Theatre Building Chicago hosts a weekend-long showcase of new musicals, offered here in varying stages of readiness. The lineup 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, artists, and entrepreneurs a chance to discuss the art, craft, and commerce of musical theater as they rub elbows between each show and during meal breaks. Participating writers this year include Arthur Kopit (Nine), Sherman Yellen (The Rothschilds), Wally Harper (best known as Barbara Cook’s musical director), and the late Dorothy Parker, whose light verse and troubled life inspired the opening-night attraction, You Might as Well Live.
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Performances take place Thursday-Sunday, August 7-10. All performances are in the north and south theaters of Theatre Building Chicago, 1225 W. Belmont, except where noted otherwise below. Tickets for individual performances are $15 except where listed below; advance reservations are strongly encouraged for single performances. An $85 “Stages Pass” includes admission to most Saturday and Sunday events. For reservations and more information, call 773-327-5252; tickets are also available online at www.ticketmaster.com.
Excerpts from Arthur Kopit and Donald Alan Siegal’s musical about the early-19th-century explorers are previewed at the American Indian Center, 1630 W. Wilson. 7 PM. Donations requested (not included in “Stages Pass”).
Saint Heaven
Allan Chambers directs this romantic tale of two Wisconsin fishing guides by Dave Hudson and Paul Libman. North theater, 12:30 PM.
Stand by the River
Tina Salamone directs Stephen Cole and Jeffrey Saver’s musical about an American couple who drift apart during a tour of Europe. South theater, 7:30 PM.
