“Mexodus,” a live-looping, hip hop musical with Chicago origins, written and performed by Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson, is coming to Chicago following an acclaimed off-Broadway run at Audible’s Minetta Lane Theatre that had some critics declaring it a better musical than any of the offerings on Broadway’s current season.
The show, directed by David Mendizábal, produced off-Broadway by Audible and P3 Productions and now managed by Pemberly Productions, will perform with its original cast at the Studebaker Theater at the Fine Arts Building, 410 S. Michigan Ave., for a three-week run beginning Nov. 6.
The Studebaker was one of the co-producers of a piece that is being presented in Chicago in collaboration with Teatro Vista Productions, a longtime producer and developer of Quijada’s theatrical work. A recording of the show also is available as a so-called “Audible Original.”
Runs have also been announced at the Pasadena Playhouse in California and the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. A return to Broadway is not out of the question.
“Mexodus” is set in 1851 and explores the lesser-known Southern trajectory of the Underground Railroad by following the journey of a fictional enslaved man in Texas who seeks freedom across the Rio Grande and gets to know a former medic in the Mexican-American War. The two form a bond to ensure their mutual survival.
More information at mexodusmusical.com.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic