The wild and wondrous show tells a daring, decadent tale about a group of artists fighting to save their theater and put on their show, all on a sprawling and vivid set.
"It's an excess, but also has tenderness and subtleties to it, and also the music because it's from so many eras, helped with building the movement because of the nostalgia you get from the music as well," said choreographer Sonya Tayeh. "People underestimate what the body can say without the voice sometimes."
Producer Bill Damaschke is a Chicago native who grew up dreaming of musicals.
"It's a show about a group of artists, fighting to save their theater and put their show on, and so in this moment we're coming out of a time when all of that had been taken away from us, I think they'll go on that journey and see that art and love and truth and beauty and freedom all kind of survive in the end," he said.
Star Courtney Reed is also local, launching her career at the Elgin Children's Theater.
"Here I am back in Chicago, back in my hometown where all of my family can come and see me, and it feels very surreal and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world, I really do," she said.
The curtain goes up for all the music and all the magic on March 19.