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

(Jessica is the Events and Office Management Associate at Steppenwolf)

The annual Steppenwolf picnic takes place every summer, on some warm, humid Monday, when our production team is sans performance and the administrative staff is just glad for a day off in the sunshine. This year our picnic was held on Monday, July 26th in Linne Woods, a forest preserve in Morton Grove. The day was perfect: sunny, warm, not too humid, and full of the carefree, lazy summer breezes that make you want to eat watermelon and lay in a hammock. As one of the members of the Picnic committee, I had taken part in the planning and execution of the event, which is one of only a handful of times that our entire company comes together, spanning departments and buildings, artistic and administrative, backstage and front-of-house.

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It’s my last week at Steppenwolf.  I have that funny feeling in my stomach you get when you realize that date you’ve looked at many times- May 28th, final day of Apprenticeship- has appeared in your weekly planner.

A friend from school who works at a web design firm downtown met me at Steppenwolf’s office my first week of work.  “Books!” He exclaimed when he arrived at the desk where I work, surrounded by our play library, crisp copies of contemporary plays, leaning happily against hardcover anthologies so old their titles have worn away.  “Books,” he said more softly, running a finger down one’s spine. “I wish I worked near books.”

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(Evan is the Front of House Manager at Steppenwolf)

“I’m wearing a shirt that’s unbuttoned way too low,” it sounded like he was almost confessing. “And a pair of pants that are tighter than anyone should really be wearing.”

It’s 15 minutes before the Downstairs Theatre would open for the January 7th performance of David Mamet’s American Buffalo, and I was standing in the back of the house watching Tracy Letts - who was sitting onstage - describe the attire he would be wearing that evening in his portrayal of ’70s fashion plate, insomniac and criminal mastermind, Teach.

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(Jessica is the Events and Office Management Associate at Steppenwolf)

Early in November, our Gala team (Director of Major Gifts Brooke Walters, Events Management Director Lori Davidson, Special Events Manager Kendra Stock, Special Events Associate Molly Kobelt, and myself) went to view the unrented retail space at the Blackhawk on Halsted building. For the first time in 12 years, Steppenwolf was considering forgoing the tent that had consistently housed our annual Gala parties. Walking into that space, it was both challenging and exciting to think about what it would look like on the night of the party. The raw, unsealed concrete floors were covered in a thin layer of dust, and support beams stood coated in fireproofing. The ceilings were made of steel and the windows looked out onto an undeveloped, vacant lot across the street, strewn with heaps of rocks and rubble. But this year, Steppenwolf asked of its audience and staff alike to embrace the power of Belief. And just as directors approach scripts as blank canvases from which to create and build their visions, we eagerly embarked on a new challenge to transform an empty, raw retail space into a cohesive, elegant vision for our Gala.

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In a few days, Steppenwolf for Young Adults will be hosting The Brother/Sister Plays Afterparty… I am super excited! Who am I? Julia Celentano, one of 19 lucky members of Steppenwolf’s Young Adults Council. The council is made up of high school students who want to learn more about the inner workings of a professional theatre. We see plays, read plays, organize events around plays, and (my favorite) meet with professionals in the business. Because of this connection to the theatre, we have seen The Brother/Sister Plays evolve from a series of amazing scripts into the brilliant shows they are today. If that doesn’t tempt you to join the council, then check this out: one of the first people with whom we met this year was none other than Mr. Brother/Sister Plays himself, playwright Tarell McCraney.

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