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…)

Reasons to work on a Tina Landau show:

• Experience the application of Viewpoints in it’s purest form, and reap the benefits on stage
• Meet the most generous, caring, and talented actors and crew in the business because of her incredible instinct in assembling ensembles that meld as actors and friends
• Exercise your attention to detail because her eye for specifics is unparalleled in this business
• Her sense of humor
• Experience the collaboration of all aspects of the Theater, as it should be
• Work with a director who genuinely loves actors and respects what we do, and in turn gets the best results possible out of productive conversation and experiment
• Blunt honesty is not scarce in her rehearsal room, which saves a lot of time and energy that would be better spent getting work done

I could continue but you get the point. Great working conditions. (more…)

The Traffic season is done, we’re well into the run of Dead Man’s Cell Phone, and we’re gearing up for Superior Donuts and First Look . Hmmm, this seems like the perfect moment to hop on the train (that’s how we roll) and head down to the beautiful Chicago Cultural Center to hear the Mayor and others talk about the importance of theater in Chicago. The official purpose of the occasion on Monday, June 9, 2008 was a salute to Chicago’s award-winning theater community and the Tony nods for Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and Steppenwolf. However, Cultural Programming Deputy Commissioner Janet Carl Smith played host to a line up of beloved icons including Commissioner of Cultural Affairs Lois Weisberg, CST Artistic Director Barbara Gaines, and our own Artistic Director Martha Lavey; the event turned into a love fest for everyone in the artistic and cultural community. (more…)