.

Many may not realize (or would refuse to) but Minneapolis and Kansas City have a larger theatre scene than San Diego and Denver. KC's is supposedly the 3rd largest of Midwest/South (behind Minneapolis and Chicago).

KC has 80 professional theatre companies (probably more than Denver and San Diego combined), and a couple dozen union companies, for over 100 total. When including academic/community, there are over 200 companies. According to kcstage.com, KC ranks 3rd in actors registered in the theatre guild out of the Midwest/South, many of whom crisscross with NYC/LA/Chicago scenes. There are also several KC playwrights that have hit NYC. KC also has a really talented and amusing camp/drag theatre thing happening.

Sorry, I sound like a brochure. Just sayin...


www.kcstage.com

[ginsan2]

Chicago is a great breeding ground for New York's theatre talent, as are San Diego and Denver. I have many friends on Broadway and my boyfriend is a musical theatre college professor so this statement "Broadway is to theatre what Hollywood is to cinema: a teeth-grating experience you wish would be confined to that side of the country" really irks me. You obviously have no idea of the sheer breadth of the Broadway, off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway community here. It's more than what you'll find in the confines of the Times Square area. Probably the best show in the city right now is the revival of South Pacific at Lincoln Center, 25 blocks north of 42nd Street.
Wow. South Pacific. Another musical we've seen ten billion times. Are you telling me that a tired Hammerstein production is really the best show? In the whole of New York City? Does that imply that the best thing showing is something created decades ago? What does that really say for your theatre scene?

As my complaint was specifically directed to Broadway being of low quality, irritating quality even, it doesn't matter what irks you. Why? Because I complained about Broadway, and anything else off Broadway doesn't really apply there, does it? Did I complain about things off Broadway? No. I specifically said "Broadway". So you obviously have no idea of the poor quality of your argument's structure.

You're correct in that I don't know what's going on in NYC's theatre scene off Broadway. But I do know what's going on in Broadway itself, and how could you not? Every show is listed online for tourists.

[alex1]

Chicago is a great breeding ground for New York's theatre talent, as are San Diego and Denver. I have many friends on Broadway and my boyfriend is a musical theatre college professor so this statement "Broadway is to theatre what Hollywood is to cinema: a teeth-grating experience you wish would be confined to that side of the country" really irks me. You obviously have no idea of the sheer breadth of the Broadway, off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway community here. It's more than what you'll find in the confines of the Times Square area. Probably the best show in the city right now is the revival of South Pacific at Lincoln Center, 25 blocks north of 42nd Street.

nYc needs chicago actors. After some of the things I've seen here, I have been wishing badly to see a good play, in chicago.

then again, I can't profess how irritating I find Broadway (and the lack of quality off and off off broadway there is). After spending $200 on tickets to "Doubt" a few years ago, I learned that what nYers rave about isn't actuall good.

But i regress, New York does have a theater company called the Blackmoon that is supposedly amazing. It is led by a french man. Unfortunately, Blackmoon rarely puts on shows in nYc, opting instead to travel the globe when the money and time permits.

Other great theater communities that live up to their hype are Toronto and London. Rarely have I seen bad shows in either city.

[tdawg]

Um, maybe you've seen South Pacific a dozen times at your local YMCA but this is THE FIRST Broadway revival of the musical ever. That you would refer to a classic Rodgers and Hammerstein show as "tired" shows you have complete disrespect for theatre. On a side note, I saw Xanadu on Broadway three weeks and that was a surprising fun, enjoyable show if anyone is planning a visit. I'm going to see Manhattan Theatre Club's Top Girls this weekend and can't wait. And I mentioned Denver and San Diego because the Denver Center and the La Jolla Playhouse are considered two of the leading breeding/testing grounds for Broadway-bound shows.
The NYTimes review of the South Pacific revival:
http://theater2.nytimes.com/2008/04/04/theater/reviews/04paci.html

[Taft]

Um, maybe you've seen South Pacific a dozen times at your local YMCA but this is THE FIRST Broadway revival of the musical ever. That you would refer to a classic Rodgers and Hammerstein show as "tired" shows you have complete disrespect for theatre. On a side note, I saw Xanadu on Broadway three weeks and that was a surprising fun, enjoyable show if anyone is planning a visit. I'm going to see Manhattan Theatre Club's Top Girls this weekend and can't wait. And I mentioned Denver and San Diego because the Denver Center and the La Jolla Playhouse are considered two of the leading breeding/testing grounds for Broadway-bound shows.
The NYTimes review of the South Pacific revival:
http://theater2.nytimes.com/2008/04/04/theater/reviews/04paci.html

Damn, you almost made me spit my iced tea onto my laptop. Xanadu and South Pacific? A musical remake of a movie which was a remake of a movie and features pop hits from the 70s. Then a remake of a renowned popular culture classic from the 40s. Two remakes of very old musicals are the pinnacle of theatre in NY? I really, really doubt it.

It may be that we are simply dealing with a difference in tastes here. You obviously seem to like musical theatre. This is an area in which Broadway excels and is even seen as the standard bearer. But you must surely know that non-musical theatre is alive and well outside of broadway and that many (most) original contemporary theatre can be found here. Similarly, you must surely know that Broadway is regarded by many to be the crass, commercial side of theatre (much like Hollywood is to movies with their big budget blockbusters).

I'm really not trying to detract from Broadway at all. I'm just pointing out that most theatre in the country isn't executed in the style of Broadway and that, even in NY, there are a *ton* of excellent productions happening that are very far removed from the Broadway-style glitz, glamor and showtunes.

To be honest, I'm really surprised that alex has yet to find good down-to-earth theatre in NY. I've got to think it exists. Maybe its just deeply buried?

More on topic: I really do think Chicago has a very special theatre community with more in common with Denver (and apparently San Diego and KC...who knew?) than Broadway. I've seen the Broadway-ification of downtown theatre in Chicago coming for a long time. IMO, so long as it doesn't effect the amazing theatre being executed in the rest of the city, I'm all for it. I do worry, though, that the big money will start to migrate to the bigger and glitzier productions and that our considerable talent pool will migrate with it.

Time will tell, I suppose. Not much sense in worrying about something we just aint going to change...

Taft

[tdawg]

Xanadu was a real surprise. It's just great fun and Kerri Butler was amazing (fell in love with her in the last Little Shop production). Both she and the show are nominated for Tony's. Thanks to my boyfriend's MTC connections, I'll be in the audience, can't wait. And yes, you are correct in assuming that my first love is musical theatre but i also see many straight plays, most recently August Osage County and the other night i saw the new Neal Labute play, Reasons to Be Pretty.

[ignatius]

d

[Steely Dan]

* many idiotic posts deleted *

anyone, ANYONE, who tries to stir up any more new york vs. chicago or other off-topic stupidity in this thread will be getting a minimum 2 week suspension.

vs. threads are not allowed on this forum.

everyone knows this.

play by the rules or go somewhere else.

[Kevin J]

With all the talk about the merits of Broadway musicals vs. Chicago-style drama, I'm surprised that it has occurred to no one that whether you like Broadway musicals or not, they are the only product that can fill the 2000+ seat theaters in the Loop. The largest theater in the city for a Chicago-based theater company is the Goodman's mainstage, which seats around 850. Depending on the show, even that theater has many empty seats any given night. Such a company setting up shop at, say, the Cadillac Palace Theater would be suicidal.

Anyone who lives in Chicago should be ecstatic that New York producers are willing to park their big musicals here for a year or more because otherwise, these theaters would be dark most of the time. That would be bad enough by itself, but would be even more disatrous given that the renovations of the Palace, the Shubert (Bank of America Theater), and the Oriental were all subisidized by public money. Add in the Goodman's new space and the total public investment was $60 million.

A final note to Chicagoguy, who started this thread. In case you haven't heard about it yet, Chris Jones reported in his theater column in the Tribune this morning that the 'Legally Blonde' tour has been booked into the Oriental for three weeks in May of 2009.

[Chicagoguy]

With all the talk about the merits of Broadway musicals vs. Chicago-style drama, I'm surprised that it has occurred to no one that whether you like Broadway musicals or not, they are the only product that can fill the 2000+ seat theaters in the Loop. The largest theater in the city for a Chicago-based theater company is the Goodman's mainstage, which seats around 850. Depending on the show, even that theater has many empty seats any given night. Such a company setting up shop at, say, the Cadillac Palace Theater would be suicidal.

Anyone who lives in Chicago should be ecstatic that New York producers are willing to park their big musicals here for a year or more because otherwise, these theaters would be dark most of the time. That would be bad enough by itself, but would be even more disatrous given that the renovations of the Palace, the Shubert (Bank of America Theater), and the Oriental were all subisidized by public money. Add in the Goodman's new space and the total public investment was $60 million.

A final note to Chicagoguy, who started this thread. In case you haven't heard about it yet, Chris Jones reported in his theater column in the Tribune this morning that the 'Legally Blonde' tour has been booked into the Oriental for three weeks in May of 2009.

Thanks I actually did just here that news. Even though it is only touring here, I think it will completely sold out everynight. It is a great show and it is sold out in NY almost every night.

[Chicagoguy]

With open run shows starting to show up more and more, the Theatre District is going to need to build some new theaters. With Jersey Boys having an actual Chicago cast now, Wicked here until January, and Mary Poppins coming in March, two of our three major theaters will be full and only have the one availble for the touring shows that are coming. With Chicago growing and the demand for these shows growing as well, Mayor Daley has stated that he is working on fixing the situation and there had been talk of him trying to build new a new theater. It will be interesting to see what he comes up with. Does anyone know of any plans in the works?

[bnk]

With open run shows starting to show up more and more, the Theatre District is going to need to build some new theaters. With Jersey Boys having an actual Chicago cast now, Wicked here until January,

Call me crazy but I think that Wicked will make a surprise announcement that they will extend the season of Wicked until the fall of 2009.

This is just a hunch and my instinct.

Wicked has mad Wicked monies here and I feel this ending is a bit of a marketing ruse.

If I am wrong so what, but if I am right you heard it hear first.

[Chicagoguy]

Call me crazy but I think that Wicked will make a surprise announcement that they will extend the season of Wicked until the fall of 2009.

This is just a hunch and my instinct.

Wicked has mad Wicked monies here and I feel this ending is a bit of a marketing ruse.

If I am wrong so what, but if I am right you heard it hear first.

I would love for this to happen as Wicked is such a great show. But they want to go out while they are still on top and having sold out shows everynight. Plus they couldnt change their minds now because other shows are already booked in that theater starting in March I believe, so they cant stay now!