BY JENN Q. GODDU
You can bet Chicago
Shakespeare Theatre’s artistic director Barbara Gaines, executive
director Criss Henderson, and associate artistic director Gary Griffin
were glad they made the trip across the big pond for the Feb. 22 Laurence
Olivier Awards ceremony. The company’s Pacific Overtures, a co-production
with Donmar Warehouse, won three of eight awards it was nominated for
at London’s equivalent of the Tony’s. The show won the Olivier
for outstanding music production as well as receiving top honors for choreography
and lighting design. Outstanding musical production salutes the entire
producing and artistic team that brought Pacific Overtures to the Donmar
after it was originally staged by Griffin at Chicago Shakespeare’s
upstairs theatre. Holdovers for the London showing from the 2001 Joseph
Jefferson Award winner for Best Musical were Griffin, three original Chicago
cast members, the musical director, percussionist, scenic designer and
costume designer (Mara Blumenfeld, who was also nominated for an Olivier).
It’s a nice coup for the Chicago-based company to be able to show
so well on the home turf of their beloved Bard.
The
city’s new rigor in searching out public place amusement (PPA) license
violators has forced another theatre to close temporarily. Mary-Arrchie
Theatre Company has shut its doors at Angel Island, 731 W. Sheridan,
indefinitely. “We can’t produce in a theatre that’s
not licensed,” said company artistic director Rich Cotovsky. The
theatre had not yet been visited by the city, but Cotovsky didn’t
want to risk any fines. “We know we’re on their list, so why
get visited until you’re ready to get visited.”
His
plan is to get the theatre in shape and apply for the PPA in the next
month. “I’m taking it a step at a time and every step I take
I find an obstacle, be it zoning or someone trying to give you a hard
time,” he said. Still, he says, Mary-Arrchie is in “pretty
good shape” as the theatre has been visited in the past and made
changes as recommended. Things could have been bad for the company, he
says, they did postpone opening a show that had been planned for November,
the weekend many other city theatres were shuttered or fined. “In
hindsight, we’re lucky we weren’t ready to produce.”
The company, first founded in 1986 and producer of such works as Curse
of the Starving Class, Modigliani and the popular Abbie Hoffman Died for
Our Sins Festival, will continue to meet and hold readings. “We’re
not going anywhere,” Cotovsky said. “We’re just not
inviting the public.”
Another
theatre affected by the PPA licensing, The Playground Improv Theatre,
opened its doors Feb. 19 in the former home of WNEP Theatre. The 3209
N. Halsted St. location will be home to performances Wednesday through
Sunday nights. The company will also rent out the space to other theatres.
“What we’re trying to do is provide a venue for the vast number
of improvisers in town so they can put up their productions and also [have
a space] for us to put up our productions,” said Playground President
Matt Barbera.
The
Playground’s doors have been closed since November, when it was
cited for operating without a PPA by the city’s department of revenue.
With the lease coming up at 3341 N. Lincoln Ave. and all that it would
have taken to get a PPA for the space, Playground decided to move on.
“This place will provide us with the opportunity to grow theatre
and allow us to be a factor in the Chicago theatre and comedy community,”
Barbera said. WNEP, which was also cited by the city, moved out of the
Halsted space last year and has been staging its shows at the Lakeshore
Theatre.
DePaul
University’s decision to close the Barat College campus leaves
The Theatre School’s Shakespeare on the Green without a home
this summer. Yet artistic director Karla Koskinen is already exploring
other options. In the week following the announcement regarding Barat,
she says she was contacted by three different communities about the possibility
of moving the outdoor performances there. “It’s very encouraging,”
Koskinen said. “People are really connected to the festival and
really want to see it continue.” This summer would have marked the
13th year of Shakespeare on the Green in Lake Forest.
The
Side Project has decided to postpone its production of Maggie:
A Girl of the Streets. Adam Webster, the company’s artistic director
and the show’s writer, has undergone intestinal surgery. His wife,
Nichole Webster, reports that he’s recovering in hospital and will
need a few weeks of rest before getting around again. In the meantime,
she says, “he’s getting his old, cranky spirit back.”
The show was to open Feb. 21.
In
other news, the AFTRA Chicago Local held its elections on Jan.
22. Dan Frick is president and a member of the national board, along with
Nancy Sellers. Vice presidents, in ranking order, are James Schneider,
David Gee and Richard Shavzin. Eileen Parkinson is treasurer, Oksana Fedunyszyn
is recording secretary. The Chicago Local AFTRA board members are now
John Carter Brown, Charlotte Davis, Rick DiMaio, Tasha Johnson, Suzanne
Palmer, Lisa Parker, Fern Persons, Stephanie Rogers, Jill Shellabarger
and Richard Steele.
Congratulations
to Paul Kampf, Breadline Theatre Group’s artistic director
and co-founder, and the company’s PR/marketing director Heather
Carpenter on their wedding engagement. The couple first worked together
in a Breadline production of Love for Three Oranges. Love followed friendship
for the two company members, who began dating in 2000. The couple plans
to marry Oct. 3 in Joliet at the Patrick Haley Mansion.
And finally, condolences to the family and friends of Fred Fine, Chicago’s first commissioner of cultural affairs and the founder of Columbia College’s arts management program. Fine, a lifelong supporter of the arts, died in Santa Barbara on Feb. 9 after breaking his hip in a fall. He was 89. Expressions of sympathy may be made through a contribution to the Chicago Center for Arts Policy at Columbia College Chicago, 600 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60605. A memorial will take place later in the spring.