Talk Theatre in Chicago

Vieux Carre was one of Tennessee Williams' first plays and one of his last -- begun in the late 30s but not completed until forty years later, near the end of the playwright's life. The premiere production was a major Broadway flop and, despite the importance of its writer, the play has been seldom produced since then. Now Raven Theatre has brought it to Chicago audiences. Director Cody Estle, dramaturg Lukas Brasherfons and set designer Ray Toler join Anne Nicholson Weber to talk about the history, merits and challenges of this little known Williams work.

What are the pleasures and pitfalls of composing incidental music for a play? Chicago composers Christopher Kriz (multiple Jeff award nominee, including for his music for Lifeline Theatre's 2013 production of Pride and Prejudice) and Daniel Knox (Jeff-nominated for his music for Mary Arrchie's production of The Glass Menagerie), and actor/violinist Greg Hirte (incidental music for Piven Theatre's production of The Language Archive), join Anne Nicholson Weber to talk about their work.

What are the pleasures and pitfalls of composing incidental music for a play? Chicago composers Christopher Kriz (multiple Jeff award nominee, including for his music for Lifeline Theatre's 2013 production of Pride and Prejudice) and Daniel Knox (Jeff-nominated for his music for Mary Arrchie's production of The Glass Menagerie), and actor/violinist Greg Hirte (incidental music for Piven Theatre's production of The Language Archive), join Anne Nicholson Weber to talk about their work.

What does it mean to a playwright to be a member of an ensemble? Tarell Alvin McCraney joined the Steppenwolf ensemble in 2010 during the run of his trilogy, The Brother/Sister Plays. He's back in Chicago for the world-premiere of his Steppenwolf-commissioned play, Head of Passes. He and Steppenwolf Artistic Director, Martha Lavey, join Anne Nicholson Weber to talk about their current collaboration and on-going relationship.

How does a play get written? In particular, how does a verse play about two college English teachers lecturing on the poetry of William Blake to save their jobs after having public sex on the campus green get written? Mickle Maher joins Anne Nicholson Weber to talk about the genesis of his play, There Is A Happiness That Morning Is, which is currently being remounted by Theater Oobleck at Victory Gardens; and about drafts and redrafts, writing in verse, and finding one's voice as a writer.

How do you cast a new light on a classic? Hans Fleischmann, director of Mary Arrchie's current hit production of Tennesse Williams' The Glass Menagerie, along with cast members Joanne Dubach and Walter Briggs, join Anne Nicholson Weber to discuss Fleischmann's concept for the production, the avant garde elements of Williams' original conception of the play, how film inspired their staging and the challenges facing an actor/director.

Seventeen years ago, actors Brad Armacost, Lia Mortensen and Si Osborne starred in a production of Brian Friel's Faith Healer that took Chicago by storm, running four months in a tiny storefront space and then joining the line-up in Steppenwolf's inaugural studio theatre series. They are remounting that production at The Den Theatre, again under the direction of J.R Sullivan, and join Anne Nicholson Weber to talk about Friel's tricky play and the return to a pivotal experience in their development as artists.

The American Blues Theater has been presenting a version of It's a Wonderful Life: Live! at the Biograph every holiday season for the last eight years Four members of the cast -- Kevin R. Kelly, John Mohrlein, Gwendolyn Whiteside and Shawn J. Goudie.- join Anne Nicholson Weber to talk about the history of this perennial Chicago favorite, the style and aesthetic of the production, how Foley Artist Shawn Goudie creates the sound effects, and some of the extras -- carol singing, live jingles for local businesses, and "audiograms" -- that contribute to the show's warm, community spirit.

Education and outreach are a big part of what many Chicago theatres do. Three leaders in this field -- Hallie Gordon (Artistic and Education Director For Young Adults at Steppenwolf Theatre), Marilyn Halperin (Director of Education and Communications at Chicago Shakespeare Theater) and Nicole O'Connell (Director of Education at Writers Theatre) -- join Anne Nicholson Weber to discuss how and why their theatres are reaching out to teachers and students in the Chicago public schools.

How and why do you put science on stage? This week's podcast features two of the artists involved with the production of Peter Parnell's QED, currently being produced by theatre4humanity and Collaboraction. Rob Riley plays physicist Richard Feynman in the show; Matthew Grayson designed the sound and graphics. Matt is also a professor of engineering at Northwestern University where he produced an earlier incarnation of this production as part of an annual series of plays about science. Rob and Matt join Anne Nicholson Weber to talk about Feynman, left- and right-brain creativity, and the creative combustion that results when artists and scientists collaborate.

This week's podcast features director Jennifer Green and stage manager Jessica Forella, who join Anne Nicholson Weber to discuss their experiences working with the young cast of Piven Theatre Workshop's current production of Tusk Tusk by Polly Stenham -- how they went about working on adult materials with child actors, how the processes of casting and rehearsing differ, and why they got better at their jobs doing this show.

Our podcast this week focuses on Cor Theatre's inaugural production of Skin Tight by Gary Henderson. Joining us to talk about the show and the company are Victoria Deiorio (Co-Founder, Director), Tosha Fowler (Co-Founder, cast member), Scott Cummins (Fight Director) and Julia Neary (Fight Director / Movement). They talk with Anne Nicholson Weber about the physicality of the piece, including the metaphorical uses of movement, how a fight is choreographed to tell a story, and how actors depicting lovers become comfortable with physical intimacy on stage.

This week's podcast focuses on Chicago Shakespeare Theatre's new initative to take their production of The Taming of the Shrew into Chicago's neighborhood parks. Director of Production Chris Plevin and cast members Ericka Ratcliff (Kate) and Matt Mueller (Petruchio) join Anne Nicholson Weber to talk about the challeges and rewards of producing Shakespeare outside in broad daylight for audiences in neighborhoods around the city.

On this week's podcast, we air Part 2 of a two-part series focusing on the recently disbanded company, New Leaf Theatre. Artistic Director Jessica Hutchinson, Managing Director Eleanor Hyde, resident scenic designer Michelle Lilly, and resident sound designer Nick Keenan join Anne Nicholson Weber to discss their decision to disband the company, choices they might make differently in hindsight, and some interesting new models for producing store-front theatre in this city.

On this week's podcast, we air Part 1 of a two-part series focusing on the recently disbanded company, New Leaf Theatre. This week in Part 1, Artistic Director Jessica Hutchinson, Managing Director Eleanor Hyde, resident scenic designer Michelle Lilly, and resident sound designer Nick Keenan join Anne Nicholson Weber to talk about New Leaf's history, culture and successes. Next week, we will conclude the conversation with Part 2, the story of the ensemble's decision to disband the company at the end of the run of their most recent show, a critcially-acclaimed production of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia.

Our guests on this week's podcast are Monty Cole and Brian Loevner, two of the three members of the Chicago Commercial Collective -- a new entity in town that plans to produce commercial remounts of non-profit shows that would otherwise "close too soon." Monty and Brian talk with Anne Nicholson Weber about the genesis of the collective, their plans for the future, and their inaugural production -- a remount of Keith Huff's A Steady Rain, which the collective is producing in association with Chicago Dramatists where the show was originally developed and premiered.

This week's podcast interview focuses on the production of Joanthan Larson's Rent, which is currently playing at American Theatre Company, co-produced by About Face Theatre. Director David Cromer and cast members Derrick Trumbly (Roger) and Eduardo Placer (Angel) talk with Anne Nicholson Weber about Cromer's re-examination of the iconic show and reconfiguration of the ATC space, Trumbly's performance of "One Song Glory" and Placer's experience learning a role in four days to step into a production that had already opened.

This week's podcast features actors Mike Nussbaum and Coburn Goss, who are currently playing in Mark St. Germain's two-hander, Freud's Last Session, at The Mercury Theatre. Anne Nicholson Weber talks to Mike and Coburn about the challenges of playing historical figures Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis, of taking over the roles from the New York actors who opened the production here in Chicago, the response of the audience to this play of ideas, and observations on the art of acting.

Our guests on this week's podcast are director Eric Hoff and fight choreographer Ryan Bourque. They join Anne Nicholson Weber to discuss the development and staging of Ike Holter's new play, Hit the Wall, currently being performed by The Inconvenience as part of the Steppenwolf Garage series -- the challenges of creating a convincing riot on stage using only 10 actors; underscoring a stage fight without turning it into a dance; and their exploration of gender and period setting through movement.

This week's podcast features director Greg Kolack and ensemble member Matt Babbs, who join Anne Nicholson Weber to talk about Redtwist Theatre's production of The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later -- how the project came to be, their approach to documentary theatre, Greg's experiences interviewing some of the subjects of the play, and Redtwist's simultaneous production of a fully-staged reading of the original The Laramie Project.

This week's podcast focuses on the Idle Muse Theatre Company's production of Shakespeare's R and J, which is currently playing at The Side Project. Director Tristan Brandon and cast members Curtis Jackson and Andrew Lund join host Anne Nicholson Weber to talk about their approach to the verse and how it was affected by the adaptor's conceit that the play is being performed by four school boys; and also about the casting process and how a newly-arrived actor integrates into the Chicago theatre scene.