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

August: Osage County closed its incredible summer run in Chicago yesterday to lively fanfare and nearly universal acclaim. It stops next in New York City, to the storied Broadway stage, and from there it will likely see production on an exponential scale. During its eight weeks at Steppenwolf, August: Osage County injected Chicago theatergoers at first with a sense of excitement and enthusiasm, and then, as critics rolled out praise, a sense of privilege and pride. Both August the month and August the show heated up, with all remaining performances sold out well in advance. For any desperate procrastinators without a golden ticket, there were only two ways to see the Westin Family duke it out at the OK Corral: wait in an uncertain line for day-of tickets, or fly to New York.

For most Chicagoans, the choice was pretty easy, which led to a serious explosion of interest in standbys and 20-for-$20 tickets, both sold day-of performance. Not just in pure numbers or line length either (although some remarked that the show should be retitled August: DuPage County), but instead in a manner usually reserved for the likes of garnering seats to The Police reunion tour or (not to jinx anything) Cubs playoff tickets. Our hungry and determined patrons, armed with the prospect of seeing a brilliant breakthrough show, and acting without specific instruction, formed lines many hours before we could sell tickets. And, in some cases, many, many hours. (more…)

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I just finished the marathon weekend of plays and post-show discussions (Friday-Sunday, August 17-19). Most interesting, those discussions. The First Look 101ers who stayed after the shows finally could talk to the actors and ask the questions we’ve been saving since the first readings, and make comments. Conversely, the actors could ask us questions, too. And then there were the non-101 audience members who stayed and asked questions and offered comments.

All in all, for me, they were three fascinating sessions. And I thought, perhaps some of the things I heard/learned also might interest the 101ers who couldn’t be at the post-show discussions and, in hindsight, also deepen their understanding and appreciation of the plays and characters, as well as the process we have studied the past three months. So, in the order in which they were presented this past weekend: (more…)

August 24th, 10:30am 

Patrons que for last-minute tickets to see the 7:30pm performance of August: Osage County. 

Yesterday, during Act III of the final performance of the seventh week of eight show weeks, Amy Morton stumbled on a line. She foreshadowed her next line by saying, “She smuggled Darvocet into the psych ward…in her coo–vagina.” After the usual big laugh, Sally Murphy, realizing the following joke, as written, was blown, responded “Did you almost say cooch?” Huge laugh. More laughter. Hilarity.

Meanwhile, sitting up on the second floor platform staring out the window, I remembered waiting backstage during Act I telling our teenager, Fawn Johnstin, playing my granddaughter, how Amy had saved me in an earlier scene when I had flubbed several lines. As if speaking from years of experience, she replied, “That’s what ensembles do. It’s give and take.” (more…)