2-15-08
Nudity Not Optional
Being a director means never having to say you’re sorry, although a good director will say “Thank you” a lot. But in a most unusual incident, About Face Theatre founder Eric Rosen has issued an explanation to the press and an apology to playwright Douglas Carter Beane, author of The Little Dog Laughed, the current About Face show (through Feb. 17). Rosen directed the well-received show as his last production before assuming the post of artistic director of the Kansas City Rep.
In a Feb. 2 e-mail addressed to “members of the Chicago theatre Press community,” Rosen said, “After discussions with Douglas Carter Beane…it has become clear that one directorial choice I made for the production…did not fully realize the stage directions Mr. Beane indicated…specifically that the characters Alex and Mitchell appear in the nude.”
Rosen explained that he decided early on to eliminate the very brief nude scene (no more than five or six seconds in the Broadway production, which I saw) and so “members of Actors Equity were therefore not notified that they would be required to appear nude when we auditioned the play.” After attending the opening gala on Feb. 16, Beane requested that Rosen restage the scene with nudity. “We are unfortunately not able to do so,” Rosen wrote, implying a sticking point with Equity or with one or both of the actors in the scene, Lea Coco and Levy Holloway. Although clearly not happy, Beane bowed to the impasse. He “graciously agreed to withhold his objection to this change in stage direction, although he wanted it brought to your attention,” Rosen wrote, adding in conclusion, “I apologize for the situation.” Rosen also said “Thank you” to the press for attending the production.
Few people will notice, as most people say it wrong anyway, but the Jeff Committee has finally decided to drop the “Citations” moniker from its non-Equity wing. Henceforth, they will simply be called “Non-Equity Jeff Awards.” The name change is the first of what Jeff spokesman Jeffrey Marks hints is to be many changes in the way the Jeffs approach the theatre community. These changes are a result of a “brand audit” which included interviews with theatres that are eligible for both Equity and non-Equity Jeffs. More changes from the brand audit will be announced in a week or so, as the Jeff Committee debates and decides and conferences again with affected theatres. “Our goal is to be responsive to the theatre community,” wrote Marks in an e-mail.
The non-Equity Jeffs actually didn’t start out being called “Citations.” The Jeff Committee designated them such after objections from Actors’ Equity that the non-union awards be clearly separated from the union awards. The non-Equity ceremony takes place in June, while the Equity awards are given out in November.
The last time the Jeff Committee tinkered with the awards process in the late ’90s, it went the other way and tried make the Equity Awards more like the non-Equity Citations. Responding to complaints by some theatres that the Jeff Awards were too stuffy, the Committee opened up the Awards to multiple winners (like the Citations do) and tried to make it more of a party than a presentation show. That experiment failed, with many Equity actors complaining that the multiple winners diluted their award.
Although it hasn’t changed the dates listed on its Web site, Congo Square Theatre Company quietly has postponed by a month its production of The Talented Tenth, the troupe’s third show of the season. It was to have opened at the Chicago Center for the Performing Arts on Feb. 9 but has been pushed back to March 16; a fact members of the press discovered catch-as-catch-can as no general announcement was issued. Publicist Cathy Taylor, who oversaw Congo Square’s first two shows of the season, parted company with the troupe in December following the departure of Congo Square’s interim managing director, Erin Gilbert. With no one at the business helm or media relations helm, members of the board have assumed management for the time being. Company co-founder Derrick Sanders continues as artistic director, but his career increasingly takes him away from Chicago. Nonetheless, the Congo Square board has added several new members recently, with high-profile businessman (and former Goodman board chair) Les Coney reportedly among them.
Tony Adler is back at The Reader. Some longtime theatre folk will remember that Adler was the chief critic and assignment editor for the paper from 1982 to 1991, when he left to pursue other ventures—including the founding of Actors Gymnasium. Adler was still a freelancer when he was writing and assigning reviews in the ’80s, and he has freelanced features for the paper since he left. He returned as a freelance theatre critic in 2002. Now, he’s taken over the arts editor job Laura Molzahn vacated last month—and finds himself on staff at The Reader for the first time in his 25-plus year association with the paper.
“I have more responsibility and more of a chance to influence the way The Reader covers things,” said Adler, who threw his name in the hat “spontaneously” when he heard that Molzahn was leaving. “I feel like I’ve known the paper so well for so long, and I know the beat so well,” Adler said. Indeed, Adler recruited Albert Williams, who took over as chief critic and assignment editor when Adler left. Williams, who left his staff position in October, still retains the tile of chief critic.
Adler started his new job on Feb. 4, right in the middle of the weekly deadline. “I had a harrowing first day on Monday,” he said. “I had to learn everything and meet deadlines at the same time.”
Check out all of PerformInk’s stories about The Reader in the Aug. 3, Oct. 12, Dec. 21 and Jan. 18 issues.