Pat Craig: ‘Chicago’ comes to Martinez

THE NEWLY energized Willows Theatre Company continues its trademark trend of putting big things in small packages when it opens the Kander and Ebb musical “Chicago” Saturday in the tiny Campbell Theatre in Martinez.

It’s a more appropriate venue than you might think, because the musical was first billed as “a musical Vaudeville” when it opened on Broadway in 1975. The current Broadway production, closing in on 6,000 performances, may seem like it’s been running since then, but that version has been going only since 1996, making it the longest-running Broadway revival.

“Chicago” began as a straight play in the 1920s, mocking the journalistic sensationalism of the era. The musical version was something of a breakthrough. It played on a nearly bare stage, in front of the orchestra. Chairs were its main props. But sitting in those chairs the first time out were Chita Rivera, Gwen Verdon and Jerry Orbach, among others. That time out, it ran for 923 performances.

Watching the musical in the small venue, while snacking and enjoying a drink, sounds like an excellent way to enjoy the tale of murder, love, mayhem and legal grandstanding. All that comes along with such tunes as “All That Jazz,” “Razzle Dazzle” and “When You’re Good to Mama.”

“Chicago” plays in the theater at 636 Ward St., through June 12; showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays (no matinee this Saturday). Tickets, at $20-$35, may be reserved at 925-798-1300 or www.willowstheatre.org.

“BLUES IN THE NIGHT”: This bluesy revue, set in a low-rent Chicago hotel in 1938, opens May 20 at Walnut Creek’s Lesher Center for the Arts, Civic Drive at Locust Street.

The show, which played on Broadway in the late ’80s and had a brief run in San Francisco’s Post Street Theatre in 2007, is a Center Repertory Company production conceived by Sheldon Epps.

It features a delightful array of ’20s and ’30s pop and blues music from the likes of Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke and Gordon Jenkins.

The cast includes four performers at the hotel: the man in the saloon (C.R. Lewis), the woman of the world (Debbie deCoudreaux), the girl with a date (Amanda Folena) and the woman from the road (Armelia McQueen).

“Blues” plays in previews May 20-22 at the theater at Civic Drive and Locust. The main run is May 24-June 25; showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Thursdays-Fridays, 2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays. Tickets, at $36-$45, may be reserved at 925-943-7469 or www.centerrep.org.

“THE SONGS OF RODGERS AND HART — A CELEBRATION”: The musical revue of tunes by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart opens May 20 at Douglas Morrisson Theatre in Hayward.

Directed by Michael Ryken, the show has a cast of six and features tunes from the team that created 28 musicals from 1919-43, including “Babes in Arms,” “I Married an Angel,” “The Boys From Syracuse,” “Too Many Girls” and “Pal Joey.” The two also wrote tunes for movies.

The show will run in the theater at 22311 N. Third St. at 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through June 10, with additional 8 p.m. shows June 2 and 9. Tickets, at $28, may be reserved at 510-881-6777 or www.dmtonline.org

“INTO THE WOODS”: The musical by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine opens Saturday in San Ramon’s Front Row Theater.

The San Ramon Community Theater production is a take on what happens in fairy tales following “happily ever after.” The story includes such tales at “Cinderella,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” “Little Red Riding Hood” and “The Baker and His Wife.”

Characters sing about their situations, often in an very adult way, and explore loss of innocence and the true price of getting what you really want.

The show plays in the theater at 17011 Bollinger Canyon Road through May 28. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Fridays, 3 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays. Tickets, at $13-$16, may be reserved at 925-973-2787 or www.sanramoncommunitytheater.org.

Contact Pat Craig at pjcraig495@yahoo.com.