Editorial: Tony wins for Chicago debuts a glorious reminder of local theater

Watching the Tony Awards Sunday night might have made theater lovers outside of New York a little envious - and even tempted a few to book a getaway to catch "Hadestown" or other winners.

But for those of us in Chicago and the suburbs, the awards show served as a potent reminder of how blessed we are here to have world-class theater and the chance to catch some of these nominated shows before they hit Broadway.

That includes "Tootsie," which received 11 Tony nods this year.

The comic musical, based on the hit 1982 movie, premiered at Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre in September and ran for about a month before going to New York.

Daily Herald theater critic Barbara Vitello called "Tootsie" "shrewd, self-aware" and "laugh-out-loud funny," and she hailed its star, Santino Fontana, "as an unstoppable force." He proved her right Sunday night when he took home a Tony for best actor in a leading role in a musical. "Tootsie" also won best book, but lost the night's top prize to "Hadestown."

Best actress in the musical category went to Stephanie J. Block, one of three women to play the titular pop star at different stages of her life in "The Cher Show." Local audiences saw the show - and Block - in its pre-Broadway run at Chicago's since-renamed Oriental Theatre last summer.

Some suburbanites even spotted Cher herself in the Chicago audience.

If you saw "The Cher Show" or "Tootsie" in Chicago, maybe you felt a burst of hometown pride during the Tonys and a lingering sense of gratitude that you had the chance to see them before they were Broadway bound.

If you didn't see those Broadway in Chicago shows, but now wish you had, perhaps you'll take a closer look at what the Chicago and suburban theater scenes have to offer and take advantage of a future pre-Broadway run or world premiere.

Next up in the Chicago-Broadway pipeline is the Britney Spears musical "Once Upon A One More Time," coming in October. And the musical "The Secret of My Success" has its world premiere next year at Aurora's Paramount Theatre.

Then again, you don't have to wait to catch the work of one talented Tony nominee in Chicago.

On Sunday, playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney offered an impassioned call for tolerance in introducing his nominated play "Choir Boy." A production of the drama ran in Chicago two years ago.

"Choir Boy," about an openly gay student who wants to lead his prep school's gospel choir, did not win best play Sunday. But McCraney's "Ms. Blakk for President" is currently at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre - with the playwright in the lead role of a drag queen throwing her hat into the political ring.

Reviews for that play have been mixed, but now's your chance to see for yourself through July 14.