12-24-04
BY CHRISTINA BIGGS
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| Stacy Keach and Frances Fisher in Arthur Miller's Finishing the Picture, premiered by the Goodman. |
Theatre people and materials were exchanged between the two at a rate previously unseen and seemingly equally in both directions. “Look at About Face’s I Am My Own Wife and all the works from the Goodman,” says Chicago Reader theatre critic Bill Williams. I Am My Own Wife actually comes full circle. It was workshopped at (among other theatres) About Face, then went on to New York and won the Pulitzer Prize and picked up a few Tonys, becoming the most high-profile Chicago export to hit the Great White Way this year. In January, it will open at the Goodman.
But Chicago theatres had their share of new work that New York seemingly lost. You have the Goodman sending up their world premieres of Arthur Miller’s Finishing the Picture, Lucas and Guettel’s The Light in the Piazza and the 2003 premiere of August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean. Joanna Glass’ new play, Trying, opened Oct. 13 at the Promenade Theatre in Manhattan, following its premiere last season at Victory Gardens.
New York producers have also discovered they have a learned and discerning audience within Chicago houses on which to audition and tweak shows before spending the big bucks on Broadway. “It seems to be a trend to bring in and test shows in Chicago. Look at the arrival of Spamalot and All Shook Up this year,” says Richard Christiansen, former chief critic of the Chicago Tribune. “And in the last few years there’s been The Producers, Sweet Charity, Movin’ Out. It’s a matter of economics, of course.”
The fluid exchange of shows between the two cities, however, has created a situation that doesn’t necessarily benefit local actors. Shows brought into town for tryout tend to bring their own star-studded casts, such as David Hyde Pierce (“Frasier”), Tim Curry (Rocky Horror Picture Show) and Hank Azaria (“The Simpsons”) in Spamalot. And those mounted with the intention of moving to New York are often cast with that move in mind, like Frances Fisher, Stacy Keach and Matthew Modine in Finishing the Picture.
“The Goodman has had huge profile shows this past year,” says Chicago Tribune arts reporter Chris Jones. “But their projects have been externally focused, shows that Chicago actors weren’t going to find themselves in.”
That’s not to say that Chicago actors and directors are being overlooked in the Big Apple. Jones notes that Felicia Fields will take a turn on Broadway next year in The Color Purple, directed by fellow Chicagoan, Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s associate artistic director Gary Griffin. And then there are those returning home to visit. “Spamalot is directed by Mike Nichols who started out in Chicago,” says Williams. “Now he wraps it up and comes back full circle.”
In addition to shows in New York, several Chicago companies have recently taken shows on the road. “There was lots of touring this year and I suspect that trend will continue,” says Christiansen. Steppenwolf lists at least a half-dozen touring shows, including four from last season alone: Topdog/Underdog to Houston, Dallas and Hartford; Homebody/Kabul to Los Angeles and New York; and Orange Flower Water and Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune to Ireland. Lookingglass, which like Steppenwolf is having a relatively quiet season at home this year, took their 2001 hit Hard Times to the Arden Theatre in Philadelphia.
And then there is Chicago Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet which, with shows from five other national theatre companies, visited some 100 communities (thanks to the National Endowment for the Arts and the Minneapolis-based Arts Midwest). Several critics are pointing out not only what and where CST is producing, but who they are producing.
“Chicago Shakespeare was such an incredibly busy producing organization this past year, bringing in serious international companies like the Abbey Theatre and Comédie-Française,” says Jones. “Very few of us expected them to be in that position so soon.”
While there are companies like CST bringing exciting outside fare to the city, the outlook for the new year appears to be return engagements, at least in the larger houses. Mama Mia, The Lion King and Les Misérables are all returning after several previous stops. “Wicked is coming and that will do well, but other than that there is not enough product out there. We’ll see a lot of recycled shows,” says Christiansen. “Broadway in Chicago (owned by Clear Channel and the Nederlanders) are eager to keep their theatres occupied, which is a valid issue.”
Certainly when Disney comes into town it’s good for a bit of publicity, which in turn helps fill seats. However, as Chicago Sun-Times theatre critic Hedy Weiss remarks, there is still a sore lack in media coverage for local shows. “Often the other press—meaning TV—doesn’t give [local shows] any coverage. They give 10 minutes to a Disney show that comes into town. But the homegrown Chicago theatres, they get zero coverage,” she says.
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| Adam Guettel's latest musical premiered in Seattle before coming to Goodman and then New York. |
American Theatre Magazine, for example, named Silk Road Theatre Project one of the nations top-10 “Hot, Hip and on the Verge.” And Chicago theatre was the topic of huge (and hugely positive) articles in major big-city papers. Michael Billington wrote, “[the] mix of raw energy and refined aestheticism makes Chicago one of the world’s great cities—and the current theatre capital of America,” in London’s Guardian this past June; while The Wall Street Journal’s Terry Teachout claimed just last month, “Speaking as an avid playgoer, I can’t think of another city in America where I’d rather have spent last weekend.”
What’s also positive is the young talent that Chicago is currently nurturing. The trend of recent grads bolting for both coasts seems to be reversing itself. “They come out of Northwestern, Roosevelt, DePaul, UIC and, instead of flying off to New York or Hollywood, they are deciding to stay and develop their craft,” says Christiansen. “It’s part of Chicago’s role as a theatre town, to offer an actor the chance to work and grow.”
Christiansen cites the quality and diversity in the roles available as another reason that grads are staying put. “It’s December and look at what’s on the table. Big Broadway shows, an unearthed script of a Tennessee William’s play with One Arm at Steppenwolf, the little auditorium on Wellington [Timeline] has Noel Coward, Checkov at two different places—The Seagull at Writers up north and The Cherry Orchard at Steppenwolf. The menu here is incredible.”
In addition to the diversity of the traditional shows we’re seeing, there is also the continuing tendency to shakeup genres and borrow from different categories of art. PerformInk commented on the convergence of film and theatre in an early 2003 article and theatre/dance critic Lucia Mauro says this past year she’s noticed more and more dance looking like performance art.
There was dance drama with the dancers speaking, acting, playing instruments and controlling puppets; original text being read in voice-over; and film and video incorporated into just about everything. “It really reflects companies like Redmoon, Lookingglass, House who have always used these things but whose core is definitely theatre,” says Mauro. “We’re moving into a different realm and I feel we need new descriptions and genres.” An interesting by-product of this genre pollination is the need for more diverse types of training. Mauro says she’s seeing a lot more actors taking movement and dance classes, while more dancers are studying acting.
On the business side of the arts, Mauro says that she has also noticed an upswing in festivals—naming PacEdge, Sketchfest and Dance Chicago as just a few of the popular producing groups. Starting in January, Links Halls will offer a curated monthly festival, with topics such puppets, dance and theatre. “It saves money when someone else produces,” says Mauro. “Small companies don’t have to put out their own capital. It’s a great pooling of resources.”
Williams attributes the exponential growth of improv and sketch comedy, at least in part, to such festivals. The Chicago Improv Festival, which will present their ninth fest this April, and Sketchfest, a four-year old organization, are among the most well known in comedy circles.
“These two festivals have brought hundreds of young, enthusiastic people into the theatre. They want to be the next Tina Fey or whoever. There’s just so much,” says Williams. “ImprovOlympic turns over a show every hour and a half, seven nights a week. And Second City’s Donny’s Skybox used to be a place where they would just show each other their stuff. Now it’s booked as its own little theatre. It’s like the explosion of off-Loop in the ’70s. I’m truly astonished.”
That growth has been substantial enough to facilitate the creation of the Chicago Comedy Association (under the organizational umbrella of the League of Chicago Theatres) with about 20 Chicago-area comedy groups, including ComedySportz, the Free Associates and Second City.
The improv explosion has definitely had a few positive effects on the theatre community as well. Improv training centers are booming and improv often proves the best training ground for an actor to quickly hone his or her skills. Likewise, thanks to the plethora of actor training centers, improvisers are in turn able to develop their character and speech work. “It’s to everyone’s advantage,” says Williams.
The other plus coming from the improv world is rental income for small theatres. Places like Live Bait, Cornservatory and Stage Left can rent out their space in the off-time for the late night crowd that comedy often markets to. “Small companies need the rent to make it, so it’s an extra income for them,” says Williams. “But it’s also gelling improv with theatre.”
While some off-Loop companies choose to utilize their own space and rent during the off-time, others are taking advantage of the downtown spaces the city has begun offering.
The Storefront, Loop and the Cultural Center are helping even the smallest fringe, off-off-Loop theatre cultivate new audiences downtown. “They were always just up in their own neighborhoods, but now they can reach new people or bring their own following into the Loop,” says Williams. “It’s a wise business decision, good for everyone.” The little guys can thank Commissioner Lois Weisberg and her staff for going to bat on those spaces. The Loop Theatre, however, was just temporary and will soon meet the wrecking ball. “Hopefully the city can renovate and open up more spaces of that sort,” says Williams.
What the Loop has gained with the draw of their smaller performance spaces, they subsequently lost with the dramatic closing of Noble Fool, which went out in a highly publicized shocker. “The closing of Noble Fool was really the first black eye to the Loop. Previous to that point the only visible problems in the district were empty theatre seats—which there was always the hope to fill,” says Jones. “But when Noble Fool crashed and burned and went out in such a bad way, owing money and all, I think it was a real eye opener. Theatres come and go but that’s a high piece of real estate. I can’t believe that the theatre community hasn’t made it a priority to save that space.”
In addition to the closing of Noble Fool, Chicago also lost Defiant Theatre this year. But such is the ebb and flow of the business, as some are on their way out, others are on their way up. “The level of acting and new faces we’re seeing is on a huge rise,” says Weiss. “The whole cast of Timeline’s This Happy Breed —I’d seen a few of them before—but every one was superb.” Both Jones and Christiansen are in agreement that Remy Bumppo is a troupe to watch in the new year. “Eclipse and Remy Bumppo are coming along very nicely,” says Christiansen. “I suspect when Victory Gardens vacate their Lincoln Avenue space, Remy Bumppo will take over that bastion as a mid-size.” Jones also noted The Hypocrites are a company ready to move to the next level, and also to keep an eye on Congo Square in the new year.
“Artistically, I’d say things are pretty good,” says Christiansen.
2004 YEAR-IN-REVIEW
Trends in Chicago Theatre in 2004
Annual Report: A Healthy Year in Chicago Theatre
A Year of Scattershot Splendor
Five Reasons to be Optimistic and a Couple, Three More Not to Be
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