9-1-06
Dissing the Judges
“No man for any considerable period can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true,” wrote Nathaniel Hawthorne in The Scarlet Letter. It seems that a member of GreyZelda Theatre Company – currently presenting an adaptation of the Hawthorne novella at Stage Left – was working the lobby on opening weekend, and didn’t like what she saw and heard. Regrettably, she put her thoughts in print at www.myspace.com/greyzelda, signing herself “Lady Crow.”
Ms. Crow tore into the critics (except Jack Helbig) for showing up too early (7 p.m. for an 8 p.m show) and wanting to use the Stage Left washroom, and for daring to have a vociferous discussion with each other in the lobby about a non-theatre topic. Then Ms. Crow accused two other critics of being influenced by the first two, because they spoke to one another. “He-Reviewer spent much time speaking with the other boy-reviewer. I wonder how similar their reviews will be. And, I wonder, if She-Reviewer liked the show, will He-Reviewer hate it? And vice versa? Is that responsible art reporting? Does that help the little guy that GreyZelda is? No, it’s complete and utter bullshit. Completely disrespectful to the art and unprofessional to their Readers.”
But Ms. Crow reserved her best shots for the Jeff Committee. Hey, the Jeff Committee is such an easy target that even I’ve taken shots at them. Ms. Crow wrote:
“On Thursday night, opening night, we were adjudicated for the first time by the Jeff Committee. I was very excited. How quickly those sentiments changed when I saw faces of the Jeff Committee. Oi. I wouldn’t wish some of them on any theatre company. A lot of them are ex-professors of the artistic hole of college academia. A lot of them are lawyers. Does that represent the schema that is Chicago Theatre?
“I also witnessed a couple members stating that they thought the show would be ‘boring’ before ever sitting their decaying asses in their seat. I wonder if that encouraged their votes before they ever witnessed the show. All the older members sat in the front row, like so many decrepid (sic) vultures, staring down the cast members as they launched into their first performance.
“We didn’t receive a Jeff Recommendation. I knew it as soon as I saw them enter the lobby. My eternal philosophy reigns true – Fuck it.’”
For all that, Ms. Crow did get the Jeffers dead-to-rights on one point. She wrote, “Glenn Hering, the Citations chair, had sent a letter stating that Jeff members received comp’d tickets but if they bring additional guests, those guests are supposed to pay for their tickets. Each and every member tried to skeeze (sic) out of paying their guest’s tickets. A mere $10 that evening.”
The rule is two comps for Equity shows, one comp for non-Equity. Jeff Committee members have been cited for violating this rule many times before and need to be reprimanded again. Why don’t they warn members caught doing this once, and throw them off the Committee if they do it again? Enforcement, hey, there’s a concept. It can’t be any harder than disarming Hezbollah.
Curt Columbus has announced his first full season as artistic director of Trinity Rep (Providence, RI). While it firmly will establish Curt’s credentials as a stage director, it can’t be called adventurous or innovative. In fact, it’s disappointingly safe. Columbus himself will direct his own translation of The Cherry Orchard plus A Christmas Carol and Our Town. He’s bringing in former Steppenwolf colleague Amy Morton to stage Conor McPherson’s A Dublin Carol. Other shows in the season include Albee’s A Delicate Balance, The Fantasticks, and Sarah Ruhl’s The Clean House.
We managed to skip up to Door County in early August for an up-close look at the new Peninsula Players plant, and it’s a beauty. Within virtually the same footprint as the old, jerry-built pavilion and stage, the Players now have a real theatre with wings, a fly loft, orchestra pit, dressing rooms and a Broadway-sized stage. The proscenium opening is approximately 36’ with a depth of about 25’ (and more when the pit is covered and used as a forestage). We saw Cabaret, a large-cast show that tests most of the new house’s bells and whistles, and they work. FYI: Strapping Sean Fortunato plays the Emcee in a turn unlike any in which Chicago audiences have seen him. He takes full advantage of his against-type opportunity.
The audience pavilion now has wheelchair-accessible seating, about 100 seats more than before (around 600+ seats now), concrete risers in place of gravel and comfy, fixed theatre seats in place of director’s chairs. Even better: there’s radiant heating for patron tootsies on cold nights. The sides still are open-air, but with roll-down wooden doors in case of inclement weather or chill. The interiors are finished in wood, giving the place the classic, warm North Woods warm pine look. A new scene shop also is in place.
Peninsula Players executive producer (and director of Cabaret) Todd Schmidt accepted our congratulations on the production and the splendid new facility, brought in on time. On budget, however, is another matter. Schmidt reported that the $5 million price tag had escalated to $6.9 million, so fundraising continues. Named seats still are available at $2,500 each.
By the way, the architects of the airy new facility are Holabird & Root, the Chicago firm with well over a century of history that was instrumental in rebuilding and reshaping downtown Chicago in the post-Chicago Fire 19th and early 20th centuries.
We are delighted to report that a bright and decent guy, playwright and poet Nicholas Patricca, has received a Distinction Award in the 2006 Onassis International Cultural Competition for Theatre, a program of the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation. Patricca was honored for The Defiant Muse, one of more than 500 plays submitted from 59 countries in a three-year judging process (the 2006 competition was announced in 2003). The Onassis Foundation didn’t award first, second and third prizes this year (the third such competition), but nonetheless made the three-year wait worthwhile for Patricca. His Distinction Award brings 15,000 Euros, or over $18,000 at the current exchange rate. It doesn’t make Nick as rich as Onassis, but it’s enough for a luxury vacation to the Greek Islands, complete with hot-and-cold running Greeks.