When there’s a month with a fifth Wednesday, I’ll be heading Way-Off-Broadway for a look at theatrical happenings outside New York City. This Leap Day, we’re hopping around the country (and across the pond) to find the best spots for Broadway dreaming…

"Kinky Boots" Film Poster. Image via Google.

Mommy, where do musicals come from?

That question used to be easy to answer. “Well, darling, when a bookwriter and composer and lyricist love each other very much, they go to New Haven and try out their baby.” Now, the truth is, musicals are produced through a decidedly less romantic series of non-monogamous readings, staged readings and workshops. The traditional out-of-town tryout is often skipped as too expensive or a waste of a star’s window of availability. But they do still happen, though often in the guise of regional theater productions.

"Metamorphoses". Photo by Joan Marcus.

Over the last week, two major new tuners announced that they will be getting pre-Broadway tryouts in Chicago. Kinky Boots, based on the 2005 British film and scored by pop icon Cyndi Lauper, will play the Bank of America Theater in the Windy City in October.  The following summer, director Mary Zimmerman (Metamorphoses) will bring her adaptation of Disney’s The Jungle Book to Chicago’s premiere regional venue, the Goodman Theatre.

Why Chicago? Certainly it has a very vibrant theater community and an audience that can intelligently support and critique new work. It was the proving ground for two recent Broadway musicals, The Addams Family and Million Dollar Quartet, which may not have been blockbuster critical and commercial successes but they both live on and may recoup their investments through touring or Off-Broadway productions.

However, if I were a producer, I wouldn’t be looking for a city that fields doubles; I’d be looking for somewhere that has a track record of home runs. Is there such a place? Allow me to attempt a very rough, statistically unsound but amusing analysis… Read more…