GLENN LONEY'S ARTS RAMBLES June, 2012 Report: Theatre in Chicago & Milwaukee--American Theatre Critics Conference! THIS WAS THE TRIP INTO THE HEARTLAND THAT WAS… Theatrical Breezes from The Windy City! Every year, one or other of America's Major Cities--preferably those with Outstanding Regional Theatres--hosts the American Theatre Critics Association for a thorough investigation of Theatre Life beyond Broadway. Basically, this requires a Local Drama Critic, who is also an ATCA Member, to enlist his Newspaper to help him Host, as well as setting up Press Outings at Major & Minor Theatre Ensembles in the Area. Unfortunately, all across America, Major Newspapers are either dying or eliminating Arts Coverage & Arts Critics, along with their once prized Reviews. This means there are a number of interesting US Metropolises that those of us who are ATCA Members will never be able to visit as Working Press… Fortunately, both Chicago & Milwaukee still have both Lively Theatre Scenes & Functioning Newspapers! Chicago also is blessed with the dynamic Jonathan Abarbanel--an ATCA Old Reliable--who seems to know everyone working in the many Theatres in & around The Windy City. This means covering a Lot of Stages, for Chicago is the Theatre Leader in the United States, with no less than 250 Professional Theatres! What's more, Chicago has More World Premiers than any other American City, including New York. Each Season, there are over 800 Productions mounted on a wide variety of Stages! These range from Broadway Tour Playhouses to famed Professional Ensembles such as the Goodman Theatre, to Black Boxes, & Storefronts. Five Chicago Theatres have already won the Prestigious Regional Theatre Tony Award. Chicago is the Heart of Broadway Touring, the largest in the Nation. It also has an Audience of some 5 Million!
Combined Budgets of Chicago Theatres are estimated at more than $250 Million. Thanks to Ticket Sales & Souvenirs, as well as to the Economic Trickle Down Effect of Money spent on Parking, Hotels, Restaurants & Bars, there is an average impact of some $1 Billion!
Theatre Organizations may pay as much as $21 Million in Local Taxes. They also employ as many as 15,000 Artists, Administrators, & Technicians.
Jonathan Abarbanel's Program for Visiting Critics: Almost Overkill, But Always Illuminating… Arriving early in the Chicago Loop, Your Roving Arts Reporter & his Web Editor & Critic Colleague, Scott Bennett, began photographing some of the Major Architectural Monuments. What was once the Main Library--a Magnificent Structure on Michigan Avenue--is now home to Cultural Affairs, with many, many Galleries & Shows. In the Great Atrium, we enjoyed a Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert, featuring the talented Joanna Marie Frankel, on a rare Guarnerius Violin, with David Kaplan at the Piano: Elgar, Richard Strauss, & de Falla! [I have a special fondness for Dame Myra. Not only did she fearlessly concertize for Londoners & Brits during the Nazi Blitz, but she later toured widely, sharing her Insights & Expertise at the Keyboard. [When she came to UC/Berkeley in the late 1940s--to play for an Audience of 10,000, in the Men's Gymnasium--as Head Usher, I was asked to be her Page Turner… [Before we went out to the Performance Platform, she showed me the Selections she would play, indicating how I was to fold down the corner of the Next Page, so she could see what was coming, as she powerfully polished off the Preceding Measures. [I was surprised, even perhaps appalled: The Great Mythic Myra Hess was going to play from a Score? She didn't have all those Notes already in her Head & in Her Fingers? [What's more, she was going to wear Glasses as she played… ["Young Man! I am now very Old. I do not want suddenly to forget where I am in the piece! ["I do not want to disappoint so many who have come so far to hear me play!] After this charming & free Musical Interlude, we inspected various Art Exhibits, including a grisly one dealing entirely with Aspects of Death & Dying… By chance, we stopped by the Claudia Cassidy Theatre, whose Lobby was filled with fascinating Portraits of Famous Hollywood Stars in Major Roles. Claudia had been a Magisterial Critic Colleague, writing for Col. Robert R. McCormack's Chicago Tribune. She was the only Major American Drama Critic who, every summer, made a Limousined Progress through all of Europe's Major Opera Festivals. I, at that time, was the only Minor American Drama Critic who made a Eurail Pass Progress through the same Fests… But our actual Chicago Theatre Safari began at the Goodman Theatre, which has two Major Stages. Ten Years Ago--when ATCA was here before, also hosted by Jonathan Abarbanel--we saw a World Premiere of an Opera based on Bertolt Brecht's Galileo. This time, there were Goodman Choices: We could see Nathan Lane in the Almost Five Hour Production of Gene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh, or a challenging New Drama about Prejudice in a Black Family--both Racial & Sexual--titled Immediate Family. I must be one of the few Irish Americans who find both O'Neill's Hughie & Iceman depressing Bores… Midday on Thursday, we toddled off to TimeLine Theatre--which specializes in Plays that intersect with Actual Events in the Past, looking forward to the Future Developments. Ongoing Police Corruption in Chicago was the Theme of John Conroy's My Kind of Town… Onward to the next interesting Event: Our Introduction to the sparkling new Black Ensemble Cultural Center, with an impressive Exterior that matches its State of the Art Major Stage. Currently saluting Hero Status Black Musicians, the production on offer was The Marvin Gaye Story. Believing that nothing since Benjamin Britten's Turn of the Screw has been as fascinating as Berlioz' Les Troyens, I opted, instead, for a Live Taping of wait wait… don't tell me! This is a Call In Show for National Public Radio, featuring Host Peter Sagal & Judge/Scorekeeper Carl Kasell. Novelist John Irving was the Unseen Not My Job Guest, with Roy Blount, jr, Amy Dickinson, & Maz Jobrani as "Panelists." Unseen Americans called in to vie for Prizes, pitting themselves against the Panelists, who were obviously expected to be Spontaneously Very Funny. There was some chatter about Shaved Testicles, but, if this is what Our Tax Dollars are paying for, then perhaps it's time for a Senate Investigation into Public Radio? Nonetheless, the Huge Audience loved all of it, including the Souvenirs for Sale & the Free Water Bottles with the Show's Logo… On Friday, off to the Stratford upon Avon Like Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, whose innovative productions are amazing. Last time round, we saw an fantastic Aerial Tempest, that later toured. No Shows this morning, however: Awards, Speeches, & Housekeeping. Then, off to Theatre Wit, for Panels & Other Stuff. Followed, in the evening, by witty Wit Shows. On Saturday, the Distinguished British Actor, Simon Callow, held forth. I had already seen him in his Shakespeare Impressions at BAM in the Spring, so opted instead for Chicago Architectural Image Making for INFOTOGRAPHY™. Not to overlook the Frank Gehry Outdoor Amphitheatre & the Art Institute of Chicago, with its famous French Impressionists. Sunday in the Park, anyone… In the evening, we went to the Landmark Water Tower, where the Lookingglass Theatre overwhelmed us with the Sinking of the Eastland in the Chicago River… It was sad when that Great Ship went down… But who would now remember, if not for this remarkably conceived & staged Musical?
Famous & Even Infamous Drama Critics Tell Us How To Write Reviews! One aspect of the Educational Programs of FATCA--the Award Granting & Seminar Funding Foundation of ATCA--is inviting a Famous Drama Critic to each Annual Conference, to offer his or her "Perspectives in Criticism." This June, the Reviewing Genius was Terry Teachout, reigning Drama Maven at Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal. Previous Perspectives a have been offered by Clive Barnes, of the New York Times & later the NY Post; William Henry III, from Time Magazine; Ernie Schier, of the Philadelphia Inquirer; Henry Hewes, formerly with Saturday Review, & Eric Bentley, Guru Author of The Playwright as Thinker. I do not follow the Obits, but I believe all these Estimable Men are now Passed Over. If Eric still alive & kicking, Good for Him! Among the Living & Partly Living [as TS Eliot once wrote], we have heard Wise Words from Robert Brustein, Linda Winer, Dan Sullivan, Sylvie Drake, Margo Jefferson, Michael Feingold, John Simon, & Frank Rich! We've even heard from our own Regional Critics, such as Misha Berson, who prevented us from being Clueless in Seattle. OK! But my Question is why should we pay Airfare, Hotel, & Honoraria to be Lectured about Review Writing by Major Majors who wouldn't dream of belonging to the American Theatre Critics Association? As for using Foundation Money to fund Young Critics Seminars, at a time when Newspapers are Dying & Arts Reportage is being curtailed? Many Former Members have dropped out because their Local Review Venues have died. Or they have been Summarily Fired! Why pay to Train the Competition? Actually, now that Anyone with an iPad & an Internet Connection can file his or her Personal Opinions on Plays, as well as on the Salad--with Photo Attached--that he or she just ate, it might be a Good Idea to sponsor some On Line Seminars on the Basics of Reviewing. Not only for Plays & Musicals, but also for Dance, Music, Opera, Films, & Art Installations…
Honoring Both the Living & the Dead: ATCA Awards Move Ever Onward… Two of the most interesting "Sharings" of the entire Conference were the Responses of Caridad Svich & Darren Canady on accepting ATCA Awards. Both stressed the Singular Importance of such Honors in advancing their Careers as Playwrights. Caridad Svich--whose remarkable House of the Spirits, based on Isabel Allende's novel, was a Sensation at the Denver New Play Summit & is now playing in Repertory in Manhattan at Repertorio Español--is an enchanting Fabulist & intriguing Speaker. So much so that Scott Bennett & I interviewed her in Denver about House of the Spirits & her other works. Caridad was accepting the Francesca Primus Prize for 2011, given by Actor Barry Primus in Memory of his beloved Sister, who was an Actress & a Fellow Critic. She died much too young… Playwright Tammy Ryan has just won the $10,000 Primus Prize for 2012. Her new play, Lost Boy Found in Whole Foods, dazzled the ATCA Judges. Darren Canady's drama, Brothers of the Dust, won him the 2012 Osborn Award. Brothers was initially staged in Chicago at the Congo Square Theatre. Canady often writes about the African American Experience in the Midwest. He hails from Topeka, Kansas, but Brothers is set on an African American Farm in Arkansas. The M. Elizabeth Osborn Award is named for Betty Osborn, but how many people--even ATCA Members--now remember her?
Chicago's Smorgåsbord of Theatre Production Options… Here are just a few of the Shows currently on view in The Second City: Pride & Prejudice, Angels in America, The Duchess of Malfi, Break of Noon, Leader of the Pack, Million Dollar Quartet, Spoon River Anthology, A Little Night Music, Les Mis, I Am Bradley Manning, Camelot, My Fair Lady, & Inherit the Wind…
Off To See Wisconsin's Milwaukee Theatre Scene! Because the Milwaukee Theatre Add On followed the Chicago Weekend, there were No Performances at the attractive Theatre Complexes we visited. Nonetheless, our ATCA Member Host, Anne Seigal, had arranged for us to visit a number of Theatres--as well as their Impressive Shops--so we could have an idea of the Quality & Quantity of Professional Production in Wisconsin's Second City. After Madison, that is… Milwaukee's most famed & Landmarked Theatre is, of course, The Pabst, created by the Founder of the Pabst Brewery. Where once Opera Stars & Great American Tragedians trod this Venerable Stage, now the likes of Meatloaf are the Big Crowd Pleasers. Right next door to the Pabst is the Award Winning Milwaukee Rep, with three challenging Performance Spaces, encased in an Astonishing Atrium Mall. This is near the equally Astonishing Semi Scandinvian Late Victorian City Hall… At the Broadway Theatre Center--actually located on Milwaukee's North Broadway--we met, among others, C. Michael Wright, of the Milwaukee Chamber Theatre. Their Brochure for the coming Season--REBELS Pushing Against the Boundaries--has such handsome, innovative Graphics that I was moved to tell Wright that, if the Actual Productions were on a Visual Par with the Brochure, they must be stunning… Upcoming at the Chamber Theatre are such shows as Donald Margulies' Collected Stories, Glen Berger's Underneath the Lintel, Herb Gardner's A Thousand Clowns, & Kurt McGinnis Brown's Broken & Entered. Also at North Broadway is the Skylight Music Theatre, led by Bill Theisen. The forthcoming Season includes Avenue Q, The Sound of Music, Pump Boys & Dinettes, & The Gershwin's Porgy & Bess. I cannot tell you how to find the Very Large Yellow Corrugated Steel Box that looks like a Giant Cargo Container, but which is, in fact, the Next Act Theatre. This is because their Brochure lists only a PO Box Address, not a Street Designation… Nevertheless, if you can come to Milwaukee next Autumn, you could see Mike Lew's Microcrisis or It's a Wonderful Life--A Live Radio Show. Later in the Season, there will be Charles Ludlam's Mystery of Irma Vep, Craig Wright's Grace, Stephen Massicotte's The Clockmaker, & an Xmas Special: Pat Hazell's A Kodachrome Christmas. Unfortunately, the ATCA Expedition missed the Pink Banana Theatre's production--at the Next Act Theatre--of One Acts: The End of the World. Among these Shorties were: So Jesus Walks Into a Bar, Name That Apocalypse, Clean Up on Aisle Six, Things That Go Bump, & The Latest News from the Primordial Ooze. Elsewhere in the Milwaukee Area you could see Three Sisters, In the Heights, Miss Saigon, Lend Me a Tenor, The Drowsy Chaperone, Comedy of Errors--at Marqutte Uni, Six Degrees of Separation, Things That Go Ding, & Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure. Sherlock was on view at Cardinal Stritch University. Any Relation to Elaine Stritch? Like Chicago, also Milwaukee: A River Runs Through It. Along the River--looking over toward the Pabst & the City Hall--there's a River Walk that charms, festooned with Smart Arts Banners & graced, at one point, with a wonderful Micro Brewery, where you can sit outside & marvel at the multiplicity of forms in Milwaukee Architecture. Unlike Chicago, many of Milwaukee's magnificent 19th Century Buildings have been preserved. But there are also some Immense Neo Classic Government Style Building Blocks. These look rather like Monumental Mausoleums… But there's also Cutting Edge! Chicago may have Frank Gehry in the Park, but Milwaukee has a Santiago Calatrava Modern Masterpiece for its Art Museum. But, because of High Winds off Lake Michigan, the Museum's Soaring White Wings were not open when we visited. Among the Museum's Treasures is a small View of Rouen by Camille Pissarro. This caught my Eye for I first saw it, not here, but on Upper Fifth Avenue at the Jewish Museum. It had been on loan from Linda Sampson, for a Pissarro Retrospective. Some years prior, Linda had been an MA in Theatre Student of mine at Brooklyn College! Now her nostalgic painting is in a Museum: Linda, Dové sta'… Even down South of the Border, you will see Milwaukee Beer celebrated: La Cerveza que hizo famoso a Milwaukee! Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer, of course! But there's also Miller! There wasn't time for Scott Bennett & me to take The Brewery Tour, but we did go to the Harley Davidson Museum! Wow! Every Model of a Harley Davidson--from the first, including Bike Like Non Motorcycles--is in this Mammoth Motor Bike Archive. Go On Line to get all the details from the H D Website! There was also an Ancillary Exhibition of Wild Ones Motorcycle Jackets, including some Famous Leathers. Even the Harley Davidson Café celebrated the Spirit of the Open Road: Old State License Plates were bent into Napkin & Ketchup Holders! But how Open is a Road that requires Licenses?
Lunching with Alfred Lunt & Lynn Fontanne at Ten Chimneys… On Broadway, there is a famed Musical Theatre that bears the Name: Lunt Fontanne. That was, of course, not its Initial Name, but then sic transit gloria mundi… For that matter, what is now the August Wilson Theatre was previously The Virginia--named after the Owner's Wife--though, before that, it was the ANTA Theatre, re named from its initial Guild Theatre status, built by the long defunct Theatre Guild. Where are the Maxine Elliot, the Nora Bayes, or even the Don Ameche Theatre? Where are the Snows of Yesteryear? Ou sont les Neiges… Even long, long ago, when I was teaching Theatre at Brooklyn College, Students would ask: Who the Hell were Lunt & Fontanne? They had No Idea. Nor were they very interested to hear about the Team Career of two of the Greatest Stars of the New York & American Stage. Especially not, for the Lunts, as they were called, only made One Movie & never became Radio Personalities. What they did do, however, was always Tour their Broadway Hits around America. So they did have, at that time, National Brand Name Recognition! The Lunts would never agree to star in separate plays. If there were not Good Roles for both of them in a New Drama, they would pass… My Good Fortune was to have seen the Lunts on tour in San Francisco when I was with Ushering Signups at UC/Berkeley. On Broadway, I saw them in The Great Sebastians & in their Swan Song, The Visit. This was a much watered down Adaptation of Friedrich Dürrenmatt's Swiss Horror Story: Die Besuch der Alten Dame. Long, long ago, a handsome Village Swain had his way with a poor, innocent Village Maid. He refused to stand by her, as she was driven away in Shame. Years later, she returns, Fabulously Wealthy, Rich as Croesus: Now she wants her Revenge. But she is going to pay the Villagers to destroy Anton Schell. She doesn't need to raise her hand.… Very Cynically Swiss! If now forgotten on Broadway, this & other Lunt Fontanne Triumphs still Live at Ten Chimneys. This was the Summer & Retirement Home of the Lunts, at Genesee Depot, where one can imagine the Conductor stopping the Chicago Express to Minneapolis to permit Noël Coward, Gertrude Lawrence, or Helen Hayes to descend for a Pampered Visit with their dear old friends, Lynn & Alfred--who prided himself on being a Cordon Bleu Chef… Not only does the Main House have Ten Chimneys, but there are also several Important Out Buildings, most of them Over Decorated in the Extreme. Ten Chimneys was also a Working Farm, so Alfred & Lynn could have Butter on Broadway in the depths of Food Rationed World War II. Wonderful Portraits & Portrait Photos--how about their friend, Cecil Beaton?--join impressive Production Photos from Broadway & London Hits. But Ten Chimneys is not just an Archive of the Careers of Two Remarkable Artists: it is also an exercise in Interior Decoration, with Murals on almost every surface & Flounces on every table & even some of the chairs… Some might call this Precious. But it really opens a Window for us Moderns into a World of Theatre, Artifice, Friendship, & Good Manners that is gone forever. If you are not planning on a visit to either Madison--to Recall that Governor again!--or to Milwaukee anytime soon, why not log on to www.tenchimneys.org to see all these Wonders
for yourself?
I regret that I never actually interviewed Alfred--who was always very Courtly--or Lynn, separately or together, because, when I was doing the In The Words Of… Interviews for Cue Magazine, my Editor said they were "Yesterday…" Nonetheless, when I had the occasion to talk with Lynn, she was always a Vibrant Persona. When I asked her to join my Mary [Stuart] & [Queen] Elizabeth Panel at Sardi's, for the Drama Desk, she regretfully passed. She was off to Florida, for the Sun. Not to Ten Chimneys… That Season, at the Opera & On Broadway, the Two Queens were very much on view. So my Panel included Eileen Atkins, Claire Bloom, Salome Jens, Nancy Marchand, Pauline Tinsley, & Beverly Sills! Lynn sent me a Western Union Telegram from Florida: "Just tell everyone for me that you cannot have a failure if you are playing Queen Elizabeth!"
PASSING GLANCES AT SCENES SEEN: •Guess Who's Coming To Dinner & Gay Marriage? See Immediate Family, a New American Play! There was a Time when Dating between a White Girl & a Black Man could cause Heart Murmurs among well meaning, good hearted White Parents. In some American States, Marriage between such Young People was Against the Law: Miscegenation! But imagine a Situation in which a Young Black Man has fallen in love with a White Swedish Man! Miscegenation & Gay Marriage? In Paul Oakley Stovall's Immediate Family--shown at the Goodman Theatre--a Firmly Conventional Sister, serving as Matriarch, is trying to hold the Family together. It's bad enough that her beloved Younger Brother is Gay, not interested in marrying a Nice African American Girl, but that he has also fallen for a White Photographer from Scandinavia… But she also has a Half Sister--who's come for the Impending Marriage of another Younger Brother--who is herself Half White, or Half Black, depending on your view of Half Empty & Half Full Glasses… Their Randy Father married a White Woman the second time round. The formerly Conventionally Married Swede will shoot the Wedding for Free, which is always a Plus, even if he's Gay. Phylicia Rashád staged the Outstanding Cast, in a handsome production, designed by John Iacovelli. The Problems of Racial Prejudice & Anti Gay Animus are deftly dealt with in this High Tension Drama, which is, nonetheless, Not Without Laughs. It's to be hoped that this Production can be imported intact to Manhattan. Or at the very least, Replicated!
•Police Torture in Chicago? Not Possible? See John Conroy's My Kind of Town! As an Investigative Journalist, John Conroy has long been on the Case of the Chicago Police Department, regarding the Use of Torture to extract Confessions from Innocent Men, who then end up on Death Row. Nonetheless, his Potent Reports in Print Media have not really aroused the indifferent Second City Public. As Print is now Dying, his decision to make a tension wracked Drama about Police Criminality may reach a much Wider Public. Although the TimeLine Theatre's excellently designed & tautly played Production is a World Premier, the Play is still in process, having been helped along initially by Steppenwolf. Considering the on going Complexity of Torture Issues with the Chicago Police, I told Conroy that he ought to consider a TV Series surveying the Horrible History of Genital Shocks, Suffocations, & other Forms of Inhuman & Illegal Interrogation in Chicago Police Station Basements. What is especially affecting & interesting in My Kind of Town is the way in which Conroy has involved all the People connected to the Accused & the Accusers. The Major Torturer's Wife knows something is Wrong, but, after all, she's married to the Cop & he's a Good Provider…
Nick Bowling adroitly staged--in a Scaffold Prone Setting, by Brian Sidney Bembridge--a Talented Cast. The Wrongfully Accused & Condemned to Death Row Hero was a bit Over the Top at times, but then he was being Systematically Destroyed by Agents of Justice. The Production is accompanied by a detailed Lobby Display of the History of Police Malfeasance & Corruption in Chicago over the years, from 1980 to 1998… There's also a very large Painted Cow, signed by Hilary Clinton! TimeLine Theatre is dedicated to exploring the History--or Backstory--of current Social & Political Issues. If you want to know more about Chicago Police Scandals or other TimeLine productions, check out timelinetheatre.com.
•Tired of Titanic Sinking Celebrations? Watch the Cruise Ship Eastland Roll Over in the River! Chicago's Lookingglass Theatre won the Tony for Outstanding Regional Theatre in 2011. Its astonishingly staged "New Musical", Eastland, visually & audially explains why. The Eastland was a Severely Overloaded Cruise Ship that rolled over on its side on a Weekend Outing on the Chicago River for Western Electric Employees, many of whom drowned. Such a Disaster may not seem like anything to Sing About, but the affecting Period Keyed Music of Andre Pluess & Ben Sussman heighten the sense of Tragedy & Personal Loss. Playwright Andrew White--who is also Artistic Director of the Lookingglass--has based this Epic on an important Document: Jay Bonansinga's book, The Sinking of the Eastland: America's Forgotten Tragedy. This needs to be seen in New York: but where? The Lookingglass is essentially a Black Box. But when the Audience enters, its simple black Thrust Stage is oddly shrouded in dingy white panels of Cloth. Hard working Girls & Boys, Men & Women, are all looking forward to a River Cruise, after their grinding work, wrapping Cables for Western Electric & other jobs. But when the Ship begins to roll over, all those Cloths suddenly are sucked up into the Overhead Grid, leaving a Bare Black Scaffold, representing the Depths of the Sinking Ship, in which many are piteously Trapped… As Shrieking Young Workers sink to Watery Deaths, duplicates of their actual Costumes rise, water soaked, to be suspended Overhead… When all the Horror was finally over, 844 People had Perished, including 22 Entire Families! Working with a remarkably adept Cast, Director Amanda Dehnert has frighteningly evoked this Maritime Catastrophe, in very Human Terms. Dan Ostling's Scenic Design is both ingenious & overpowering. Mara Blumenfeld's unpretentious Period Costumes work very well, both Dry & Wet… But what Venue in Manhattan can replicate such an unusual production? New York Theatre Workshop, perhaps? If you'd like to know more about Lookingglass Theatre, its production of Eastland, & other activities, log on to: lookingglasstheatre.org.
STARS IN THEIR CROWNS: This Trip's Rational Ratings-- Paul Oakley Stovall's IMMEDIATE FAMILY [****] John Conroy's MY KIND OF TOWN [****] White, Pluess, & Sussman's EASTLAND, A NEW MUSICAL [*****]
Caricature of Glenn Loney in header is by Sam Norkin. Copyright © Glenn Loney 20012. No re-publication or broadcast use without proper credit of authorship. Suggested credit line: "Glenn Loney Arts Rambles." Reproduction rights please contact: jslaff@nymuseums.com.
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