Steppenwolf Theatre Company Blog – Chicago Theater, World-Class Ensemble

I am a Tracy Letts fan. I saw Killer Joe at the Next Theatre Lab in 1993 and was blown away by his poetic use of the vernacular and the profane. I saw Bug three times (four counting the movie) and Man From Nebraska twice. Never once did I envy the actors who were inhabiting the complex and/or tortured souls he had created. In fact, I was immensely grateful that I was able to visit these fascinating worlds without having to live there. And now I do. Have to live there.

I was so intimidated by the prospect of approaching this huge mountain of a play that in December I began physical therapy for my ailing knees and chronic back problems, I joined a gym and started working out EVERY DAY. I had a long way to go and I’ve had to cut back on the every day thing, so I’m still no athlete, but, after two weeks of rehearsal, I’m hanging in there. (Note to self: Don’t get too cocky; we still haven’t begun staging the fight in which Amy Morton, as my daughter, is supposed to pull out a hunk of my hair as we “crash through the French doors, tumble to the den floor.”) (more…)

Rengin Altay performs “Summer, with Twins” by Rebecca Curtis.

Annabel Armour performs “Hocus-Pocus” by Bathsheba Monk.

Matthew Krause performs “Roman Berman, Massage Therapist” by David Bezmozgis.

The Diary of Anne Frank wardrobe supervisor Brigid Brown has 1 hour in-between the matinee and evening performances to reset 75 costumes.

The School at Steppenwolf supervisor Erica Daniels introduces the summer class.

Saturday May 19th was the Oak Park River Forst High School prom, what would have been my senior prom, but, with a show that night I was unable to attend. I’ve never been much of a high school dance enthusiast, and while I was mildly disappointed that I would have to miss this milestone event, there was really no contest in my mind. Doing a show at Steppenwolf was definitely worth missing prom. I must admit, though, that on that evening of May 19th, as I sat in my dressing room an hour before the show, thinking of all of my friends who were, at that moment taking pictures on Emily’s front lawn, decked out in their fancy prom attire, hair done in curls I couldn’t help but feel a little bit envious.

My thoughts were interrupted suddenly by a frantic knocking on the door. In walked Gail Shapiro and Marianne Mayberry, each with a huge grin stretched across their face. “We’re kidnapping you,” Gail told me as she pulled a long red dress over my head. I laughed and looked up at her in confusion as Marianne wrapped a shimmery red and orange scarf around my neck. They each grabbed one of my hands as they led me out the door into the hall. I looked back at Carolyn, who picked up my camera off the dressing room table and, grinning, followed us out of the dressing room. The four of us giggled as we walked down the hallway towards the green room. I could see that they had turned on the Christmas lights that normally hang unlit from the pipes on the walls. As we approached the end of the hall Yasen approached us and put a plastic pink tiara on my head. (more…)