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

Hey-o. Tim Rock here. (My apologies go out to all of you who were probably hoping for some more witty words from Sean Cooper.) I play Justin Simmons in Good Boys and True. And I want to share something with you.

On the first day of rehearsal, our playwright, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, brought up an Edward Albee anecdote. This is relevant for a few reasons, but let me first recount the story as I remember it. (I’m bastardizing it. Sorry, Roberto!) At some discussion with the playwright, someone asked Albee when the best time of his life was. Mr. Albee replied, “Right now. Always right now.”

Here’s why it’s relevant: 1. Our director, Pam MacKinnon, recently directed Albee’s updated version of The Zoo Story in NYC, retitled Peter and Jerry. 2. Mr. Albee came to see a run through during tech. (I’ll never live that down. Especially the part where I forgot a line and, as a result, screamed my way through a scene. Thus banning myself from any future projects with which Mr. Albee is directly involved, I’m sure.) 3. For me, I’ve realized, it’s true.

Here’s something you probably don’t know: this is my dream. This. Right now. I’m living my dream. How bananas is that?! I mean, how often, if ever, does this happen? (more…)

You guys, the response to August: Osage County has been downright SURREAL…we couldn’t have paid our own mothers to pen the now dozens of incandescent reviews we have received (including the #1 entry in Time Magazine’s 10 Best Theater Shows of 2007)…We sold 1.8 million dollars of tickets in our first six days and the list of backstage visits has a People magazine glow; playwright Conor McPherson, Mike Nichols, Elaine Stritch, Ian McShane, Winnie Holzman and family (creator of My So-Called Life and book writer of Wicked) Bernadette Peters, and on and on–teachers, relatives both near and long lost, fellow artists, celebrities…

One of my personal favorite aspects of all of this hoopla has been the press and audience response to the ensemble work in the play. I remember scouring about 25 reviews in 1984 (or 1985?) when we opened Balm in Gilead Off-Broadway, looking for some, any, appreciation of the ‘cirque du soleil’ ensemble work necessary to make that play fly and of course simultaneously looking for NY appreciation of why Steppenwolf exists ….NOT A WORD would I find, only the usual spotlight on 3 or 4 performances in generally glowing reviews…WELL, THIS TIME there has hardly been a mention of our play without gorgeous gushing appreciation of the ensemble work inherent and of the national treasure singularity of our dear Steppenwolf as a theater…

Sometimes I guess ya gotta wait till you’re grey, but it sure is sweet whenever it comes…

Below are my answers to some questions for our NY website for your amusement….if you all have specific questions for us actors, post them here and we’ll do our best to answer ! (more…)

JUSTIN: “Everyone’s shell-shocked; that’s what’s going on. At school? The teachers, the students. Everyone’s walking around, across the quad, like—like zombies. Like Dawn of the Dead meets A Separate Peace.”

Uncover more moments from Good Boys and True.

Dear Wedding Play:

I hate to be the one to have to tell you, but you were closed last Sunday.

I’m sorry that’s the way it worked out, but in the end that’s what all plays do.

I will miss you, Wedding Play. You were a good little play.

Yes, I know that August: Osage County is still running, but, sweetheart, that’s a different play, and plays, unlike straight white men in the United States, are not all created equal.

It will close someday, too. Just not last Sunday. Like you. I mean, with reviews like these, are you kidding? (more…)

(l to r) Broadway marquee; ensemble members Anna D. Shapiro and Tracy Letts; ensemble member Tim Hopper and Ed Sobel; ensemble members Rondi Reed and Joan Allen, Trustee Beth Boosalis Davis, Board President Douglas R. Brown and ensemble member Jon Hill