Chicago Spotlight: July 2005

Chicago is in the summer doldrums. We’ll only have 35 shows opening this month instead of the usual 40-plus. July seems dominated by witches and ghosts, foremost among them the second coming of the once and future witches of Wicked. The permanent Chicago company opens July 13, a month after the departure of the touring cast after a six-week run. The producers expect to keep Wicked at the Ford Center/Oriental Theatre for several years.

There also are ghosts aplenty this month, thanks to productions of Hamlet by Velvet Willie at the Chopin Theatre (July 2-August 7), a modernized Hamlet3 — in which the title role is played by a trio of actors — by Live Tropical Fish Theatre Project at Theatre Building Chicago (July 14-31) and Macbeth at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival (in rep through August 12).

Indeed, Shakespeare gets more than his due with a roving production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by GroundUp Theatre and two productions of The Comedy of Errors (at Oak Park Festival Theatre and Chicago Shakespeare Theatre). Also: a contemporary take on Richard III called My Richard, by Red Tape Theatre Company at the Lakeshore Theatre (July 13-August 10), and a Shakespeare rarity, Henry VIII (of which Bill wrote only parts) as part of the Illinois Shakespeare rotating rep. It will feature two sterling actors, Philip Earl Johnson and Roderick Peeples, as Henry and Cardinal Wolsey respectively.

However, if there’s a theme to July beyond summertime Shakespeare it would seem to be unusual musical theater. Hell in a Handbag Productions kicks off the month with their original horror musical, Scarrie, inspired by you-know-what-movie, at Theatre Building Chicago (July 2-August 7). The Striding Lion Interarts Workshop then offers Billy the Mountain, inspired by the lyrics of Frank Zappa, at the Elbo Room (July 7-28). The too-rarely-seen Cy Coleman show, City of Angels receives a production by One Theatre Company at the Athenaeum (July 11-August 7), while Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party receives its Chicago premiere by the Bohemian Theatre Ensemble at Stage Left (July 14-August 13). Finally, the almost-never-performed Richard Rodgers-Stephen Sondheim collaboration, Do I Hear a Waltz? goes up at Theatre at the Center in nearby Munster, IN (July 15-August 14). Veteran producer/director William Pullinsi is at the helm.

As for meatier fare, how about rival productions of Arthur Miller’s first success, All My Sons? Festival Theatre, Oak Park, opens its show out-of-doors July 18 (in rep through August 16), while the Actors Workshop — which has dedicated its season to Miller — stages the work at its North Side studio theater (July 24-August 21). A very feisty, tiny Off-Off-Loop company, the Rogue Theatre, is offering a triple bill of Greek tragedy at the Athenaeum Theatre (July 24-August 28). The Rogue Oresteia presents Euripides’ epic in versions by three radically different authors: Iphigenia at Aulis by Euripides himself; Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s Elektra; and Charles L. Mee’s Orestes 2.0. Rogue certainly wins the prize for wild ambition.

Among several world premieres scheduled for July, the most anticipated is The Pain and the Itch by actor/playwright Bruce L. Norris at Steppenwolf Theatre Company (July 9-August 28). The Norris play completes the ‘wolfies’ 2005-2005 mainstage season.

The remainder of the month promises quite a grab-bag of fare, something for all tastes. A Reasonable Facsimile Theatre Company camps it up at Theatre Building Chicago with Charles Busch’s Psycho Beach Party (July 8-August 6). In west suburban St. Charles, The Noble Fool mounts a version of The Mikado set in contemporary Japan (beginning July 8) presented at the Fool’s new permanent home, the Pheasant Run Resort.

A late-nighter, Band Geeks, purports to portray the tongue-in-cheek lowdown on high school instrumentalists, staged by Single Box Turn Productions at Live Bait Theatre (July 9-August 13). At the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, it will be a toga party every night with A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (July 13–September 11). The brand-new Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place opens its second show July 28, the Paul Osborn “dramedy” Mornings at Seven, following the very successful house debut with The Full Monty (through July 10).

Finally, the Metropolis Centre in northwest suburban Arlington Heights has a full summer plate, opening a new revue by The Second City Theatricals, Girls Night Out (July 8-September 3); Steve March Torme in Tormé Sings Tormé, a tribute to his late dad, Mel Torme (July 9–September 4); plus a new production of Christopher Durang’s Beyond Therapy (opening July 31). The three shows will rotate with the ongoing The Vagina Monologues, now in its second year in the ‘burbs.

And there you have a rundown on a slow month in Chicago.