Fond Memories of 2851 Halsted
Posted by Stephen Eich on 4/10/2006
Steppenwolf’s old home at 2851 N. Halsted will soon fall to the developers wrecking ball. An event was held this weekend to commemorate and bid farewell to the building. Former managing director Stephen Eich sent the following statement, and we thought some of you might be interested in sharing his fond memories.
After dismissing a number of alternate locations (including the World Theatre on Michigan Avenue downtown) Steppenwolf and its Board of Directors chose the recently vacated St. Nicholas space at 2851 N. Halsted in the summer of 1982 as it’s new home. We stayed until 1991.
This proved to be a complex time for the company as we had just signed a long-term lease and by appearances anyway Malkovich and Sinise were deserting the company and were off to NYC to do our production of True West at the Cherry Lane. (The first show ever transferred to NYC by Steppenwolf.) The Board was concerned that the company would fall apart and move to NY and they would be left holding the lease. Just the opposite happened.
Malkovich and Sinise returned as fast as they had left and those of us at Steppenwolf still in Chicago became stronger than ever before and in my opinion provided the foundation to secure the theatre’s long-term future.
The memories of this space are many.
We redesigned the configuration of the space to 211 seats. Board member Larry Edwards, armed with his team of guerilla contractors, swooped down upon the place utilizing the company as laborers and we created an almost comfortable auditorium from which to watch theatre. Permits were out of the question. I fondly remember handling a large pneumatic jackhammer and creating the stage right backstage hole for the crossover. In addition we simply carved out a hole in the back wall of the auditorium to allow entrances from the house right aisle.
On the opening night of the first show there, “A Prayer for My Daughter”, a plan had been designed, if necessary, to hold a pesky building inspector hostage in the basement, while the show played above. Alas the “transfer switch” that activated emergency power worked and that did not have to happen.
Steppenwolf did some fine work here, really fine in consideration of the impediments of the space.
“And A Nightingale Sang”, “Cloud Nine”, “The Miss Firecracker Contest” and “Tracers” were in the first couple seasons.
The production of “Tracers”, directed by Gary Sinise, was a landmark event for us and for Chicago. During that show Steppenwolf inaugurated a relationship with the VA Hospitals of the Chicago land area and we began to invite Vets to come and see our previews.
After the preview of “Tracers”, a heavy show about soldiers in the war in Vietnam, during the curtain call, the audience comprised of Vietnam Vets solemnly rose as one and without fanfare or cheering or even significant clapping, gently walked onto the stage in tears and began crying and hugging the actors. This was a great moment in the history of Steppenwolf. John Callaway of WTTW at the time witnessed this and eventually did a special on that show from the space. No one who was in the theatre that night could ever forget the emotion in the theatre that evening. The same theatre you are sitting in now.
I occupied an office that had the exciting feature of being able to open a window and look down upon the stage. I enjoyed the ability to listen to the show in real time and hear the audience’s response. Once while working in there during a show I noticed that someone from the apartment building that shared the roof of the auditorium had let their dog out for a run on the roof during our show. I climbed out my window and was able to find the culprit. I screamed at the top of my lungs, “Get that fucking dog off of the roof of our theatre”. The problem of course was that everyone downstairs in the theatre at the time heard it too.
Gary’s magical production of “Orphans” draped with Pat Metheny music was another great highlight of the time there.
During a production of “Stage Struck” a phone inadvertently rang on stage. The stage manager must have really been asleep because it kept ringing and ringing at the wrong time. John Mahoney and Rick Snyder were on stage having their dialogue interrupted. After a few glances at the booth finally the only thing to do was of course answer it. In pure John Mahoney style, he picked up the phone, looked at Rick and dryly said….” It’s for you.”
The audience went crazy.
“Fool for Love” ran five long months during the summer of 1984. Billy Petersen, Rondi Reed and Randy Arney rounded out the spectacular cast. The Cubs won the division, “Balm in Gilead” opened in NYC to raves at the Circle Rep, the Gaslight was our second home and life was good for Steppenwolf.
Malkovich directed a production of “Coyote Ugly” in 1985 that was selected to inaugurate ATT’s On Stage program at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. We were pleased to attend. The play took a happy look at incest and the family unit. Laurie Metcalf took a bite nightly out of a raw fish, Moira Harris was covered in flour, Randy Arney had a large afro hairdo, and Glenne Headly was drenched in milk. The VIP’s of ATT sat quietly stunned in the house while our Board member Frank French laughed like hell. Needless to say it was a controversial entry and some blamed the show for the breakup of ATT!
In my humble opinion the best show we did in that space was Frank Galati’s loving version of “You Can’t Take It With You”. Imagine a cast of John Mahoney, Rondi Reed, Jeff Perry, Amy Morton, Randy Arney, Tom Irwin, Rick Snyder, Molly Regan, Laurie Metcalf. Brad Mott, Peggy Roeder, Alan Wilder, Del Close and others gracing the stage nightly and filling the audience with joy. An ensemble piece at it’s best.
We had tournament Ping Pong on the third floor-Significant round robin elimination tournaments. The place always had a buzz. At the tournament there was always a mixture of young and old. And always amidst beer drinking and smoking… a baby or two!
I had nightmares for weeks after watching actor Judd Hirsch on some opening night reach his hand into an open electrical circuit box on the third floor to set down his drink. Some hours before I witnessed a test done by an inspector that blew an arc of electricity into the room. I could see the headline- “Actor electrocuted at Steppenwolf Opening - Jeff Nominated!”
In the fall of 1982 an important event occurred on the third floor of the theatre. Our Board President at the time Bill Plummer had called a meeting of the company to inform us of the financial peril in doing a planned production of “The Threepenny Opera”. The circumstances were such that if the show failed the company would be out of business. As you can imagine this was an incredibly emotional meeting. Never in the history of the organization was the company told anything by the board. After some chair throwing, quitting, and disruption we agreed and found an alternative presentation. That moment, as difficult as it was, may have saved the company and allowed it to become what it is today. It was also the beginning of Steppenwolf understanding that it would really need a Board to accomplish its ambitious dreams.
Sometimes we found ourselves up on the roof, partying and enjoying the views. Anyone else here today do the same?
Something must be said about our landlord Leonard Fisher. He was a cool guy that had a love for the arts. He truly felt proud to have us as tenants. His ability to look beyond the rising square footage rental price in the area and allow theatres to continue at 2851 should not be underestimated. I have many fond memories of “negotiating’” with him.
Also lets not forget the Gaslight that used to be across the street. Memories of 2851 go hand in hand with that bar.
The time at 2851 was so important to Steppenwolf’s growth. In addition to some consistent continuing fine work this was the time that the administration caught up with the art and together became the company it is today.
God Bless this space and God Bless the ghosts of the audiences, actors and administrators that inhabited it.