Ride the Cyclone getting American premiere in Chicago, with an eye on New York

The cast of Ride the Cyclone (Revue Stage, Vancouver).Tim Matheson

Ride the Cyclone, Canadian playwright Jacob Richmond and composer Brooke Maxwell's much-loved musical about a Saskatchewan teen choir that dies in a freak roller-coaster accident, will get its long-awaited American premiere at Chicago Shakespeare Theater in September.

Rachel Rockwell, an award-winning director and choreographer, is set to stage a revised version of the off-beat show described by The Globe and Mail's Marsha Lederman as "Glee meets Survivor" in the Upstairs studio at the Tony-winning theatre company located on Chicago's Navy Pier. "It's a cool spot for it to premiere, because there's a big amusement park outside," says Richmond.

Kevin McCollum, the New York-based producer behind Broadway hits The Drowsy Chaperone and Avenue Q, remains on board – and, Richmond says, the plan is to try the latest version out in Chicago before taking it to the Big Apple, presumably to an off-Broadway house.

Ride the Cyclone premiered at Atomic Vaudeville in Victoria, BC, in a production directed by Britt Small in 2008 – and has since gone through many different incarnations as it toured, played to sold-out houses and rave reviews at Toronto's Theatre Passe Muraille, and big-name producers began to sign on.

Richmond and Maxwell have made a few changes again since the last, largest-scale version criss-crossed Western Canada in 2013. There's a new opening number, a new song for the overachieving teen Ocean, and the story arc has been smoothed out.

But the setting of Uranium, Saskatchewan, has been retained – and there's the possibility that one of the original Canadian cast members might even join the new American company as well.

"The first time we did it in Toronto, I was like 'Thank god, it's finally over,'" says Richmond. "But it keeps getting a second wind… It was exciting to be in Chicago and work with everyone there."

Chicago Shakespeare Theater announced its full 2015 – 2016 season on Wednesday – and there was another Canadian surprise in store. Stratford Festival regular Dion Johnstone will reprise the role of Othello in a new production directed by Jonathan Munby; Johnstone last played the part at the Stratford Festival under the direction of Chris Abraham in 2013. For more information, visit www.chicagoshakes.com.