5-13-05
BY JONATHAN ABARBANEL
Theatres come, theatres go—both theatre companies and the buildings themselves.
The two-story building at 2851 N. Halsted is "about as historical as the man in the moon," in the words of developer Steve Golovan, the man who intends to tear it down. On the other hand, at least a few theatre buffs consider the one-time bakery to be sacred ground. A theatre for 30 years, it's been home in succession to the St. Nicholas Theatre Company, Steppenwolf, the Organic/Touchstone Theater and, currently, ComedySportz.
It's the building where David Mamet's The Water Engine and The Woods (with Patti LuPone and Peter Weller) received their world premieres; where Lili Tomlin broke in her first Broadway one-person show; where Bob Falls directed John Malkovich in Ashes; where the Organic/Touchstone Theater staged The Steward of Christendom; where Tony Award-winning directors and designers, such as Gerald Guttierez and John Lee Beatty, enjoyed early successes; where William H. Macy played Billy the Kid; where John Mahoney learned his acting chops; and where The Saints were born, among many, many other notable theatrical events. As cited in a recent story in Skyline, Golovan said he was unaware of the building's history in the theatre community.
Golovan's company, Castlebar Enterprises, plans to demolish all the buildings from 2845 N. Halsted through 2909 N. Halsted. In their stead, Castlebar will put up 44 residential units and 15,000 square feet of retail space in five mixed-use buildings. Castlebar already has received approval from the Burling Block Club and from 44th Ward Alderman Tom Tunney. No zoning issues are involved, the building has no architectural importance and no importance in political history, so its destruction virtually is assured. Golovan's remarks might be uninformed and insensitive, but it would be incorrect to suggest that he and his partners are doing anything unwarranted. It might be nice, however, if they at least put up a plaque acknowledging the cultural importance of 2851 N. Halsted, or called the new development St. Nicholas Gardens.
We'll lose 2851 N. Halsted, but we'll add a new venue and a new theatre company at 6508 N. Clark Street, says Dale Goulding, the former artistic director of European Repertory Company. He and several partners have purchased a one-time car assembly plant as the home for two theatre troupes. One of them is the brand-spanking new Red Square Theatre Company, comprised of Goulding and several ERC associates. The other troupe is One Theatre Company, a non-profit troupe founded in 2001 by Joshua Solomon and Sam Rosen that currently has offices in Lincolnwood. One Theatre annually produces a major summer musical in addition to two other full productions. This summer's show is City of Angels, to be presented at the Athenaeum. One Theatre also provides theatre classes for children and the Chicago Public School system through One Theatre Studio. Additionally, the company runs a shop (the old Wisdom Bridge Theatre shop) that builds and installs scenery for a number of Chicago-area theatres, among them Chicago Opera Theatre and Pegasus Players.
Red Square and One each will produce a six-month season in the new venue, with Red Square courting Chicago's increasingly-large Russian speaking audience by exchanging productions with several theatres in Russia. Goulding says part of the financing for Red Square and for renovation of the Clark Street space is coming from the local Russian immigrant community.
Our productive talk with Goulding also clarified street rumors about the demise of the European Repertory Company (ERC), which appear to be only half true. Goulding reports the board of directors is dissolving ERC as a 501(c)3 corporation (that is, a non-profit), but that the ERC ensemble of actors and directors will continue and will reconstitute themselves at a future time. ERC will offer a series of classes this summer in space borrowed from T.U.T.A.
"I think they were just tired," Goulding said of the board. "We've been through about three boards. I guess we just burned them out." He indicated that the present board was concerned about individual financial liability that every board member legally incurs, and against which most boards take insurance. Since ERC always has operated on a break-even basis at best, the possibility of economic liability always has been real and, apparently, became burdensome to the board.
The prize isn't a job with Donald Trump, but Redmoon Theater stands to pick up $100,000 if it's successful in the National Business Plan Competition for Non-profit Ventures, a joint project of the Yale School of Management and the Goldman-Sachs Foundation Partnership on Non-profit Ventures. Well, for starters those Yalies and Goldies need to learn that successful marketing requires a short, snappy name.
Redmoon has been named one of 20 finalists in the third annual competition that culminates June 9-10 with four $100,000 grand prizes and four $25,000 runner-up awards. Two other theatres—Washington, D.C.'s Arena Stage and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center—also are among the finalists. To date, the only successful arts-related competitor has been a 2003 partnership between the Guthrie Theater and the Children's Theatre Company of Minneapolis, awarded a grand prize in the money round.
The competition encourages non-profits to develop "social entrepreneurship," meaning the creation of revenue-generating business plans that engage and impact the community. Redmoon already has put its competition model into practice, forming an off-shoot troupe, Redmoon for Hire, that offers the special Redmoon brand of visual and aural entertainment as part of a corporate event, grand opening, private party or civic celebration. Redmoon for Hire, created in 2004, has a dedicated production manager, and contracts designers, crew and performers as needed. In addition to creating an income stream, Redmoon for Hire also perfectly fits the Redmoon mission of transforming streets, stages and architecture into places of public celebration.
Redmoon for Hire booked 24 events last year and has booked 30 already this year, reports business manager Christy Uchida. If Redmoon wins a grand prize, the money will be used to "bring the venture to scale," Uchida says, by hiring a sales person and concentrating on national marketing. "This year we've been able to ramp up our production; next year we'd like to ramp up our sales," said Uchida.
The competition team leaders are Redmoon managing director Gillian Darlow, board treasurer Frank Blair, and Uchida. In preparation for the final presentations in June, they are working with business planning consultants and Yale School of Management students to refine and strengthen their business plan.
Summer stock used to be the bucolic place to which actors escaped to be part of a little seasonal ensemble troupe under the eye of a resident director. Now, increasingly, it's a place to which Chicago directors escape, too, especially the Shakespearian end of it. Peter Amster has become something of a regular at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, just as Chuck Smith calls the Timber Lake Playhouse his summer vacation home. The Utah Shakespeare Festival this season will welcome J. R. Sullivan to stage All's Well That Ends Well and Stones in His Pocket, Marc Robin to stage Pippin and Kate Buckley to helm Romeo and Juliet. Not content with Utah, Ms. Buckley will hurry back to the Midwest to direct Macbeth at American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wisc., where James Bohnen also will hang his straw hat as commander of Shaw's Candida.