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Chicago Tribune
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
The musical '42 Balloons' at Chicago Shakes is a producer's bet on the unknown
The 63-year-old Broadway producer Kevin McCollum is of the age when one starts to wonder about one's legacy. Then again, producers, an optimistic crew by trade and existential necessity, always have to be looking forward. No producer wants to be tagged a nostalgist. And so, at a bar on Navy Pier, one can see McCollum's famously restless mind flit back and forth between past and present, defining his oeuvre and shying away from the task. McCollum's past includes 'Rent,' 'Avenue Q,' 'In the Heights' and 'Six,' to name the biggest titles upon which his reputation and financial well-being most fully rest. In the immediate future, there is '42 Balloons.' That's the title of McCollum's latest tryout at The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, the same theater that launched both 'The Notebook' (with a short Broadway run that still stings the producer) and 'Six,' a blockbuster hit despite having the most of Broadway musical budgets. '42 Balloons' is a musical about the quixotic Vietnam veteran known as 'Lawnchair Larry' Walters, who took to the air in 1982 above Southern California while seated in a lawn chair lifted by more than 40 helium-filled weather balloons. Walters reached as high as 16,000 feet, which meant he entered the sights of commercial pilots in airspace controlled by the Los Angeles International Airport. He came down by popping his balloons with a BB gun, a metaphor waiting to happen. The Federal Aviation Administration did not appreciate the stunt, eventually charging Walters with violating controlled airspace, operating a non-airworthy craft (surely debatable, given the success of the flight) and flying without a balloon license. But Walters' lawnchair, replete with its jerry-rigged frame and attached water bottles, is still on display at the National Air and Space Museum as part of an exhibit aptly titled 'We All Fly.' The core of Walters' audacious story has long interested others. In 2009, Steppenwolf Theatre Company produced Bridget Carpenter's 'Up,' a moving play that imagined the life of a man named Walter, who once had been famous for attaching balloons to his lawn chair but then spends his days fiddling in his basement trying to re-create his moment of fame. The Disney movie 'Up' from the same year also had some similarities, and Walters has been the subject of podcasts and articles aplenty. But the possibilities for a musical from the story are pretty self-evident, given the long Broadway history of flight as a metaphor for escape, a willingness to take risks and the ever-popular craving for self-actualization. All of that pretty much describes 'Defying Gravity' from 'Wicked,' one of the most popular Broadway numbers of the 21st century: 'So if you care to find me,' Elphaba sings, 'Look to the western sky.' A broomstick? 42 balloons? The pneumatic ascent to the 'Heaviside Layer' in 'Cats'? All very much a shared metaphor. Those shows, though, were the work of a highly experienced writing and composing team. That's far from the case with '42 Balloons.' To say that the show's sole writer and composer, the 32-year-old Jack Godfrey, is a newcomer to the musical theater is to understate. '42 Balloons' is not only his first musical but his first foray into the professional theater. His director and dramaturg, Ellie Coote, is a childhood friend with whose brother Godfrey played rugby. Until recently he had a day job in London teaching English as a foreign language. Born and raised in Oxford, England, the earnest, modest and likable Godfrey says he came from a family that did not have any connections to the theater, beyond attending tours of 'Les Miserables.' But his dad wrote him silly songs as a kid and he picked up that mantle. 'I wanted to write songs for Beyoncé,' he says. Godfrey studied religion at Durham University as an undergraduate, with a year abroad at Boston College, but eventually found his way to a musical theater course at the University of London and remained, having decided to pursue a career as a writer of musicals. His only other real experience prior to '42 Balloons' has been penning music for his brother's short movie and writing a musical history of the Methodist Church ('kind of an 18th century 'Book of Mormon,' he says, 'only much less funny'). But then, some eight years ago, he came across the story of Walters on the internet and he says, 'I could relate to a story about a man who had a dream.' He started meeting with Coote and putting together a score. By happenstance, Coote knew a member of the creative team behind 'Six' and Godfrey played his score for him. That led to a meeting with Andy and Wendy Barnes, a British married couple who became late-in-life developers of new British musicals and are well respected for having discovered 'Six.' That led to a few Monday night workshops in London at the Vaudeville Theatre, staged on top of the set for 'Six,' which led to a call to McCollum, which led to a first full staging of '42 Balloons' at the Lowry Theatre in Manchester, which has now led to the show's North American premiere at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. 'We love working on new musicals here,' says Edward Hall, Chicago Shakespeare's relatively new artistic director, as he watches rehearsals. His company has already put a lot of development work in the title alongside McCollum, whom Hall has known for years. Should '42 Balloons' follow a similar trajectory to those 'Six' queens, it's fair to say that everyone involved would be delighted. After the run at the Lowry, Godfrey got a call from McCollum. At Navy Pier, he showed he can do a pretty good impression of the producer's voice: 'Jack, it's Kevin McCollum. I want to take your show to America. How does that sound?' Ergo, '42 Balloons' has its official liftoff on Navy Pier on Tuesday night. 'I really love this country,' Godfrey says unprompted and rather touchingly after recounting the show's brief history alongside his own. 'I have this fascination with American culture and I picked an American story because I wanted to write sort of from an outsider's perspective, very much like Bill Bryson has written about Britain. I really want this show to be my love letter to America.' Fascinatingly, one of Godfrey's lyrics points out that although Walters had a camera attached to his chair, he never took one photograph; such was the difference between 1982 and today. '42 Balloons' appears very much in the McCollum aesthetic. Its physical scale and cast size is relatively modest (like 'Six'), a sampling of Godfrey's songs suggest a melodic, soft-core romanticism (like 'Rent's' Jonathan Larson), the show aims to have a certain insouciance (like 'Avenue Q') and the central character is a misfit like Man in Chair from 'The Drowsy Chaperone,' another McCollum title. Such comparisons are, of course, wildly premature and may prove ridiculous. Or apt. Such aspirations are why producers take risks on the unproven. '42 Balloons,' McCullom says, 'is about what musicals are so often about: 'How do you fly against all odds?''
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Janelle Monáe Creates Optical Illusion at Met Gala 2025 in Thom Browne x Paul Tazewell Collaboration
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways Janelle Monáe's Met Gala 2025 outfit was a custom Thom Browne look created in collaboration with costume designer Paul Tazewell, who is known for creating costumes on Broadway for 'Hamilton,' 'In the Heights' and 'The Color Purple.' Her avant-garde look featured bold black with white pinstripes on one side, while the other was red with white geometric lines and patterns. The exaggerated shoulders and rectangular silhouette created a surreal, cartoonish effect. Janelle Monáe 'From the very beginning of the design process — exploring the beautiful and important theme of the Black dandy — it was essential that tailoring be front and center. With Janelle's expansive imagination and Thom Browne's meticulous attention to every detail, this collaboration is just the beginning,' Tazewell wrote on Instagram, celebrating Monáe's look. More from WWD Monáe also wore a Vacheron Constantin luxury watch and jewelry by Selim Mouzannar. Janelle Monáe Monáe was styled by Alexandra Mandelkorn, who also dressed Rachel Brosnahan for the event. Mandelkorn searched for inspiration in Black culture and fashion for the occasion, embracing the theme 'Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.' 'Dandyism is one of the many vibrant ways the Black community has created to channel self-expression and culture. A way to be loud and proud of who they are, and showcase the immense creativity they possess, even in the face of a society that has continuously oppressed them,' stylist Alexandra Mandelkorn told WWD via email. 'My goal was to make sure both of my clients felt like their own personal fashion sensibilities were being showcased, while also centering the Black creatives we are working with.' Janelle Monáe Mandelkorn worked to honor Black creatives at the event, including Tazewell. 'They are all tailoring experts and are currently making Black history!' 'The Met Gala is our one chance a year to really dream our biggest fashion dreams. There are things you can do on the Met Gala carpet that would never read on another big red carpet, but at the Met, it's celebrated. We help our clients synthesize their visions, emotions, current fashion goals and strategies and make sure we are making the most of Fashion's Biggest Night,' Mandelkorn said. Janelle Monáe The 2025 Met Gala, held Monday at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, features the theme 'Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.' The event highlights Black dandyism and menswear, with a 'Tailored for You' dress code. Cochairs include Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky, Pharrell Williams and Anna Wintour. View Gallery Launch Gallery: Met Gala 2025 Red Carpet Arrivals Photos, Live Updates Best of WWD Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Chicago Tribune
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Review: ‘Real Women Have Curves: The Musical' gets a feel-good Broadway bow
NEW YORK — 'My husband likes a big woman,' says one of the characters in 'Real Women Have Curves: The Musical,' enough to spark a roar from a matinee audience. 'More territory to explore.' 'My husband likes a short woman,' comes the fast response from a fellow worker. 'You get to the destination faster.' Sexy quips like that are sprinkled throughout this affirmative musical about Latina garment workers in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles in 1987, a new Broadway attraction based on both Josefina López's original play and the 2002 film adaptation that starred America Ferrera. Directed and choreographed by Sergio Trujillo, it's a modestly scaled melodrama about the experience of mostly undocumented and hard-working immigrants and, although theoretically set nearly 40 years ago in the late 1980s, it has arrived at the James Earl Jones Theatre with striking timeliness. The show, which has a score by Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez and a book by Lisa Loomer and Nell Benjamin, wisely leans into that circumstance. The cultural touchstones of the 1980s aren't exactly dominant here and until someone mentions Ronald Reagan, I swear most audience members thought they were watching a show set, sad to say, in the present. The title of the piece, a value statement, signals the show's point of view, and that there will be support and community and determination and body positivity aplenty. That's exactly how it goes. The plot is straight melodrama and derivative of several recent musicals, from 'In the Heights' to 'The Full Monty,' but especially 'Kinky Boots.' Carmen (Justina Machado), a Mexican immigrant who has opened her own garment factory, gets an order from a mean, pencil-skirted buyer named Rosalí (Jennifer Sánchez) to sew hundreds of dresses on a ridiculously tight deadline. If she doesn't make it, she won't get paid (you suspect she just might find a way before the end of Act 2). That's one source of dramatic tension, especially since the factory also has to worry about immigration raids and workers disappearing. The other big conflict flows between Carmen and her daughter, Ana (Tatianna Córdoba), an 18-year-old with Big Dreams, including an acceptance with a scholarship letter from Columbia University, allowing her to pursue her goal of becoming a journalist (still a viable career ambition in 1987). Ana's gentle dad (Mauricio Mendoza) is cool, her sister (Florencia Cluenca) is ready to step up at the shop and Ana's boyfriend (Mason Reeves) is geeky-cute and supportive (the show is no font of machismo), but mom Carmen wants her kid to stay and help with the garment biz. Ana is torn between her familial responsibilities and her own desires. You think she may figure out how to manage both before the final bows? The book for 'Real Women' really does tie itself into a pretzel trying to achieve its goal of keeping Carmen a likable character with whom the audience can empathize (the enemies here are the evil capitalists who forget where they came from, along with the immigration authorities) while also creating conflict with her daughter who just wants to go to any Ivy League college on a full scholarship. Certainly, children of immigrants feel much pressure due to their parents' prior struggles and those first-generation Americans often count family loyalty above all, but they also typically prize education and Carmen's lack of support for college for a whip-smart daughter the show insists she adores is just very hard to believe. Machado does her best to make it work and the personalized passion with which the talented Córdoba approaches her standard-issue, let-me-at-'em 18-year-old is enough to lift the character, especially in front of an audience willing to let her stand on their collective shoulders. This show, which has a genial, populist score of entertaining and empowering numbers, is not really about that plot anyway. Everyone who has ever seen a musical knows where it is going. It's more about the collective journey, the chance to celebrate oft-overlooked garment workers who know of skill and artistry and to enjoy actors with panache (Aline Mayagoitia, a very notable talent, is notably moving as a Guatemalan refugee). Most of the company is celebrating a Broadway debut and the audience is primed to enjoy their triumph, fictionally and formatively. Trujillo, an old pro, understands his material and his lively choreography is both created for the bonafide dancers in the cast and designed to make everyone else look and feel good. So they do. There's a song about menopause that went over like gangbusters at the show I saw, determined ballads of hopes, fears and resilience and even a bit of PG semi-nudity when the factory gets too sweaty and confidence rises. The curves promised on the marquee are vivaciously delivered.
Washington Post
20-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
An intimate ‘In the Heights' that soars
Before 'Hamilton' tackled our country's founding — and ignited Lin-Manuel mania — 'In the Heights' zeroed in on a few blocks to tell a more intimate American story. Composed by Miranda with a book by Quiara Alegría Hudes, it's a neighborhood scrapbook, stuffed with gossip, summer flings and everyday people striving toward the promise of hope. It premiered on Broadway in 2008.
