WEST LOOP — Chicago may still be the second city when it comes to American musical theater, but one group of local artists wants to make it the premier destination to develop musicals.
That's the mission of "FWD Theatre Project," a new musical theater incubator in Chicago. The idea is to serve as a sort of seed organization to find and help develop promising but undiscovered projects and then expose those projects to Chicago producers.
FWD, which stands for "Festival of Works in Development," will celebrate its official launch Sept. 22 with a one-night-only concert event at City Winery Chicago, 1200 W. Randolph St.
Tickets to the 330-seat venue sold out days after going on sale at the end of August, but the venue has released 70 additional mezzanine tickets, which will go on sale this Wednesday.
The collective has locked down some star power to the event. Chicago area native Jessie Mueller, who won a Tony Award this year for best actress for her performance in "Beautiful — The Carole King Musical," is scheduled to perform. It will be the Broadway star's first performance in Chicago since winning the Tony Award. Mueller will be joined by her sister, Abby Muller, who is currently making her Broadway debut in "Kinky Boots," as well as Karen Mason, who has appeared in a number of Broadway shows including "Mama Mia" and "Sunset Boulevard."
The show will include selections from five new musicals in development, selected earlier this month. Organizers released a list of works as well as descriptions:
• The Black and White Ball by Stephen Cole (book, lyrics) and Todd Ellison (music): "Set amid the racial tensions of New York City in the summer of 1966, The Black and White Ball is an energetic, big band-filled exploration of complex social issues. It revolves around Truman Capote, who has just announced he will host a Black and White Ball for five hundred of his closest friends. In the depths of Brooklyn, Emma, a young black teenager, hears about the Ball and misunderstands it to be a party to unite the races. She tenaciously meets Capote and unwittingly becomes his next “cause,” joining the two in a revelatory friendship."
• Swift as Desire by Jeffrey Lunden (music) and Arthur Perlman (book, lyrics): "Based on a novel by Laura Esquivel, Swift as Desire uses fiery Latin music to tell the tale of Jubilo, a war telegraph operator, and his desire for Lucha, a wealthy girl who abandons herself to passion but misses possessions. Shifting between past and present, Jubilo, now infirm and in the care of his daughter, reflects on his love affair with Lucha and the tragedy that has haunted his life."
• Pride and Prejudice by Lawrence Rush (book, lyrics, music): "A musical adaptation of Jane Austin’s literary classic about social class, gender politics and unexpected romance. This period piece with strong female leads brings fresh insight to the strong-willed and warm-hearted characters of Austin’s 19th century England as Elizabeth, Mr. Darcy, Mrs. Bennett, Mr. Bingley and all of Austin’s beloved characters burst to life through an elegant, lush score."
• Exposure by Erik Della Penna (music, lyrics), William Brown & Doug Frew (book): "Composed in a bohemian, “rockabilly” musical style, Exposure is the story of a young lesbian who finds herself homeless on the streets of New York City after being thrown out of her family’s Midwest home. With an encyclopedic knowledge – and even physical resemblance – of James Dean, she befriends a former uber-star photographer and together they discover an unlikely but transformative connection."
• Love and Other Fables by John McMahon (music, book) and Jay Jeffries (lyrics, book): "This new romantic screwball comedy, set in 600 B.C., follows the early life of Aesop, the not-yet-famous slave, as he creates the “fable” while persistently wooing the headstrong girl of his dreams and entering into a battle of wits with the King of Egypt, changing the course of history."
The FWD Theatre Project is the brainchild of Amber Mak, a Chicago-based director, choreographer and performer. Mak teamed up with seven other veterans of the city's music theater world: Justin Brill, Wade Elkins, Michael Gillis, Karen Multer, Steve Multer, Missy Greenberg and Scott Sowinski.
Steve Multer said Chicago is one of the strongest cities in the world when is comes to play development, comedy and improv theater, but musical theater tends to take a backseat.
"We've never really been a musical theater city, per se. New York has always taken the lead on that front," Multer said. "But we have this phenomenal community of producers and top-ranked, award-winning theaters of great directors, great actors...all this phenomenal talent."
But opportunities for original musical theater can be sparse here, Multer said, in part due to "prohibitively" high costs of producing new musical theater.
FWD Theatre Project will ideally find projects from around the world and help shepard them to Chicago's many producers. Multer said the collective of artists bring a wide range of perspectives — from grant writers to directors to choreographers to performers — to find promising projects.
"I think we're able to offer a very expanded view of any given project and look at it from a variety of standpoints to determine whether or not it really will have legs," Multer said.
The project's de facto home is currently the West Loop's City Winery, a venue the group is thrilled about, Multer said. Following the launch party, the group is planning to hold monthly stage reading of shows it has selected. The venue and exact dates for those readings are still to be determined.
Beginning Wednesday, the second round of mezzanine tickets will go on sale for $15, organizers said. Mezzanine tickets will allow 70 additional guests to mingle before and after the show and watch the performance on a live feed just beyond the main room doors. The section will also serve as "the artists' lounge," where guests "will enjoy the concert in the company of those lending their talents to this vital new addition to Chicago's musical theatre scene," according to an announcement.
Tickets can be found online here or through the City Winery box office at (312) 733-9463.
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