| Share your thoughts on THE OVERWHELMING
by Chelsea Keenan on 4/30/2009 03:01:00 PM
The Overhwhelming is playing to sold-out houses and we're hearing feedback from many of you about this powerful play.
Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune called this " one of the very best shows in the 28-year history of Nex" and Hedy Weiss of the Sun-Times hailed the show as "a volcanic Chicago premiere" and a "brilliantly realized production."
What did you take away from this production? Share your comments below with us and with each other.
Be aware - some SPOILERS below!
Labels: Critics, The Overwhelming
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
15
Comments:
I moved here from Boston after having lived just outside of NYC for several years. Boston was/is a wasteland, but Chicago makes up for my time in the hicksville wilderness after NYC.
NYC may have Boradway, but Chicago has a strong vibrant theater scene.
Nowhere has that been more obvious than in being able to see a play the quality of "The Overwhelming." With great actors, great pacing, great nuanced story, minimliat staging, and a relentness sub-surface tension, it was better than we had a right to expect.
Bravo.
JHL
THE OVERWHELMING is the first show I've seen at the Next Theatre. At first my mind was reeling back to 1994, putting the pieces of the inevitable catastrophe in Rwanda back in my head. As the characters were introduced and the panels slid to reveal a new location, I sat there, tense in my seat, knowing this whole landscape was about to explode. I suppose Clinton knew that too.
I thoroughly enjoyed the play. The performances were sharp and the direction and design were truly inspired. That second act comes firing at you almost cinematically. Bravo.
-Laura Lynn MacDonald
The play is very well done, engaging, and horrifying. A grand reminder of American innocence, naivete, and arrogance. We enjoyed it but did find the noise level to be way too high, especially before the performance and during intermission. That was not necessary to create the effect; it actually caused me pain.
BDW.
Unfortunately, my party of four was disappointed in the play. The view
was that the message was dated and
superficial. Perhaps this play has a
message for those who are not familiar with the issues described in the play. But we'll be back for
others!huffeckprepoksdoszoi
The Overwhelming was captivating, entertaining, and a joy to watch. The sets were great, the actors were outstanding, and the story was complex yet an adrenaline rush. I highly recommend this play to anyone.
On a sunny Sunday afternoon, I was hesitant to stay inside and watch a play, but had heard such good things about "The Overwhelming" that I didn't want to miss it. And I'm glad I didn't! The play was phenomenal. The acting, dialogue, direction, everything. I have recommended it to any one who will listen and am still thinking about all the issues and thoughts it brought to mind. Truly a wonderful performance.
We saw the "The Overwhelming" on Saturday night, awesome! What stays with me the most was how emotionally intense the play was from start to finish. The feeling of menace was woven in all of the scenes between the visiting family and the locals. All that stuff going on between the lines. I wanted to scream at the Exleys “Can’t you see what’s going on?!!?” but well then, that is the point. Nobody did.
Political, timely, and just damn good theatre. Bravo to the playwright, actors, director thanks for another great piece!
I thought that the Next Theatre did a brilliant job with the play, but I have to find fault with the playwright for the final scene. In that scene, the Rawanda guys burst in to the Americans' rooms and demand they give up the doctor who is standing there in plain sight. The playwright makes it seem like the Americans betray the doctor by "giving him up" or laying a guilt trip on the Americans. That's silly. The Rawanda men don't even need their weapons to overpower the Americans and just grab the doctor. I suppose the playwright wanted it to be so dramatic, but it doesn't make semse. Better, would be if the doctor was hiding in the house when they burst in, and t hey threatened to shoot the boy if they didn't surrender him. Then, the doctor could have appeared and given himelf up. Still dramatic, but believable -- unless the playwright wanted to throw guilt on the Americans. But he can't have it both ways.
The play was outstanding! The cast was outstanding! The first act sets everything up. The second act brings it all together. It is very intense and when it ends you sit there at a loss for words. Excellent production and it can hold its own against anything that is on Broadway! Congrats to all connected with this amazing play!
Carol Garbacz
Tries too hard to imitate the movie. Are we supposed to be shocked about the genocide? Anguished? What?
I didn't like The Overwhelming as much as I expected to after reading Chris Jones' review. But the fault was with the play, not the production. The American characters were naive to a fault, and we learned little about Rwanda except that we don't understand it. By contrast, Lynn Nottage's play "Ruined" (admittedly set in a different African country under siege) gave insight the lives and motivations of those living through horrors. But I will take away from this production a few compelling performances, especially by the young actor who played Gerard. His scenes with "Geoffrey" were the most exciting, unsettling moments in the play.
A phenomenal show with a stellar ensemble cast... the pacing of the show,the transitions from one scene to another are first-rate. This is adult fare for the serious theater-goer. Not to be missed!!
The Overwhelming is the first play I've seen at Next in a while, and I'm sorry I stayed away for so long - Next consistently produces interesting works with a very strong social conscience. The Overwhelming was very well-acted and I enjoyed it a lot.
That said, I didn't think it was an incredibly well-written play. Again, the production itself was very good, and I have no doubt the playwrite put huge amounts of research into his writings. But it did feel like a very white, Western perspective trying to pretend it wasn't a very white, Western perspective. That is, having the Americans as sympathetic characters for the (presumably) mostly-American audience makes sense to some extent, but I left with only a superficial idea of what the Rawandans thought of their situation and whether the views they were putting out were truthful or in an attempt to deceive the Americans.
Now, it's entirely possible that this was the whole point - we can't understand another's conflict. But I would have much rather seen something from multiple Rawandan perspectives to get a better idea of how they remember the leadup to genocide.
I had both my wife and a friend from NYC in town and took them to see this play - I'd already seen it.
It was as compelling this time as the first time. Its lack of finality or easy moral answers reinforced its attraction and thoughtfulness.
We live through ongoing episodes of ethnic cleansing and genocide. The world's, not just the US's, generally muted response to genocide beyond hand-wringing should be discomfitting to us all. When we are compelled to act or lobby our nation to act, then we will have made some progress.
Until then, plays such as "The Overwhelming" at least keep the issue front and center.
It's not "42nd Street", but it's engaging.
Thanks again.
The play was every bit as good as the reviews suggested. The moral ambiguities and situational complexities were beautifully dramatized. Unfortunately, the night we were there it was so hot in the theater that fighting wooziness was a full-time job. Work on the HVAC---the play's great!
Production Process - Meet the Props Master & Technical Director
by Jim Davis - Production Manager on 3/27/2009 05:29:00 PM
Many people ask me what the hardest part of my job is... and I think it has to be assembling just the right people for a specific production team. We've been very fortunate to assemble some of the best theatre professionals in the Chicagoland area.
Over the next few weeks, I'd like to introduce you to some of the people who make it possible for our production values to excel in the challenging space in our home here at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center Theatre.
Meet Props Master, Susana Pelayo:
Susie Pelayo is pictured above painting the market baskets for the show. Susie has over 70 properties in the show from very exact wicker chairs to lots of glassware to these hard to find market baskets. Susana has to be very creative about how to find these difficult items... asking just the right person the right questions at the right time can make all the difference. Susie has been our assistant stage manager for the past two shows and is also the stage manager for our Next Communities Project.
Meet Technical Director, Phil Canzano:
Phil Canzano has been hard at work building the set for the show. His attention to detail has really helped make the difference between a well-constructed set and a very detailed realization of the set designer's drawings. Phil has worked as a carpenter on many of our shows over the past few years and we're lucky that he was able to step into this role, taking complete responsibility for getting the set done WAY ahead of schedule.
We're just over two weeks out from the start of previews, so everyone is really hard at work putting the final touches on the technical elements of the play to be ready to integrate those elements into the production during the crazy five days known as "tech week".
Stay tuned...Labels: Production Department, Technical, The Overwhelming
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
1
Comments:
I was really impressed with the production. The acting was wonderful. Everyone took their part/s very well, and the accents were totally believable. A very powerful story. The set was simple and effective. Bravo!
Production Process - First Rehearsal of THE OVERWHELMING
by Jim Davis - Production Manager on 3/18/2009 12:46:00 PM
Last evening the cast of gathered on stage for the first rehearsal and read-through of J.T. Rogers' play THE OVERWHELMING.
Si Osborne who plays Jack, Assistant Director Jason Gerace, and cast member Lily Mojekwu listen as director Kimberly Senior, discusses a conversation she had with the playwright.
Dramaturg Becky Perlman discusses all of the interesting research information she's gathered regarding the play with cast members Christoph Abiel, Jamie Vann and Rob Fagin.
The cast, director, dramaturg will spend the next few nights doing "table work" where they dissect the play, bit by bit, before they start blocking (staging) the show on Saturday. It's always exciting to see so many months of pre-production planning come together and see the excitement in everyone's eyes as we start this journey of bringing the play to life.
Coming Next to the Production Process Blog... "How many props does it take to put on a play of this size? A visit with Props Master Susie Pelayo.Labels: Production Department, Rehearsal, The Overwhelming
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
0
Comments:
Production Process - THE OVERWHELMING designs complete
by Jim Davis - Production Manager on 3/12/2009 05:45:00 PM
With the closing of DYING CITY, we've just had our second production meeting for THE OVERWHELMING, and after working out our lots of lists of costumes, props and furniture, sound and music and lighting effects... our designs for THE OVERWHELMING are complete!
Set Model by Tom Burch, scenic designer (click photos to enlarge)
 
Tom's set features sliding panels which will open and close in different configurations to allow us quick transitions and a creative way to suggest the play's many locations, and keep the pace of the play moving.
Three of 40+ Costume Renderings by Whitney McBride, costume designer
  
Whitney has her hands full with well over a hundred costume pieces for the show, which she has very carefully researched to suggest the plays very specific location and time period.
Shopping for costumes and props has begun and the technical director and his crew are working on building and installing the new set... so we can ready for rehearsals to begin on the 17th... stay tuned!Labels: Production Department, Technical, The Overwhelming
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
2
Comments:
Dear Next,
We've been subsrcibers for several years. We saw "Overwhelming last night. It certainly was! The acting was superb & the points you made were striking.
Alas, my daughter, her husband & my husband are unanimous in feeling that we have enough trauma & grief in our lives & they don't want to subscribe again next year. I stand alone in feeling that I will miss you & wish I could continue to attend. But I think there is an important message here; in these difficult times we need something less traumatic, more uplifting, more fun. I liked the messages I took away from this, but out of 4 opinions I was alone. Aren't there some light-hearted, thoughtful pieces out there? Something short of that satirical disaster you produced early last year...I've forgotten what it was!...but more like a musical or a comedy? How about "The Importance of Being Earnest"? Your regretful ex-subscriber, Lucia Miller
Dear Lucia,
I certainly hope before you and your family decide to leave the Next family, you will look closely at the season we have lined up for you next year. I agree that with everything going on in the world, we need a lighter approach to our serious issues and I have programmed a season that will do just that!
The opening show, "boom," has received tremendous praise for it's humor and wit, including the following reviews:
"Mr. Nachtrieb has a gift for darkly funny dialogue and an appealing way of approaching big themes sideways." The New York Times
"Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s play flips from pants-around-the-ankles comedy to hipster 'Twilight Zone' takeoff…'boom' is imaginative and easy to like." The New Yorker
"Nachtrieb possesses a sharp wit and has crafted an imaginative piece of social satire." Backstage
In addition, we are offering you a holiday comedy/musical that I developed with frequent collaborator Kyle Jarrow: "A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant." Our February production of "Return to Haifa" tackles some big issues, but is in that vein of uplifting drama about families finding hope together. Finally, "The War With the Newts" is a compelling and funny play that will take you many places, but certainly not dark places.
Thank you for sharing your feelings with us and with your fellow Next supporters. I personally appreciate your point of view and am glad to have the opportunity to let you know that I share your concerns and have programmed next season with them in mind.
So don't give up on us now. I trust you will find the upcoming season uplifting, hopeful and meaningful.
All my best,
Jason Southerland
Artistic Director
Share your thoughts on DYING CITY
by Chelsea Keenan on 2/19/2009 02:33:00 PM
 Our Chicago Premiere of Dying City is really getting audiences talking! As you may know, every Sunday matinee is followed by an in-depth talkback. They are always popular, and for this show, nearly our entire audience stayed to discuss this emotionally riveting production.
It's clear this show gives you a lot to talk about! Some of the most captivating questions we've heard surround the character's motivations. Why does Peter come to Kelly's house on this night? Did he plan to come? Did he plan to read the emails from his twin brother to her?
And still more address the unique backstory surrounding the unusual twin bond. Though Peter and Craig seem worlds apart, how are they bonded as brothers? What about their lifestyles is more alike than different?
Please share your thoughts on these and any other topics you contemplated, discussed and debated after Dying City. If you haven't yet seen the show, join us soon (perhaps at one of our Sunday matinees) and share your thoughts with us and your fellow audience members!Labels: Dying City
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
1
Comments:
Six of us were privileged to see Dying City last week. The 85 year old active writer in our group was extremely impressed on the way Christopher Shinn was able to slice and dice the unfolding of the story in such a complicated but ultimately coherent manner. It works ultimately due to Jason Loewith's capable direction of two outstanding actors, Nicole Wiesner and Coburn Goss! I saw the inital reading by the two and never before did I see such professional preparation prior to the first go-around. They are real pros!
Another couple in our group was taken by the wide swathe that war cuts, beyond those in the military, to those who live and die from afar and in some ways more difficult place. At least a soldier feels he might have a modicum of control and understanding of his plight. Our group hopes this tremendous theatre at such a difficult time fills every seat for the remainder of the run!
Inside the Production Process - THE OVERWHELMING first production meeting
by Jim Davis - Production Manager on 2/18/2009 11:54:00 AM
Fresh on the heels of getting DYING CITY up and running, we've started production meetings for THE OVERWHELMING. Director Kimberly Senior and her team have been meeting for the past 6 weeks creating the ideas and deciding what the world of the play should look and feel like. Last Friday was our first opportunity to assemble as a group and share ideas for all to see. It was also the deadline for preliminary drawings so that the process of bidding the show with our scene shop and the other individuals that make the show happen.
Director Kimberly Senior, Sound Designer Tamara Roberts, Scenic Designer Tom Burch, Costume Designer Whitney McBride, Properties Master Susie Pelayo and Production Stage Manager Erin Diener discuss the research images presented by Tom Burch. Photo by Jim Davis. It's my plan to continue to update you as the production process continues for this final show of the 08-09 season. Feel free to comment and let me know what parts of the process you're curious about. See you soon!
Jim Davis, Production ManagerLabels: Production Department, Technical, The Overwhelming
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
0
Comments:
Dying City is Jeff Awards Reccommended!
by Chelsea Keenan on 2/10/2009 12:43:00 PM
Dying City opened Monday February 9th and is Jeff Awards Recommended.
Have you seen Dying City? Share your thoughts on the show in our comments below.Labels: Awards, Dying City
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
4
Comments:
We thought this was a poor play filled with gratuitous smut irrelevant to the plot, a lack of character development and basically pointless. On the other hand, the acting was superb.
The acting was excellent. I found Peter and Craig both to be self absorbed users who weren't interested in commitment. The biggest mystery to me was why Kelly
thought she loved Craig. She also was nicer to Peter than he deserved. Maybe he came to hurt her because he had been hurt by the comment that was made to him
during his play that day. I found him to be nosy and not caring of her. She was too passive in both relationships.
A master class in acting. The performances were phenomenal in a very thought provoking play.
I thought the acting was really good. But I thought the play really needed work - too many undeveloped angles - throwaway line from brother about wantign her to have his baby (say what?) Was that why she hated him and wanted to avoid him? Why was she so distraught about her jerk of a husband having sexual encounters in army if he already said he didnt love her (what an SOB the way he handled it). I dont know but I was sort of annoyed by all the characters (especially the men) and thought they didnt deserve Kelly at all. Pretty contrived entances and exits for brother change too. Sorry.
DYING CITY Technical rehearsals
by Jim Davis - Production Manager on 2/03/2009 09:27:00 PM
Greetings from Technical Rehearsals of DYING CITY. It takes a lot of talented theatre professionals to put up a show here at The Next and we're so very fortunate to work with some of the best in the Chicagoland area.
This amazing team of designers and technicians have been hard at work over the past few days putting the final touches on the technical elements for the play and we've certainly come a long way since we started pre-production in early December. From design meetings where we decided as a creative team what we wanted the world of the play to look and feel like, to scheduling the load-in of lighting and scenery to making sure that the costumes, sound and props departments all stay within their budgets... there are thousands of details to work out and it's my job to coordinate the minutiae of all of it.
We're very lucky to work with the likes of Lighting Designer Keith Parham and Costume Designer Kristine Knanishu (both back in town from their amazing work on the Off-Broadway production of THE ADDING MACHINE) as well as Sound Designer Nathan Leigh who joins us for the first time from Boston. As Production Manager I'm enjoying serving double-duty as Scenic Designer to work with this amazing creative team, led by our old friend (and new Washington DC resident) Jason Loewith, who is directing the show.
Properties Master Michael Groth and Assistant Scenic Designer Diane Fairchild at work re-upholstering the show's sofa.
It always amazes me what a wonderful and talented team of resident technicians I was able to assemble to work with us on our shows. Erin Diener is now in her second show with us as Production Stage Manager and she's assisted again by Susie Pelayo. Our Master Electrician Mac Vaughey has been with us since my first show here two seasons ago and Matt Hallock, our Sound Engineer is doing his fourth show with us. Grant Sabin is back again as our charge Scenic Artist who painted the show to very careful specifications and Properties Master Michael Groth has done amazing work rigging our onstage kitchen to do some pretty cool things. My Associate Production Manager Patrick Fries and Assistant Scenic Designer Diane Fairchild have both been hard at work to make sure that I keep my sanity while serving double duty.
For now, I should get back to work... there's still much to do to make sure that we're ready for our first preview.... in 45 and a half hours!Labels: Dying City, Production Department, Rehearsal, Technical
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
2
Comments:
I thought this play was excellent and the acting superb. The brothers, I felt, had an unsatisfactory and unhealthy relationship - though they each clearly wanted more. The wife was truly victimized by both of them. I did feel as though I was left hanging - that the play was a work in progress. I couldn't help feeling I wanted more answers.
Our group of four viewers found much to discuss in this play. I personally was too aware of all the facial and arm gestures of the wife: I almost never felt that I was unaware of the acting. That was disappointing. None of us felt that the comparison to Bagdad or any other city was clear and stand-alone. I was not clear whether the flashbacks were intended to be what the widow remembered as opposed to what actually happened; grief could alter the widow's perception of reality greatly. We wondered if the warrior twin was a closet homosexual. It also was not clear whether Peter's motivation was his hope that he might be able to father a nephew as a link to his twin. These ambiguities did not strengthen the play in my mind.
Next Communities 2009
by Julie Ganey on 2/02/2009 02:57:00 PM
It's that time of year again. In a few weeks, Next Communities will bring a small group of community members together on the coldest Saturday mornings of the year, to share their views and passion about an issue, with the goal of creating an original play. This year we'll be focusing on youth and education issues in Evanston, a topic that seems every bit as timely as last year's discussion of race, and the previous year's exploration of gentrification. Let's face it -- it ain't easy to be a kid these days, much less a young adult, facing challenges that are truly rattling the rest of us. How are we in Evanston preparing and engaging our youth so they can become effective members of our community? Maybe more to the point, what are we, as a community, willing to do to insure that all of our children succeed? 
For years Evanston Township High School has doggedly attempted to raise the performance of all students and close the minority achievement gap, with minimal results. Now ETHS has embraced a new model, de-tracking many of the humanities classes, and creating mixed-level honors classes, designed to increase the rigor and academic achievement among lower-achieving students. This move has brought to the surface some very tough questions: What effect do race and privilege have on student achievement? Are our teachers effectively differentiating their instruction to meet the needs of all students? Here in Evanston, our school districts face the same challenges that any diverse, urban community's schools face. If these challenges cannot be resolved with the resources, intellectual capital, and strong commitment present in our community, how will they ever be addressed in communities nation-wide? On January 24th, our community ensemble made up of youth services providers, parents, teachers, students from ETHS, and Evanston born playwright Marsha Estell will start questioning and listening to each other. We'll talk it out and argue it out. We might even hug it out. In March, we'll take a break while Marsha writes a play in response to our conversations, and then in April we'll come back to rehearse what she's created. We'll keep you posted, and hope you'll add your voices to our conversation at the Next Communities performances May 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Labels: Evanston, Next Communities
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
0
Comments:
DYING CITY First Rehearsal
by Chelsea Keenan on 1/07/2009 12:21:00 PM
After staff's various vacations East, West, South and abroad, Next Theatre is back in full swing! Last night we dove head first into our next production, Christopher Shinn's remarkable drama, Dying City. Jason Loewith is back in Chicagoland to direct the two-hander, which features Coburn Goss and Nicole Wiesner.
(L to R): Artistic Director Jason Southerland, Coburn Goss, Nicole Wiesner (foreground), and Jason Loewith check out the set model for Dying City.Labels: Dying City
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
0
Comments:
Greetings from Tel Aviv
by Jason Southerland on 12/05/2008 08:23:00 AM
My dearest Next Theatre Company friends,
I know it's only been three weeks since I took the helm of the company, but I am already traveling on behalf of Next. I was invited to attend IsraDrama, a week-long intensive immersion in Israeli theater that is sponsored (and paid for) by the Tel Aviv and Israeli governments. The purpose of the program is to introduce artists from around the world to Israeli theater and to promote partnerships that will bring this work to our countries.
I have an additional agenda for Next Theatre Company. I would like to see the company build some international partnerships that will allow us to work across borders to share the work we do at Next as well as bring work in from these other places. This type of cross-cultural exchange will bring new ideas to Next and will take our unique brand of theater and promote it around the globe. It is my hope that we can further enrich Evanston and Chicagoland culture with these partnerships.
So here is a round-up of my first few days and some observations:
Day 1: Madrid I had a very long stopover in Madrid and took the opportunity to immerse myself in the culture there. Conveniently I have a friend who is a stage manager for Spanish theater (although he works on shows like Phantom, Beauty and the Beast and the like). He was able to show me around, get me some backstage tours and introduce me to a few theater professionals on the level of Next Theatre Company. In addition I was able to attend a dress rehearsal for a major revival/rethinking of La Vida es Sueño (Life is a Dream) by Spanish playwright Pedro Calderón de la Barca. I was struck by the way the play transformed language and time. It was written in very antiquated spanish in 1636 and yet this production felt compelling and relevant today. It reminded me why I am so committed to using the classics to reach contemporary audiences.
Day 2: Tel Aviv We hit the ground running with two plays, Hanoch Levin's classic adaptation of 3 Chekhov short stories. This stunning work had been presented every year at the National Theatre of Tel Aviv (The Cameri) since he wrote it in 1998. It has played over 400 performances in the repertory and continues to sell out every night. I was struck by how many young people were in the audience... at least 1/2 the 700 seat house was under 25. This play is a modern "ritual" for young Israelis, a must-see on their cultural development. It was a powerful experience.
The second play we saw was a brand new piece called Return to Haifa, about a Palestinian couple who returns to the home they abandoned in the 1948 Israeli War of Independence. The home and the baby they left behind was given to a Jewish couple from Poland who had lost everything, including their child. Now, with the father dead and the son fully grown and serving in the Israeli army, the Palestinian couple return in the post Six Day War calm to reclaim their house and their son. What started out as a very experience-specific play is gently and powerfully transformed into a play about home, property and identity. The dramatic journey these characters go on reminds me very much of a play that Next Theatre Company would produce. Stay tuned!
Day 3: Tel Aviv Not the most exciting of days, honestly. We began by meeting with the artistic leadership of the two major companies in town, The Cameri and the Habima National Theatre. Both receive tremendous government support and have incredible performance complexes much like the Goodman and Steppenwolf (although larger). The economy and the reduction of government support is as much on the minds of the Israeli theater community as it is on the United States and, more specifically, Chicagoland. What did strike me was their complaint that they would have to reduce their rehearsal time from 3 months to 2 months in most cases. And we're lucky if we get to rehearse 4 weeks. So it's a quite different culture here to create new work.
We then saw 4 plays back to back. The first and the third were very different riffs on the famous play The Dybbuk. One was really stale and unimaginative, while the other pushed so many envelopes and tried so many new things that it was a bit incomprehensible. It was, however, my first taste of more avante garde theater in Tel Aviv. The third play we saw, Nutcase, was by a tiny fringe company and the acting undermined what the play was trying to accomplish. It reminded me how lucky we are at Next Theatre Company to have such amazingly talented actors and other artists willing to work in the intimate environment that Next offers. I must remember to thank our actors again the next time I see them. We are very fortunate. Finally we saw a play that could be describes as Wendy Wasserstein meets Stockard Channing. It was a solid, clean, well produced, well acted and ultimately "by the numbers" play. It's nice to see that there is a mainstream playwright and an audience for her work. But ultimately this is the type of play you will never see at Next. So I am signing off after day three with hope for the session tomorrow morning about Political Drama in Israeli Theatre and with some excitement to be going to a theater where they speak Hebrew and Arab in the same play and take on issues that are germane to both cultures.s
Shalom! Labels: World Theatre
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
0
Comments:
Share your thoughts on WELL
by Chelsea Keenan on 11/24/2008 06:57:00 PM
The Chicago Area premiere of WELL has begun performances. The show is Jeff Recommended and has received many praises from local press. Now, share your own thoughts, questions and reviews here!
"Kron's deconstruction is well-served by Kiely's intelligent production. [Mary Ann] Thebus glows with the maternal energy that can make parents objects of adoration and frustration."
- Kris Vire, TimeOut Chicago
"HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Exceptionally fine production.. Kiely's direction is spot-on... cleverly structured, emotionally complex...Well deftly mixes pathos and laugh-out-loud moments. "
- Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times
Read the full review
| | | | | "The talented cast is infectious. Lia D. Mortensen, playing Lisa Kron, delivers some of the most connective, engaging and funny narrative directly to the audience that I have ever experienced. The enthusiastic ensemble is delightful and Mary Ann Thebus is nothing short of brilliant as Ann Kron, Lisa's mother."
- Venus Zarris, Chicago Stage Review
"Well has much of value to say about illnesses that are difficult to define and understand. And Kron's connective tissue between individual and community health is unusually deep and wise."
- Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune
| | Labels: Chicago theatre, Well
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
8
Comments:
This play has so many facets and ingredients that it is sure to stimulate interest in any theater attendee. For me personally, the relationship of mother and daughter struck home. A difficult relationship that is a work in progress as it moves slowly toward a reconciliation of sorts. A winner of a play that should only get better with repeated viewings as the many layers of meaning, comedy and relationship are more closely examined.
The show is a fascinating exploration of who is sick and who is "well", heightened by the delicate relationship between mother and daughter and set against the question of what is real and what is performance.
David Hart
This show is great! Funny and touching.
What a coincidence that I saw this show. Back in 1972 through 1974 I worked in the dietary dept at Henrotin Hosp. The memories of serving the food on the trays to the allergic patients flooded back .
What a wonderful show! I laughed out loud and cried. The relationships are real and the ideas of hope and racial harmony certainly ring true today! Not to be missed!!!!!
very provokative, informative,funny,sensitive,will make me think of many issues it touched upon.
thank you
How courageous of you to put on such an innovative play. Loved every moment of it except the times when someone opened the rear door and it made such a loud noise. Keep up the great work.
We loved the play. The cast was perfect. Please do something about the exit door--it was so distracting to hear it opening and closing during the performance.
JAMES RANK WINS JEFF AWARD
by Chelsea Keenan on 10/21/2008 12:54:00 PM
 Congratulations to James Rank, winner of the 2008 Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Actor in a Revue for his extraordinary work in our production of The American Dream Songbook last February. In the two-part revue, Jim first tackled the role of Sam in Leonard Bernstein's challenging one-act Trouble in Tahiti. In the second act, we presented five World Premiere songs on the topic of the American Dream. Jim's beautiful baritone was heard in new pieces ranging from the clever morality tale Betty the Clam Girl to the rollicking New Orleans-style jazz number, This Little American Dream.
See a full list of nominees and winners on the Jeff Awards site!Labels: American Dream, Awards
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
0
Comments:
FIRST REHEARSAL OF 'WELL'
by Jason Loewith on 10/15/2008 12:01:00 PM
Last night's first read-through of Well (by Lisa Kron, directed by Damon Kiely) was superb: MaryAnn Thebus and Lia Mortensen returning to Next after many years to perform this marvelous, touching, and witty mother-daughter memoir. Hard to believe this play was on Broadway a couple of years ago - and now it's come to our little space in Evanston for its Chicago-area premiere!
It's also hard to believe that such a complex, meta-theatrical play (a play, in part, about what a play IS) could have been successful on Broadway (it was nominated for two Tony Awards). But I think the theatricality of the work is so strong, and in such support, of the subject matter: issues of racial integration, illness and wellness, and family relationships. It seemed from the assembled crowd that the work will appeal to wide swaths of our audience, while exposing them to a new theatrical form.
In other news, check out this fascinating article in yesterday's New York Times - where are the conservative plays? (Funny enough, the one play the cite as truly conservative, Stonewall Jackson's House, was produced at Next in 1999).
Lily Mojeckwu and Kat McDonnell check out the costume renderings
of their characters from Debbie Baer.
 
Looking at the renderings for the 9 year old bully character "Lori Jones", actress Lia Mortensen recounts her real life experience with the mean schoolgirl bully.Labels: Well
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
1
Comments:
I really enjoyed your production of Well. It stimulated a lot of discussion between my friends. Relationships, sickness/wellnes, etc.
A NEW ERA AT NEXT THEATRE!
by Jason Loewith on 10/12/2008 02:05:00 PM
After working with all of you - artists, patrons, colleagues, donors and friends - for six years, I'm so proud of how far Next Theatre Company has come. How remarkable that a community so diverse and vibrant welcomed me with such kindness, and supported me in all that I did at the theater... together, we really grew this organization to a place of strength and national reputation.
We've become a class act. So it's no surprise that Next Theatre has completed a nationwide search to bring a new Artistic Director on board with all the passion, commitment, talent and integrity we need to grow even more: Jason Southerland. On the opening night of Lisa Kron's WELL - November 17, 2008 - I'll officially hand over the reins to Jason, who is busily laying plans for your theater's future. You can read more about him on our News Page (and please do, because his credits are superb and inspirational). 
Jason Southerland (right) with Managing Director Kevin Heckman
But I'd like to take a moment on this blog to publicly thank our Board, staff and artistic associates, who took part in one of the most transparent and enriching executive searches in which I've ever been involved. That is especially due to Board President Judy Kemp, who has been my partner since day one. She led a search process of great complexity and integrity, and despite our disagreements, we all emerged feeling more strongly about the institution's future. All of us owe a debt of gratitude to Judy.
The process began six months ago, and utilized the talents and commitment of so many people - not to mention the dozens of colleagues in Chicago and nationally who gave us leads and made suggestions about the kind of temperament we'd need to start fresh. The thirty Board members, staff and artistic associates who vetted the 100 candidates we considered at different points in the process worked harder than we had any right to expect... because they all care so deeply about this institution's future, and believe so fully in its vision: to become a national destination for artists and audiences who believe that theater can promote awareness and provoke change with more power than any other medium of expression. This critical decision was made so much easier than it might have been by the fact that all of us shared that passion and optimism.
Optimism, you ask? In times like these? Well, none of us would be involved in the arts if we weren't humanists at the bottom of it all... we each believe in the perfectability of the human experience, and that's why we do what we do.
Whenever I read our vision statement, in fact, I'm reminded of an early religious teaching, from when I was (believe it or not) considering rabbinical school. I can't remember the teacher - perhaps it was Hillel? - but I remember the essence: we will never achieve absolute goodness, but we must nevertheless strive for it; we must always keep our feet on the path to righteousness, despite the knowledge we cannot attain it.
We've achieved a great deal in my six years to work towards our theater's vision. But we're not there - we've only been on the path. I feel absolutely confident that Jason Southerland has both feet on that path, too, and he will keep us pointed firmly in the direction of our vision. I suspect he'll get us a lot, lot closer to our goals.
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
1
Comments:
The cooperation, respect and affection from the Next family is simply a reflection of how you have treated all of us. I'll miss you, but wish you the best of luck in your future work and hope that our paths will again cross.
NEW ELECTIONS CALLED IN THE WORLD OF THE U.N. INSPECTOR
by Jason Loewith on 10/08/2008 03:45:00 PM
Those of you that have attended a U.N. INSPECTOR post-show discussion know that certain events in the Ukraine in 2000 prompted David Farr to update Gogol's play THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR. At that time, a reporter named Georgiy Gongadze disappeared a week after the publication of his article about government corruption; he was later found murdered, his body mutilated, and suspicion fell on President Leonid Kuchma for ordering the execution. Farr modeled the character of Lizaveta Korshnik in THE U.N. INSPECTOR on Gongadze.
In 2004, the "Orange Revolution" swept away the corruption of Kuchma's regime, and replaced it with Viktor Yushchenko's relatively democratic administration.
But just today, Yushchenko dissolved his own government and called for early elections in the wake of his own Prime Minister's "thirst for power". The two have been at odds throughout the government's tenure in the past four years, but it has reached a boiling point:
"I am convinced, deeply convinced that the democratic coalition was ruined by one thing alone -- human ambition. The ambition of one person," he said in his address, shown on television while he was making a visit to Italy.Labels: The U.N. Inspector
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
0
Comments:
BLINKING SATIRE
by Jason Loewith on 9/19/2008 12:21:00 PM
While I've never really been a fan of Saturday Night Live, this year's opening skit, featuring Tina Fey as Sarah Palin and Amy Poehler as Hilary Clinton speaking about sexism in the Presidential campaign, is the funniest piece of small-screen satire I've seen in many years.
While the progressive in me enjoyed a little fantasy wish-fulfillment (wouldn't it be great to only ever see politicians speak when the other side's right there to rebut or comment?), the cultural critic in me was interested in the way it laid bare the "elite vs. regular" schism that's become so pervasive in American politics since the second half of the 20th century. Sometime around the Lyndon Johnson Presidency - around the time universities became battlegrounds in the emergent culture war - intellectualism took a hit, and it's never recovered.
So there's Sarah Palin, the regular Joe-anne, out on the Alaskan frontier, attending five colleges in six years before she graduated; the woman who was so confident she could be Vice President she didn't blink when McCain asked her to be his running mate.
On the other side of the podium was Hilary Clinton, of the elite and suddenly-upstate Clintons, who couldn't have wanted it more, who talks policy until it bleeds out her ears, who wears a V for Vendetta and a Y for Yale.
As progressive strategist George Lakoff might have it, this skit successfully satirizes conventional "frames" that have been embedded into our thought processes from years of absorbing American cultural output. A person who doesn't blink in the face of a challenge is framed as courageous, patriotic, willing to fight; she shares the virtues of the pioneers.
There is, of course, another frame through which to read Palin's open-eyed clarity. One who professes they didn't blink when asked to take on so grave a responsibility as the Vice Presidential nomination might also have an aversion to thoughtful consideration, strategy or (if I may) the capacity for rational thinking. Unfortunately for progressives, this frame is counter-cultural; it packs no heat; it's not a "sticky frame."
Clinton, on the other hand, is caught in a very sticky frame that derides her because she blinks - or thinks - too much. Poehler's Clinton wanted the Presidency desperately: so she manipulated and connived and was a ball-buster (which is quite different, culturally, from a woman who can gut a moose). She thought so much it made her sneaky, dishonest, insincere, and - remember? - unlikeable.
Of course, the counter-cultural frame here is that she knows a lot of policy, she strategized, she deliberated, she was methodical, she chose her words carefully... but in our current cultural narrative, Clinton's intellectualism is a giant negative.
As the King of Siam (via Rodgers and Hammerstein) might say, in his charming yet uneducated way, "Is a puzzlement!"
Another great satirical analysis of these cultural frames can be found in this week's New Yorker Magazine, by George Saunders:
Now, let us discuss the Elites. There are two kinds of folks: Elites and Regulars. Why people love Sarah Palin is, she is a Regular. That is also why they love me. She did not go to some Elite Ivy League college, which I also did not. Her and me, actually, did not go to the very same Ivy League school. Although she is younger than me, so therefore she didn't go there slightly earlier than I didn't go there. But, had I been younger, we possibly could have not graduated in the exact same class. That would have been fun. Sarah Palin is hot. Hot for a politician. Or someone you just see in a store. But, happily, I did not go to college at all, having not finished high school, due to I killed a man. But had I gone to college, trust me, it would not have been some Ivy League Elite-breeding factory but, rather, a community college in danger of losing its accreditation, built right on a fault zone, riddled with asbestos, and also, the crack-addicted professors are all dyslexic.
I've lately been interested in another recent small-screen satire that has been far less well-received. I'm speaking here of Microsoft's horrible Bill Gates-Jerry Seinfield ads for Windows. In them, Bill & Jerry hang with a "regular" family. The regular mom buys fancy mustard with white wine in it for her visitors; Bill tries to read a tech-manual as a bedtime story to the regular little boy; Jerry refuses to share financial advice with the regular dad who's bought a few gold coins; they end up getting kicked out of the regular folks' house for pinching a leather giraffe from Cabo San Lucas. (You don't believe me? Watch the clip).
The spots were pulled not long after their debut this month (Microsoft claims this was all part of phased roll-out of the new Windows), but if you ask me, Gates and his ad agency misread the regular-elite frames in the most egregious way. Imagine putting Barack Obama and Joe Biden into this ad, watching the two of them try to make sense of the quirky classlessness of middle-class America. Gates and Seinfeld inserted themselves into the most popular anti-intellectual, anti-elite frame: they condescended to the regular folks, they poked more fun at them ("Have you ever had scalloped potatoes, Bill?" "Yes, I have.") than the reverse.
So, back to the SNL clip: how did it so successfully cut through these embedded frames? By placing one beside the other, the skit exposed them both for what they are: manufactured cultural representations. That's the power of good satire.
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
1
Comments:
Test comment
ELECTION SEASON BLUES
by Jason Loewith on 9/09/2008 03:43:00 PM
Every four years, Artistic Directors around the country get a golden chance to participate in our 230-year old democratic experiment: they can program plays that further community conversation about important issues. As the populace gears up to go to the polls and elect a new (or old) President, September and October are the golden time to program socially provocative plays. It's the only time our nation unites in its desire to have a relatively serious conversation about the issues we face.
Of course, at Next Theatre, we do that all the time... but I'm talking about the big theaters, the small theaters, and every one in between. If theaters really do reflect what's happening in their communities, the plays they produce in September and October of a Presidential election year ought to speak to it.
It's not surprising that we've already got some interesting political theater out there: Writers' Nixon's Nixon, Timeline's Weekend, Theater Seven's Election Day, and even ATC's recently-opened The People's Temple. We'll open The U.N. Inspector next Monday, which is the first of three plays this season that examine Western foreign policy (while entertaining you at the same time). Court's Caroline, or Change will tackle racism in our culture at just the right moment - and that's the kind of theater I'm talking about, when the Artistic Director programs plays that take advantage of the current cultural climate.
So I'm surprised that other Artistic Directors around the City are ignoring the conversation. Take the Goodman, choosing to do the Tommy Tune vehicle Turn of the Century on the eve of the election. Huh? Tap-dancing into the polls?
Now the Goodman's an easy target, so I'll be more generous in my astonishment. Remy Bumppo - whose motto is "Think Theater" - wants us to think about a family of embezzlers in The Voysey Inheritance as we elect a President. Chicago Shakespeare is tackling Peter Shaffer's now-a-chestnut Amadeus (at least they've got Edward II following it, that's a gutsy choice). Northlight brings us Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, and unless they're making a snide comment about a certain candidate's anger-management problem, I don't think that's giong to do much for the audience's political thinking. Even Steppenwolf, usually on the ball with "of-the-moment" work, brings us Murakami's adolescent fable Kafka on the Shore (a great book, but I'd rather see Galati's adaptation in January) and Glass Menagerie. Glass Menagerie? Isn't that the show that Shattered Globe just opened? So we need to see important Chicago companies mount TWO productions of that tired, worked-over script within a month of each other, and in an election season?
I know it's my familiar soapbox, but with the stakes so high, shouldn't our major theatrical, cultural institutions be talking about the most important thing that's happening right now? Taken together, Goodman, CST, Northlight and Steppenwolf are talking to upwards of 60,000 subscribers and hundreds of thousands more single-ticket buyers with these productions. That's a lot of opportunities to engender conversation, to provoke thought, to make community count.
And as for New York... here's an interesting look at the declining woman's voice on Broadway: Theresa Rebeck's article in the Guardian. Surprising - aren't those Sarah Palin voters coming to Broadway shows?
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
0
Comments:
WHAT WALL-E, DANNY KAYE & THE SECOND CITY ALL HAVE IN COMMMON
by Jason Loewith on 9/02/2008 04:08:00 PM
I'm writing to you from the top of rehearsal week 3 for THE U.N. INSPECTOR, adapted from Gogol's 1836 masterpiece THE INSPECTOR GENERAL. Fortunately, we're working with some of Chicago's best comics on this show - the elastic-bodied Joe Dempsey, the delightfully manic Bill McGough, master of comic timing Joe Wycoff, mistress of the clever turn of phrase Susie Hart, and many more of the best character actors and actresses you're likely to see in town.
The thing they're all good at - and the thing they share in common with Danny Kaye (who portrayed the Inspector General in a 1949 musical film adaptation of the play), The Second City, and even Wall-E is a talent for what we in the business call "a lazzi."
Lazzi is a term derived from the Commedia dell' Arte, the wonderfully wacky Italian improvisational form that began in the 15th century, reaching its popular height in the 16th century. At the root of Commedia is a series of stock characters - the lascivious old man, the miser, the beautiful young lovers, and drunk doctor (Battlestar Galactica fans will recognize that type)... and of course, the Arlecchino, in French Harlequin, the clever servant. These stock characters would travel from town to town, improvising their way through delightfully simple plot scenarios involving sex, food and money. Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors and Moliere's The Miser are two examples of Commedia scenarios turned into scripts; in our day, clowns from Charlie Chaplin to Monty Python to the stars of Judd Apatow films rely on Commedia plots and characters.
At the core of the clown character is the lazzi (from the singular "lazzo", meaning joke), a physical bit of comedy, rehearsed to perfection and played until the last laugh can be wrung from a willing audience. Danny Kaye was a modern master of the lazzi, and you can see some of his best lazzis on display in The Inspector General. But the work of The Second City often owes a lot to the lazzi tradition, and so does my favorite film character of the past year, Wall-E. If you've yet to see this Chaplinesque animated character, I urge you to do so - as research for your trip to The UN Inspector. If we've done our job right, the lazzis in our play will come as organically and beautifully from character as Wall-E's travels on a futuristic earth (the Vacuum Vignette is a great example).
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
0
Comments:
OUR FIRST CAPTION CONTEST
by Jason Loewith on 8/26/2008 05:10:00 PM
Ladies and gents, the first in what may be a returning feature on Next Theatre's blog - the caption contest. If you post suggested captions for the picture below, I'll post more pictures.
For your pleasure, Interim General Manager Melanie Esplin (left) in conversation with Denise Robinson, wife of Board VP Neal Robinson. Please supply a caption!
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
2
Comments:
"You wouldn't think carrots had so many calories!"
"Gosh! That's how this happens!"
SPEAKING OF JEFF AWARDS
by Jason Loewith on 8/26/2008 03:59:00 PM
Congratulations to the cast and crew for John Patrick Shanley's DEFIANCE, which was nominated for a Jeff Award for Best Production!
Believe it or not, this is Next Theatre's first nomination for Best Production in 20 years! That nod came in 1987 for The Normal Heart, and won.
Big kudos, too, to Jim Rank, one of the fabulous ensemble members in THE AMERICAN DREAM SONGBOOK, who was nominated for Best Actor in a Revue.
You can find the full list of 2007-08 Equity Nominees here.
[For those of you wondering where Heather Raffo and 9 PARTS OF DESIRE was on the list, you're not crazy: the show, which we could only run for two and a half weeks downtown, did not play the minimum number of performances to be eligible for Jeff consideration. We knew this would be the case when we programmed the show, so your kudos will have to be enough!]
And of course, the honor roll of friends who did great work elsewhere last year includes:
Joe Dempsey (star of the upcoming UN INSPECTOR) - nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Play
Jacqueline Williams (artistic associate) - nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Play
Lee Keenan (husband of the fabulous Chelsea Keenan) - nomination for Best Lighting DesignLabels: Jeff Awards
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
0
Comments:
AWARDS CONTROVERSY
by Jason Loewith on 8/22/2008 04:16:00 PM
As most readers of this blog know, every fall, a group of dedicated theater-lovers gather to salute the best plays they've seen on professional stages... these are the oft-beloved, oft-criticized Joseph Jefferson Awards, Chicagoland's closest equivalent to New York's Tony Awards, or London's Olivier Awards, or LA's Drama Critics Circle Awards. Next Theatre Company and its artists have been fortunate to receive many of them over the past 27 seasons... and this year's nominations are coming out on Monday, August 25. (Check their website for an update that day!)
Because of Chicago's love of the underdog, and its embrace of the storefront-to-stardom narrative, the Jeff Awards have been remarkably egalitarian for the past 39 years... almost to a fault. Which is to say, the best-funded, most professional world-class theater competes each year against the teeniest theater that can hire a single Equity Actor. But it's one of the things I've always loved about the Jeffs.
Not any more.
Starting this coming year - the Jeffs' 40th anniversary (and coinciding with MY 40th year, by the by) - the Jeff Awards will be tiered. "Large" companies (Steppenwolf, Goodman, Chicago Shakes, and a few others) will not compete with "Medium" companies (like Next) in the Best Production or Design categories. They will, however, all compete in the acting categories together.
This is a difficult muddle to wade through.
When I was asked for my opinion on this issue by the Jeff Committee (they were very inclusive in the decisionmaking earlier this year, to their great credit), I argued that a tier-system in the design categories was an alright idea. For example, last year Keith Parham's light design for ADDING MACHINE - which cost $500, featured about 60 light instruments, and was executed by a Master Electrician and one other person in about 10 hours - competed against (and lost to) John Culbert's design for MIRROR OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD at the Goodman. I'm guessing, but I'm pretty certain you can add a zero after every one of our figures to estimate what the Goodman expended on that design: $5,000, 600 light instruments, and 10 or more personnel working on it for 100 hours or more. And often, the Jeff Committee's love of the underdog means that major productions at places like the Goodman or Steppenwolf are ignored - and that feels ridiculous to me. My only real complaint with the split is that it'll make the ceremony a lot longer.
The main argument most folks have against the tier system, forcefully argued by Chris Jones in his blog for the Tribune, is that it denigrates the awards received by the "Medium" theaters. I hear that complaint, but I'm not sure I buy it.
After all, it's only theater people who care about the intricacies of the Jeff Awards - even local foundations and corporations couldn't care less. Most of them barely know that there is a difference between the Jeff Awards given to the professional theaters in the fall, and the Jeff Awards given to the non-professional theaters (i.e., those that don't hire Equity professional actors like we do) in the spring. And trust me, people outside Chicago are absolutely ignorant of the various awards programs. I routinely get emails from out-of-state colleagues asking why Next didn't get any nominations in the spring awards. And that bugs me. Next Theatre is an Equity company, we invest a lot of money in our professional actors, and we are proud that we compete with other Equity companies in the fall.
What bugs me more about the entire awards controversy, the tier system, and so on, is that the Jeff Awards are pretty much the only awards in town. (I am told by sources close to Gay Chicago Magazine that their After Dark Awards are being phased out - those were the only other major awards we had.) Because every other theater community of note in this country - Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Washington, Philadelphia, you name it - has a critic-adjudicated awards program.
Don't misunderstand me: Chicago needs the Jeff Awards, and they should live on for another 40 years and more. The Jeff Committee are Chicagoland's uber-theater-audience; the most dedicated theatergoers in the country, and they love and support all of us. The Jeff Awards are like American Idol for theater, but with only the most-practiced 0.0001% of theatergoers getting to vote. Yes, I mean that as a compliment.
But critic-adjudicated awards programs are qualitatively different, and offer something else to the outside world. While the Jeff Committee members are Chicago specialists, the critics of our major media outlets are hired because of the breadth of their knowledge. Our best critics are in touch with what's happening theater-wise in New York, London, LA, Minneapolis and Moscow; they share the critical and theoretical backgrounds of our best artists; their opinions are vetted by editorial staffs and subjected to the rigor and response of the public.
I'll try to avoid making the sound of sour grapes, but here's an example: our production of Paula Vogel's Long Christmas Ride Home in 2005 was heralded by the critics ("It will fill you with faith in the theater" - TimeOut; "Impeccable and heart-breakingly tender" - Sun Times, "Astonishing in its artistry" - Windy City Times, etc.), but not only didn't get any Jeff nominations... it wasn't even Jeff recommended. Which meant the rest of the Jeff committee did not attend, and the production wasn't eligible for nomination. Of the 21 productions I've produced at Next in my tenure, Long Christmas Ride was one of only two not to be recommended by the Jeff committee. (I agree with their other decision wholeheartedly.)
And that's fine - that production was very gutsy, and very tough for many audience members to take. But the critics recognized its artistic achievement, and a critic-adjudicated awards program (the LA Drama Critics Circle, the NY Drama Critics Circle, etc) would have recognized it.
I had breakfast last week with a former Chicago theater critic who shall not be named here, and I asked him about this glaring lack in our otherwise worldly theater community. He told me there had been attempts over the years to start one because the critics do recognize they could offer something exciting in addition to the Jeff Awards... he also said some other things I won't repeat on this public blog. But mostly, he claimed there were not enough top-tier critics in town to make an appropriate circle.
I certainly don't agree. From the area's dailies to many of its weeklies and radio commentators, we've got some of the savviest critics in the country. Let's add something world-class to the Chicago theater scene: a critic-adjudicated awards program.Labels: Critics, Jeff Awards
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
0
Comments:
"THE COMEDY SHOULD BITE..." AND OFF WE GO!
by Jason Loewith on 8/13/2008 04:56:00 PM
While you blog-readers are happily basking in the summer sunshine, lazily biking up and down the lake, planning another trip to Ravinia or Grant Park, I'm already hard at work getting ready to make you laugh... that's right, folks, the 2008-09 season at Next Theatre Company just started on Monday night.
What, you didn't know?
I'm not surprised. Monday night was first rehearsal for THE U.N. INSPECTOR, Nikolai Gogol's hilarious 1836 satire about government corruption, brought to 2005 London by my British colleague David Farr (where it premiered at the National), and brought to 2008 Chicago by Victory Gardens' wonderful playwright Jim Sherman.
We'll get some photos up here from rehearsal, but in the meantime let me tell you: that first read-through was a hoot and a half. After hearing design presentations, the cast of 12 (watched by a group of about 25 donors and Board members - ask me how much you have to give to get into that select group!) tore into the script with abandon. Leading the cast are the wonderfully funny (and born for their roles) Joe Dempsey, Susan Hart and Bill McGough as, respectively, Michael Murphy, the wife of the President and the President.
For the egg-headed among you (or those who don't like outdoor classical music), check out this wonderful National Theatre website which has enough dramaturgy about the world premiere production to choke a horse. Or at least an actor.
See you at the theater!
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
0
Comments:
BEING AN ACTOR'S HARD ENOUGH...
by Jason Loewith on 8/04/2008 10:56:00 AM
...without the kind of indecencies one puts up auditioning. Here, Artistic Associate Joe Wycoff has posted an eye-opening rant about just some of the poor treatment he's received at the hands of some of Chicago's best companies. He posted this originally on his Facebook page, and it spread like wildfire around the theater community here, generating a lot of gripes over warm beers I suspect. Our local industry paper, PerformInk, picked it up and put it on the front page last week. But for those of you who don't get PerformInk, here it is. (And I'm happy to say, Joe told us before it posted how NONE of it applies to Next Theatre!):
There is a prominent theatre in Chicago for whom I no longer audition. One long, hot summer I was called in to read the same material for the same people - not scenes with different pairings, but monologues - five times. I would arrive at the audition space to find no signage and no staff. They would wander out ten minutes past my scheduled time and ask if I could wait fifteen minutes or so. They loved to send me sides that were just a few pages shorter than the full script. Friendly as they were, they quite obviously saw nothing wrong with running a shoddy audition, which led me to decide that I just didn't need them, and that's a shame. Don't get me wrong, actors are a study in screw-ups, but the world is full of audition advice for actors. Who tells the house? I do, that's who. And so, for the edification of any potential auditor, the Top Six Ways You Screw Up My Audition.
1) No time. If you have asked for three minutes of audition material, do not schedule three minute slots. Give yourself enough time to ask a question or two, accommodate the inevitable late or chatty actor, and catch up if you get behind. If you want breaks, schedule them. If you are late, please tell me. Please do not stop for lunch when you are behind. Please do not have a five minute chat with your buddy about the last show you did. If your auditions always seem to run behind, YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG. Please try to stay on schedule and do not waste my time.
2) No clue. How many times have I spent precious pre-audition minutes wandering around a building or a city block because the auditors didn't put up any signage? Too many. Then you are behind schedule, and I am coming in frazzled. Post something – instructions with arrows and diagrams.
3) No bodies. You cannot run an audition by yourself. Stop trying. Get someone to be a proctor, someone outside the room to let people know what's going on, and maybe reshuffle the schedule to get you back on time. Get someone inside the room to fetch things if you need them. If you need readers, get them, and let them read over the material beforehand. There is nothing worse as an actor than preparing for an audition only to have the person opposite you misread, drop cues, and generally c*ck-block your audition.
4) No sides. I have been to auditions where there was only one set of sides, and those had to go into the room with whoever was reading. Bring enough sides. Have them organized and numbered so that we do not waste time shuffling paper. (See Proctor above.) If you send me sides beforehand, do not send me thirty pages when you will only want to see one; then I squander my prep time on material that you will never see. And make sure that you can read your own photocopies and scans before you send them out.
5) No manners. I'm not talking about giving actors lattes and backrubs here, I'm talking about common courtesy. As actors we attend a mix of auditions, some with handshakes and laughter and song before we start; others where we get straight to business – and that's fine, but you are the host of this little party, and we look to you for cues as to what is appropriate behavior. I have walked into auditions where none of the auditors spoke a word to me for the duration of my stay. Conversely, I have found directors accompanied by an entourage who chattered and snickered and milled about. Please treat us with the same respect any other potential employer would show any other potential employee.
6) No plan. These days I try to schedule callbacks for the afternoon or evening because of too many morning callbacks in which it was obvious that the auditor had no idea what he was looking for or how to find it. Many a time I have arrived in time for the morning Side Hunt - release the hounds! As the first audition of the day, I have been asked to cold read a scene with an intern while the next two auditioners were outside getting to run through the scene together. I have been asked to "try doing this piece without words, but make each word clear... I'm not sure what I'm looking for here..." I don't mind experimenting or trying different things to see how actors work together. I do mind being the test case for an audition plan that you will refine later in the day.
And one last note: headshots cost money. There are houses that ask me to bring one to every audition and callback. I have sent these theatres a headshot at least once during the year. I know they have enough shots of me to paper the Sistine Chapel, but they still take one from me every time. And they still call me at the wrong contact number.
Don't. Please don't.
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
0
Comments:
MEET NEXT THEATRE'S NEW MANAGING DIRECTOR KEVIN HECKMAN!
by Jason Loewith on 7/29/2008 12:51:00 PM
I am delighted - really, really delighted - to announce that the Next Theatre Board of Directors has selected Kevin Heckman to be the company's new Managing Director, beginning next week. Kevin's appointment concludes an 8-month search, and guarantees the return of my sanity.
Although I'm the public face of the theater that most of you know, the truth is that most theater institutions of any size are run by a dual-leadership paradigm: an Artistic Director guides the company's artistic vision, chooses the plays and the artistic personnel, and ensures the artistry's successful production. But a Managing Director (or Executive Director; they're both basically the same) ensures the institution's overall health by managing its finances, its fundraising efforts, its marketing, and full-time staff. For those of you in the "know", think of Barbara Gaines and Criss Henderson at Chicago Shakespeare, or Bob Falls and Roche Schulfer at the Goodman... in both those cases, the partnership is responsible for the company's reputation and good health, not just the Artistic Director.
So, welcome Kevin!
Kevin Heckman comes to Next Theatre from Stage Left Theatre, Chicago's like-minded storefront venue, where he has served for six seasons, initially as the Managing Director and most recently as the Producing Artistic Director. Under his leadership, Stage Left has grown significantly in areas of funding, Board membership, and infrastructure. As a theater artist, Heckman has received numerous accolades for directing, writing, performance and design, including a total of seven Joseph Jefferson Award nominations for productions he has helmed. Heckman is an associate artist at Chicago Dramatists and an ensemble member at Stage Left. He has taught acting at North Shore Academy in Highland Park, a school for at-risk youth, and is a contributing writer for PerformInk newspaper where he edited the first four editions of The Book: An Actor's Guide to Chicago. A 1992 graduate of Wesleyan University, Heckman received degrees in theatre and mathematics. He resides in Evanston with his wife Christine.
"The Board is excited by Kevin's commitment to Evanston and his deep understanding of the vibrant Chicago theatre scene. In line with our strategic plan for accelerated growth in upcoming seasons, Kevin's appointment will allow us to build on our solid foundation in Chicagoland and secure Next's place on the national stage," said Board President Judy Kemp.
Given his long experience at Stage Left – where he was passionate about the same kind of work we do - I know that Kevin is going to add immeasurably to this institution's growth. And as an Evanstonian, he's ready to fully integrate Next Theatre into the fabric of our community. If you've read my last few blog posts, you know how important that is!
Regarding his new appointment, Heckman said, "I am very excited to join Next at this critical point in its organizational life. I look forward to building on the strong foundation Jason has created, and helping to bring Next into the top tier of Chicago area theatres." Heckman begins fulltime work on August 5 - and not a moment too soon!
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
0
Comments:
BLAHOPRANI!
by Jason Loewith on 7/22/2008 04:18:00 PM
I'm happy to announce that Next Theatre Company has been awarded a $7,500 grant from the MacArthur Foundation's new International Connections Fund to support a research and collaboration trip to the Czech Republic in advance of our War with the Newts production. Congratulations! Or as they say in the Czech Republic, blahoprani!
In October, Adaptor/Director Jason Loewith, Puppetmaster Michael Montenegro, and Dramaturg Celise Kalke will spend a week in Prague visiting its famous Theater Institute, DAMU (one of the world's only puppet universities), and several theaters to explore international touring and collaboration.Labels: War with the Newts
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
0
Comments:
RAGTIME, WILMETTE, CENSORSHIP?
by Jason Loewith on 7/15/2008 12:07:00 PM
I got a call yesterday from a journalist with the WINDY CITY TIMES asking for my response to the flap (they call it "controversy") over the Wilmette Park District's decision to cancel an upcoming community theater production of Ragtime because of the musical's use of the word "nigger" (a word which my friends in the press will only print as "the n-word").
As I understand it, the Park District - the real producers of the show - didn't realize the historically-based musical used the offensive word until 10 days before opening. Their concern was that the production, which was to play in an outdoor park with amplified voices, could accidentally offend passersby and park-users who weren't attending the show.
The news of the cancellation hit local papers about three weeks ago, and no one really seemed to care until the New York Times picked it up on July 1... and then all hell broke loose. "Censorship!" people screamed... "The people of Wilmette are philistines," others mused, while some even thought the decision was actually evidence of Wilmette's innate racism.
Eventually, the show was moved to an indoor venue, where the musical will play to the satisfaction of the Park District and the artists. (You can read all about it in the Pioneer Press article here.)
Me? It's all a load of hogwash, I say. And frankly, just stupid producing. That's what happens when city governments try to run real arts programs. The Starlight Theatre in Wilmette, which is producing the musical, is a program of the Park District... and obviously the bureaucracy there (if it's anything like the bureaucracy in Evanston) is so complex that the people with the real power haven't bothered to read the scripts of the shows they're producing.
But please, let's stop yelling, "censorhsip!" Try making art in China, or Eastern Europe before the fall of the Berlin Wall, or Zimbabwe... here in this country, where we are blessed with free speech, the only censorship we've got to worry about is self-censorship.
And that's a subject for another blog post!Labels: Censorship
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
0
Comments:
TALKING ABOUT THE CREATIVE PROCESS
by Jason Loewith on 7/03/2008 12:22:00 PM
Ever since Lisa Portes gave birth the morning after the first preview of her production of Far Away here at Next in 2004, I've known there's something strange in the water at Next Theatre... it seems like everyone we know is having babies!
So, though this blog is more often about heavyish cultural topics, let's take a moment to celebrate three of the most highly-anticipated productions of the upcoming theater season:
Kimberly Senior Baker, Artistic Associate, due in September - it's a girl, her second, and she and actor-husband Lance Baker are ready!
Melanie Esplin, Interim General Manager (and wife to Artistic Associate Joe Wycoff) isn't screwing around (ahem) - she's catching up to Kimberly by having two babies at once! Our sources tell us that this phenomenon is called "twins". Also due in September. Bravo!
Later in the season, look for the luminous Heather Raffo, writer and star of 9 Parts of Desire, to bring a little bundle of joy to Brooklyn. Sources tell us that she and husband Matt conceived of the idea while in Chicago for the production.
And finally, who is this question mark? Well, all I can say until she gives me permission is that another Artistic Associate has some big news to share, which will get bigger (and more obvious) until some time in January 2009.
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
1
Comments:
You're actualy waiting for permission on the last one? That really is not your style in regards to pregnant ladies! Are you sure you can keep that a secret? I can count at least three previous occasions where you have done a "Jack Black" on an unsuspecting Angelina.
YEAR 3 ON THE ILLINOIS ARTS COUNCIL - AND BLAGO-BASHING PART TWO
by Jason Loewith on 6/27/2008 10:30:00 AM
Last Thursday and Friday, I was honored to participate in my third and final year as a panelist for the Illinois Arts Council's theater granting program. Each year, I and six other panelists review over 100 applications from Illinois theaters with budgets between $50,000 and $3,000,000, ranging from amateur to professional, rural to urban, and with missions of every conceivable variety.
It's hard, time-consuming work, but I have learned much in my three years on the Council. For one, we in Chicagoland often forget (or might not even know) that every inch of this state is peppered with committed theater professionals and enthusiasts. Places remote to us like Quincy, Peoria, and Western Springs play host to excellent community theater troupes that rival what Chicago proper has to offer. Companies with unique missions like Special Gifts Theater in Northbrook (which puts on plays with disabled kids) or Thresholds (which does work with mentally-challenged adults, often in concert with the Chicago Police Department) blow me away each year with their unique approach to theater as a tool for social change. And of course, the great troupes of Chicagoland, from Redmoon to Writers to Lookingglass, all apply.
And they compete for a disastrously small pool of money.
As you know if you read my blog, last year, the Governor (thanks to his feud with Mike Madigan) savaged the Illinois Arts Council budget with a 40% cut. This draconian, politically-motivated slashing (which happened in the course of the already-started fiscal year for most of us) meant, among other things:
*The cancellation of Next's Saturday Salon Series
*Staff cuts at theaters big and small throughout the state
*The end of outreach programs at small urban companies
*The dissolution of arts-education initiatives in every corner of Illinois
*Less money for artists, who are already severely underpaid
The Governor's new Illinois Arts Council has a budget so small that:
*Illinois now spends less per capita than Oklahoma or Mississippi, states with no national or international arts profile to speak of
*Illinois was one of only three states in the country to cut arts funding in FY08
*Last year's cut was the largest percentage cut in the Council's history
(Visit the Illinois Arts Alliance for more information about last year's cuts.)
And there is worse news coming down the pike.
Although the State Legislature's proposed budget restored most (but not all) of the Governor's cut, Blagojevich has made clear that he's up for even deeper cuts... in FY08, the deficit hole was only $500 million; this year, it's $2 billion.
Soon on this blog you'll see some actions you can take to keep the Illinois Arts Council alive. Make no mistake, folks: more cuts in the Illinois Arts Council mean they oughta just shut the thing down, because it'll be no more than a token... to my mind, Blagojevich should be ashamed of himself.
And frankly, the arts community in Illinois should be ashamed of itself too, and the journalists who serve it. Have you heard anything about it when you go to the theater? Has there been an organized effort to let Blago and his own private Cheney, Senate President Emil Jones, know that they're making a mockery of the newest Tony-winning town throughout the nation?
Let's get angry, let's get together, and let's do something to make sure the state of Illinois isn't the least supportive state in the nation when it comes to the arts.Labels: Blagojevich, Illinois Arts Council
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
0
Comments:
HAVE YOU SEEN THESE ALDERMEN?
by Jason Loewith on 6/17/2008 12:48:00 PM
Nope, neither have we. These folks are invited, free, to every opening night here at Next Theatre Company. Alderman Jean-Baptiste, in fact, never even returned our calls requesting a meeting four years ago; he's been invited to various Next Theatre Company programs and plays a combined total of 25 times. I think it's time for a response from him, don't you?
You can ask these Aldermen why they don't support Next Theatre:
Lionel Jean-Baptiste: ljean-baptiste@cityofevanston.org
Melissa Wynne: mwynne@cityofevanston.org
Delores Holmes: dholmes@cityofevanston.org
(One disclaimer: these folks have never attended Next Theatre under their own names; if any of them have attended as guests of other folks, we don't know about it and would like to hear from them!)
On the other hand, here is The Evanston Hall of Fame:
Mayor Lorraine Morton: a frequent attendee and advisor to the theater
Alderman Cheryl Wollin: a subscriber and supporter to the theater, and dear friend
Alderman Liz Tisdahl: a subscriber, hugely generous supporter and pal-at-the-gym
The Aldermen on the Cusp!
Alderman Steve Bernstein: though we don't see his name on our attendee list (bad, Steve, bad!), he met with us a few years back and has been supportive on the council
Alderman Ed Moran: again, how come you haven't come to the theater? But at least you've made a donation... now come join us!
Alderman Ann Rainey: Ann always thinks of us when there's development in her district (yay, Ann!), but how come we haven't seen you in the theater?
Alderman Anjana Hansen: new to the council, Anjana attended a show last season, and we want her back! Come visit!Labels: Evanston
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
0
Comments:
TIME FOR EVANSTON TO STEP UP
by Jason Loewith on 6/10/2008 11:46:00 AM
I was honored yesterday to be asked by Janet Carl Smith, the Deputy Director of Chicago's Cultural Affairs Department, to join Mayor Daley at a press conference celebrating "Chicago's award-winning theater community." While the event was really a Tony Awards send-off for Chicago Shakespeare and Steppenwolf (the awards are this Sunday the 15th; Chicago Shakes is getting the regional-theater Tony, and Steppenwolf's AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY is up for a trillion awards), Janet asked me because the Mayor planned to also honor the city's 3 previous Tony winners - Steppenwolf, Goodman and Victory Gardens - and Next Theatre for its Adding Machine awards. Janet told me she'd stretch the borders of Chicago for the morning just to honor us.
That's right, folks: Next in the company of CST, Steppenwolf, VG and Goodman.
And further, that's right, folks: Mayor Daley honored us as a Chicago award-winning theater.
I'll confess that getting Next Theatre recognized as a "Chicago company" for our metropolitan and national profile has been a goal of my six-year tenure here. And boy, am I proud that we've clearly done it.
But... where was our own city, Evanston? Why hasn't the Mayor recognized our accomplishment? Or our aldermen? Why haven't the Beacon or the Pioneer Press reported on our awards the way the Tribune and Sun-Times have?
Is the answer that Evanston doesn't particularly care about having a national, or even metropolitan profile? Is the answer that Evanston would rather not have world-class culture within its borders? I certainly hope not. We have often received kind words from our local government, and even honored the Mayor last year at our annual benefit.
Nonetheless, as I told industry newspaper PerformInk last week, it's time for Evanston's government, businesses, community leaders and citizens to get off their collective behinds and put together a plan for Next Theatre to have a permanent, state-of-the art theater space in downtown Evanston with foot traffic, a major street marquee, and all the prestige and audience that comes with it:
"I think I was the right person for this theatre at the right time, but I don't think I'm the right person for this theatre now," says Loewith. "We need somebody who can be really passionate about becoming the jewel in Evanston’s crown."
That's not an easy task. While Loewith points out that Next has some supporters-even donors-on the Evanston City Council, a "shameful" majority have never set foot in the theatre.
Nor has the City of Evanston, which is cash poor due to the large, non-property tax paying presence of Northwestern, ever supported Next (or any other Evanston theatre) with more than a couple of grand through the Evanston Arts Council.
"Evanston in the next five years vis a vis Next Theatre is going to have to make a choice," says Loewith. "Are they willing to be a suburb in the shadow of Chicago that offers pottery classes... or are they going to have a world class theatre and be a world class cultural destination?"
"It's going to take a big investment from the city of Evanston to keep this place growing," he adds. "The next theatre leadership needs to invest the next five, seven, 10 years into that quest."
I am proud to leave Next Theatre debt-free, and four times larger (in budget and subscriber base) than it was when I started. But the theater ain't gonna get any bigger or much better without a new home that people see everyday in downtown Evanston.
So to everyone in Evanston - including those who want to "Save Evanston" by sinking the Tower plan - I think it's time to make a choice. Do you want your city to be nothing more than a gentrified shopping mall with nice lawns and lakefront homes, whose main cultural identity comes from Northwestern? Or do you want to assert your own cultural identity, preserving what's special about Evanston's progressive roots by investing in a world-class arts institution in your center?
Tune in next week for the Hall of Shame: the names of your aldermen who have never been to Next Theatre Company, and did not respond to our requests over the past six years for a meeting.Labels: Chicago theatre, Evanston
Post a
Comment
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
1
Comments:
You are so right, Jason. I hear you are leaving Chicago. This town will be losing one of its best directors!
Regina Leslie
|
