5-23-08
Theatre Town Chicago
A 3-Part Series looking at why people choose Chicago, why they leave, and how the industry survives.
Part 1 - Why Chicago?
Back in the fall of 1991 I was an intern at the Goodman Theatre. I was working with Steve Scott and Tara Lonzo as a casting intern for David Petrarca’s production of Down the Shore, and had the opportunity to talk with Petrarca a bit about places I might move to after graduation. He said something I’ve never forgotten: “Chicago is the greatest theatre city in the world. Why would anyone want to start somewhere else?”
This is the first of a three-part series taking a look at Chicago as the primary incubator of American theatre talent and a city in which the performing arts not only thrive, but are an integral part of the community. In part one we’ll take a look at why people come here to train and begin their careers. What is it about our city that draws so many creative people to live and learn and launch themselves into the arts?
Part two will look at why people leave. They come, they train, they start theatre companies, and then they move to New York or Los Angeles. What is it about this city that encourages people to move away? What are they not getting here that they must get elsewhere?
Part three will take a look at how to manage this ebb and flow of talent. What happens to a theatre company when their founders move away? What are the alternatives to leaving?
Learning from the Best
In the 1970s Chicago began replacing New York as the place to discover cutting-edge theatre. In the 1980s, as Steppenwolf took the nation by storm with its production of True West, young hopefuls were studying at Northwestern University and eventually formed Lookingglass Theatre. The off-Loop theatre scene fostered the success of Wisdom Bridge, Body Politic, Victory Gardens and The Organic. Then, as now, a myriad of training programs and storefront theatres turned out some of the brightest acting talent in ages, as well as directors, producers and designers, putting Chicago on the American theatre map.
And they keep coming. In fact, Steve Merle, owner of Act One Studios, believes that more people are coming to Chicago to train as theatre artists than ever before. One of the biggest reasons people come to Chicago to hone their craft is because of the accessibility of teachers who also happen to be the tops in their fields. “The people you get to study with in Chicago are working at a level in the industry that you wouldn’t have access to in New York or L.A. Here you get to work with the movers and shakers,” he said.
Not only at Act One, but at all the major universities and training programs students are taught by the likes of Sheldon Patinkin, Steve Scott, Kevin Gudahl and Rondi Reed. Erica Daniels, director of the School at Steppenwolf (in addition to being their casting director), concurs that “the access here is amazing.” Between the Steppenwolf ensemble members who come back and the other theatre professionals who teach at the School, students tend to find the industry highly accessible for those trying to break in.
Sheldon Patinkin, head of Columbia College’s theatre department and co-founder of The Second City, said people come to train in Chicago “because Second City’s here. People come here to become improvisers.”
Rachel Mason, director of the training center at iO, was one of those people. She said she came here because, “As a comedy nerd, to study comedy you had to come here. If I came here, I’d get to work with Del Close and the incredible Second City people.” Students come to iO in particular to learn the long form that Close pioneered, called the Harold. “They come to learn what it means to be a team player,” continued Mason. “A Harold player.”
iO runs a summer intensive course which is five weeks long and draws people from all over the country. “It’s filled with teachers and actors and people who run their own improv theatres,” said Mason. “They come in specifically to get better at Harold. It’s serious. They’re hardcore nerds. A lot of them go home and teach long form. A lot of them stay.”
Cost of Living
Nathan Allen, artistic director of The House Theatre, said that in deciding to move to Chicago to start their company, one of the biggest factors was the affordable cost of living. “It’s not as expensive, so you can afford your investment in your company. You can afford to subsidize your work.”
Chicago’s affordability is not just anecdotal. The organization World Business Chicago makes it its job to promote Chicago to corporations as a livable metropolitan area in which to locate their corporate headquarters. Gretchen Kosarko, director of research, provided me with the cost of living index that they use to compare Chicago with other major metropolitan areas, as well as the national average. This index comes from the Council for Community Economic Research and, in this case, the data is from 2007.
If the national average is considered 100, then according to this index, Chicago is 110.3. By comparison Dallas is rated 91.2, Los Angeles is rated 144.6, and New York is 212.8.
Dan Lyne, director of technology for World Business Chicago, said that in addition to the cost of living, one of the key factors that they point out about Chicago is the cultural experience available to employees and executives. In their successful pitch to Boeing, he said, “It was all about the cultural difference between Chicago, Denver and Dallas. We continue that drumbeat very heavily. It’s one of the most vital selling points to our business culture.”
Ben Theim, member services director for the League of Chicago Theatres, pointed out that livability goes beyond just the cost of living. He explained, “As much as we complain about the CTA, it is easy to get around the city.”
As Allen said, “We’re all capable of doing this impossible thing of creating great art and living in a great city and feeding our babies at the same time. The more we can do to create more work and more companies and more paying jobs, we can grow into an industry in Chicago that can support its artists.”
Working
“It is fairly well-known around the country that there is a lot of theatre in Chicago and there are decent jobs available,” noted Patinkin. This is the final prevalent reason why theatre artists come to Chicago.
Merle noted that “students in Chicago find that they can graduate here and actually enter the business. If you come from any other college not in Chicago, New York or Los Angeles, you have to go somewhere else to enter the business, and in New York and L.A. you can’t get work.”
Daniels pointed out that since there is a lot of non-Equity theatre, more actors can work and get seen. “You just can’t do that anywhere,” she said. The other important thing is that people who are in a hiring position, actually get out and see theatre. “We’re out night after night watching graduating seniors and in support of what they want to do with their careers,” said Daniels. “We’re out there making sure they know they are welcome in the community.”
The attitude and work ethic of Chicago’s theatre community is like no other. As Merle pointed out, “People are here because they like to act as opposed to thinking the next audition might make them a star. You get to work with people who really enjoy the work.”
“Del would say the piece is more important than the individual,” said Mason. “We are a process as opposed to a product town. That’s why Steppenwolf people come to do shows. Why Chicago Shakes has such amazing people. We’re all about the work ethic.”
Daniels said that not only do people come to study here from all over the country, but they stay. In the 10 years that the School at Steppenwolf has been operating, it has spawned five new theatre companies. “They’re catching this bug of ensemble acting and wanting to do it.”
Dennis Watkins, company member at The House, said that when they were talking about where to settle and start their company, they took into account that Chicago has a large, vibrant scene. “Our heroes were like the folks from Steppenwolf, and we wanted to be in a place where we would be near those people, and in a place that supported those kind of people.”
To Allen, being in a city that supported ensemble theatre was crucial to their vision. “You can produce your own work and thrive. The community, the people, the scene sort of reflects its Midwest sensibility.” He also pointed out something unique to Chicago, which happens to be one of my favorite aspects of our town. “The competition is actually very supportive. The competition is against the idea that it can’t be done.”
Patinkin summed it up best: “Between the training and the work situation it’s a tempting place to come.”