DAVID H. BELL - LOOKING BACK. LAUNCHING FORWARD

If you are over a certain age, you already know about the 1940 film KNUTE ROCKNE – All American with Pat O’Brien as the legendary Notre Dame football coach who led his team to five undefeated seasons and the 1925 Rose Bowl championship. And, if you are under a certain age, you may be surprised that the film featured a young and future president named Ronald Reagan in the role of George Gipp who died at the age of 25.

Coming up, musical theatre audiences young and old in Chicago and South Bend can be part of the development process of ROCKNE a new musical at the Josephine Louis Theater of Northwestern University and at the Decio Theater at Notre Dame. The early November developmental workshop at Northwestern University is part of the American Music Theatre Project (AMTP) and the organization’s ongoing commitment to connect professionals and students in the development of new works for the musical stage. The workshop culminates in two free public reading performances on November 19th in Evanston and November 20th in South Bend.

David H. Bell, AMTP’s artistic director who co-wrote lyrics with Michael Mahler for this new adaptation and an earlier Chicago stage version, is directing this turn. Bell is a multiple Joseph Jefferson Award nominee -- 44 at this writing -- and has received the award 11 times.  He has served as artistic director at Ford’s Theater in Washington and has worked on Broadway, Off-Broadway, at Carnegie Hall, the National Theatre and many, many others.

David Bell joined the conversation on October 21st for an in-depth discussion about the challenges of developing new works for Broadway, the impact and accessibility of workshop programs for emerging artists and what’s ahead for the American Music Theatre Project. PODCAST

Chicago’s impact in musical theater…“Chicago is the national laboratory for new work. Chicago, in particular, has a real dedication to find grass root pieces and feed it. It is adventurous, nurturing and affordable, which is a good trio.”

The impact of Hamilton and big Broadway hits… “Unlike in the past when you would say ‘a high tide lifts all boats,’ now the money really goes to Hamilton … It’s the first time I’ve seen this experience where Hamilton really is dominating the market and actually in some ways making people reluctant to spend their discretionary dollars elsewhere … [it's] the weird phenomenon now of 'you’re only going to see one show a year' because that’s what you can afford to do rather than become a theater cohort and see whatever is available.”

On the increase in opportunities for young artists... “Starting in 1968, Broadway really didn’t know what it was so it was in the dark ages for a good 20 to 30 years. That’s when I was getting started and therefore ... there was not a lot of opportunity… Broadway was diminishing rather than growing, certainly not thriving, so the whole landscape was very, very different … The idea of direct apprenticeships wasn’t quite as prevalent as it is now … Right now you’re invited to have resident directors and assistant directors. There’s a whole hierarchical structure of how a young director can support a Broadway show… We have found new avenues to get things to Broadway. There’s much greater access to Broadway … We’re actually coming in a very healthy spate of opportunities that have been created for new artists wanting to interface with new musical work.”
 
Advice for aspiring musical theater students… “Ultimately we [AMTP] may say no, and it is a real gift not to take no from anyone. So if they don’t make it the first time, try again and try to be involved in a number of ways … Those who don’t allow themselves to hear no are the ones who make it in this business.”

PODCAST

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Northwestern University's American Music Theatre Project

CRAZY FOR CROWLE - A CONVERSATION WITH MATT CROWLE

Matt Crowle, the multi-talented, award-winning veteran of musical theatre in Chicago for the past decade, has a backstory worthy of a Broadway musical all its own. Born and raised in Marshall, Michigan, where he discovered his love for ballet, tap, theatre and comedy at a very early age, Crowle eventually followed a calling to New York City, grinding through years of auditions, dance and voice classes and part-time jobs to make ends meet.  His first real break would come as a member of the touring company of Dr. Dolittle and stage time with Tommy Tune. And then came the Broadway megahit, Spamalot.

These stories are just part of the fascinating conversation we had on September 27th with Matt Crowle, the six-time Jefferson award nominated actor, choreographer and dance instructor. In a wide-ranging discussion, Crowle talks about who helped to shape his performance philosophy, recognizing talent, the importance of training, and, working with one of his best friends, Bill Larkin.

Matt Crowle received the 2015 Jeff Award for his performance as Hysterium in Porchlight Music Theatre’s production of A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum and is nominated twice in 2016 -- for his tour-de-force performance as Leo Bloom in Mercury Theater’s The Producers, and, for his choreography in the Drury Lane Theatre production of White Christmas. 

NEXT UP: Matt Crowle is merging all of his formidable talents and vast stage experience as director and choreographer of Drury Lane Theatre’s upcoming production of Crazy For You, running November 3rd though January 8th.

Matt Crowle on his New York miracle and unforgettable Spamalot audition:
"I was working at Ellen’s Stardust Diner and I got a call from Tara Rubin Casting saying we’d love for you to come in next week for Spamalot …  and to be honest, it was an eye-rolling moment because I thought 'you’ve seen me… there’s nothing left to do.' I talked to my mom and said ‘I don’t think I’m going to go. I have a shift that night.’ My mom said ‘So, you’re going to sling burgers around when you can audition for a Broadway show !?!’" 
 
"I almost didn’t make it … I was trapped on the N train, ran upstairs grabbed a cab and said ‘I will give you 50 dollars if you can get me to Chelsea faster than you should legally’ ... and he did …  I think I was the first to go, did the first song, went well, did the first of two scenes, went well, and that was when my mentor Bruce kicked me in the back of the head and said ‘you’re not done yet.’ ... So I launched into the second one and the associate director at the time, Peter Lawrence, leaned in after I finished and said ‘I am very, very glad you did that.’ … So that was at about 11 … and at about 11:15, I had a phone call that said if you want to join the Broadway company Spamalot,  you start in two days …  So I went in there, quit my job at the restaurant, and there you have it.”

About physical comedy and streamlining simplicity:
"I had a knack at a very young age for falling down really well. I was doing prat falls for a very long time. My parents got a video camera … one day, when I played hooky from school all I did for the whole day was fall off from furniture or jump off of things and fall and then I’d go back and watch it in slow motion to see if it was believable enough."
 
"My mom found the tape. She was like ‘What were you thinking?!?!’ It was just before the night I had an opening in a show in high school. ‘And what if you had broken your arm !?!’ [I said] ‘I’m not going to break my arm. I know exactly what I’m doing. I’m a pro!’ … and she just rolled her eyes and said ‘Well, it’s your problem.’ 

“I think the first real exposure to physical comedy for me would have been Steve Martin. My mom and dad loved Steve Martin, listened to his stand up albums, watched Roxanne, The Jerk and, of course, Three Amigos. So much of my generation is about vulgar humor… But I thought clever always spoke to me. Clever and simple because it’s not easy. It’s not easy to weed out all the stuff you don’t need just to find that nugget, that gold nugget of truth and streamline simplicity … And then I was turned on to Keaton and Chaplin and went back over and over again saying, ‘What is it that makes it so perfect'"

Working with Bill Larkin 
"That rehearsal process [for Producers] was incredible because we had so much already from day one … Bill, as brilliant as he is, can be a bit awkward physically and he embraces this … There was a day when the director was trying to get him to lean on a wall a certain way. I felt like I was watching a Steve Martin or Buster Keaton comedy bit where he seriously didn’t know how to lean on the wall ... We had to take a break I was weeping … He’s such a natural, beautiful comedian … I adore him … He’s one of my dearest friends.”

The importance of training: 
“I try to impress upon my students and colleagues that you are never done training … In New York, everyone is always in class … always in voice lessons… always training … I didn’t notice that here so I’ve really tried to change that approach … All you have is your reputation and if you rely on that as opposed to committing to push forward with it you lose, and we all lose … Any time I talk to young performers I say ‘Be the best you can. Then get better.’”

Matt Crowle Website
Peninsula Players Theatre - Peter and the Starcatcher July 2 - 23, 2017

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DOREEN SAYEGH - SHAKESPEARE 400 CHICAGO

"I think that Shakespeare really does live in this city, and it’s so clear to see in this year that you have the spirit of Chicago, the grittiness, the strength, the poetry of it really does meet this playwright in an incredible way. It’s why the largest celebration of Shakespeare’s 400-year legacy is happening in Chicago … because the city wants it." – Doreen Sayegh, Festival Producer, Shakespeare 400 Chicago  Listen to entire podcast HERE

In 1616, William Shakespeare shuffled off (his) mortal coil, reason enough 400 years later for an international celebration fit for a King!

In 2016, culminating years of preparation, the Chicago Shakespeare Theater has launched Shakespeare 400 Chicago, an ambitious program series that has brought together cultural and educational institutions, national and intentional theater companies, performing artists and scholars to present their own impressive contribution to the celebration.

Festival Producer, Doreen Sayegh, joined the conversation on August 26, 2016 to discuss everything that has been happening twixt wake and sleep, including what's coming up this fall and a treasury of everlasting “scholarly” joy called City Desk 400.

Doreen on the collective nature of the the festival:
“What has been amazing is that Chicago Shakespeare Theater has worked with 60 different institutions across the city to program 850 events in 2016 ... we have artists and institutions from all disciplines that are pulling together and reflecting on what Shakespeare means to Chicago … bringing in international perspectives, trying to show Shakespeare across the genres and forms … we even have a culinary strand where 38 different restaurants - 38 of Chicago’s greatest chefs- are interpreting Shakespeare’s titles.”

What she loves about her job:
“I feel very lucky to be working on this festival …. to have incredible partners like Barbara [Gaines] and Criss [Henderson] who are inspiring and really daring …  who also took the chance on someone who’s young in their career to help them pull this together.  For me I’ve loved how much the city has come around this. I don’t think any of us imagined it. I think we hoped for it, and we weren’t sure what was going to happen, but you see all of these institutions and all of these audience members really excited about the idea that their city is uniting around a theme … that the theme has been universally celebrated for 400 years and still resonates in all of these different ways.”

On the diversity within the festival:
“Some theaters that we brought in are full of classically trained actors who have done Shakespeare all their life and do these beautiful interpretations. And some of them have conflicted relationships with Shakespeare but have taken a work of his and have used their own cultural lens and experience to produce something that matters to them and their community … to have both of those things under the same festival umbrella is incredibly exciting to me and sort of a gift to be able to see that.”

What Chicago audiences will take away from the festival:
“Audiences will have felt that their city is full of incredible cultural and creative organizations. I think that Shakespeare really does live in this city, and it’s so clear to see in this year that you have the spirit of Chicago, the grittiness, the strength, the poetry of it really does meet this playwright in an incredible way. It’s why the largest celebration of Shakespeare’s 400-year legacy is happening in Chicago … because the city wants it. My goal for the year has really been that everybody feels this festival in some way …. that something has reached them. I hope that people feel the spirit of Shakespeare in the city and excited about exploring the city.”

Listen to the podcast HERE
City Desk 400: HERE
More information on Shakespeare 400 HERE

SANDY SHINNER - SHATTERED GLOBE THEATRE

Shattered Globe Theatre presents True West

A Conversation with Producing Artistic Director Sandy Shinner

Shattered Globe Theatre kicks off the 2016-17 season, September 8th through October 22nd, with a revival of Sam Shepard’s Pulitzer Prize Award-winning American Drama True West at Theater Wit, 129 W. Belmont Ave.

Directed by James Yost, True West features Shattered Globe ensemble members Joseph Wiens, Kevin Viol, Rebecca Jordan with Rob Frankel.

Shattered Globe’s 26th season also includes the Chicago premiere of Meg Miroshnik’s Tall Girls in January 2017 and in April 2017, For Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday, by Pulitzer Prize Finalist and Tony Award Nominee, Sarah Ruhl.

On August 18th, Shattered Globe’s Producing Artistic Director Sandy Shinner joined the conversation to talk about her career, True West and what’s ahead.

Sandy on why audiences resonate so well with True West:
“It’s the iconic story of the two brothers. Sam Shepard was exploring the idea of duality – that they could possibly be the same person …  I think he was trying to reconcile both those parts of his existence. The classic sibling rivalry since Cain and Abel has been the theme that everyone has always gravitated towards.”

About the cast of True West:
"Joseph Wiens is playing Lee. Joe has been in several shows at Shattered Globe recently and audiences in this last season were fascinated to watch him change from the kind-of-nebbishy high school math teacher in Animals Out of Paper to the redneck police detective in In the Heat of the Night. He made a transformation so that people didn’t even recognize him.

Kevin Viol, who has [also] been in several other Shattered Globe shows, is Austin. They are [together] a really interesting look on stage. Joe is really big and tall and kind of brawny. He’s the brother who has been living out in the dessert. Kevin is the successful screenwriter – glasses, more in the main stream – and so there’s a really distinct look between the two characters.

 Rebecca Jordan is playing the mother, and Rob Frankel, performing at Shattered Globe for the first time, is playing Saul Kimmer.

 James Yost is Co-Artistic Director at Interrobang Theatre Project. This is his favorite play ... As we built the season, we came up with three really personal plays for the season … for different reasons, and that is the theme for the season."

On the future of Shattered Globe:
“...to continue to strengthen Shattered Globe … to potentially add more shows to give more opportunities to the ensemble and to bring in new people… to make sure we work on new plays… to make sure we increase the diversity in the company, because I feel like if we’re performing for the City of Chicago, we should also be representative of the City of Chicago. New play development and diversity have always been what I am really passionate about.”
 

Marcelle McVay, Dennis Zacek and Sandy Shinner celebrate 2001 regional theater Tony Award for Victory Gardens. 

Ed Tracy on stage with Sandy Shinner, Tom McCabe and Christopher Wells in a 1976 production of Sabrina Fair at the Mt Holyoke College Summer Theatre. Inset Above: Ed Tracy with Sandy Shinner for CONVERSATIONS on August 18th, 2016. 

Entire podcast HERE

CONVERSATIONS FTA - BONNIE KOLOC October 22, 2013

Since arriving on the Chicago music scene in the late 60’s, Bonnie Koloc has established herself as one of our most gifted and beloved singers, songwriters and visual artists.

On October 22nd, 2013, as Monroe Anderson and Ed prepared for the Chicago Conversations PBS television program on Old Town School, Bonnie Koloc joined a live edition of the show at the Hubbard Inn in which she discussed her extraordinary career, the challenges she faced with recording companies and includes an acapella performance of Amelia Earhart's Last Flight.

You can listen to the entire Conversations podcast HERE.
 
Bonnie Koloc on where she finds inspiration:
“From everywhere … because I’m very eclectic. I love lots of different things. I love classical music … I love jazz … I like anything that’s honest and true. I was very eclectic from day one and also had a voice that didn’t want to do one thing. I loved to use all of the colors of the voice and all the things that the voice could do. I’m really interested in music that is from the heart and honest.”

On the power of music:
“I truly believe in the healing thing of music. I believe that music is for everyone, not just people who might be born with a very good voice … it’s for all of us … Music helps us heal from all the bad stuff in our life and helps us celebrate that which is good.”

The importance of arts education:
“It’s a different way of thinking … it’s called creative thinking … solving problems in a different way. That’s why to be completely educated, to have a complete education, you have to have the arts in our school. Plus it saves a lot of the kids who, like myself, didn’t fit in or have to deal with all kinds of craziness in their life and can’t concentrate on the straight facts, but can learn through expressing how they feel and who they are.”

Watch Chicago Conversations PBS Special on
Old Town School of Folk Music "Music for Everyone."
Visit Bonnie Koloc's Website

ANDRÉ DE SHIELDS - CONFESSIONS OF A P.I.M.P.

André De Shields returns to Victory Gardens Theater August 26-28 for a production of his one-man show, Confessions of a P.I.M.P. 

On Broadway, De Shields originated the title role in The Wiz and had long runs in Ain’t Misbehavin', Play On! and The Full Monty -- Broadway performances that have earned him two Tony Award nominations and five Drama Desk nominations.

A multiple Chicago Jeff Award recipient, most recently for his show-stopping performance in Jungle Book, De Shields also received an Emmy Award for an NBC broadcast special on Ain’t Misbehavin’. During a break from rehearsals on August 15th, André De Shields talked about his show, an extraordinary 46-year career and what it is that keeps bringing him back to Chicago. 

André’s advice to young performers at the beginning of their careers:
“It is not easy … it is hard for everyone. But remember there are two things that are guaranteed, absolutely guaranteed, in this industry … now here comes the punch line … It’s not fame and fortune … it’s rejection and insecurity … but that’s the test because when you get hungry, and you will get hungry, philosophically hungry and carnally hungry, your stomach will growl for nutrition. When you get hungry, if you can make your meal of rejection and when you get lonely, and you will get lonely, because this narrow path you’re walking is yours and no one else’s … if you can make a companion of insecurity then the universe will conspire to help you because you both will have realized that you have chosen the correct path.”
 
André shares a special moment with (Dreamgirl)Donica Lynn:
“In one of my Cabaret performances in New York I chose to sing ‘And I am Telling You I’m Not Going’ from a male’s perspective, but I didn’t change the pronouns ... and what I learned about that song is that it has very little to do with gender per se … the essence, the heart of that song is ‘I don’t want to be free.’ I shared that with Donica Lynn and with Doug Peck and during their (Dreamgirls)performance they sent a Facebook message to me and it was a photograph of that part of the music with a huge lip imprint of red lipstick from Donica and it meant the world to me ... because apparently she used that doorway as one of the means to get into that song. And when you hear that song with the emphasis on ‘I don’t want to be free’ it really changes what that song is about … it’s not about the man… it’s not about the woman… it’s about the human condition. ‘I don’t want to be alone. I need a companion’ … and that’s that message I was talking about earlier about rejection and insecurity.  We need company … we need ensemble … we need community in this industry. Otherwise we can’t rise.”
 
André on the ‘power of effective storytelling’: 
“If the story is told effectively then it will transcend the problem and transform the life of an individual … it will transcend the problem and alter the government … it will transcend the problem and change the world into the place you want it to be and you need it to be.”

Entire podcast HERE

André De Shields Website HERE

"... it was a photograph of that part of the music with a huge lip imprint of red lipstick from Donica and it meant the world to me ... because apparently she used that doorway as one of the means to get into that song. " André De Shields August 15, 2016

CONFESSIONS OF A P.I.M.P August 27, 2016 with Denise McGowan Tracy and André De Shields

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SHELDON PATINKIN UNPLUGGED

SHELDON PATINKIN (1935-2014) helped shape the Chicago comedy and theatre scene as a writer, performer and director for well over six decades. He served as the longtime Chairman of the Theatre Department at Columbia College Chicago and was part of perhaps the greatest generation of Chicago improvisers, playing an integral role in the evolution of The Second City.

On September 19, 2013, as we prepared for the third episode of our PBS show Chicago Conversations, Sheldon Patinkin joined Ed for a wide-ranging conversation about his career, the development of The Second City and many of the extraordinary comedians he has worked with over the years. While portions of the interview appeared in our television show, Second City: First in Funny, this podcast is the audio track of the studio interview with Sheldon Patinkin -- unplugged and at his best -- in what is believed to be his last long-format interview.

Sheldon Patinkin on what he looked for in a student/performer while at Second City:
“The ability to relate to the others, the ability to take what you get and respond to it, and the ability to stop looking for laughs and jokes … I have a preference for the kind of improviser/actor who can become the next character instead of making the next character like themselves … that was Alan Arkin, that was Steve Carell – who is one of the best improvisers out of character that we ever had at Second City … as opposed to both Belushis … you could always tell it was Belushi … you could always tell it was John Candy, but they were so good at it that was fine too.”

A sampling of Sheldon Patinkin's one-word descriptions: 
Bill Murray: “Funny.”
Dan Akroyd: “Tough.”
John Candy: “Sweetheart.”

Sheldon Patinkin’s advice to aspiring comedians/actors:
“You have to be willing to fail … willing to not get an audition … willing to not get a call back… not willing, but you have to be able to handle it.  If you start getting depressed about it, then go find something else because you’re going to be a waiter the rest of your life.”

RELATED LINKS:
CHICAGO CONVERSATIONS - SECOND CITY: FIRST IN FUNNY: VIDEO
WGN RADIO - BILL LEFF AND WENDY SNYDER: INTERVIEW
SHELDON PATINKIN OBITUARY(CHRIS JONES TRIBUNE): SEPTEMBER 21, 2014