Free and fun

Broadway In Chicago, in partnership with the City of Chicago, is presenting "Broadway in Chicago Concert in the Park," a fantastic, free event featuring Broadway's hottest shows during the city's legendary Taste of Chicago festival.

Performers will include the Chicago casts of "Jersey Boys," "Wicked" and "SHOUT! The Mod Musical."

Other performers include cast members from the recently announced "Legally Blonde The Musical" and "Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story On Stage," which kicks off its pre-Broadway engagement in Chicago this September.

Audiences also will be able to preview Broadway In Chicago's upcoming 2009 season with performances by "A Chorus Line" and "Grease."

The "Broadway in Chicago in the Park" will be at the Petrillo Music Shell in Grant Park at 6 p.m. June 30.

The concert is produced in partnership with the City of Chicago and hosted by ABC-7's Janet Davies and "Wicked's" Gene Weygandt. Admission is free.

For more information visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com.

Closing time

Chicago's production of the musical revue "Shout! The Mod Musical" has announced it will end its Chicago engagement on June 29 after 72 performances at the Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place, 175 E. Chestnut St., in downtown Chicago.

Plans are under way for a second multi-city U.S. tour later this year, as well as premieres in Las Vegas, Japan and London's West End.

"Shout!" is a fast-paced journey through the infectious and soulful pop anthems and ballads that made household names of stars like Petula Clark, Dusty Springfield and Lulu.

In this Austin Powers-like musical, hits like "To Sir With Love," "Downtown," "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me," "Son of A Preacher Man" and "Georgy Girl" frame the journey of five women during the liberating days of the 1960s that made England swing.

The first production of "Shout!" appeared on stage at the Duplex in New York in 2000 and then transferred to London's Jermyn Street Theatre, where it was nominated as Best Musical by WhatsOnStage. It's co-created by Phillip George and David Lowenstein, who directed and choreographed respectively the original Off-Broadway production, with its "mod musings and groovy gab" by Peter Charles Morris and Phillip George. It's directed and choreographed by Jay Falzone.

The remaining performance schedule is as follows: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2 p.m., 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Saturday; and 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets range in price from $45 to $55 and are available at the Broadway In Chicago Ticket Line at (312) 902-1400, at all Ticketmaster retail locations (including Hot Tix, select Carson Pirie Scott, Coconuts and fye stores) or online at ticketmaster.com.

For more information, please visit www.ShoutTheModMusical.com or www.BroadwayInChicago.com.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at ppotempa@nwitimes.com or 219.852.4327.

celebBirthdays

Author Erich Segal ("Love Story") is 71. Author Joyce Carol Oates is 70. Actor Corin Redgrave (brother of Lynn and Vanessa, "A Man for All Seasons") and country singer Billy "Crash" Craddock are 69. Songwriter Lamont Dozier is 67. Singer Eddie Levert of The O'Jays is 66. Actress Joan Van Ark is 65. NFL player A.C. Cowlings (former OJ Simpson teammate who drove the infamous white Bronco) is 61. Singer James Smith of The Stylistics is 58. Singer Gino Vannelli is 56. Actress Valerie Mahaffey ("Desperate Housewives") is 55. Actress Laurie Metcalf ("Roseanne," "Norm") is 53. Actor Eddie Cibrian ("Third Watch") is 35. Actor Frederick Koehler ("Kate & Allie") is 33. Actress China Shavers ("Boston Public") is 31. Actress Olivia Hack (Cindy Brady in "The Brady Bunch Movie") is 25. "American Idol" runner-up Diana DeGarmo is 21.