April 9, 2019
Forging ahead into this season’s Grand Finale, August Rush, all hands are on deck on Paramount’s stage installing the set of the 3x Tony-winning Broadway Scenic Designer, Scott Pask (The Pillowman, The Coast of Utopia, and The Book of Mormon). His most recently nominated work, The Band’s Visit, just closed Sunday night. Meeting him on his pre-production visit here earlier this year to see our space, he reminisced warmly about his first Broadway show, Urinetown, in which I did the national tour for a year. We really had fun meeting and I just hope I wasn’t too visibly starstruck. Hopefully I’ll see him again here next week when Director John Doyle and his beautiful company of actor-musicians arrive for Tech Rehearsals next week. The Tony-winning Director and the film’s Grammy-winning composer, Mark Mancina, have created a stunning world premiere musical adaptation for our Paramount audience. We’ve never presented anything quite like it and I’m excited all of us here are going to be the very first to see it anywhere! So come join us!
What a privilege, to sit by the sidelines and watch a veritable A-list of Chicago actors come in and simply blow us away!
As August Rush loads-in onto the stage, Paramount’s second new work, world premiere musical, The Secret of My Success is in auditions. What a blast to “be in the room where it happens!” While yesterday morning had a team of us in a production meeting for Newsies (breathtaking, great looking work!), I was free to join the SOMS team table for lunch and the afternoon audition calls. What a privilege, to sit by the sidelines and watch a veritable A-list of Chicago actors come in and simply blow us away! What elevated the whole experience even more was the music of Chicago composers Michael Mahler and Alan Schmuckler, at once rockin’ and rollin’ and sweetly melodic, being rendered in song by some of the best voices in the city. From the legendary pros to up and coming new faces, as I listened to everyone singing these songs, I couldn’t help think how phenomenal our Chicago theatre family is and how this score is going to stick with audiences! And it’s thrilling too to have our guest artists from New York City, Director Gordon Greenberg and Co-Book writer, Steve Rosen (Steve wrote and starred in The Other Josh Cohen the Off-Broadway hit musical laughfest which coincidentally just closed Sunday night) These guys are an incredible team, the four of them, I’m so looking forward to call back auditions today with the show’s Choreographer, Amber Mak, our Director of New Works by the way, who went to school with these guys! (I just hope at some point today Michael Mahler sits at the piano again to play some of the show like he did yesterday. Rock my world)!
Love & thanks,
Jim
