A New Theater on North Michigan?
Talk is hot and heavy on the ritzy dinner-party circuit about a possible new theater space on North Michigan Avenue. It’s only talk at the moment, say theater-industry sources, but the talkers are reportedly business types who could put a lot of money where their mouths are. Were such a new theater to materialize, it would be the first in the area since Tony DeSantis’s Drury Lane at Water Tower Place, which opened shortly after the shopping complex debuted in the mid-70s. With an in-the-round setting and productions ill-suited to the neighborhood’s tastes, DeSantis’s Water Tower theater never was much of a success; it was eventually turned into movie houses. But with the right kind of space and the right producer at the helm, North Michigan Avenue might be ready once more to support legitimate theater. Certainly the increase in hotel rooms and visitor activity would help.
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Meanwhile, farther north, the former Ivanhoe Theatre at 750 W. Wellington is, as predicted, getting a new look and a new name. Under the management of Wes Payne and Michael Leavitt, the theater is being gutted and turned into a 499-seat thrust-stage theater to be named the Wellington. It will reopen on March 7 with a Cullen, Henaghan, and Platt production of Shirley Valentine, starring Ellen Burstyn. Payne and Leavitt had no choice, evidently, when it came to the $250,000 worth of renovations. Producers had repeatedly refused to book the old Ivanhoe because of its awkward configuration.
Will K.D. Lang Play in Aurora?
The folks promoting progressive country singer K.D. Lang are going to find out just how progressive the folks around Aurora, Illinois, are. The controversial but increasingly well-known Canadian singer brings her act to Aurora’s Paramount Arts Centre on January 29. Lang played the somewhat hipper (and smaller) Park West last summer and has been garnering favorable notices in influential east coast press circles. “People either love her or hate her,” confesses her Minneapolis-based tour promoter, Tom Decker. Lang is blessed with a sumptuous voice, but she’s had a tough time getting her material aired on some hardcore country stations. Her rock-laced sound and aggressively androgynous personal style aren’t what is commonly found around Nashville, Tennessee.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Paul L. Meredith.
