Chicago Invaded by Canadian Theater Impresario!
Garth Drabinsky’s Live Entertainment Corporation of Canada has its eye on Chicago. The Toronto-based theatrical production company, founded by the former head of the Cineplex Odeon movie-theater chain, wants to make Chicago its base of operations in the U.S., according to Drabinsky, who built Cineplex Odeon into one of North America’s largest movie-theater chains. “The first city we would look to is Chicago,” he says, “because we believe it is the most exciting city in the U.S.”
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Now Drabinsky is preparing a large-scale theatrical invasion of Chicago and the U.S. Shows he plans to open in Toronto and eventually hopes to take to Chicago include the world premiere of the Fred Ebb and John Kander musical Kiss of the Spider Woman, an updated staging of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and a new mounting of Showboat directed by Harold Prince, which will be the first show at a new performing arts center in Toronto in 1993.
Though Aspects has relatively little name recognition in the U.S., Drabinsky also set a steep top ticket price of $55. The musical was roundly panned by many critics in New York, where it ran for about a year without making any money. In London, however, the show received a much warmer critical reception; in its third year there it continues to do strong business with Lloyd Webber’s ex-wife Sarah Brightman playing Rose, a role that will be played at the Civic by Chicago actress Linda Balgord.
Support Your Local Arts Supporter
Times are tough for the arts in political circles, and Tom Tresser, founder and president of Greater Chicago Citizens for the Arts, is determined to muster support in the March 17 primary for political candidates sympathetic to the arts. Tresser’s organization, which includes 200 volunteer members, has compiled a list of candidates who have publicly stated they will work to increase awareness of and funding for the arts. Those candidates include Carol Moseley Braun, who is running for the U.S. Senate, and Mel Reynolds, Luis Gutierrez, Dick Simpson, Gary Skoien, and Sid Yates, all up for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Among other things, the above-named candidates have promised to support efforts to put $1 per capita from the federal budget into the National Endowment for the Arts, which would raise endowment funds from $176 million to $250 million annually. Now more than ever, Tresser sees a need for voters concerned about the arts to rally behind the appropriate candidates. “With the recent dumping of NEA chairman John Frohnmayer, we’ve seen arts bashing elevated to the level of presidential politics,” said Tresser. “The arts community must come together locally and nationally to demand a cultural consciousness in the candidates running for president.”
