William Petersen Joins the Steppenwolf Ensemble
Posted by Martha Lavey on 12/02/2008
I am delighted to announce that William Petersen has accepted our invitation to join the Steppenwolf ensemble. Many of you remember Billy from the early days of the ensemble when he acted with us in Balm in Gilead and Fool for Love.
Billy was one of the founders of Remains Theatre, the original company of both Amy Morton and Gary Cole. Remains and Steppenwolf grew up together in the Chicago theater scene of the late 1970s and ’80s and many of our company members have known one another and worked together for years. Our founders, Gary, Jeffrey and Terry recently approached me to suggest that we extend the invitation to Billy to join Steppenwolf when it became clear that Billy would be concentrating, once again, on working on stage and maintaining a base in Chicago. As you know, Billy is now on our stage in our production of Dublin Carol and will be acting in Blackbird at Victory Gardens later this season.
We are very fortunate to have our long-time friend officially a member of our company.
December 2nd, 2008 at 10:14 am
Nothing fills me with quite as much civic pride than seeing hometown boys like John Mahoney and William Petersen return to their lives on the stage after spending so many years on television. The audiences they bring in can only be beneficial for our little burg. Welcome back!
December 2nd, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Congratulations on this wonderful addition to the company! I can think of a few collaborations I’d love to see on stage already, I’m looking forward to the announcement of next season even more now.
December 2nd, 2008 at 7:55 pm
One of the top all-time performances I’ve ever seen on stage was William Petersen in “Belly of the Beast” over 20 years ago. I was just a teenager then, but I made a point of finding out the lead actor’s nameand never forgot it. Chicago is very lucky to have WP back.
December 5th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Having followed Billy’s career for over 30 years, I am thrilled that he has come home and provided us local folks the opportunity to see his amazing talent on stage again.
December 12th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
I have enjoyed all of the information contained on the pages of this web site. I only wish we had “theatre” in more places in Montana. I would like to stay in touch with Billy as I am aware of his true ability in acting.
December 12th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
I called TCG, the Theatre Communications Group, which is the national organization of not-for-profits theaters. TCG has a membership of nearly 500 theaters across the country and maintains a host of grant, advocacy, and mentorship programs for the field.
The only Montana theater that maintains a TCG membership is the Montana Repertory Theatre in Missoula.
I recommend that you go to the TCG website, tcg.org where you can access information about theaters across the country.
From the homepage, click on “Membership” in the upperhand right corner. Then click on “Theatre Membership” on the left column of the following page, then “Current Members” on the succeeding page (again, lefthand column) and you will come to a list of the member theaters. Click on any member theater and you will be linked to that theater’s website.
The TCG website is a great site for information about individual theater, field-wide issues, publications, and artists. Enjoy!
December 14th, 2008 at 10:41 am
I am from Dayton, Ohio and traveled to Chicago to see Billy in this performance. I am so pleased I did. What a show. I am not a big theater goer, however I cannot wait to go back to such a wonderful city to see Billy perform in Blackbird next year. i only hope the theater is as cozy as Steppenwolf was. I was in row A. So close to my favorite performer. The show was just wonderful.
December 16th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
It’s always good to go home, so congrats to Mr. Petersen and Steppenwolf! I did enjoy the play last week. However, a few questions–is the audience always so reserved? Maybe we see and enjoy live theater in a different way down south–but, geezzeee–the audience appeared half asleep!
Many people did not even laugh, and I think I was the only person who thought the best lines were about Venetian blinds and tassels–I wanted to roll out of my chair laughing, but I didn’t!! I stuck my fist in my mouth and managed the church-pew giggles.
Second question–why was the ending changed? It really changed the prospect of what might happen. I asked this question during the discussion and got the old “answer with a question”!
It truly is a great holiday play. The three actors did a wonderful job. The best discussion was in the lobby–four strangers from four parts of the world finding common enjoyment in a performance! Thank you!
December 18th, 2008 at 9:58 am
Gloria,
Thank you for taking the time to post on our blog! Audience response varies every evening and the actors, in particular, are very sensitive to that. The cast of Dublin Carol have variously reported houses being disappointingly unresponsive as well as laughing uproariously as if viewing a sitcom. Fascinating, isn’t it? Each night’s audience has its own character.
I moderated the post-show discussion you attended and I was struck by your question of why the ending of the play had been changed from the way it was scripted. Having neither script, director, nor playwright at hand, the audience embarked on a discussion of what the final moments suggested about what might happen to John Plunkett in the future.
After that discussion, I consulted the script and found something interesting. There are two editions of the script. The first was published by the Royal Court Theatre in London. In it the playwright describes the final moments thus:
“He selects some stuff and begins to put the decorations back up. He stands on a chair, redecorating. And from nearby the church bells chime out five o’clock.”
That is the ending you referenced having read.
In the subsequently published Dramatists Play Services edition, Mr. McPherson has revised the stage directions to read:
“He returns to the box. He takes a few things, a few cards, a little tinsel and puts some stuff on the tree. He sits on a chair and waits. After a moment we hear the church bells chime out five o’clock.”
So both endings came from the playwright and our director, ensemble member Amy Morton, chose to stage the final moments along the lines of the most recent version by the playwright. That sitting in the chair and waiting is of course what we discussed at length during that evening’s post-show discussion.
I was not aware of the different endings in the two editions - I am privileged to continue to learn from being in conversation with our audiences. I was unable to answer your question directly the evening you asked it but now, if the question is raised in other discussions, I’ll be able to. And for that, I thank you.
December 18th, 2008 at 10:21 am
Lisa,
We are so glad that you enjoyed your visit to Steppenwolf! It is always heartening for us to hear of audience members traveling from out of state to see our productions. I know that you will be happy with the intimacy of Victory Gardens. Also, now that Billy has joined the ensemble, we hope that you will return to visit us at Steppenwolf when he next returns to our stage.
December 18th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
David,
Thanks so much for answering my question! After I wrote the comment, I also got busy and found the same answer—for this reason–the change was made to provide the audience with a more definite ending (John is waiting for Mary).
Maybe growing up in the land of Faulkner, Welty, Williams, and Henley–I like the first ending better. In my opinion it gives John a changed purpose, he’s actually making a decision without someone else telling him to do so. The second ending–John is waiting for Mary to make his decision–does she return? Or does he head off to the pub? (Mary arrived early before, so is she ‘late’?)
Again, thanks for responding! I hope to be able to see another play at Steppenwolf–love the upstairs theater!