CHICAGO — With $10 million newly in the bank from the federal Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program, Broadway in Chicago has announced plans to mount a slew of shows in the Loop during the 2021-22 season, including such previously announced and postponed productions as
Other titles slated for the presenter’s downtown theaters include the pre-Broadway tryout of “Paradise Square” (Nov. 2-Dec. 5), “Beautiful — the Carole King Musical” (Nov. 2-7), along with reprise bookings of “Pretty Woman: The Musical” (Dec. 14-19), “The Simon & Garfunkel Story” (Feb. 22-27, 2022) and a revival tour of “My Fair Lady” (June 28-July 10, 2022).
However, it won’t be until October before the Loop is buzzing again with touring musicals and only in November will the number of shows reach the kind of critical mass that is more typical of the fall. Mostly, this is a consequence of the lag time between the end of pandemic restrictions in large cities like New York and Chicago, and the readiness of large shows that were forced to re-rehearse (and, in some cases, to replace cast and crew members who have moved on to other projects). But new agreements with unions and other stakeholders now are in place and things are moving again.
A “farewell” touring production of “Rent” (Oct. 5-10) is likely to be the first Broadway in Chicago show to reopen in the Loop. And at least one show expected to resume in the fall, “Six,” now has been postponed until March 29, 2022, when it will begin a long run through July 3. Ticket sales likely will be brisk.
One-nighters from “Hamilton” and recording star Leslie Odom Jr. (Dec. 4) and celebrity chef Alton Brown (Dec. 16, with two shows) are also on the Broadway in Chicago slate, which features both productions on a traditional subscription season, as well as special attractions.
Broadway in Chicago is not the only Chicago-area arts venue to receive the long anticipated federal funding, which is slowly trickling out and being announced by the Small Business Administration.
The grants are designed to help arts venues and presenters recover losses caused by the pandemic. The list is so far incomplete: the program has been announcing recipients on a weekly basis and there are more to come.
So far, though, many Chicago arts venues have been awarded significant amounts of money.
The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University got about $6.8 million. Drury Lane Productions in Oakbrook Terrace received $4.5 million, likely a lifesaver for that family business. Annoyance Productions, a long-established Chicago comedy theater in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood, received about $400,000. The House Theatre of Chicago received $440,000. The historic Egyptian Theatre in DeKalb received $377,000. Theo Ubique Theatre got $150,000. The Chicago Magic Lounge, located in the Andersonville neighborhood and reopening soon, got $1.6 million.
Not all Chicago venues were approved, however. John Stoops, the producer of The Revival improv theater in Hyde Park said he had applied for the shuttered venues grant, been deemed “ineligible” and had been unable to recover any explanation.
“We fulfilled all the criteria,” a frustrated Stoops said, noting that the funding was crucial to the survival of his improv theater, one of the city’s few remaining pure improvisation venues.
Stoops says he plans to try and find out more. Nonetheless, there is no question that the grants, which collectively make up a federal injection of funds without obvious precedence, will ease the road to recovery for many Chicago-area arts organizations, including theater, dance, comedy and music.
