Life on Stage
Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounc'd it to you, trippingly on the tongue; but if you mouth it, as many of your players do, I had as lief the town-crier had spoke my lines.Nor do you not saw the air too much with your hands, thus, but use all gently; for in the very torrent, tempest, and, as I may say, the whirlwind of your passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness. O, it offends me to the soul to see a robustious periwig-pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings, who for the most part are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumb-shows and noice. I could have such a fellow whipp'd for o'erdoing Termagant. It out-herods Herod. Pray you, avoid it."
- Hamlet, Act III, ii
I worked as an actor, theater manager and producer in Chicago from 1980 to 1990. I helped found a Shakespeare company and I managed one of Chicago's biggest and most-honored Off Loop theaters. I performed in over 30 plays and produced over 50 plays and special events.
Yes, I was my resume ( as the song from "Chorus Line" goes). I performed in many Off-Loop productions. I was a Leartes-like screen writer in a film noir version of "Hamlet" (I was shot by private eye Horatio every night). I was Puck in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (in the theater and in an outdoor version I produced at the Oxbow arts colony in Michigan). I played the obnoxious producer, Otto, who was decapitated nightly for six months in the long-running musical comedy, "Summer Stock Murders." I was the Scottish usurper in an experimental half-hour "Macbeth in the Dark" where the only illumination was provided by flashlights wielded by the actors. I love the stage and I suppose I will never get the performance bug fully out of my system.
I was also a producer for a number of years. At the Free Shakespeare Company, I was the founding managing director from 1981 to 1985. We produced a number of classical plays, including "Romeo and Juliet," "Taming of the Shrew," an original adaptation of "The Canterbury Tales," "Toad of Toad Hall" (an original musical based on "The Wind in the Willows"), Richard II and "Two Gentlemen of Verona." I produced the first full-length free performance of Shakespeare in Lincoln Park ("As You Like It", 1983) and a program of scenes from Shakespeare and workshops which toured Chicagoland schools for five years.
I toured Chicagoland schools for a number of years for Urban Gateways, with a wonderful actress, Kathy Kirk. We performed scenes from Shakespeare at elementary and secondary schools, with a heavy emphasis on energy, physicality and clarity. I think we performed to about 250,000 young people. They loved the show! We had a ball. The students were my favorite audiences. They squealed with laughter, gasped with shock or dismay and were thrilled by the dynamics of a live performance.
At Pegasus Players, as Managing Director, I continued to produce plays and musicals from 1985 to 1990. These productions were honored with over 20 awards for excellence. I also created and launched the Chicago Young Playwright's Festival in 1986, where area high school age youth write one-act plays with the top four scripts given full, professional productions. This program is now in its 20th season!
Some of my favorite productions at Pegasus were:
"Ma
Rainey's Black Bottom" by August
Wilson, directed by Jonathan Wilson - this was the
first production by a local theater company of the multiple
Pulitzer Prize winning author. This was a huge hit and
played for over six months.
"Kiss
of the Spider Woman" directed by Tony-nominee,
Eric Simonson and starring the unforgettable Larry Yando
(a Jefferson Award winner for this performance) and the
phenomenal Harry
J. Lennox. This was the most moving and satisfying
piece of theater I produced.
"Noises
Off" directed by Mick Leavitt (producer
of the 2002 Tony winner, "Thoroughly
Modern Millie"). "NO" is the
funniest piece of theater I have ever seen, truly a delight
(OK, it's a backstage farce and holds special meaning
to all show biz alum - I still saw it 30 times!). It
ran for over 12 months.
"Frogs" by Stephen
Sondheim and directed by Victoria
Bussert and designed by Russ Borski - a full-length
musical produced in the Olympic pool at Truman
College. The cast sang, did synchronized swimming and
made entrances off the diving board. The musicians were
in swim suits and the musical conductor wore a bikini brief,
tails and a bow-tie! The audience sat pool side and had
to leave their shoes outside the pool area. Billed as "Chicago's
Splash Hit Musical," this show was the greatest artistic
and logistical challenge I have ever worked on.
