Bailiwick Chicago Presents ROCK SHOWtunes

Bailiwick Chicago Theater will present ROCK SHOWtunes, an evening of classic Broadway showtunes reimagined as modern rock songs on Wednesday, October 3 at 9 pm (doors open at 8 pm) at Chicago's Underground Lounge, 952 W. Newport Ave. ROCK SHOWtunes takes place one day before Bailiwick officially launches its 2012/13 season with the much-anticipated rock musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson.

Bailiwick Chicago is no stranger to producing rock musicals, with a repertoire including the critically acclaimed "Passing Strange" and last season's "Rise of the Numberless" with The New Colony. The inspiration for ROCK SHOWtunes came from yours truly, when I was working on a song from "The King & I" with my vocal coach and mused, "What if Green Day wrote this song?" I shared the showtune/rock song mashup with Artistic Director Lili-Anne Brown, who recalled a similar experience jamming a song from "Guys & Dolls" in the style of R&B artist Jill Scott. Sparked by this shared inspiration, we collaborated on curating an evening that would give hardcore rock and musical theatre fans alike something new and innovative.

Reimagining and reinventing new work is at the core of what Bailiwick Chicago does. "Musical Theater, besides Jazz, is one of the only true American art-forms influenced and born from fusing various music forms together," said Managing Director Michael Harnichar, who will be performing during the event. "Fusion has always been something that champions diversity which is a key value of Bailiwick Chicago. ROCK SHOWtunes celebrates diversity and theater in a way that only Bailiwick Chicago knows how... with a whole lot of awesome."

ROCK SHOWtunes features performances by Collective Members Lili-Anne Brown, Harmony France, Kathleen Gibson, Michael Harnichar, Aaron Holland, Ryan Lanning and yours truly with guest artists Bethany Thomas, Sharriese Hamilton and Jayson Brooks of JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound. All the songs in the show are arranged and music directed by Collective Member Aaron Benham.

The evening begins with performances from NightBlue's "Avenue Q", Brown Paper Box's production of "Godspell", and the highly anticipated production of "Assassins."

Tickets for this unique fundraising event cost $10 in advance, $15 at the door, and are available at https://bailiwickchicago.com/tickets/