BY JONATHAN ABARBANEL
Boxer Rebellion Theatre Company has announced it will shutter its Rogers Park storefront theatre following the April 21-May 28 run of their next show, God's Country by Steven Dietz. Managing director Kyle Hillman cites continuing code difficulties as the reason why, and emphasizes that the troupe itself is not dissolving. The 60-seat theatre at 1257 W. Loyola was converted by The Factory Theater Company in 1992, which occupied the space until 1998, when Boxer Rebellion took over. More than 100 productions produced by numerous small and new theatrical companies have been staged at the venue, which is owned by Beta Management.
In June 2004, a Public Place of Amusement inspection task force cited numerous violations and ordered repairs. Eventually, both Beta Management and Boxer Rebellion decided the cost was too great, and that incentives to continue trying to meet city guidelines no longer were there. Hillman said Boxer Rebellion is actively searching for another permanent home "that would better suit our needs while providing a quicker path to city approval." He said the troupe will continue its mission of productions responsive to social issues.
As exciting as the Wicked news may be (see story, page 1), the decision to "go green" was not an easy one for every Chicago performer. Take Rondi Reed as one example. Offered the principal role of Madame Morrible, she sat on the fence for a week torn between her first crack at a big, Broadway musical and her local loyalties. She was set to open April 10 as the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, and had commitments next season at her home base, Steppenwolf, and also Writer's Theatre. Accepting the Wicked offer--believed to be a six month or full year contract--meant Reed would have to leave the R&J company early and bow out of her other obligations.
Of course, CST, Steppenwolf and Writer's Theatre all operate under Chicago Area Theatre (CAT) agreements with Actors Equity Association, and the CAT pact releases actors in favor of "more remunerative employment." With Wicked minimums standing at $1,381 a week for the lowliest chorister, and considerably more for principals, the tuner about the Oz witches certainly qualifies as more remunerative, nearly doubling the highest-tier CAT and LORT minimums in Chicago. For performers such as Reed and Gene Weygandt, cast as the Wizard of Oz, Wicked stands to be a pot of gold.
Still, Reed didn't want merely to invoke a clause, and probably talked things over with artistic directors Barbara Gaines, Martha Lavey and Michael Halberstam. They all told her, "Go for it, girl!" And she did.
You know, there was a time back in the mid-19th Century when the head of the U. S. Patent Office proposed closing up shop because he believed that everything worthwhile had been invented (for real!). Obviously, he couldn't imagine Pac-Man, Teflon or Clappers. In the theatrical trade, it sometimes seems that there aren't any new, clever ways to promote and market shows, and then some troupe comes up with a new angle.
For its May 20-July 3 staging of The Kentucky Cycle at National Pastime Theatre, Infamous Commonwealth Theatre is marketing the two-part show with "the more-you-see-the-less-you-pay." Tickets are $18 individually for either Part I or Part II, but only $30 if you buy both parts at the same time (even if you plan to see them separately). The deal is better still on Saturdays when $40 gets you Parts I and II separated by dinner at the Bar on Buena. Mint juleps extra, we're sure--and bring your own coonskin hat.
An even fresher idea comes from the newbie troupe, Polarity Ensemble Theatre (PET), debuting April 29-May 22 with Absolute Macbeth at Breadline Theatre. The company is offering a four-minute live sampler of the show to be performed free at your theatre, club, lodge, park or event on April 3, 7, 10 and 14. PET will field two teams of actors and drummers to hit the hustings with their in-the-flesh "trailer," providing a high energy scene set to driving percussion. Sure, it's a labor-intensive initiative and it would cost you a pretty penny if you were an Equity theatre; but if you're young, idealistic, imaginative, non-union, working for peanuts anyway and have energy to spare, it's a great idea! To book your very own mini-PET show, contact Zack Brenner at 678/386-6906.
What they say is true, you know: sometimes reviews don't matter. You can go around even the worst notices if you have word-of-mouth or can market directly to your niche audience or have a cross-over star. Another good way to defeat the nattering nabobs of negativism is to have deep pockets and just keep on going, or start all over again! That's exactly the path selected by New Horizons Entertainment, Inc., which is re-opening I'm a Female . . . Seeking a Male for an April 7-May 7 run at Theatre Building Chicago, where the play had its world premiere staging last January. During its initial one-month run it received some of the most devastating reviews to appear in these parts within this writer's recent, drug-addled, short-term memory. The show is returning with its original 10-person cast intact under director Stefan Brun. Billed as a romantic comedy about sex, love and dating, I'm a Female . . . Seeking a Male is the first full-length play by Diana Mucci-Beauchamp, who also is executive producer for New Horizons Entertainment, in partnership with co-producer Rosie Vargas Goldberg.
Construction delays--rather standard in major renovation projects--have forced Victory Gardens Theater to postpone by a full year the fall 2005 opening of their new Biograph Theatre complex at 2433 N. Lincoln Ave. The company quietly has announced that its complete 2005-2006 season will be presented at the "old" Victory Gardens two blocks south at 2357 N. Lincoln, under the umbrella of a six-play "Farewell Season" that will feature world premieres by Playwrights Ensemble members James Sherman, Kristine Thatcher and Lonnie Carter. The previously-announced opening production at the Biograph, the world premiere of Denmark by Charles Smith, now will inaugurate the new complex as the opening show of the 2006-2007 season. Victory Gardens is marketing a two-year subscription plan that covers both the farewell year at 2357 and the debut year at 2433, offering discounts in excess of 50 percent over single ticket prices. Just to remind you, Victory Gardens is not selling the old place, which will be remodeled into an improved venue with three theatres for lease, once the mainstage program moves to the Biograph.