Sometimes you gotta take glimmers of hope where you find them when the news is consistently horrifying. And despite all the recent anxiety-inducing bulletins about the state of live performance, there are some positive signs on the horizon. (For an in-depth view of the local scene, I’d also suggest this recent American Theatre essay by Chicago designer and pay equity advocate Elsa Hiltner and dramaturg—and former Reader staff member—Yasmin Zacaria Mikhaiel.)
Appropriately enough, one of those positive signs involves a literally Capra-esque scenario: American Blues Theater, one of the longest-running stalwarts of the scene, opens a new permanent home in December with their seasonal favorite, It’s a Wonderful Life: Live in Chicago!, adapted from the Frank Capra film and directed by ABT executive artistic director Gwendolyn Whiteside. This radio-play presentation, complete with carols, advertising jingles for local businesses, and “audience-grams” (little love notes and dedications to friends and family far and near that are read “on-air”) has been a staple for the company for decades.
ABT announced plans to acquire and renovate the building at 5627 N. Lincoln in the spring of 2022. At the time, Whiteside told me, “Discussions of owning a space have floated in ensemble and board meetings over the past three decades.” American Blues opened under that moniker in 1985, and eventually produced in a rented space at Lincoln and Byron for several years (they converted an old warehouse into a theater), changing their name sometime after the move to American Theater Company. A dispute with late ATC artistic director PJ Paparelli led to the exodus of several ensemble members in 2009 and the resurrection of the American Blues name. (ATC continued for a few years after Paparelli died in a traffic accident in Scotland in 2015, but the board closed the theater permanently in 2018.)
The new American Blues venue, located on the former site of a Mobil gas station, Dollar Store, and Walgreens, features two theater spaces: a 137-seat proscenium and a 40-seat flexible studio. Both are welcome additions to a theater community that has seen venues disappear since the pandemic, with Stage 773 on Belmont no longer available as a rental house and the Royal George on Halsted being turned into apartments. American Blues will be a flagship for 40th Ward alderperson Andre Vasquez’s “Lincoln Avenue North” arts district—a stretch of road that was known for years mostly for its low-budget motels, just out of reach of the bustling Lincoln Square neighborhood.
In a press announcement, Whiteside noted that ABT has performed It’s a Wonderful Life in seven different venues over the years. “Our theater’s narrative feels similar to the Baileys’ journey in that family and community are the protagonist[s]. We most certainly wouldn’t be here without our supporters.” The show opens December 8 and runs through the end of the year.
Goodman’s The Who’s Tommy goes to Broadway
It’s hardly surprising news, but the Goodman’s much-acclaimed production of The Who’s Tommy (the highest-grossing show in the company’s 98-year history) is slated for a Broadway run beginning in early March 2024 at the Nederlander Theatre (not to be confused, of course, with the James M. Nederlander Theatre on Randolph). The show took home nine Equity Jeff Awards earlier this month, including recognition for best musical (large production), best ensemble, and for director Des McAnuff, choreographer Lorin Latarro, and for projections, sound, lighting design, and musical direction.
As of now, casting hasn’t been announced for the Broadway production, but I’ll go on record and say that it will be a damn shame if Chicago actor Ali Louis Bourzgui, who was absolutely stunning in the title role and won a Jeff Award for his work, doesn’t make the move to New York with the show.
Harris Theater scores a major gift
Earlier this week, the Harris Theater (officially, the Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance) announced that they’ve received a $5 million gift from Abby McCormick O’Neil and D. Carroll Joynes that will “help ensure a sustainable future for the institution as it celebrates its 20th anniversary.” O’Neil is one of the founding board members for the Harris and a member of the legendary McCormick clan, whose local roots go back to 1847 and the founding of the McCormick Reaper Works by Cyrus McCormick. (The original factory, located on the north bank of the Chicago River, east of the Michigan Avenue bridge, was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871; the company merged with Deering Harvester Company in 1902 to form International Harvester.) Joynes, a scholar of early modern European history at University of Chicago, founded U of C’s Cultural Policy Center in 2001.
In recognition of the gift, the 1,500-seat performance auditorium at the Harris will be renamed Deering McCormick Hall in a ceremony on November 9.