11-24-06
Allen’s Job Looks to be Permanent
It’s nearly official: PerformInk has learned that the League of Chicago Theatres will name Lyle Allen as its new leader before Christmas. Allen, a longtime League employee (they don’t call him “Lifer Lyle” for nothing), has served as acting executive director since the resignation last July of Deanna Shoss from her post as League president and CEO. It’s not known whether or not Allen will assume those titles, or be content as the designated executive director. Allen will be the sixth chief in the League’s 27-year history.
In a Nov. 13 telephone interview, League board president Roche Schulfer neither confirmed nor denied the appointment, but observed that the League has not conducted an executive search since Allen’s tentative promotion over the summer, in effect confirming that the job was Allen’s barring catastrophe.
There’s some official news out of the League, too: a pilot Hot Tix online program was launched on Nov. 15 in partnership with Ticketmaster. It marks the first time that half-price Hot Tix have been available via the Internet. Initially, the pilot involves just one show, the already-running Kama Sutra: The Musical at Theatre Building Chicago, a venue that utilizes Ticketmaster services. The plan is to add a theatre not affiliated with Ticketmaster in a few weeks. That honor will fall to Next Theatre Company and its production of Miss Witherspoon (running Nov. 20-Dec. 17). If all goes well, the League expects to roll out Hot Tix online in January. League officials see Hot Tix online as a low-cost way to help smaller and emerging theatres extend their audience development efforts to a much wider public. Since about half of the League’s 200 or so members fall into the small-and-emerging category, the new program’s potential is substantial.
Hey, let’s swear like sailors. Black Ensemble Theater has served notice that Don’t Shed a Tear (The Story of Billie Holiday) is the first R-rated work in the troupe’s history, owing to its pungent language. Said company founder Jackie Taylor, “If you’re going to be true to the life of Billie Holiday, then you must include profanity. It was how she expressed herself and there is no getting around it. Black Ensemble audiences may be a bit surprised by what they see and hear on our stage, but it will be authentic.” Don’t Shed a Tear – written, directed and produced by Taylor – opened Nov. 12.
Chicago Dancemakers Forum is offering a New Collaborators Workshop to stimulate new approaches to creating movement-based work. The program is in three sessions, Jan. 13, 20 and 27, 2007, 3p.m.-6p.m., at Links Hall, 3435 N. Sheffield Ave. Dancemakers Kairol Rosenthal and Ann Boyd, plus dramaturgs Sarah Gubbins and Ben Calvert, will facilitate the program.
The New Collaborators Workshop is designed for local dancemakers and dramaturgs who want to learn from each other’s process, and for working theatre and dance professionals seeking dialogue with one another. The Workshop is free, but admission is by application only. Local choreographers, movement artists, or directors interested in working with dramaturgs are invited to submit an application. Those selected will be paired up by the facilitators prior to the first session, and will work with the same partner for all three sessions, culminating in an informal presentation of material developed during the series.
Chicago community and professional artists with at least two years’ experience making work in the public arena are eligible to apply. The workshop is limited to a maximum of 12 artists, or six pairs of dancemakers and dramaturgs. The application and more information are available online. Deadline: Friday, Dec. 8. Accepted artists announced by Dec. 18. Kristen Cox at chicagodancemakers@gmail.com takes questions, if any.
Chicago’s most theatrical chef, the inimitable Frankie J, was one of 25 contestants in the Time Out Chicago Chili Cook-Off at Martyr’s, Nov. 13, a benefit for the Chicago Food Depository. “So, how’d you do?” we asked Frankie and, naturally, he said, “Well, I’ll give you four answers.” He didn’t place in the top three because, he says, he ran out of chili before the taste-and-vote competition was over. “They told us to bring eight quarts of chili. Well, I brought in four or five gallons, but I gave out generous portions and people came back for seconds.” Anyone who paid $5 could sample all the chili he/she could stand, and vote for his/her favorite. “If you brought in a group of people, you had an advantage,” Mr. J bitched, suggesting that – horrors! – an over-stuffed, beer-soaked claque might have influenced the outcome.
For the record, Frankie’s chili contains both ground and diced New York strip steak with a touch of apple wood-smoked bacon, and beans. (NOTE: beans vs. no beans is one of the great, continuing controversies in the chili universe.) “I make my chili the way my mother did,” the showman chef told us, “because she had six boys and she had to keep our stomachs filled.”
Patrons of The Spot, Frankie J’s restaurant, bar and cabaret theatre on Broadway near Wilson, will be able to find Frankie J’s competition chili on the menu in the near future. Meantime, actors should know that through Dec. 31, the entire menu is 50 percent off every Sunday night, beginning at 6p.m. Then, in January Frankie J will begin a countdown to 2008 by decreasing the Sunday night prices by 1 percent each week, starting at 52 percent of the regular prices. Get it? The $20 lamb shank (or whatever) will cost just $10.40 the first Sunday of 2007, and by the last Sunday of 2007 it will be only $5.10. Gettin’ hungry?