Interesting musicals in Chicago right now?

April 7, 2019 3:12 PM

I know about Hamilton and Cruel Intentions, and also The Bridges of Madison County in Evanston. What other musicals are currently playing in Chicago?

I'm in a program where I need to watch musicals! Also, I hope, enjoy them. I'd love to see them live -- I think that will give a better sense of the power of the form.

Bonus if you can find me a video of Candide to watch...

I'm interested in the form of the traditional musical, primarily, but also in innovative approaches to musicals.

Musicals which are mainly collections of pop singers' repertoires are not interesting, though.

I looked at TimeOut a little, but it seemed cumbersome.

Thanks!

posted by amtho to Society & Culture (8 answers total)

After the opera season Lyric always has a Broadway musical. This year it's West Side Story. It's on all through May.
posted by phunniemee at 3:34 PM on April 7, 2019 [1 favorite]

Not at all traditional - but Six will be there from May to June. The elevator pitch is "The wives of Henry VIII, but let's make them a band, like the Spice Girls". Music is all original, and super catchy.
posted by true at 4:01 PM on April 7, 2019 [2 favorites]

Chicago Opera Theater is doing Moby Dick.
posted by readery at 4:40 PM on April 7, 2019

Not really answering your question but if you're researching musicals, you can go to NYC and make an appointment at the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive of the NY public library, to see some famous productions.
posted by stray at 4:50 PM on April 7, 2019

There's a website that promotes Chicago Theater Year, which seems a little less cumbersome than Time Out ; here's the list, sorted for musicals.
posted by carrienation at 5:24 PM on April 7, 2019

TodayTix (recced to me by another MeFite!) lets you filter its theater listings to find current and upcoming musicals, as well as check for digital lottery/rush tickets and other deals. I use the app version, but the website seems to work decently for browsing.
posted by bettafish at 5:35 PM on April 7, 2019

Hottix.org is a great local resource for discount theatre tickets, and you can filter by genre. Check your local library for taped productions of things that aren’t playing nearby.
posted by impishoptimist at 9:56 PM on April 7, 2019

Looks like there are at least one or two videos of Candide on Youtube:

Scottish Opera's production of Candide apparently recorded from the BBC (more original material than ever before!)
Candide from Barbican Centre
an uncredited (amateur?) Candide

Also, have you checked your library? It's not unusual for a library to have at least one DVD of Candide (often the WNET version - part of Great Performances, I think?) (And indeed, if you need to see several musicals, definitely try your library. There are a number of things that have made it to DVD, and the library-offered streaming services.)

There are also a few Candide DVDs on Amazon.
posted by kristi at 2:02 PM on April 12, 2019