Theatre Building Chicago hosts a weekend-long showcase of seven new musicals, offered here in varying stages of readiness. The lineup compiled by artistic director John Sparks includes concert-style performances (with the actors at music stands), staged readings (with the actors moving about while using scripts and scores), and fully memorized and staged studio presentations. The festival gives audiences and aspiring writers a chance to discuss the art, craft, and commerce of musical theater as they rub elbows before each show and during meal breaks.
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Performances take place Friday-Sunday, August 9-11, in the north and west theaters of Theatre Building Chicago, 1225 W. Belmont. Admission to performances on Saturday and Sunday is $15 each; a Stages Pass to all Saturday and Sunday shows costs $75. Opening night is $50 ($35 with a Stages Pass) for a 6 PM reception and 7:45 PM performance of Tumpie’s Dance. A critics’ panel and lunch on Sunday costs $20 (this event is not covered by the weekend pass). For reservations and more information,
Tumpie’s Dance
Dr. Sex
This musical by Charles Leipart and Richard B. Evans finds professor Thorstein Veblen presenting his landmark study of economics as a vaudeville show. Alison Henderson directs a staged reading. West theater, 1:30 PM.
past to the urban present–and the impact of the automobile on that evolution–is chronicled in this musical by Jane Boyd, Gerald Rizzer, and Charlie Mehler. Steve Young directs a studio presentation. West theater, 4 PM.
See listing for Saturday. North theater, 9:30 AM.
