Introducing the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place

In a welcome if not wholly unexpected announcement this morning, Broadway in Chicago revealed it will take over the Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place, remodeling the space over the summer and reopening it as the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place. BIC is entering into a long-term agreement with Water Tower Place owner General Growth Properties; BIC president Lou Raizin said plans are to "transform the lobby space and theater space" to make them "more contemporary"—i.e., say goodbye to the late Drury Lane impresario Tony DeSantis's trademark red velvet and chandeliers.

The Broadway Playhouse will open September 23-26 with An Evening with Sutton Foster; the Thoroughly Modern Millie Tony winner is on a solo tour in support of her album Wish. She'll be followed  by Traces, which was announced last month (but without a venue). The Edinburgh Fringe hit by French-Canadian company 7 Fingers begins October 26, launching a U.S. tour. And next spring the theater will see a production of Working, the 1978 musical based on Studs Terkel's book. Created by Stephen Schwartz (Wicked) with songs contributed by musicians from James Taylor to Mary Rodgers, Working debuted at the Goodman. This will be a revamped version with new material by In the Heights composer Lin-Manuel Miranda. This iteration previously played Florida's Asolo Rep in 2008 and San Diego's Old Globe last year. It's unclear at this point if the Broadway Playhouse engagement will be part of a tour, though that seems likely.

The intimate (by Broadway in Chicago standards) Water Tower space, a former movie theater, was reopened as a 550-seat live theater by DeSantis in 2004. But both the elder DeSantis and his grandson Kyle, who's revitalized the programming at Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace since taking over after his grandfather's death in 2007, have struggled to bring audiences into the Mag Mile theater; for some time now, Drury Lane Water Tower's web address has redirected to Oakbrook Terrace's site.

Broadway in Chicago has presented shows in the space before, including one modest hit (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), one that should have been (Xanadu) and one that died a well-deserved death (Shout! The Mod Musical). I have high hopes that, with full control of the space (and a revamp of that imposing decor), BIC will find the right programming to make it work. See below for renderings of the Broadway Playhouse's new look.