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

I’m thinking about patriotism. I write this on our Fourth of July weekend as our final production of our “What does it mean to be American?” season is on the Steppenwolf stage and our presidential candidates exchange assertions of their patriotic pedigree. I find the whole discourse about their relative patriotism mad. Mad. And distracting. Two men who have devoted their lives to public service, two men who are willing to endure the ridiculous scrutiny of the electoral process–the enormous personal sacrifice of putting themselves on the line on a daily basis in front of the American electorate–and anyone is questioning their “patriotism?”

What it provokes in me is self-examination. How am I asserting my patriotism? I consider myself patriotic. Which is to say: I think that the principles upon which this country is founded are majestic and that the documents that encode those principles are breathtaking in their wisdom. I think there are many moments in America’s history when we have, as a people and as a government, risen to that majesty. And moments when we have miserably failed those ideals. I believe my responsibility as an American citizen is to continue to examine our behavior against our ideals and as a theater artist, to use my work to encourage that inquiry. (more…)

June 29th, 2008 was a big day in my life; it was my first EVER parade. I can “proudly” say that Chicago’s 39th Annual Gay Pride Parade was my first parade. This is a good parade to start from, because it’s definitely the Midwest’s largest and one of the country’s best Pride parades.

To get the full experience we decided to go straight to the heart of the activity, so we got off the train at Belmont and swam through the rainbow colored mob towards Halsted. We had a prime position and as the parade started you could feel the excitement, especially mine (I’m highly prone to adrenaline rushes). (more…)

While we were in New York for the Tonys, revelling in the wonderful success of our August artists, the folks back home were in tech rehearsals for Tracy’s new play, Superior Donuts. Knowing that our work in new play development was on-going and that our Chicago audiences would be the first to see Tracy’s next play was a deeply gratifying experience. (Knowing, too, that our Chicago friends were gathered in our Steppenwolf home, watching the Tonys on a big screen, was a thrill). We had the added pleasure of being in New York with our pals from Chicago Shakespeare, winners of this year’s Tony for Best Regional Theatre.

This is your moment, Chicago. The theater that you have at your fingertips–all across our town–is being celebrated on a national platform. As Anna said in her acceptance speech for the Tony award for Best Director, “the people in Chicago don’t need a Tony to go to the theater. They go to the theater.” All of us making theater for our Chicago audiences are very fortunate indeed. You are discerning, adventuresome folk. You make it possible for all of us to work at our highest level of inventiveness and skill. In turn, we’re able to offer you work that is world-class. (more…)

The first day of rehearsal for any play ignites the rehearsal room with a kind of hopeful energy. There are promises made of the great rehearsal process to come, sincere congratulations offered to the actors who snagged the roles, and of course the general wonderment of how many people will actually be involved with the project. First Look Repertory’s first day of rehearsal went something like that – except magnified, or rather – times three.

Yesterday marked the start of rehearsal for all three First Look Rep shows: Keith Huff’s Pursued by Happiness, Jason Wells‘ Perfect Mendacity and Sarah Gubbins‘ Fair Use. Each show comes equipped with its own stage manager, dramaturg and director – who will join forces with a team of First Look designers to give these three shows the best first production possible. And that’s another element that added energy to last night’s rehearsal – all three plays are brand new work by local Chicago playwrights. So whatever excitement-times-three was in the air, it was only magnified by the novelty of First Look. (more…)

1) Acting is re-acting. It’s true. Don’t react to anything on stage. You are dead.

2) All great actors listen to their scene partners. You can listen, but you can’t hear. Once again, you are dead.

3) Pee before you take the stage.

4) Use the 3 seconds of blackout left after you get on stage to find the most comfortable position possible.

5) If you have an itch, tough. See rule number one.

I play Gordon, the “dead man” of Dead Man’s Cell Phone. Except for the long monologue that opens Act II and the scene I have to do, it’s the best job I’ve ever had in the theatre: no lines, no blocking, no work. Just praying I don’t have to sneeze. But the real gift of the role is having the other actors talk about me so much that by the time I do make an appearance, it seems that the audience really wants to hear what I have to say. Plus I’m dead–and who wouldn’t want to hear from a dead guy? That doesn’t happen every day.

Next week: HOW TO PLAY A MAN IN HELL.

Thanks for reading.