A premiere for Marriott: Lake County, not Broadway, will be the next stop for the musical “Elmer Gantry.” The show, based on Sinclair Lewis’ Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about the hellish descent of two evangelists, has seen a number of revisions since premiering in Washington, D.C., in 1990 under director David Bell.
To Frankie Hewitt, Washington’s Ford Theatre executive producer and owner of the musical’s rights, those productions are simply rungs on the ladder to Broadway. Those rungs did not include a Chicago premiere until Kary Walker, Marriott’s Lincolnshire Theatre executive producer, convinced Hewitt otherwise.
“I finally wore her down. I couldn’t promise Broadway. As soon as you do that, for sure it won’t happen,” Walker said. What he does promise is a memorable show. “The book has won a Pulitzer. It was an Academy Award winning movie (in 1960). The story is very American. It’s about corruption and religion and sex. Hello?” he said.
Walker and his Marriott crew, along with Hewitt and director Eric Shaffer, will offer their take on the show from Jan. 28 through March 22.
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(For more information, call 847-634-0200. The box office does not recommend the show for children.)