Will “The Pirate Queen” be the next out-of-town tryout in Chicago? This new collaboration between the authors of “Les Miserables” (Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg) and the director of “Riverdance” (John McColgan) is slated for Broadway sometime toward the end of 2006. And representatives for the show have been looking around Chicago venues with a view toward doing the new show here–perhaps following a world premiere in Dublin. It’s a musical tale inspired by Grace O’Malley, the legendary 16th Century Irish pirate queen. The show is expected to be a blend of Irish dance with pop opera from the guys who brought us “Miss Saigon.” . . . On Tuesday night, the University of Chicago will celebrate what it’s calling “the 50th anniversary of improv,” an art form the university says began on July 5, 1955. The event honoring the improv pioneers The Compass Players will be held in the group’s original rehearsal space of 5705 S. University Ave. On Tuesday, improv pioneer David Shepherd, a founding member of The Compass, will return to the University of Chicago and watch as “a new generation of improv comedians” recreates that first Compass show. Shepherd has a new improv book out. . . . The troubled musical “The Mambo Kings,” which was to have tried out in Chicago before its producers changed horses and went to San Francisco instead, announced this week that it won’t make it to Broadway at all. . . . Peninsula Players, the Chicago theater’s summer outpost in Door County, Wis., has announced a $6.5 million campaign to rebuild the historic outdoor theater. . . . The Chicago cast of the musical “Wicked” has taken over the show at the Oriental Theatre, but the show won’t be reviewed until its official opening on July 13.
———-
Compiled by Chris Jones and Michael Phillips
