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

Hello everyone! The unpredictable spring weather brought colds and the flu to our production of Dead Man’s Cell Phone. A bunch of us have been sneezing and sniffling, and yours truly got so sick that I missed 5 performances. While sick, I suffered through a performance and got another bloody nose while on stage. Thank goodness I happened to have a tissue in my purse. I’m curious to know if anyone in the audience noticed. Thank goodness for Cora who took over the rest of the week on short notice. I am so grateful to her, and of course to the rest of the cast for their patience and forgiveness. It is pretty exciting when an understudy goes on, but it is also harder work for everyone, because anything can happen. I wish that I could have snuck out of my sick bed, put on a big hat and sunglasses and watched the show. I heard from a number of sources that Cora was wonderful.

My first shows back were on Mother’s Day. The matinee show had a smaller crowd, but it was full of sweet laughers. The Sunday night show was full of college students who arrived from Wisconsin (?) on a bus. They were lively and wonderful. It is a pleasure to HEAR the audience each night. One person I did not see or hear (because she was elsewhere) was my own mother. Happy belated Mother’s Day, Mom! (more…)

Hey, it is beautiful outside! And it’s WEEK FOUR of Dead Man’s Cell Phone. Funny to think about us still wearing these rainy day costumes when summer comes! The excitement so far: one understudy has gone on (bravo Dana), one onstage bloody nose (me), several uninvited phone rings during performance (hello audience!). WOW, live theatre!

We bought our crew dinner between shows this Saturday. The weekends are long; two shows both days, so it was lovely to have dinner in the building. Mary Beth made brownies and I scrambled to a store to grab strawberries. Our stage manger Chris had a visit from her baby Joan and her husband, actor Tom Cox. When we first met Joan she was crawling, but by the time our show closes she will be walking! (more…)

One of the interesting outcomes of our decision to program our subscription series across both our Upstairs and Downstairs theaters is that it produces a concurrent run of our subscription shows. Currently, we have Carter’s Way in the Downstairs Theatre and Dead Man’s Cell Phone in the Upstairs Theatre. Just having both shows in our house produces a dialogue between them. In a season dedicated to the question, “What does it mean to be an American?”, these two plays activate interesting parallels and contrasts.

Parallels: both shows are, in at least one thread of their narratives, love stories. Both plays feature a new technology–in Carter’s Way, the radio; in Dead Man’s Cell Phone, the…cell phone–and raise some questions about how that technology changes the boundaries of one’s sense of self. (more…)

I’m still sleeping blissfully on the new mattress, but only when I have the time, as we started previews last week. When we are finally in front of an audience, we actors learn so much more about the play. Lines that we forgot were funny are now funny again. We rehearse all day and then perform at night.

Today was the last day to work with our design team. We spent much of the day going over transitions, tightening, making small changes and honing scenes with lights and sound. You don’t often get an extra day like this one. Then we saluted our designers with champagne before they headed back to various parts of the country! (more…)

JEAN (played by Polly Noonan):
Hello?
I think that there is a dead man sitting next to me.
I don’t know how he died.
I’m at a cafe.

Explore more moments from Dead Man’s Cell Phone.