More Chi-Town Theatre Moving To New York

By Julienne Bilker in Arts & Entertainment on Jan 8, 2010 10:25PM

photo of Desmin Borges and Usman Ally by Liz Lauren

Superior Donuts may have closed on Broadway, but more Chicago goodness is headed east to keep Our Town company off-Broadway. The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, which had its world premiere at Victory Gardens last fall, will open at New York’s Second Stage Theatre this spring.

The wrestling-centric show was written by Kristoffer Diaz and originally produced in association with Teatro Vista. Second Stage’s production, scheduled to run April 26-June 20, is expected to ostensibly be a remount of the original, likely starring Chicago cast members Desmin Borges, Usman Ally and Christian Litke and featuring “a retooled version of the same set by Brian Sidney Bembridge.” Eddie Torres (Artistic Director of Teatro Vista) will direct.

Second Stage, an off-Broadway house that focuses on play development, provided a stepping-stone to Broadway for Metamorphoses (developed by Mary Zimmerman at Lookingglass), and has done the same for other productions, including The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which was produced at Drury Lane Water Tower in 2007 and again at Marriott Lincolnshire this past spring, and our new musical obsession, Next to Normal.

We’re sad to say we missed The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity - it was incredibly well-reviewed by the Trib, Time Out and the Sun-Times, and included on all three publications' top ten lists for 2009, ranking number one with Time Out.