"The Book of Mormon" looks to be falling short of expectations in Chicago

Scott Rudin has learned a tough lesson about Chicago.

Rudin, one of the most powerful and wealthy producers working in both film and live theater, brought his hit Broadway musical "The Book of Mormon" to Chicago in December, fully expecting it would become a long-running hit here, as it has been on Broadway since it opened to great acclaim in the spring of 2011.

But Chicago isn't New York, and Rudin doesn't appear to have struck gold with "BOM" here in quite the same way he has in New York, where the show routinely sells out.

Because of bookings for "Book of Mormon" now announced for Denver and Orlando and other markets this fall, it looks as if the show will not achieve the multiyear run in Chicago that many had expected, including local theater critics who praised the production and predicted a long run.

Rudin and his public relations team have issued nothing but "no comments" whenever the question has been posed to them in recent days about whether "BOM" would run beyond September or October of this year in Chicago.

When asked a question about how long "Book of Mormon" would run in Chicago, Lou Raizin, the head of the Broadway in Chicago organization that is presenting the show locally, also dodged the question. "We'll see" was all he would say in an interview a couple of weeks ago.

At most, it now looks as if "Book of Mormon" will get a nine, possibly 10-month run in Chicago, falling well short of the three-year initial engagement for the blockbuster "Wicked," a musical that set a new record for long runs in Chicago, even as it entertained tens of thousands of young girls who could relate to the friendship between the good and evil witches that is at the heart of the show's story.

Rudin spent — and continues to spend — lavishly on print, digital and television advertisingto try to position the show as a major theatrical event in Chicago. Most of that advertising was cleverly realized, however, to avoid tipping off consumers to any of the more patently offensive content in the show, which uses song and dance to tell a story about Mormon missionaries dealing with potential converts in Uganda. Instead much of the advertising referenced the show's nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

While the extravagant ad spend no doubt has helped create awareness of "Book of Mormon" in Chicago, it doesn't appear to have assured the show of a multiyear run. Though "BOM" producers and Raizin haven't talked much about the reception the show has gotten from the paying public in Chicago, it's very likely that positive word of mouth hasn't been strong enough to give Rudin enough confidence to extend "BOM" beyond Sept. 8, the date the show is now scheduled to leave the Bank of America Theatre in Chicago.

But rest assured there will be Broadway theater in Chicago this fall. The producers of "Wicked" have announced the show is coming back to Chicago for a limited eight-week run starting Oct. 30.