Assuming a willingness to sit through any and all flaws and warts, fans of new musicals are in for a big and tiring weekend. Anyone who has the stamina (and nothing else on the weekend docket) can see no less than 12 “new tuners” performed Saturday and Sunday at the venerable Theatre Building on West Belmont Avenue. It’s all part of “Stages ’98,” the newly expanded showcase of musicals in development that kicks off Friday night with a gala dinner featuring celebrated composer Stephen Schwartz (“Godspell” and “Pocahontas”).
“Musicals aren’t written, they are crafted,” says Warner Crocker, the artistic director of the Chicago-based New Tuners, the long-established group that sponsors the marathon festival. “The audience plays a vital role in the development of new shows. And people who come to `Stages’ develop a new appreciation for the amount of work that goes into writing a new musical.”
The financial resources of New Tuners does not match its lofty ambitions — thus you’ll not be seeing full productions of the chosen shows but a mix of staged readings and skeletal productions involving nearly 100 nominally compensated artists.
Folks make musicals about the strangest subjects, and this weekend’s lineup includes “Love & Order” (a romantic comedy set in a law office); “Jane’s Jungle Love” (a Tarzan-themed treat); “Pablo” (a biographical show about Pablo Picasso); and “A Little Princess” (an adaptation of the children’s classic).
The shows that New Tuners think are the farthest along in the development process receive the most resources. High hopes abound this year for Jon Steinhagen and Judy Freed’s “Emma & Company” (a show about a Victorian-era women’s lingerie salesperson) and Lori McKelvey’s “Camilla” (a scripted musical that tries to cash in on the vogue for shows about the tango).
All of the above musicals are scheduled for several times this weekend (from morn to night), making it possible for a visitor to catch the entire program, as well as the additional showcase pitches of such previously produced Chicago shows as “The Vanishing Point” and “Hans Brinker.”
“We are trying to get other theaters from across the country to work with us to get these musicals to the next stage,” says New Tuners’ producer, Ruth Higgins.
Higgins is saying that cash is sorely needed — New Tuners lost its shirt this past spring with a poorly received production of “Boogie Woogie Blues” that was forced to close prematurely. That scuppered plans for a full fall production of “Emma & Company” and left resources very tight.
But then, new musicals are always an expensive and high-risk business. And New Tuners says it rolls the dice every year for the good of the art form.
“Nobody here has understood the niche we serve,” Higgins says. “But people in the industry all across the country are finally beginning to notice what we do.”
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There were reports in the New York press earlier this month that Michael Crawford’s current solo arena tour has been playing to less than full houses. In fairness, though, there are very few figures from the world of musical theater who could sell out a place the size of the United Center — which is where Crawford will be singing on Saturday night. “We usually close off the top tier of the venues,” said Crawford by telephone from Boston last week, “and we get about 8,000 people. I think that’s a lot for a Broadway person.”
Best known, of course, for his work in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera,” Crawford is celebrating an Emmy nomination for his recent concert special on public television. This talented performer says that his live show (whicth travels with a 40-piece orchestra) follows the same biographical path as the TV version. Beginning with the Irish folk songs he claims to have heard at his grandmother’s knee, Crawford also includes selections from “Hello Dolly,” “West Side Story” and, of course, a 17-minute segment from “Phantom,” the show in which he acted in London, New York and Los Angeles for several years.
Don’t expect the cut-away headgear; there are legal restrictions on what Crawford can do outside of the “Phantom” production itself. “I’m ugly enough without the mask,” Crawford says, “and every time I do these songs, it’s like the first time.”
The British actor pauses, apparently suspecting disbelief on the part of the interviewer. “Honestly,” he insists, “I love them so much.”
Eager to pursue a solo recording career, Crawford was done nothing on Broadway since “Phantom.” Still, the offers have poured in steadily and he now says he’s about ready for another project. “I’m interested again,” he says. “I think you’ll see me back on Broadway sometime within the next couple of years.”
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The Factory Theatre is moving after more than six years in its storefront at 1257 W. Loyola Ave. in Rogers Park. The theater’s lease expires in September. “We’ve had enough of the crumbling walls,” said Factory’s president, Molly Brennan. “In the future, we want to look for a space to build out. But we can’t do that straightaway.”
So in early November, the Factory will begin production at the Footsteps Theatre in Andersonville, sharing the upstairs two-theater complex with the founding resident troupe. “We were looking for more room and this gives us two different spaces,” says the Factory’s Amy Seeley, whose highly acclaimed one-woman show will probably inaugurate the new residency this fall.
