Masada Musical's Chicago Mounting Called Off

The Chicago tryout of Masada, which was scheduled to start performances on February 20, has been officially canceled.

Masada was described in a press release as "a powerful love story with a contemporary resonance inspired by the historic events that took place at Masada." Those historic events took place in 74 CE when a group of about a thousand Jewish rebels killed themselves rather than be captured by the Romans. Masada, Hebrew for "fortress," is now the name for the ruins, which are located on a mountaintop in the Judean Desert in Israel.

Masada features music by Shuki Levy best known for composing songs for small-screen shows such as She-Ra: Princess of Power and Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, lyrics by David Goldsmith and a book by Glenn Berenbeim. The tuner has a show-within-a-show format, as a group of thespians in a 1940s Warsaw ghetto protest the Nazis by staging a musical about the Masada suicides.

The musical, directed by Timothy Sheader and choreographed by David Parsons, was originally supposed to start performances at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts' Oriental Theatre in Chicago on September 19, but it was delayed until February 20. Even after the delay, press releases touted the show for a Broadway run this season. Now it seems that Masada will not be making it to the Great White Way this season.