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2011-01-26T15:48:00.004-06:00

In Memorandum: Pete Postlethwaite

2011-01-02T23:18:00.002-06:00

The new year gets off to a sad start as British Actor Pete Postlethwaite died today after a battle of cancer. He perhaps best know in the states for his roles in the movies The Lost World, The Usual Suspects, and Luhrman's Romeo + Juliet. Postlethwaite was 64.

Obituaries:
NPR and NPR

Year's Best

2010-12-31T08:30:00.003-06:00

Play attendance was down for us this season with only 17 productions attended or reviewed.

Musical: No worthy entries attended

Remount of a Production: Red Noses @ Strawdog Theatre Company

Non-Equity Production: Good Soul of Szechuan @ Strawdog Theatre Company

Honorable mention: Jungle of Cities @ Ka Tet Theatre & Equus @ Red Twist

Equity Production: Private Lives @ Chicago Shakespeare

Honorable mentions: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf @ Steppenwolf Theatre Company & Late: a Cowboy Song @ Piven Theatre

Non-Chicago Production: Trust @ Second Stage Theatre, New York, NY

Production of the Year: Happy Days @ The Corn Exchange, Dublin, Ireland

In Memorandum: 2011

2010-12-30T08:30:00.003-06:00

H.M. Koutoukas (June 4, 1937-March 18, 2010)
June Havoc (November 8, 1912-March 29, 2010)
John Forsythe (January 29, 1918-April 2, 2010)
Jadin Wong (May 24, 1913-April 5, 2010)
Corin Redgrave (July 16, 1939-April 7, 2010)
Lynn Redgrave (March 8, 1943-May 3, 2010)
Helen Wagner (September 3, 1918-May 5, 2010)
Lena Horne (June 30, 1917-May 10, 2010)
Guy Adkins (May 13, 2010)
Elzbieta Czyzewska (May 14, 1938-June 18, 2010)
Larry Keith (March 4, 1931-July 22, 2010)
Patricia Neal (January 20, 1926-August 9, 2010)
Arthur Penn (September 27, 1922-September 29, 2010)
Joseph Stein (May 30, 1912-October 27, 2010)
Jerry Brock (November 23, 1928-November 2, 2010)
Oscar G. Brockett (November 11, 2010)
Leslie Nielsen (February 11, 1926-November 29, 2010)

Reviewers are just getting younger

2010-12-27T08:30:00.001-06:00

Check out Ada Grey's review of the new Spider Man Musical. Ada is six years old and enjoyed the play very much. This may be about the most adorable thing you'll ever read.

Happy Birthday:
Gerard Depardieu (b. 1948)

Play of the Week: The Pantomime

2010-12-24T08:30:00.001-06:00

Yesterday's blog posting from the London Guardian talks about Britain's Christmas Pantomimes. I'll have to admit, I don't know much about pantomimes. From what I can glean they should like a cross between mummers plays, commedia del'arte, and now, musical hall.

Whatever the art form is comprised of, however, I bring it up for the point that it's uniquely British. Is there a theater form that we can claim is uniquely American? (musical comedy doesn't count). And is there any sort of theater form that has the mass folk appeal like the pantomime - something that children are exposed to once a year and something that adults nostalgically remember. I can't think of anything close on this side of the pond.

Having read this article, I am sad that I missed Piccolo Theatre's production of The Panto of Robin Hood.

Happy Birthday: Ave Gardner (1922-1990)
December 25: Evelyn Nesbit (1884-1967) & Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957)
December 26: Dion Boucicault (1820-1890) & Bahram Bayzai (b. 1938)

Buy Local

2010-12-23T08:30:00.001-06:00

Reflecting on yesterday's post about what art we choose to consume in the new year, I encourage a second resolution: buy local. Just as there is a movement in produce to buy from local farmers resulting in fresher food while supporting the local economy, we should make an effort to support the arts embedded in our community. Go see an off loop play rather than supporting the Broadway in Chicago tours or some of the larger houses that bring in New York talent to cast their shows. Go and see the local bands at Martyrs, Schubas, or your neighborhood coffee house rather than the mega hits that play the United Center. Encourage and support those around you to tell the stores of our city.

Happy Birthday:
Tim Fountain (b. 1967)

New Years Resolutions

2010-12-22T08:30:00.001-06:00

Thank you to Cott Mail for the lead on this posting. It's a great challenge for ever artist in the new year. Hopefully we can all take advantage of the arts in our neighborhood and get out and support them. It's a short post, but it packs a big punch!

Happy Birthday:
Jean Racine (1639-1699)
Peggy Ashcroft (1907-1991)
Ralph Fiennes (b. 1962)

Old Friends

2010-12-21T08:30:00.000-06:00

Last week my High School drama teacher visited me here in Chicago. Beyond the fun of seeing her and catching up on our lives, it was really a wonderful moment for me to think about all the experiences I had that lead me to where I am at this point in my life. And I'm not being overly sentimental here or mushy. I'm taking a quiet introspective look at some of my formative years and giving thanks for the opportunities I had. Of course at the time they didn't seem good enough - nor would they have been enough to sustain me through my life. I had to move away and blaze my own path for my life. But there were hundreds of little things and thousands of tiny moments that I would never remember unless I sat down and actively thought about them. I'm glad that I had the cause to have that sit down.

Often times it is said in literature and witticisms that things are never as good as they seem. For me, this was a time of finally understanding that they were. I was always dreaming of bigger and better things. But it took some living and some real life experience to learn that things are not really bigger or better - they are just how they are. And it is never settling to be happy in the here and now. Not that one should ever give up dreaming, but the hope of the dream should not overshadow our waking hours.

A New Kind of Casting

2010-12-20T08:30:00.001-06:00

Suppose that there were a fine acting company made up of white actors and black actors and Hispanic actors and Asian-American actors; women and men; young actors, older, and old; deaf actors and the hearing; actors with other special characteristics. And suppose that one assigned roles freely, without prediction from history or from one's old habits of thought. What if one took nontraditional casting as far as one could?
—Zelda Fichandler, American Theatre, May '88

This month's issue of American Theatre features an excellent essay consiering the gender debate from a more abstract and expressionist point of view. What if casting could be completely gender neutral? What is casting could be color blind? What if the age or a actor didn't matter? What if body type was also irrelevant?

Read the article here and let us know what you think.

From the article:
..."it would drive a wedge between actor and character, encouraging spectators and performers to critically examine interacting performance texts rather than assuming a simple-minded identification of the performer with the role."

Play of the Week: Othello

2010-12-17T08:30:00.001-06:00

Sure we all know the Shakespeare play Othello: the Moor of Venice so this week we're going to journey through a slightly different version. In 2001 Masterpiece Theater reinterpreted the classic story as a cop drama. Set in modern day London, John Othello has just risen to the top spot at Scotland Yard making his lieutenant Ben Jago. While it may seem a little contrived, the story plays out fairly well in relation to the original. And even though you purists may not like it, if you watch it strictly as a cop drama, it's pretty good.

Either way, there is some amusement for you Shakespeare buffs. I would suggest a viewing for a creative new way to stage the story.

Happy Birthday:
December 18: Christopher Fry (1907-2005), Joseph Grimaldi (1778-1837), Ossie Davis (1917-2005), and Abe Burrows (1910-1985)
December 19: Manuel Breton de los Herreros (1796-1873), Ralph Richardson (1902-1983), and Tankred Dorst (b. 1925)

Expressionism or something else

2010-12-16T08:30:00.000-06:00

The London Guardian has a great piece about theater using its theatricality to its advantage. This article is a must read.

Happy Birthday:
Noel Coward (1899-1973)

Frat Theater Town

2010-12-15T08:30:00.001-06:00

Chicago's off-loop theater scene is like the Greek life on a college campus. First you have to go to rush (auditions) where they get to know you. You have to prove you can drink with the best of them. And if they like you, you'll get an invitation to join. Once you join, you have your friends and drinking buddies and you are all set.

Happy Birthday;
Julie Taymor (b. 1952)
Maxwell Anderson (1888-1959)

Immediate Theatre

2010-12-14T08:30:00.001-06:00

As an article in the London Guardian points out, when a theater company calls itself "underground" because they want to appear "cool and edgy." However, the Belarus Free Theatre is just that - an underground theater company struggling to survive censor and surveillance. Their performances are truly courageous and deserve not only our applause but our support as well. You can read about their performances in London here.

Happy Birthday:
George Furth (1932-2008)

Review: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf

2010-12-13T09:45:00.007-06:00

About ten minutes into the play I knew we were in trouble...

"I don't bray," states Martha played by Steppenwolf Theatre Ensemble member Amy Morton in a very matter-of-fact way.

"No. No you don't," I thought. "You don't bray at all. In fact you have a very clear, direct, and well-trained voice."

This discrepancy sums up the trouble with this production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf: Morton has been miscast. She doesn't have the brassy vocal presence to fill out Edward Albee's iconic role making it hard for her to fill out the rest of the role. Lines like "If you (George) existed, I'd divorce you" and "Martha eats chromosomes for breakfast" no longer make sense. George has plenty of existence as compared to Martha and the only thing this Martha is having for breakfast is a bran muffin and maybe a little pomegranate juice.

Morton does still turn in a lovely performance. Some of Martha's more vulnerable moments have never been better, but the void created by her lack of prowess makes Tracy Letts' George look like a bully. And this is a real shame because Letts turns in a masterful performance. Rather than playing him as a spineless punching bag, George becomes the long suffering equal opponent of Martha in their boxing matches - who just happened to be out matched. This is the night that George finally decides he is going to drop the gloves and land a knock-out of his own. If Letts had had an equally matched Martha, this production would have surpassed good to downright terrifying. Letts' only misstep is the throwing of the book at the end of the act. The gesture that is supposed to propel him into the climax of the play, instead is an impotent fling that is easily overlooked without a greater knowledge of the play.

The show is stolen, however, in the moment when Honey finally understands what George is doing and is brought to tears through motherly sympathy. The spot-on performance of Carrie Coon has so perfectly lead up to that moment, that the result is heartbreaking. All her character choices were so meticulously chosen that not a moment, glance, or gesture was wasted by the newcomer. We hope to see good things from Coon in the future.

All this being said, this blogger highly recommends you see this show despite its flaws in casting. One thing that Director Pam MacKinnon and cast do exceptionally well is lead the audience through the games that Albee has written in the script and really let us know what is going on along with the danger lurking underneath. There were a lot of strong choices that really helped clarify what this particular production of a nebulous play is about.

One last detail that cannot escape mention is the costume choice for Martha in Act III. She enters wearing a sweater and what are essentially yoga pants. The specifically modern material of the pants are distracting in what has otherwise been a very detailed production.

Happy Birthday:
Robert Prosky (1930-2008)
Christopher Plummer (b. 1929)

Thank you Mr. President

2010-12-10T10:57:00.004-06:00

"Being here with tonight's honorees, reflecting on their contributions, I'm reminded of a Supreme Court opinion by the great Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. In a case argued before the Court in 1926, the majority ruled that the state of New York couldn't regulate the price of theater tickets, because, in the opinion of the majority, the theater was not a public necessity. They argued, in effect, that the experience of attending the theater was superfluous. And this is what Justice Holmes had to say: 'To many people the superfluous is necessary.' The theater is necessary. Dance is necessary. Song is necessary. The arts are necessary -- they are a necessary part of our lives."

-President Barack Obama, saluting this year's Kennedy Center Honorees.

Happy Birthday:
December 10: Agnes Nixon (b. 1927)
December 12: John Osborne (1929-1994) and Bill Nighy (b. 1949)

In Memorandum: Leslie Nielsen

2010-11-29T08:30:00.002-06:00

Canadian actor Leslie Nielsen died yesterday at the age of 84. Nielsen started with Neighborhood Playhouse and the Actors Studio before getting his famous roles in Naked Gun and Airplane.

Obituaries:
NPR
People
Entertainment Weekly
Denver Post

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T08:30:00.001-06:00

Ghostlight Chicago is taking a break for the holiday. We'll be back with a new posting on Monday, November 29. Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Birthday:
November 25: Lope de Vega (1562-1635)
November 26: Theophilus Cibber (1703-1758) & Eugene Ionesco (1909-1994)

Brecht's FBI Files

2010-11-24T08:30:00.000-06:00

Thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, the FBI files of Bertolt Brecht are public and all 369 pages can be viewed here. While much of the stuff isn't thrilling and is mostly predictable (i.e. Brecht was being watch for his affinities to communism) there are some really interesting tid bits. For example, very early in the file there is a letter from J. Edgar Hoover himself authorizing the release of the file to the US Attorney in the region to see if Brecht should be arrested.

An Anti-Academic Approach

2010-11-23T08:30:00.000-06:00

Once again The Guardian gives us the discussion we need. This time it is on our approach to teaching the craft of theatre and how the size of the venue affects a performance. A double whammy!

Theater City Rankings

2010-11-22T08:30:00.000-06:00

Travel and Leisure magazine has ranked America's favorite theater cities. While they have separate lists for Visitor and Resident, there are no parameters set forth for how the list is created. No surprises, but New York is tops on both lists. Somewhat surprising is Chicago's rankings (#3 in visitor and #4 in resident). And most surprising is Providence, Rhode Island rankings of #2 in visitor and #3 in resident.

With the lack of information as to how the rankings are created it's hard to sit down and sort out what they mean. But Chicago's not being the "second city" is a good dose of reality to all those people who may have allowed their heads to get a little too big with all the talk of Chicago being the nation's theater capital this summer.

So rather than railing about how we've never heard of Providence Theatre and don't know anyone who works there like the blogger for the League did, it might be a good idea to reach out and get to know some people there and see what's going on there. They're obviously doing something right.

Play of the Week: In the Jungle of Cities

2010-11-19T08:30:00.003-06:00

Brecht's one and only play to be set in his idea of Chicago is In the Jungle of Cities. It is a tale of greed and how money ruins both those who have it and those who don't. While you would think that this offering would be more popular among Chicago theaters, Ka-Tet Theatre is currently running the only production this blogger can remember - but that's not to say that I'm wrong. The play's overly complex language and plot makes it one of the less accessible Brechtian plays.

Ka-Tet's ambitious production takes the ideas of alienation to the extreme. Character not only don't alway look at each other when speaking, they often don't even touch each other both in violence and lust. While it is a very interesting concept, director Max Truax does not remain consistent with his choices. This production is an excellent staging of the play, however, the alienation not only alienates us from the actors but the actors from each other. If you are looking for a engaging story, this is not the play for you. But is you are interested in fascinating staging combined with stunningly beautiful design, this is the play for you. It is an intellectual treat.

TCG's Stage Matters Video

2010-11-18T08:30:00.002-06:00

Stage Matters from Theatre Communications Group on Vimeo.

In need of an advocacy tool to promote theatre?

Want to spark discussion about the challenges and opportunities ahead?

Theatre Communication Guild is pleased to announce the release of STAGE MATTERS, a short video on why / how / if theatre matters in America. The STAGE MATTERS video captures artists, theatre leaders, patrons, educators, corporate executives and politicians around the country as they emphatically speak about the value of theatre and challenges we face in an ever-changing environment.

TCG invite you to watch and share STAGE MATTERS with your colleagues, funders, city officials, and members in your community. The video is made up of two sections; Part 1:Impact and Part 2: Challenges. To watch the entire video or these sections independently, click here.

Happy Birthday:
W.S. Gilbert (1836-1911)

Storm Upon the Heath

2010-11-17T08:30:00.004-06:00

Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow!
You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout
Till you have drench'd our steeples, drown'd the cocks!
You sulphurous and thought-executing fires,
Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts,
Singe my white head! And thou, all-shaking thunder,
Smite flat the thick rotundity o' the world!
Crack nature's moulds, an germens spill at once,
That make ingrateful man!

On out last day in Ireland, my wife and I took a day tour into the country side. Several of the stops were overlooking lakes or waterfalls up in the mountains. While the sights were stunning, even more special was the pouring rain. Most people would be disappointed to have their tour ruined by freezing rain. But being up on the mountain side in a storm and surrounded by heather could only call to mind King Lear on the heath.

While an Irish mountain might not be the same as an English heath, the memory of standing in the rain and feeling just a little of what Lear felt will stay with me forever. And be an inspiration for the next dime I work on King Lear.

Happy Birthday:
Lorne Michaels (b. 1944)

Review: Happy Days @ the Corn Exchange

2010-11-16T08:35:00.004-06:00

Playing at the Project Art Center was Samuel Beckett's Happy Days produced by The Corn Exchange. If you happen to be in or around Dublin right now, do not miss this production - it is exactly what the Beckett play should be. The simplicity and precision of Clara Simpson's performance and Annie Ryan's direction is nothing short of brilliant! Not a gesture is thrown away. Not a moment is rushed. Surrounded by a design that is beautiful in its starkness, the Corn Exchange has taken ownership of this story in a way that is both uplifting, funny, and terrifying all at the same time.

If you are not in Dublin, take a moment too to peruse their website. Their ideas about the execution of theater through Commedia del'Arte is something that any actor or director should spend some time reflecting on. Ms. Ryan's views on theater are quite strong.

An for that special Chicago connection it is interesting to note that Ms. Ryan is originally from Chicago having spent time working with and training at the Piven Workshop before moving to Dublin and forming her own company.

Happy Birthday:
George S. Kaufman (1889-1961)
Paula Vogel (b. 1951)

Project Arts Centre

2010-11-15T08:30:00.000-06:00

We found a wonderful performance center while wandering around Dublin. The Project Art Center has a gallery space, a book store, a cafe & bar, as well as a theatre space. The space is the perfect place to come to a live performance and have a lovely experience and place to hang out before hand. Chicago would be very lucky to have venue like this.

This is one of the wonderful treats that you can get from just wandering around in a city. Sometimes you get lucky and find a neat little place like this.

Play of the Week: John Gabriel Borkman @ The Abbey Theatre

2010-11-12T08:30:00.003-06:00

Ghostlight has just returned from a trip to Dublin Ireland where we took in a production of a little known Ibsen play at the Abbey Theatre. John Gabriel Borkman is a play about a man who after having his life destroyed by greed and ambition is given a second chance, but still consumed by his ruling passions and is unable to make the changes to save himself.

The Abbey Theatre's production featured the outstanding performances of Alan Rickman as Borkman and Fiona Shaw as his wife. But the show was dominated by Lindsay Duncan as Ella Rentheim; her performance was the emotional center of the play.

Also worth mentioning was the stunning scenic design. Both epic and modern at the same time the scene shifted from vast interiors to the wind-swept plains of Norway.

Thank you to the Abbey Theatre for breathing life into a play that is still relevant today and for taking a fresh new approach to an author whose work is usually middled in translation.

Happy Birthday:
November 12: Wallace Shawn (b. 1943), Anne Hathaway (b. 1982), Megan Mullaly (b. 1958)
November 13: Edwin Booth (1833-1893), Neil Flynn (b. 1960)

In Memorandum: Oscar G. Brockett

2010-11-11T14:01:00.003-06:00

Theater historian Oscar G. Brockett died on November 7th. His book History of the Theatre has been widely used in American universities since its publication in 1968.

Obituaries:
New York Times

Ghostlight on Hiatus

2010-11-05T08:30:00.000-05:00

Ghostlight Chicago will be on hiatus from Friday, November 5 through Thursday, November 11.

Happy Birthday:
November 7: Albert Camus (1913-1960)
November 8: June Havoc (1912-2010) & Peter Weiss (1916-1982)
November 9: Erika Mann (1905-1969), Hugh Leonard (1926-2009), & Ed Wynn (1886-1966)

What is Fringe? And can it find a place in the institutionalized mainstream?

2010-11-04T11:04:00.001-05:00

The Guardian has a great little tidbit on cultural exchange, the national theatre, and the fringe in today's posting.

In Memorandum: Jerry Bock

2010-11-03T15:56:00.002-05:00

The Tony Award winning composer of Fiddler on the Roof and Fiorello Jerry Bock died this morning. He was 81.

He died just days after Joseph Stein who wrote the book to Fiddler.

Obituaries:
New York Times
Playbill
NPR

An Artist a Day Keeps the Doctor Away.

2010-11-03T08:30:00.001-05:00

Thank you to the London Guardian for introducing us to a theater prescription program being implemented in Finland.

Happy Birthday:
Terrence McNally (b.1939)

Avenue Q meets Fiddler on the Roof

2010-11-02T08:30:00.000-05:00

Indulge me for one more:

Spring Awakening meets Grease

2010-11-01T15:54:00.001-05:00

Thank you to my friend Paul Miller for sharing.

Happy Birthday:
A.R. Gurney (b. 1930)

Responses: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

2010-10-29T08:30:00.001-05:00

"Murray and Pastor find a nice galloping momentum..."
Zac Thompson - Chicago Reader

On CenterStage Chicago's Must See List!

"City Lit brings to full life with an impassioned solo performance by co-adaptor Brian Pastor."
Lawrence Bommer - Chicago Theatre Blog

Happy Birthday
October 30: Richard Sheridan (1751-1816) & Zoe Akins (1886-1958)

Get out the Vote

2010-10-28T08:44:00.001-05:00

Click here to see how the grades for US Senators and their support of the arts.

Quote for today

2010-10-28T08:30:00.001-05:00

“The way actors are trained here is wrong. All they think about is interpreting a text. They worry about how to speak words and know nothing about their bodies. You see that by the way they walk. They don’t understand the weight of a gesture in space. A good actor can command an audience by moving one finger”
Robert Wilson

“Words for Bob are like tacks on the kitchen floor in the dark of night and you’re barefoot. So Bob clears a path he can walk through words without getting hurt. Bob changes the values and shapes of words. In some sense they take on more meaning; in some cases, less.”
Tom Waits on Robert Wilson

In Memorandum: Joseph Stein

2010-10-27T12:47:00.003-05:00

The Playwright who brought us Fiddler on the Roof and Zorba has died. Joseph Stein passed away on Sunday. He was 98.

Obituaries:
NPR
Playbill

Equity Jeff Award Results

2010-10-26T09:31:00.001-05:00

PRODUCTION / PLAY (LARGE): “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity” – Victory Gardens in association with Teatro Vista

PRODUCTION / PLAY (MIDSIZE): “The Farnsworth Invention” – TimeLine Theatre Company

PRODUCTION / MUSICAL (LARGE): “Ragtime” – Drury Lane Productions

PRODUCTION / REVUE: “Oh Coward!” – Writers’ Theatre

ENSEMBLE: “The Brother/Sister Plays” – Steppenwolf Theatre Company

DIRECTOR / PLAY: Edward Torres – “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity” – Victory Gardens with Teatro Vista

DIRECTOR / MUSICAL: Rachel Rockwell – “Ragtime” – Drury Lane Productions

SOLO PERFORMANCE: Mary Beth Fisher – “The Year of Magical Thinking” – Court Theatre

ACTOR IN PRINCIPAL ROLE / PLAY: Desmin Borges – “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity” - Victory Gardens with Teatro Vista

ACTOR IN PRINCIPAL ROLE / MUSICAL: Quentin Earl Darrington – “Ragtime” – Drury Lane Productions

ACTRESS IN PRINCIPAL ROLE / PLAY: Natasha Lowe – “A Streetcar Named Desire” – Writers’ Theatre

ACTRESS IN PRINCIPAL ROLE / MUSICAL: Cory Goodrich – “Ragtime” – Drury Lane Productions

ACTOR IN SUPPORTING ROLE / PLAY: Francis Guinan – “A Guide for the Perplexed” – Victory Gardens Theater

ACTOR IN SUPPORTING ROLE / MUSICAL: Mark David Kaplan – “Ragtime” – Drury Lane Productions

ACTRESS IN SUPPORTING ROLE / PLAY: Natalie West – “Abigail’s Party” – A Red Orchid Theatre

ACTRESS IN SUPPORTING ROLE / MUSICAL: Valisia LeKae – “Ragtime” – Drury Lane Productions

ACTOR IN A REVUE: Rob Lindley – “Oh Coward!” – Writers’ Theatre

ACTRESS IN A REVUE: Kate Fry – “Oh Coward!” – Writers’ Theatre

SCENIC DESIGN (LARGE): Walt Spangler – “A True History of the Johnstown Flood” – Goodman Theatre

SCENIC DESIGN (MIDSIZE): James Leaming – “Tobacco Road” – American Blues Theater

COSTUMES (LARGE): Alison Siple – “The Mystery of Irma Vep” – Court Theatre

COSTUMES (MIDSIZE): Sarah E. Ross and Kristin DeiTos – “Tobacco Road” – American Blues Theater

LIGHTING (LARGE): John Culbert – “The Illusion” – Court Theatre

LIGHTING (MIDSIZE): Jaymi Lee Smith – “Mary’s Wedding” – Rivendell Theatre Ensemble

SOUND (LARGE): Ray Nardelli – “Hephaestus: A Greek Mythology Circus Tale” – Lookingglass and Silverguy Entertainment

SOUND (MIDSIZE): Victoria DeIorio – “Mary’s Wedding” – Rivendell Theatre Ensemble

CHOREOGRAPHY: Tammy Mader – “Thoroughly Modern Millie” – Drury Lane Productions

INCIDENTAL MUSIC: Ray Nardelli, Andre Pluess, Joshua Horvath, and Kevin O’Donnell – “Hephaestus” – Lookingglass and Silverguy Entertainment

MUSIC DIRECTION: Roberta Duchak – “Ragtime” – Drury Lane Productions

NEW WORK / PLAY: Kristoffer Diaz - “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity” – Victory Gardens with Teatro Vista

MULTIMEDIA DESIGN: Bridges Media – “Trust” – Lookingglass Theatre Company

FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY: David Woolley – “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity” – Victory Gardens with Teatro Vista

St. Crispin's Day

2010-10-25T08:30:00.001-05:00

What's he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin.
If we are mark'd to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires;
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England.
God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more, methinks, would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart. His passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse.
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is call'd the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say, "To-morrow is Saint Crispian."
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say, "These wounds I had on Crispian's day."
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words,
Harry the King, Bedford, and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered,
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

Happy Birthday:
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

In Memorandum: Tom Bosley

2010-10-19T08:30:00.000-05:00

Broadway actor Tom Bosley died today. Best known for his role in Happy Days, he won the Tony for his role in Fiorello.

Obituaries:
NY Times

Opening: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

2010-10-15T14:28:00.004-05:00

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow opens this weekend at City Lit Theatre. This unique adaptation uses the imaginations of actors and audience alike to create the story out of a mountain of props on stage. Coupled with original music and creepy lighting, this holiday favorite is a must see for both theater lovers and families.

Happy Birthday:
October 16: Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953), Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), and Angela Lansbury (b. 1925)
October 17: Arthur Miller (1915-2005), Georg Buchner (1813-1837), and Cameron Mackintosh (b. 1946)

Ideas from the Guardian

2010-10-07T09:52:00.003-05:00

We've been busy working on putting up The Legend of Sleepy Hollow this week. Sorry for the laps in content. Here are some interesting blog posts from The Guardian for this week.

Friends, Germans, countrymen: the long history of 'unser Shakespeare'

Snooze and you lose: the dangers of falling asleep at the theatre

Aristotle didn't know anything about theatre

Happy Birthday:
Amiri Baraka (b. 1934)

Only Two Weeks Away

2010-10-01T08:34:00.005-05:00

Rehearsals continue for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow at City Lit Theatre. One of the unique aspects of this production will be the original music of Matthew Bivins. He has worked with the co-adapters to set a series of quotations - mostly from old poems and ghost stores - to music to help underscore the action and really set the mood of the piece.

Bivins will show off his musical skills as he performs his tunes on stage. He plays tin whistle, accordion, keyboards, and mandolin. His musical diversity will be complimented by the violin of Bethany Schader and the drumming of Shawn Goudie - also serving as the stage manager and foley artists respectively.

This won't, however, be your usual music accompaning theater. The three pop in and out of the action really supporting and integrating into the story rather than just underscoring it - which they do as well. Bivin's Irish-Tom Waits-like score is perfectly suited to create a spooky environment and the sense that all is not as it seems in the small town of Sleepy Hollow.

Happy Birthday:
Julie Andrews (b. 1935)

October 2:
Avery Brooks (b. 1948)

In Memorandum: Arthur Penn

2010-09-29T21:46:00.004-05:00

Stage and screen director Arthur Penn died yesterday. He directed Wait Until Dark and The Miracle Worker on Broadway. Penn died one day after his birthday: he had just turned 88.

Obituaries:
NPR
New York Times

David Cromer is awarded MacArthur

2010-09-28T12:45:00.003-05:00

Ghostlight would like to congratulate Chicago director David Cromer for being awarded the $500,000 MacArthur Genius Grant.

Performink
Chicago Tribune

Play of the Week: Shining City

2010-09-24T08:30:00.006-05:00

Conor McPherson has given us another wonderful script in his short ghost story Shining City. Ian is at a crossroads in his life. He recently left the priesthood to become a therapist. His first, and possibly only client, is a man who has seen the ghost of his dead wife. Through the play we find that the two men as both essentially coping with the same problem. Both are devastatingly lonely and the actions they have taken to deal with their own loneliness have undeniable affected the lives of those close to them. And to top all of that off, each of them is so guilty about what they did, that they cannot own the consequences and undo the damage.

Through the course of the play, more and more of their story comes out, and the more that the past is brought out in the light, the more each of them is able to deal with where they find themselves in the present.

Attend a Free Night of Theater in October

2010-09-23T14:01:00.004-05:00

The League of Chicago Theatres along with Theatre Communications Group (TCG) is pleased to announce that Free Night of Theater, the unprecedented campaign to attract new audiences, will take place in Chicago for the third year during the entire month of October 2010. Free Night of Theater was conceived as a way to remove perceived barriers that have historically prevented audiences from attending theater.

During the entire month of October in Chicago, new theater-goers can see a production for free at a theater they’ve never previously attended. Reservations are limited to two tickets per person for the duration of the program. Tickets must be reserved online at the Free Night of Theater website and not through each theater’s individual box office. Once tickets have been reserved through the website, patrons will be able to pick up their tickets at the individual theater’s box office on the night of the show.

Tickets for Chicago performances will be released weekly beginning the morning of Tuesday, September 28 at www.freenightoftheater.net. New blocks of tickets will be released every Tuesday morning throughout the month of October.

“We’re thrilled to build on the success of this program and provide thousands of tickets for new patrons to experience Chicago’s theater scene,” said Deb Clapp, Executive Director of the League of Chicago Theatres. “Free Night of Theater has a proven track-record of engaging new audiences and bringing them back as ticket buyers. We are excited to participate with theatres across the country in this nationwide audience development initiative.”

Happy Birthday:
Euripides (480 BCE - 406 BCE)

The House of Juliet

2010-09-22T08:30:00.002-05:00

Even though Shakespeare's Juliet is fictitious and the family she may have been loosely based on didn't live in Verona, that hasn't stopped a tourist attraction from arising. Romantic travelers can visit Juliet's House and stand under Juliet's Balcony at the Casa di Giulietta. You can write your name on her wall or leave a love letter for her blessing. Or those more adventurous (or desperate) lovers are encouraged to touch her statue's breast for good luck.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

2010-09-20T16:51:00.007-05:00

City Lit Theatre's production of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow started rehearsal last night. This unique production uses the text of Washington Irving with a twist. Coupling research into Irwin's source material with the original story, this script seeks to poke holes in Irving's version as a cover up to a spookier, more super-natural story.

Originally conceived as a one-man show, the vision has expanded to include two live musicians and a foley artist who come together to build a world out of found objects and tell us a story that, while familiar, might be a little different than the on Disney, Johnny Depp, or Washington Irving told us.

This unique story-telling experience will be playing at City Lit Theatre this October and just in time for Halloween.

Patience

2010-09-16T08:30:00.001-05:00

Toward the end of Tuesday's (September 14, 2010) episode of the radio show Q, the guest makes a really insightful statement. They had been talking to a blogger who takes photos of New York senior citizens with a high fashion sense called Advanced Style. Basically his message is don't rush things. Everyone is in a rush to be successful. "It takes time to really establish yourself and you don't need to be in a rush. Don't be afraid to take risks. Style and creativity advance with age."

So to all those artists out there who are like me and concerned that you haven't made it yet, this is some nice perspective. Take the time to find yourself. Don't worry about making it. Set the bar high but find a way to define success on your terms.

Quote for today

2010-09-15T08:30:00.002-05:00

"My imagination can picture no fairer happiness than to continue living for art."
Clara Schuman

Happy Birthday:
Agatha Christie (1890-1976)

Personal Interaction

2010-09-14T08:30:00.001-05:00

While so much of our technology is allowing us to interact with our world and our arts in innovative way, the real arts are struggling to catch up. With a few affordable gadgets, anyone can be a blogger, video artist, recording artist, and many other mediums, the question begs asking why we should invest in the formalized arts when anyone can get to the personal arts for virtually no cost to the viewer.

No answers have been created and I don't think they ever will. It will be an ongoing debate that will force the arts into some healthy self-examination. Here is an interesting discussion that doesn't provide any answers to theater's problems, but does have some other personal interaction that are really cool.

Happy Birthday:
Eric Bentley (1916-2006)

The benefit of homegrown theater and cultural exchange

2010-09-13T08:30:00.001-05:00

It is no doubt that Broadway dominates the headlines and visibility of theater in this country. Chicago is a perfect example. We are becoming known on a theater city that is almost on par with New York. But the productions that are making money and drawing tourists are the ones playing down town and imported from Broadway. Indeed the production are part of Broadway-in-Chicago; aptly named. While this blog has discussed some of the drawbacks and implications this question it has toward this city, the London Guardian has taken up the discussion on the world implications.

The big boys, Broadway and the West End, are exporting their product more are not just to smaller cities within their countries, but also to the world. And while the Guardian makes sure to not that this is clearly excellent business, it may not be good arts leadership.

One other idea to throw into the mix is cultural exchange. The Guardian is very careful to point out that sharing our cultures across the globe is important. But it is a two way street and it isn't a financial venture. And to take a moment to give praise, the shows that Chicago Shakespeare imports to their stages are some of the most excellent and diverse that anyone could ask for. Chicago truly has a gem of a cultural asset in the work that Chicago Shakespeare is doing.

More companies should be looking to share cultures like this. Whether it be more international exchange like Chicago Shakes or simply more dialogue between companies to spread the importance of culture and create a greater separation between commerce and art.

Because they aren't the same thing.

Play of the Week: Antony and Cleopatra

2010-09-10T08:21:00.006-05:00

Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra is so much more than an intrigue story of the Queen of Egypt. It's about two great lovers who have reached middle age and are still bickering as though they were teenagers. Their struggle puts Romeo and Juliet's fling to shame. Their love transcends nations and continents. Betrayal here isn't told through glances and liaisons, but through armies and passion greater than words. It truly is a story of life and death.

And when the plot turns to the misguided message that will lead to Antony's death (much like Romeo) because he thinks his lover has died, he misses his grand statement and actually botches his suicide. It's because he's human. Romeo and Juliet are the stuff of passionate poetry and tragedy that can be tied up neatly with a little bow. This is the stuff of real life and shows us the shortcomings that we see and accept, if we life long enough to experience them.

This play will never reach the fame that Romeo and Juliet has. But then again, Romeo and Juliet has become so idealized that few of us even remember that the two lovers die in the end. Antony and Cleopatra do not have the poetry that our two young star-crossed lovers had. But then again few of us do.

I had the pleasure to work on a production of Antony and Cleopatra a few years ago that took a lot of liberties with the script. I enjoyed them, but I could see how some people wouldn't. The one gesture that really resonated, however, was the staging of Cleopatra's suicide. It's quite a grand statement to kill yourself through willingly inflicted asp bites and quite difficult to stage effectively - let alone to make it seem anything less than a ridiculous spectacle that will completely take the audience out of the scene. But when our director/adapter brilliantly choose to use syringes of lethal poison and call them "worm" or "asp," everyone got the point and the effect was quite powerful.

Read this play again with the new idea of a middle age love story and then with the new gesture in the end - I think you'll quite enjoy it.

Happy Birthday:
Franz Werfel (1890-1945)

September 11:
Rainis (1865-1929) and Jennifer Tipton (born 1937)

September 12:
Sir Ian Holm (b. 1931)

Are we afraid to be political?

2010-09-09T08:30:00.000-05:00

The Guardian published a posting on their blog challenging playwrights to be more political. Too often we as theater artists back away from issues because we're afraid it won't make for an entertaining night out. More artists need to step up to the challenge because there is plenty of theater that settles for entertaining. And furthermore theater is known as being an art form that promises more than just entertaining.

Make sure you take the time to read through this article. It makes a lot of good points and gives us many things to think about.

What Kind of Diversity is Most Important?

2010-09-08T08:30:00.000-05:00

Many theaters spend a great deal of time trying to promote diversity in the audience. They spend time creating projects that reflect this diversity. While I am all for a diverse perspective and diversity being represented in our art form (I don't think one can go far enough to promote these notions) many times the organization tries so hard for diversity just to be able to say that they are diverse, that they end up alienating their core audience. And in a time when audiences are dwindling, I don't think any theater can alienate the base.

There is an interesting discussion in Theatre Bay Area about this very topic. And again, while I am all about diversity, I think this is a topic that is more nuanced than is often given credit for. There are a handful of theaters around Chicago that could benefit from an honest discussion about what they consider to be their diversity programming.

Breaking News: Mayor Daly will not seek re-election!

2010-09-07T15:30:00.002-05:00

Richard Daily announced today that he will not run for re-election. One of Chicago theater's biggest supporter will no longer be the mayor of our fair city. Few details are known since the story is still new, but one cannot help but speculate the kind of ripples this event might cause in the Chicago theater community.

Art of Adaptation?

2010-09-07T08:30:00.001-05:00

There is an interesting discussion in The Guardian about English-speaking playwrights taking foreign-language plays in the public domain and rewriting them under their original names. Now we're not talking about adding incidental music to something or updating a idiom to cross cultural and historical barriers. The changes cited would be akin to allowing Hamlet and Ophelia to live while still calling the adaptation "Hamlet."

As always there are two sides to this debate. Respect for the author and what he has written is the first and quite clearly definable side of the argument. The other can fall along the lines of citing theater's inheritance collaborative process and the shortening attention spans of modern audiences. But I think the real discussion needs to be had around why the changes were felt to be necessarily in the first place - and why not write your own play instead of reviving an old one.

I have seen plenty of productions that completely overhaul the play without changing the title and thoroughly enjoyed them. I've seen others that are utterly miserable experiences.

Happy Birthday:
Elia Kazan (1909-2003)

Happy Labor Day

2010-09-06T08:30:00.000-05:00

Ghostlight is taking the day off for the holiday. Check back with us over the coming days and weeks as the new season of Chicago theatre kicks off.

Play of the Week: Late: a Cowboy Play

2010-09-03T08:30:00.001-05:00

Last week Piven closed a production of one of Sarah Ruhl's earlier plays. While it is clear that this blogger has a preference toward Ms. Ruhl's work, this was not one of the better plays in her cannon. That, however, did not spoil the night as Piven's show was well played and particularly well acted.

The cast was lead by Polly Noonan, a good friend of Ruhl's and perhaps the best actor of her texts out there. This was not my first experience with Noonan (I saw her in both Eurydice and Dead Man's Cell Phone) but this was one of her best performances. Noonan is able to transcend the difficult text, maintain a breathy naiveté, and make the words sound like normal speech; no easy feat. While she always has had a strong command of the language, this time she perfected it.

While not one of her best. This play is definitely worth the read. It provides some nice context to Ruhl both as a person and to the rest of her work.

Happy Birthday:
Caryl Churchill (b. 1938)
Helen Wagner (1918-2010)
Sally Benson (1897-1972)

Twin City Arts

2010-09-02T08:30:00.000-05:00

Did you know that Minneapolis/St. Paul is second only to New York City for per capita attendance at their theaters? NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman does. He writes about some of his experiences from a recent trip to the Twin Cities. There is a very vibrant theater and arts scene that is fully embraced by the community. The catch is - any city can be doing this. How do you get your community on the same track?

How can theatre be postdramatic?

2010-09-01T08:30:00.001-05:00

A couple weeks ago I was sitting in a cafe having my lunch and reading Hans-Thies Lehmann's Postdramatic Theatre. I won't even spoil the thesis for you - you must read this yourself (and I highly recommend it).

The point of this story is that my waiter approached me an asked "how can theater be post-dramatic?"

A very good question whether you are a theater insider or not. I explained to him that theater has moved beyond the need for linear or "fabel" stories within the frame of realism. That characters are not so much people as they are symbols or signifiers. That the text may or may not be liner dialogue. Not saying there is no such thing as plot anymore - but it's not necessarily the focus.

At this point my waiter simply rolled his eyes and asked: "Are you a grad-student?"

Happy Birthday:
Ned Allyen (1566-1626)

2010 Jeff Award Nominations

2010-08-31T08:30:00.003-05:00

PRODUCTION – PLAY - LARGE
“The Brother/Sister Plays” - Steppenwolf Theatre Company
“The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity” - Victory Gardens Theater i/a/w Teatro Vista…Theatre With a View
“The Illusion” - Court Theatre
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” - Court Theatre
“The Mystery of Irma Vep” - Court Theatre
“A Streetcar Named Desire” - Writers’ Theatre

PRODUCTION – PLAY - MIDSIZE
“Abigail’s Party” - A Red Orchid Theatre
“All My Sons” - TimeLine Theatre Company
“The Farnsworth Invention” - TimeLine Theatre Company
“‘Master Harold’…And The Boys” - TimeLine Theatre Company
“Tobacco Road” - American Blues Theater

PRODUCTION – MUSICAL - LARGE
“Animal Crackers” - Goodman Theatre
“Cabaret” - Drury Lane Productions
“The Drowsy Chaperone” - Marriott Theatre
“Hairspray” - Marriott Theatre
“Ragtime” - Drury Lane Productions
“Thoroughly Modern Millie” - Drury Lane Productions

PRODUCTION – REVUE
“The Absolute Best Friggin’ Time of Your Life” - The Second City e.t.c.
“Low Down Dirty Blues” – Northlight Theatre
“Oh Coward!” – Writers’ Theatre

ENSEMBLE
“Abigail’s Party” - A Red Orchid Theatre
“Animal Crackers” - Goodman Theatre
“The Brother/Sister Plays” - Steppenwolf Theatre Company
“The Farnsworth Invention” - TimeLine Theatre Company
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” - Court Theatre
“Ragtime” - Drury Lane Productions
“The Wedding” - TUTA Theatre Chicago

NEW WORK – PLAY
Kristoffer Diaz - “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity” - Victory Gardens Theater i/a/w Teatro Vista…Theatre With a View
Michael Golamco - “Year Zero” - Victory Gardens Theater
Andrew Hinderaker - “Suicide, Incorporated” - The Gift Theatre
Jim Lynch - “The Tallest Man” - The Artistic Home
Bruce Norris - “A Parallelogram” - Steppenwolf Theatre Company
David Schwimmer and Andy Bellin - “Trust” - Lookingglass Theatre Company
Craig Wright - “Mistakes Were Made” - A Red Orchid Theatre

DIRECTOR - PLAY
Nick Bowling - “The Farnsworth Invention” - TimeLine Theatre Company
David Cromer - “A Streetcar Named Desire” - Writers’ Theatre
Sean Graney - “The Mystery of Irma Vep” - Court Theatre
Tina Landau - “The Brother/Sister Plays” - Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Shade Murray - “Abigail’s Party” - A Red Orchid Theatre
Charles Newell - “The Illusion” - Court Theatre
Kimberly Senior - “All My Sons” - TimeLine Theatre Company
Edward Torres - “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity” - Victory Gardens Theater i/a/w Teatro Vista…Theatre With a View

DIRECTOR – MUSICAL or REVUE
Jim Corti - “Cabaret” - Drury Lane Productions
Jim Corti - “Oh Coward!” - Writers’ Theatre
William Osetek - “Thoroughly Modern Millie” - Drury Lane Productions
Marc Robin - “The Drowsy Chaperone” - Marriott Theatre
Marc Robin - “Hairspray” - Marriott Theatre
Rachel Rockwell - “Ragtime” - Drury Lane Productions
Henry Wishcamper - “Animal Crackers” - Goodman Theatre

ACTOR IN A PRINCIPAL ROLE – PLAY
Desmin Borges - “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity” - Victory Gardens Theater i/a/w Teatro Vista…Theatre With a View
Brian Dennehy - “Hughie/Krapp’s Last Tape” - Goodman Theatre
Rob Fagin - “The Farnsworth Invention” - TimeLine Theatre Company
Erik Hellman - “The Mystery of Irma Vep” - Court Theatre
Tracy Letts - “American Buffalo” - Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Nick Sandys - “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” - Remy Bumppo Theatre Company
Michael Shannon - “Mistakes Were Made” - A Red Orchid Theatre
Chris Sullivan - “The Mystery of Irma Vep” - Court Theatre

ACTOR IN A PRINCIPAL ROLE – MUSICAL
Quentin Earl Darrington - “Ragtime” - Drury Lane Productions
James Harms - “The Drowsy Chaperone” - Marriott Theatre
Max Quinlan - “Jesus Christ Superstar” - Theatre at the Center
Alan Schmuckler - “Sugar” - Drury Lane Productions
Joey Slotnick - “Animal Crackers” - Goodman Theatre

ACTRESS IN A PRINCIPAL ROLE - PLAY
Tracy Michelle Arnold - “Private Lives” - Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Cassandra Bissell – “Mary’s Wedding” - Rivendell Theatre Ensemble
Janet Ulrich Brooks - “All My Sons” - TimeLine Theatre Company
Kirsten Fitzgerald - “Abigail’s Party” - A Red Orchid Theatre
Natasha Lowe - “A Streetcar Named Desire” - Writers’ Theatre
Lia Mortensen - “The Hiding Place” - Provision Theater
Allison Torem – “Trust” - Lookingglass Theatre Company

ACTRESS IN A PRINCIPAL ROLE – MUSICAL
Holly Ann Butler - “Thoroughly Modern Millie” - Drury Lane Productions
Cory Goodrich - “Ragtime” - Drury Lane Productions
Heidi Kettenring - “I Do! I Do!” - Theatre at the Center
Marissa Perry - “Hairspray” - Marriott Theatre

SOLO PERFORMANCE
Mary Beth Fisher - “The Year of Magical Thinking” - Court Theatre
Dael Orlandersmith - “Stoop Stories” - Goodman Theatre

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE – PLAY
Allen Gilmore - “Sizwe Banzi is Dead” - Court Theatre
Francis Guinan - “A Guide for the Perplexed” - Victory Gardens Theater
Tom Irwin - “A Parallelogram” - Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Timothy Edward Kane - “The Illusion” - Court Theatre
Nick Sandys - “Twelfth Night” - First Folio Theatre
Lindsay Smiling - “Blue Door” - Victory Gardens Theater
Michael Patrick Thornton – “Suicide, Incorporated” - The Gift Theatre

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE – MUSICAL
Mark David Kaplan - “Ragtime” - Drury Lane Productions
Peter Kevoian - “The Christmas Schooner” - Theatre at the Center
David Lively - “Cabaret” - Drury Lane Productions
Adam Pelty - “The Drowsy Chaperone” - Marriott Theatre

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE – PLAY
Janet Ulrich Brooks - “When She Danced” - TimeLine Theatre Company
Cindy Gold - “Awake and Sing!” - Northlight Theatre
Rebecca Spence - “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” - Remy Bumppo Theatre Company
Stacy Stoltz - “A Streetcar Named Desire” - Writers’ Theatre
Wandachristine - “The Old Settler” - Writers’ Theatre
Natalie West - “Abigail’s Party” - A Red Orchid Theatre
Jacqueline Williams - “The Brother/Sister Plays” - Steppenwolf Theatre Company

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE - MUSICAL
Rebecca Finnegan - “Cabaret” - Drury Lane Productions
Heidi Kettenring - “Hairspray” - Marriott Theatre
Valisia LeKae - “Ragtime” - Drury Lane Productions
Barbara Robertson - “Yeast Nation (the triumph of life)” - American Theater Company
Paula Scrofano - “Thoroughly Modern Millie” - Drury Lane Productions

ACTOR IN A REVUE
Mississippi Charles Bevel - “Low Down Dirty Blues” - Northlight Theatre
Rob Lindley - “Oh Coward!” - Writers’ Theatre
Gregory Porter - “Low Down Dirty Blues” - Northlight Theatre
Sam Richardson - “Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies” - The Second City

ACTRESS IN A REVUE
Christina Anthony – “The Absolute Best Friggin’ Time of Your Life” - The Second City e.t.c.
Felicia P. Fields - “Low Down Dirty Blues” - Northlight Theatre
Kate Fry - “Oh Coward!” - Writers’ Theatre
Sandra Reaves-Phillips - “Low Down Dirty Blues” - Northlight Theatre

SCENIC DESIGN - LARGE
Jeffrey Bauer - “A Guide for the Perplexed” - Victory Gardens Theater
John Culbert - “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” - Court Theatre
Kevin Depinet - “Ragtime” - Drury Lane Productions
Kevin Depinet - “Thoroughly Modern Millie” - Drury Lane Productions
Collette Pollard - “The Illusion” - Court Theatre
Todd Rosenthal - “A Parallelogram” - Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Walt Spangler - “A True History of the Johnstown Flood” - Goodman Theatre

SCENIC DESIGN - MIDSIZE
Aimee Hanyzewski - “Of Mice and Men” - Oak Park Festival Theatre
James Leaming - “Tobacco Road” - American Blues Theater
Timothy Mann - “‘Master Harold’…And The Boys” - TimeLine Theatre Company
Angela Miller - “Jeeves in Bloom” - First Folio Theatre
Inseung Park - “The Hiding Place” - Provision Theatre

COSTUME DESIGN - LARGE
Jacqueline Firkins - “The Illusion”- Court Theatre
Nancy Missimi - “The Drowsy Chaperone” - Marriott Theatre
Tatjana Radisic - “Cabaret” - Drury Lane Productions
Alison Siple - “The Mystery of Irma Vep” - Court Theatre

COSTUME DESIGN – MIDSIZE
William J. Morey - “Into the Woods” - Porchlight Music Theatre Chicago
Sarah E. Ross & Kristin DeiTos - “Tobacco Road” - American Blues Theater
Emily Waecker - “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” - Remy Bumppo Theatre Company

SOUND DESIGN – LARGE
Mikhail Fiksel - “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity” - Victory Gardens Theater i/a/w Teatro Vista…Theatre With a View
Joshua Horvath and Nick Keenan - “The Illusion”- Court Theatre
Joshua Horvath and Ray Nardelli - “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”- Court Theatre
Ray Nardelli - “Hephaestus: A Greek Mythology Circus Tale” - Lookingglass Theatre Company and Silverguy Entertainment

SOUND DESIGN - MIDSIZE
Victoria Delorio - “Mary’s Wedding” - Rivendell Theatre Ensemble
Mikhail Fiksel - “War With the Newts” - Next Theatre Company
Nick Keenan - “End Days” - Next Theatre Company
Miles Polaski - “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”- The Gift Theatre

LIGHTING DESIGN – LARGE
Brian Sidney Bembridge - “Hephaestus: A Greek Mythology Circus Tale” - Lookingglass Theatre Company and Silverguy Entertainment
John Culbert - “The Illusion”- Court Theatre
Jesse Klug - “Cabaret” - Drury Lane Productions
Jesse Klug - “Ragtime” - Drury Lane Productions
Jesse Klug - “Thoroughly Modern Millie” - Drury Lane Productions

LIGHTING DESIGN – MIDSIZE
Lee Fiskness - “End Days” - Next Theatre Company
Jesse Klug - “Yeast Nation (the triumph of life)” - American Theater Company
Keith Parham - “The Farnsworth Invention” - TimeLine Theatre Company
Jaymi Lee Smith - “Mary’s Wedding” - Rivendell Theatre Ensemble

CHOREOGRAPHY
John Carrafa - “Animal Crackers” - Goodman Theatre
Tammy Mader - “Thoroughly Modern Millie” - Drury Lane Productions
Marc Robin - “The Drowsy Chaperone” - Marriott Theatre
Marc Robin - “Hairspray” - Marriott Theatre

ORIGINAL INCIDENTAL MUSIC
Alaric Jans - “The Hiding Place” – Provision Theater
Lindsay Jones - “Richard III” - Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Henry Marsh - “Twelfth Night” - First Folio Theatre
Ray Nardelli and Joshua Horvath - “The Long Red Road” - Goodman Theatre
Ray Nardelli, Andre Pluess and Josh Horvath - “Hephaestus: A Greek Mythology Circus Tale” - Lookingglass Theatre Company and Silverguy Entertainment
Jesse Terrill - “The Wedding” - TUTA Theatre Chicago

MUSIC DIRECTION
Roberta Duchak - “Ragtime” - Drury Lane Productions
Doug Peck - “Animal Crackers” - Goodman Theatre
Doug Peck - “Cabaret” - Drury Lane Productions
Doug Peck - “Oh Coward!” – Writers’ Theatre
Robert Reddrick - “Nothing But the Blues” - Black Ensemble Theater

ARTISTIC SPECIALIZATION
Bridges Media - Multimedia Design - “Trust” - Lookingglass Theatre Company
Sage Marie Carter – Projections Design - “Ragtime” - Drury Lane Productions
Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi - Circus Choreography and Movement Direction - “Icarus” - Lookingglass Theatre Company
Nick Sandys - Fight Choreography - “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” - Remy Bumppo Theatre Company
David Woolley - Fight Choreography - “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity” - Victory Gardens Theater i/a/w Teatro Vista…Theatre With a View

Happy Birthday:
Alan Jay Lerner (1918-1986)
Sanford Meisner (1905-1997)

Kevin's Story

2010-08-30T08:30:00.002-05:00

Kevin is cast as Will Parker at a regional theater production of Oklahoma. He is the youngest person in a veteran cast. The actor playing Curley has played the role six times. The woman cast as Laurie just closed a show on Broadway. While Kevin has gotten work in several national tours, this is the first time he has landed a role that isn’t in the chorus and would be considered one of the principals. Better yet, the director seemed to cast him because of his potential and has mentioned both at casting and callbacks that he is looking forward to helping Kevin develop the character.

Heading into the two-week rehearsal process, Kevin is excited to play Will Parker and have the opportunity to explore the role and grow as an actor.

Unfortunately the director has terminal cancer and has to miss the majority of the rehearsals. While he remains billed as the director, a second director is hired to facilitate the process – a director who, though Kevin has worked with on several occasions, is one of those directors who will simply pull out his Oklahoma binder and proceeded to block the show he’s already directed eight times.

The new director is one of those directors who gives very precise blocking and accepts very little collaboration from his actors. Pretty soon Kevin began to feel very limited and constrained by the process. He is having a harder time too than some of the other actors who have already played their roles several times. Kevin begins to doubt his abilities and whether or not he should have been cast in this role, let alone this show.

As a result, this was Kevin's last show. He has left theater and become an engineer. And although this may be an extreme example, how often do we as theater artists and artists in general experience this type of toxic environment that makes us question the relevance and ability to fulfill of our art?

Play of the Week: Trust

2010-08-27T13:43:00.006-05:00

No this isn't the Trust that Lookingglass produced this past season. This is the Trust by Paul Weitz that is currently running Off-Broadway at the 2nd Stage Theatre. Ghostlight just traveled to New York this past weekend to see the show and while we have moved away from writing about productions and reviewing them, we do want to put this play on everyone's radar. The production is quite good as it stars Northwestern alum Zach Braff along with Sutton Foster, Bobby Cavandale, and Ari Graynor. Performances all around are strong and the scenic design is stellar.

The play is very good too. A 30-something man has lost the meaning in his life after creating a hugely successful internet company and selling it off to become a millionaire. There are so many delightful and honest twists in this larger-than-life dark comedy that we do not want to give too much away, but encourage you to seek out the script when it eventually is published.

I know that I will see it out, especially as there is some anticipated script development after the Off-Broadway run. But the play is definitely a good little skit and should do well in Chicago when it is ready. Oh, and if you can't tell from the picture, Sutton Foster plays a dominatrix.

Happy Birthday - August 28th
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1794-1832)
Robertson Davies (1913-1995)

Theater is a Hobby?

2010-08-26T08:54:00.002-05:00

I remember once taking a friend of my wife's to see one of my friends productions in the city. It was the first time I had really met her and I'm sitting there with her and my wife talking about what I do. The funny thing about this particular friend is that she was born and raised in Russia before coming over to the U.S. several years ago. And while she's fluent in English, some of the nuances don't always come across and she can appear blunt - blunter than she ever means to be.

So I'm sitting there telling her about how I work a day job and then run around like crazy at night going to meeting and rehearsals. She asks about pay and I tell her that at this point in my career I'm doing it more for the fulfillment rather than employment and that most of the actors in the show we are seeing tonight are operating under the same circumstances. This is when she said something that just floored me.

"Oh. This sounds like a very nice hobby."

A hobby!?! I thought to myself, this is not a hobby - this is what I do. This is how the theater scene works and maybe someday I will be paid for it. But the more and more I thought about it, her choice of the word hobby is very accurate. It's something I do in my spare time that provides enjoyment rather than income.

Thinking about most semi-professional - if not professional - theater in these terms really can make you question why we allow ourselves to do this and if we are dwelling in an illusion. The Guardian has an interesting discussion of this very topic in their blog this morning. Take a look over there and think about what it is we do as theater artists.

Identity: Telling Your story

2010-08-19T10:26:00.001-05:00

Here are some good ideas not just about fundraising, but about branding and forming your organization's (think "theater company's") identity.

Rush Hour Puppet Show

2010-08-17T08:30:00.000-05:00

No, it's not the puppet version of Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, but a free puppet theater on the LA freeways. While it's on the 405 rather than Avenue Q, it is still reaching out to those of us who wouldn't normally go see an instillation piece. Read about it on NPR.

Happy Birthday:
Don McKellar (b. 1963)
Jonathan Franzen (b. 1959)
Ted Hughes (1930-1998)

Acting Lessons

2010-08-16T08:30:00.000-05:00

How many of us have experienced this same kind of break through in an acting class. The clip is from Dead Poets Society and illustrates how we always need to bring all of ourselves to our art.

I Wish

2010-08-10T08:30:00.000-05:00

This week on This American Life, their introduction focused on the "I Wish" number in musicals and movies. This is the song, usually sung by the main character, early in the show that tells about what the character wants. It's a kind of "thesis statement" for the character. Host Ira Glass lists off several examples from "I Wish" from Into the Woods, to "Wouldn't it Be Lovely" in My Fair Lady, to Part of Your World from The Little Mermaid, and the classic "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" before jumping into his own "Wish" tune for the rest of the radio show. The segment is quite amusing and definitely worth a listen for the smile or the chuckle it will provide.

In Memorandum: Patricia Neal

2010-08-09T09:23:00.005-05:00

Academy Award winning actress Patricia Neal died today. She studied at Northwestern University and performed in films such as Hud, The Fountainhead, and Breakfast at Tiffany's. She died at the age of 84.

Obituaries:
National Public Radio
Washington Post

Will the Hipsters Save the Theatre?

2010-08-03T08:30:00.002-05:00

Neat article from the Huffington Post ripe with commentary on the "counter-culture," or rather in this case, the "anti-counter-culture." Either way, be it the East Village in the 60's or Wicker Park in the 00's, some interesting perspective. The Bohemians have always been appealing to theater and promote change - will this happen again in the world of Facebook and Twitter?

National Search

2010-08-02T08:30:00.001-05:00

With Chicago theater's last two national Artistic Director searches proving volatile (American Theatre Company and Next Theatre) and with the potential of two more on the way (Next Theatre and Victory Gardens), Chicago theater leaders have to have some frank discussions about who should be looked to to lead their theaters and where they should come from. These three theaters won't be the only companies dealing with this decision over the next five year so this is starting to become a constant question around town.

There are two sides to the argument:

1. The Chicago theater scene and community is unique and needs an insider who has preexisting relationships to navigate the landscape.
2. The absolute best candidate should be found. Someone who will push the theater to new achievements and bring them to the next level. A person's address should not be a determining factor.

Chris Jones has a very nice and thoughtful discussion of the inherrant benefits and traps in both solutions.

Happy Birthday:
John C. McGinley (b. 1959)

Anti-realism? Anti-proscenium!

2010-07-28T13:18:00.003-05:00

A move away from Realism has diminished our need for illusion in the theater - and in turn has make the formal proscenium structure less desirable. The Guardian's theatre blog examines the disappearance of the proscenium arch.

Update: July 29
And the Guardian offers commentary on its own posting.

Shockheaded Peter

2010-07-27T08:30:00.001-05:00

In case you missed this show when it was in Chicago about six years ago (like I did), you should check it out.

The Website
Wikipedia Entry

Theater Appreciation

2010-07-26T08:30:00.002-05:00

There was a great quote in on of the articles of the Yale's most recent issue of Theatre. The article is talking about an experimental theater production in New York and all the cultural commentary and structural analysis. However, the overall point becomes accessibility - and it's a notion that we all must consider as we produce our art and thing about who is going to come in to participate in its creation:

"...each is, in its way, elitist: Broadway show reach thousands of people, but at astronomical ticket prices. 'Alternative' theater downton is cheaper but rarely reaches audiences who haven't spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the expensive liberal-arts educations needed to appreciate its ironic stances. Then, too, the juxtaposition of 'high' and 'low' art is itself an inherited - perhaps, by now, subconscious - postmodern aesthetic strategy, once a way to demolish cultural barriers but now more or less a common denominator of downtown performance."
Miriam Felton-Dansky

Felton-Dansky has wonderfully hit upon the conundrum of arts in this country. And although she is talking about New York, we can easily see the same divisions here in Chicago.

So the question remains how do we make theater accessible to all while not playing to the lowest common-denominator and keeping the ticket prices affordable? And this answer is not all about the material being performed on-stage. Some of this question is marketing, mission and key messages as well.

Happy Birthday:
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

In Memorandum: Larry Keith

2010-07-22T16:09:00.002-05:00

The New York Times is reporting that Actor Larry Keith has succumbed to cancer. Keith, 79, was known for his role in the original cast of All My Children, being the first American Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady, and as a founder of the Actor's Company Theatre Off-Broadway.

Obituaries:
New York Times

Why is Theater Still Here?

2010-07-22T08:30:00.001-05:00

Blogger Lauren Gunderson has a lovely and simple explanation of why theater is essential. The summary below does not allow you to get off the hook for reading her article, but let me sum up:

Theater is essential because:
1. Here and Now: Because it's not just story that entertains and inspires us, it's experience.
2. Theatricality: Theatricality works just on the basis of shared imagination -- the imagination of the playwright, director, designers, and audience all converging in the now.
3. It All Starts Here: It all starts with "Hey, lemme tell you something..."
4. It's Accessible: Theater is just plain easy to be a part of. It wants you to participate, to show up, to try it yourself, to engage, to applaud.

Now if we could just get this kind of clarity into theater's mission statements we might be headed somewhere.

Happy Birthday:
Alan Menkin (b. 1949)

To Text or Not to Text: that is the qusetion.

2010-07-21T09:10:00.003-05:00

NPR has recently done an article on the new book entitled Hamlet's Blackberry. The book revisits a popular topic: does all of our connecting technology in fact make us less connected. This article, however, has merit in our theater world beyond the fact that one of our favorite characters is in the title:

"We don't have any gaps, any breaks in which to make sense of it; do something new, creative with it; enjoy it," says author William Powers

His overall argument is not that technology is bad - in fact he's very pro-technology. His point is how we are using it is destroying conversation and our ability to process relationships.

Happy Birthday:
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)

Obama on the Broadway Musical

2010-07-20T08:26:00.001-05:00

Obama speaking on the power of the Broadway Musical:

"Now there's nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music....It's one of the few genres of music that can inspire the same passion in an eight-year-old that it can an 80-year-old -- and make them both want to get up and dance....In many ways, the story of Broadway is also intertwined with the story of America. Some of the greatest singers and songwriters Broadway has ever known came to this country on a boat with nothing more than an idea in their head and a song in their heart. And they succeeded the same way that so many immigrants have succeeded -- through talent and hard work and sheer determination. Over the years, musicals have also been at the forefront of our social consciousness, challenging stereotypes, shaping our opinions about race and religion, death and disease, power and politics. But perhaps the most American part of this truly American art form is its optimism. Broadway music calls us to see the best in ourselves and in the world around us -- to believe that no matter how hopeless things may seem, the nice guy can still get the girl, the hero can still triumph over evil, and a brighter day can be waiting just around the bend."

Film, TV, YouTube has made Theater Better

2010-07-19T08:30:00.001-05:00

*Thank you to Cott Mail for this link.

This is an interesting look at how theater has been improved by the whittling away of non-theater stories by mediums such as film, television and YouTube.

...and interestingly enough, it comes in a commentary on blogging.

Happy Birthday:
Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893-1930)

Keep your chin up

2010-07-14T08:31:00.002-05:00

*Thank you to Cott Mail for this link.

An openly optimistic letter talks about the world we live in and why art and theater are especially important right now. They are a means of not only escapism, but of helping us figure out what we want our world to become.

Happy Birthday:
Arthur Laurents (b. 1918),
Irving Stone (1903-1989)
Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007)

The Arts don't hold the exclusive rights to "creativity" any more.

2010-07-13T08:30:00.002-05:00

An article in Newsweek has a great discussion on the importance of possessing creativity in order to function in today's fast paced world. Creativity is not just something the Fine Arts require, but also science, business, finance, politics and just about every other aspect of life. The article also goes on to criticize our education system for focusing on standardized tests and learning by memorization as means of killing creativity.

So perhaps as we look at the changing art landscape and complain about the loss of arts funding and educational arts funding, it is really the symptom of a larger problem. It's not just the arts, but creativity that's being killed. Or even when we overlook the problems in our education system, perhaps the arts no longer hold the monopoly on creativity. Technology now allows everyone to be creative. There are now blogs where anyone can be published, YouTube allows anyone to create a movie for all to see, and so forth and so on. The debate is no longer whether or not these people are professionals or amateurs - because they are going to be around forever now and with an important presence - but what is organized art's place in all of this.

I think the answer lies somewhere between finding the great stories and important voices among the cacophony of media and lifting them up for all to here. But also the arts will be a forum for everyone - blog writers, YouTube editors, and lay people - to come together in a common place and have a discussion about what is going on in the world at large are well as their individual worlds.

Happy Birthday:
Sir Patrick Steward (b. 1940)
Wole Soyinka (b. 1934)

Finally the Credit We Deserve

2010-07-12T08:30:00.001-05:00

After all the hubbub of Chicago being named the US's theater capital or some other crazy schemes... and after the ongoing fight about the identity of Chicago theater verses the profits of the Broadway tours... Chris Jones has written some lovely words that not only get to the heart of what Chicago theater is but how to make it sustainable. And the even better part is his article is foreshadowing funding and potential funding from Mayor Dailey and the City of Chicago.

Given the ongoing fiscal crisis in the City of Chicago — not to mention the State of Illinois — I think it is unlikely that we will soon see any more of the massive investments that created the downtown theater district or the new Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier. They are politically difficult, to say the least. That’s bad news for advocates of the Uptown Theatre, a must-do restoration that will surely take many millions of some kind of public dollars for it to come to fruition. But it is good news for those whose needs are much more modest. The Daley administration will surely see that it can continue its much-lauded stance on investment in the arts by turning to the neighborhoods, where the tab is not so high.

Happy Birthday:
Oscar Hammerstein II (1895-1960)

President LBJ on the Arts

2010-07-06T15:18:00.002-05:00

"Art is a nation's most precious heritage. For it is in our works of art that we reveal to ourselves, and to others, the inner vision which guides us as a Nation. And where there is no vision, the people perish. We in America have not always been kind to the artists and the scholars who are the keepers of our vision. Somehow the scientists always get the penthouse and the arts and humanities get the basement."

-President Lyndon B. Johnson on the establishment of the National Endowment for the Arts in 1965

Happy Birthday:
Geoffrey Rush (b. 1951)

Transcendence

2010-06-29T08:30:00.001-05:00

"How does transcendence come about? It comes about through the misunderstanding of slowness. A movement is slow if it takes longer than a generation. In order to observe it, we must depend on the co-operation with those who lived before us and those who will live after us."

Heiner Mühlmann 'The Economy Machine'

Happy Birthday:
Frank Loesser (1910-1969)

More Discussion on the Theater Capital Dilemma

2010-06-28T08:50:00.002-05:00

The recent buzz about Chicago being the US's "theater capital" has caused an upheaval in this city and beyond. It has changed the way that we think about ourselves in the national stage. But more importantly it raises some bigger questions. Kris Vire wrote a very thoughtful article in the TimeOut Chicago blog last week about the potential harm a New York production of David Cromer's production of A Streetcar Named Desire. Vire argues that while good for promoting Chicago's image and product, many times when productions go to New York, the stars don't come back to Chicago.

Another point he makes is about theatrical tourism. If Chicago is the theater capital as everyone is saying, why are we farming out our productions to New York. His best statment of the whole article comes in the last paragraph:

So what if, instead of continuing the New York–centric 20th-century model, we make our city a theater tourism destination? With others so willing to call Chicago the real theater destination of North America, wouldn’t it be great if we embraced that label ourselves? What if theater audiences actually had to come to Chicago to see Chicago-style theater?

The answer to all of Vire's questions and suggestions is money. Why do the Chicago actors stay in New York? Because New York producers can pay them. Why do Chicago productions move to New York? Because the New York model is set up to make money - the Chicago model is build to develop plays and reside in the community. In New York, everyone is constantly looking for the next big thing. And whether it be in business, dating, or theater they are always going to go to something that is going to advance them in some way. And whether that next big thing is from Chicago or London, the only thing they care about is making a buck and getting the position and standing to make more on the next one.

This, incidently, is why New Yorkers go to the theater (implying a physical building) whereas Chicagoans go to the theatre (a institution of culture made up of a company of artists).

Yes, we would love to see our actors and designers paid for what they do. Yes, our city would love the revenue that theatrical tourism would bring. It would be amazing to be an important industry like theater is in New York. To get that sort of attention and national attention. But what would we have to give up to attain that?

Few people are going to travel to Chicago to see a play. Even fewer are going to come to see a play that does not have a big star in the leading role. And no one will ever come to Chicago just to see a storefront production unless they personally know someone who is playing in the piece. Look at the problems that New York is having marketing shows without a big name in on the marquee. In Chicago we're already complaining about Goodman and Chicago Shakes bringing in outside talent - does anyone think that will get better if we suddenly become a tourism destination?

Do we really want to change our theatre community that much? Do we really want to give up the sense of ensemble-ship and our position as an incubator for compelling theatre? It is our community that has made us what we are. It is the ability for actors to find work and playwrights to find companies willing to make the investment and produce their work that have build our reputation as a theatre city. Sure, not everyone is "making it." Not everyone is performing at Steppenwolf, Victory Gardens, or Writer's Theatre - but it is the hundreds of smaller companies and thousands of other actors that work their way up that make the upper level theatre that much better and the smaller theatres that much more important.

Let New York steal our productions and our actors. We'll know where they come from and that we were the city that instilled the heart before it made the money. And if we really want to change the landscape of theatre in these United States, isn't it more impressive to be able to say that we are providing New York with more successful actors and more profitable productions that New York can provide itself? Isn't it better to say that in order to get to New York you have to make it in Chicago first? While this model may not carry the big dollar amounts behind it, it's the type of theatrical stability I would like to see in this town.

Happy Birthday:
Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936)

Technology isn't just changing the theater; it's changing our brains

2010-06-24T08:30:00.003-05:00

NPR just reviewed a book by Nicolas Carr that talks about how the methods of learning demanded of us by technology are changing not only the ways we think, but how our brains are hardwired. The book is entitled The Shallows and it details how the short attention span of Twitter, email, iPhones, Facebook, and blogs (yes, this very medium as well) encourage use to gobble us "fractured and unmoored" information rather than the traditional deep reading that promotes us to "make their own associations, drawing their own inferences and analogies, foster their own ideas."

With The Shallows, Carr attempts to snap us out of the hypnotic pull of our iPhones, laptops and desktops. He reveals why we're suddenly having a hard time focusing at length on any given thing, and why we compulsively check our e-mail accounts and Twitter feeds and never seem to be able to get our work done. (It's because we've been abusing our brains.) He wants us to value wisdom over knowledge, and to use new technology intelligently. "We shouldn't allow the glories of technology to blind our inner watchdog to the possibility that we've numbed an essential part of our self," Carr pleads. It remains to be seen if he's shouted down or listened to.

While I haven't read the book myself, it is a scary thought that we are becoming a nation of robots that can only spit out the information that have been spoon fed or downloaded into our wall blotter. If we no longer value deep reading (or as my professors called it "close reading") how in the heck will our children be able to appreciate or enjoy the theater?

Wagner on Art

2010-06-23T08:30:00.001-05:00

"Almost universal is the outcry raised by artists nowadays against the damage that the [French] Revolution has occasioned them. It is not the battles of the 'barricades,' not the sudden mighty shattering of the pillars of the State, not the hasty change of Governments,-- that is bewailed; for the impression left behind by such capital events as these, is for the most part disproportionately fleeting, and short-lived in its violence. But it is the protracted character of the latest convulsions that is so mortally affecting the artistic efforts of the day. The hitherto-recognized foundations of industry, of commerce, and of wealth, are now threatened; and though tranquility has been outwardly restored, and the general physiognomy of social life completely re-established, yet there gnaws at the entrails of this life a carking care, an agonizing distress. Reluctance to embark in fresh undertakings, is maiming credit; he who wishes to preserve what he has, declines the prospect of uncertain gain; industry is at a standstill, and -- Art has no longer the wherewithal to live....Yet Art remains in its essence what it ever was; we have only to say, that it is not present in our modern public system. It lives, however, and has ever lived in the individual conscience, as the one fair, indivisible Art. Thus the only difference is this: with the [ancient] Greeks it lived in the public conscience, whereas today it lives alone in the conscience of private persons, the public un-conscience recking nothing of it. Therefore in its flowering time the Grecian Art was conservative, because it was a worthy and adequate expression of the public conscience: with us, true Art is revolutionary, because its very existence is opposed to the ruling spirit of the community."
-Richard Wagner, 1849

Happy Birthday:
Jean Anouilh (1910-1987)

Knit Happens

2010-06-22T08:30:00.003-05:00

One of Chicago's beloved productions opens this week for yet another run. Lookingglass Alice, Lookingglass Theatre's original and signature piece, returns from tours to play the performance space at the Water Tower. Make it's third appearance in this show is a 30 foot long white scarf knitted especially for the production.

Alice when first arriving in Wonderland is greeted by a immensely sized White Queen knitting a very long garment which will appear later as a baby blanket for the character grows younger, not older. The piece was commissioned for the production by Props Designer Joe Schneider and created by Mary Cotter in 2007. The craftsmanship was so good that the prop continues to be used in the production. The piece employs over $80 worth of yarn and took nearly a month to construct.

(The character pictured here is the Red Queen - though not knitting, she is similarly sized to the Red Queen)

Shakespeare & Co. Booksellers

2010-06-21T08:30:00.002-05:00

The trip to New York City is over but we still have some follow up posts to publish. This one is about my favorite bookstore: Shakespeare & Co. It has several locations around Manhattan, but the one that I enjoy is across the street from TISCH/NYU because of its impressive selection of scripts and musicals. Since Act I shut down in Chicago, the only reliable place to find plays beyond Border's collection of standards has been the internet. Shakespeare & Co. has an entire wall (and it's a big wall) of its downstairs dedicated to scripts. And I don't mean the common published stuff either - the majority of the books are printed by Dramatists or Samuel French.

If you are in New York and enjoy theater scripts, I highly suggest that you check this out.

In Memorandum: Elzbieta Czyzewska

2010-06-18T15:24:00.003-05:00

Polish Actress Elzbieta Czyzewska died last night at the age of 72. Be sure to read about her and her fascinating life.

Obituaries:
New York Times

How do you get people to see theatre?

2010-06-15T08:55:00.004-05:00

Ghostlight continues its trip to New York. Yesterday we saw the Late Show with David Letterman. He offered some good advice to increase ticket sales:

Also winning a Tony last (Sunday) night, Scarlet Johansson and Catherine Zeta-Jones. And I'm telling you if that doesn't get straight guys into the theater, nothing will.

But much to the same point, I was in the hotel bar last night and got to talking to a gentleman from Austin, Texas. We talked about everything from college football to investment banking. Eventually I told him I was in theater and we got to talking about that. He told me about the few shows he'd seen, but stressed that he really enjoyed them. The very next thing he said was that theater has to find some way to get their ticket prices comparable to that of a movie ticket. Cheaper tickets and serving alcohol and food right at your seat - like his favorite movie theater in Austin - were his keys to increasing revenue.

And while this isn't the first time that a theory to increased theatre revenue like this has been kicked around, it was the first time I had heard a non-theater person going on for a rather long time and rather passionately about how to get more people out.

He also had a interesting suggestion about marketing more to women. He was suggesting that the women were more likely to drag their husband or their boyfriends out to the theater than the other way around. A little sexist, yes, but an idea that might be worth trying. I've never heard of a marketing scheme that included ads in Today's Chicago Woman. Just a thought - I'd be interested in seeing if this would be effective.

Happy Birthday:
Simon Callow (b. 1949)

2010 Tony Award Winners

2010-06-14T08:30:00.003-05:00

Ghostlight is in New York this week. Here are the winners of this year's Tony Awards! Sad to say the Chicago productions were mostly shut out this year. Millions Dollar Quartet did take home a win for Best Featured Actor.

Best Play: Red by John Logan

Best Musical: Memphis

Best Book of a Musical: Memphis Joe DiPietro

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre: Memphis Music: David Bryan Lyrics: Joe DiPietro, David Bryan

Best Revival of a Play: Fences

Best Revival of a Musical: La Cage aux Folles

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play: Denzel Washington Fences

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play: Viola Davis Fences

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical: Douglas Hodge La Cage aux Folles

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical: Catherine Zeta-Jones A Little Night Music

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play: Eddie Redmayne Red

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play: Scarlett Johansson A View from the Bridge

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical: Levi Kreis Million Dollar Quartet

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical: Katie Finneran Promises, Promises

Best Direction of a Play: Michael Grandage Red

Best Direction of a Musical: Terry Johnson La Cage aux Folles

Best Choreography: Bill T. Jones Fela!

Best Orchestrations: Daryl Waters & David Bryan Memphis

Best Scenic Design of a Play: Christopher Oram Red

Best Scenic Design of a Musical: Christine Jones American Idiot

Best Costume Design of a Play: Catherine Zuber The Royal Family

Best Costume Design of a Musical: Marina Draghici Fela!

Best Lighting Design of a Play: Neil Austin Red

Best Lighting Design of a Musical: Kevin Adams American Idiot

Best Sound Design of a Play: Adam Cork Red

Best Sound Design of a Musical: Robert Kaplowitz Fela!

Special Tony Award® for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre:
Alan Ayckbourn
Marian Seldes

Regional Theatre Tony Award®
The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, Waterford, Connecticut

Isabelle Stevenson Award
David Hyde Pierce

Festivals

2010-06-10T08:45:00.003-05:00

An interesting debate if forming between the Dramatists Guild of America and the New York Music Theatre Festival. In the new contracts the NYMF is now entitled to "2 percent of the applicant and author's gross on all income received from the play in excess of $20,000 over 10 years." The question is why?

Most of these plays are essentially self-produced under the umbrella of the festival so the producers and playwrights are wondering why they have to share revenue with a organization that is requiring them to spend money to put the play up for them. On the other hand the NYMF is saying that they not only provide lots of resources, but their brand too lends credibility to the author's work and can help lead to future success.

I would like to use this debate as a jumping off point for a more Chicago-centric discussion. I have worked on the various theater festivals. I was lucky enough for one of them to be the New York International Fringe Festival - and they provide you with paperwork (oh so much paperwork) and contracts outlining what the festival will and won't provide and their rules and regulations over copyright and intellectual property. I will admit that I really didn't have a complete sense of what I was signing, but I will guarantee you that if an issue did arise after the festival, that it would have been meticulously covered in the paperwork.

However, there are getting to be dozens of festivals in Chicago as well. Sketchbook, Abby Hoffman, LeapFest, RhinoFest, Director's Festival, Art of Adaptation, Seven Plays in Seven Days, and countless others. The are quite in vogue in these hard economic times - all the producing company has to do is pay for the space to host it. You don't have to pay the actors. You don't have to pay for and tech or design as that becomes the producer/playwright/director's responsibility. Heck, you don't even have to pay for the marketing because at five, ten, twenty shows or whatever it is you are sponsoring, you are sure to have large number of artists involved who will want all their friends to see it. It's a pretty simple and risk-free model to make some quick money for your company.

But what are these artist getting themselves into? Is there a contract about intellectual property - or remounts or further productions? In a lot of these festivals there aren't. And to be fair, many of these companies are smaller and in the end don't really care. But there is so much going on and so little framework let along infrastructure to support some of these endeavors I caution artists to really figure out what they are in for before committing to work on pieces like this. And I also ask the host companies to really think if this city needs another festival before posting a call for submissions on PerformInk.

More Fish

2010-06-09T08:30:00.001-05:00

Many times directors give notes that are entirely undiscerning or unplayable. Directors are thinking about the play differently than the actors, stage manager or designer - they are seeing the whole picture. And sometimes this translates to getting a note that refers to something that the actor knows nothing about. Or it could be that the director gives a note that is really a signifier or a metaphor and not a real action or emotion that an actor can play. Sometimes the director is second guessing his or herself. Sometimes that person just doesn't know what they are talking about. Many times, they are responding to what they have just seen before them, having a very strong emotional or intellectual response, but haven't had time to really sort through their thoughts so that what comes out of their mouth is a complete mish-mosh of words and ideas.

I am as guilty of this as anyone - more so at times.

The trick is not to take yourself too seriously and really take the time to stop and listed to an actor's question if they need clarification. Take a moment to get your thoughts together before you speak.

Humor also helps. Making fun or yourself makes the actors know that you are not being too pretentious and expecting them to understand every single world that flops out of your mouth (an subsequently dies).

One of my favorite notes to give in this case is "the scene needs more FISH." It's a joke me and a buddy have. We both know it means nothing and soon the cast realizes this (though they are often confused at first). But the more it is used throughout the process, the more it helps as a stress relief later.

There is another actor, who is a very close friend of mine, who I will often give then note "could you please suck less" or "just take the suck out." I know I can give the note to him because not only is he a competent actor who is very much on top of his process, he is also a confident person and can take the joke (and he knows that I am only joking). I would never do this to an actor who was less confident or struggling in their role.

Just some rehearsal room humor to keep the mood light and to let them know that their director doesn't care if you make fun of him too.

Happy Birthday:
John Howard Payne (1791-1852)
J.M. Barrie (1860-1937)
Cole Porter (1891-1964)
George Axelrod (1922-2003)

2010 Non-Equity Jeff Award Citations

2010-06-08T08:30:00.001-05:00

PRODUCTION – PLAY
"Killer Joe" – Profiles Theatre

PRODUCTION – MUSICAL
"Chess" – Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre i/a/w Michael James

DIRECTOR – PLAY
Rick Snyder – "Killer Joe" – Profiles Theatre

DIRECTOR – MUSICAL
Fred Anzevino & Brenda Didier – "Chess" – Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre i/a/w Michael James

ENSEMBLE
"Twelve Angry Men" – Raven Theatre

ACTOR IN A PRINCIPAL ROLE – PLAY
Darrell W. Cox – "Killer Joe" – Profiles Theatre

ACTOR IN A PRINCIPAL ROLE – MUSICAL
Courtney Crouse – "Chess" – Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre i/a/w Michael James

ACTRESS IN A PRINCIPAL ROLE – PLAY
Kendra Thulin – "Harper Regan" – Steep Theatre Company

ACTRESS IN A PRINCIPAL ROLE – MUSICAL
Maggie Portman – "Chess" – Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre i/a/w Michael James

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE – PLAY
Peter Oyloe – "The Pillowman" – Redtwist Theatre

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE – MUSICAL
John B. Leen –"Chess " – Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre i/a/w Michael James

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTNG ROLE – PLAY
Nancy Friedrich – "The Crucible" – Infamous Commonwealth Theatre
Vanessa Greenway – "The Night Season" – Vitalist Theatre i/a/w Premiere Theatre & Performance

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE – MUSICAL OR REVUE
Kate Garassino – "Bombs Away! " – Bailiwick Repertory Theatre

NEW WORK
Ellen Fairey – "Graceland" – Profiles Theatre
Michael Rohd & Phillip C. Klapperich – "Wilson Wants It All" – The House Theatre of Chicago

NEW ADAPTATION
Frances Limoncelli – "Busman’s Honeymoon" – Lifeline Theatre

CHOREOGRAPHY
Brenda Didier – "Chess" – Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre i/a/w Michael James

ORIGINAL INCIDENTAL MUSIC
Trevor Watkin – "The Black Duckling" – Dream Theatre Company

MUSIC DIRECTION
Ryan Brewster – "Chess" – Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre i/a/w Michael James

SCENIC DESIGN
John Zuiker – "I Am My Own Wife" – Bohemian Theatre Ensemble

LIGHTING DESIGN
Sean Mallary – "St. Crispin’s Day" – Strawdog Theatre Company

COSTUME DESIGN
Theresa Ham – "The Glorious Ones" – Bohemian Theatre Ensemble
Joanna Melville – "St. Crispin’s Day" – Strawdog Theatre Company

SOUND DESIGN
Miles Polaski – "Mouse in a Jar" – Red Tape Theatre

ARTISTIC SPECIALIZATION
Lucas Merino – Video Design – "Wilson Wants It All" – The House Theatre of Chicago
James T. Scott – Puppets – "Evolution/Creation" – Quest Theatre Ensemble

FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY
Geoff Coates – "Treasure Island" – Lifeline Theatre

SPECIAL AWARD
Circle Theatre

A Brief History of Chicago Storefront Theatre

2010-06-07T08:30:00.001-05:00

On May 17, the DCA hosted a discussion on the history of Chicago Storefront theatre entitled "I Do It Myself: Five Decades of Theatre that Works." The discussion looked back at some of the factors that contribute to the formation of the Off-Loop theatre scene and the factors that sustain it. Check out Performink's coverages for more details and a brief outline of the discussion from that evening.

Play of the Week: The Bacchae

2010-06-04T08:37:00.005-05:00

One of the most intriguing aspects of this play is the confrontation between Pentheus and Dionysus; a human interrogating a god. If you look at back-and-forth of the cross examination, much of it appears similar to the dialogue between Christ and Pilate as recorded in the Bible. Of course the denouement of the play and the resulting action are quite different from the ending to the Gospels and I would never compare Dionysus and his philosophies to the teachings of Jesus Christ, but there are some parallels there. And if you do sit down to read the two side-by-side, I ask you to muse about how the one may have influenced the other over the years. The Bacchae was around well before the Gospel writers penned their story - did they have the encounter in mind as they took artistic license with the story? Or has the translations of The Bacchae become more and more "Christian" over the years. Or are they both works independent of each other and the fact that they bear similarities to the other complete coincidences?

Let us know what you think.

Happy Birthday:
June 5: Frederico Garcia Lorca (1898-1936)
June 6: Pierre Corneille (1606-1684)