Stage Kiss - Goodman Theatre
Stage Kiss - Goodman Theatre
Stage Kiss - Goodman Theatre
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April – June 2011<br />
A DECADE ON DEARBORN<br />
Issue IV<br />
A CONVERSATION<br />
WITH SARAH RUHL<br />
AND JESSICA THEBUS<br />
ICONIC KISSES ON<br />
THE SILVER SCREEN
<strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong> Artistic Director | ROBERT FALLS<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong> Executive Director | ROCHE SCHULFER<br />
April – June 2011<br />
CONTENTS<br />
In the Albert<br />
1 Why <strong>Stage</strong> <strong>Kiss</strong>?<br />
2 Playing the Part: A Conversation with Sarah Ruhl and Jessica Thebus<br />
6 Reel vs. Real: Iconic <strong>Kiss</strong>es on the Silver Screen<br />
9 Sarah Ruhl’s Comedic Cocktail<br />
At the <strong>Goodman</strong><br />
11 Theater, Diversity and the Social Contract<br />
14 The 2011/2012 Season<br />
In the Wings<br />
16 Local Seniors Find Their Inner Voice Through GeNarrations Writing Program<br />
17 Meet the Playwrights Unit<br />
Scene at the <strong>Goodman</strong><br />
18 Auction an Amazing Success<br />
19 Opening Night: Mary<br />
Opening Night: God of Carnage<br />
Offstage<br />
19 <strong>Stage</strong> <strong>Kiss</strong> Events<br />
For Subscribers<br />
21 Calendar<br />
VOLUME 26 #4<br />
Co-Editors| Lesley Gibson, Lori Kleinerman,<br />
Tanya Palmer<br />
Graphic Designer | Tyler Engman<br />
Production Manager | Lesley Gibson<br />
Contributing Writers/Editors | Neena Arndt,<br />
Jeff Ciaramita, Jeffrey Fauver, Lisa Feingold,<br />
Katie Frient, Lesley Gibson, Lori Kleinerman,<br />
Caitlin Kunkel, Carly Leviton, Dorlisa Martin,<br />
Julie Massey, Tanya Palmer, Scott Podraza,<br />
Teresa Rende, Victoria Rodriguez, Denise<br />
Schneider, Steve Scott, Willa J. Taylor, Kate<br />
Welham Jennifer Whittemore.<br />
On<strong>Stage</strong> is published in conjunction with<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong> productions. It is<br />
designed to serve as an information source<br />
for <strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong> Subscribers. For ticket<br />
and subscription information call<br />
312.443.3810. Cover: Photo of Jenny<br />
Bacon and Mark L. Montgomery by Dean<br />
LaPrarie. Image design and direction by<br />
Kelly Rickert.<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong> productions are made possible<br />
in part by the National Endowment for the<br />
Arts; the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency;<br />
and a CityArts grant from the City of<br />
Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and<br />
Special Events; and the Leading National<br />
<strong>Theatre</strong>s Program, a joint initiative of the<br />
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the<br />
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.<br />
Written comments and<br />
inquiries should be sent to:<br />
The Editor, On<strong>Stage</strong><br />
<strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong><br />
170 North Dearborn Street<br />
Chicago, IL 60601<br />
or e-mail us at:<br />
On<strong>Stage</strong>@<strong>Goodman</strong><strong>Theatre</strong>.org
IN THE ALBERT<br />
FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR<br />
Photo by Liz Lauren.<br />
Why <strong>Stage</strong> <strong>Kiss</strong>?<br />
To most people, the job description for an actor is pretty straightforward: bring a character to life convincingly enough<br />
that the audience believes (at least for the duration of the performance) that the character is real. Spencer Tracy put<br />
it even more simply, famously observing that the actor’s main task is to “remember your lines and don’t bump into<br />
the furniture.” But as any actor can tell you, the task can be infinitely more challenging than that. It’s not merely pretending<br />
to be someone else; a truly effective performance depends on the actor’s ability to become someone else, to<br />
think and feel and respond as that imaginary person would, as if he or she were real. Ultimately, it’s a transformative<br />
process that not even the best actors can truly describe—a process that utilizes a combination of emotional identification,<br />
imagination, technique and analysis that results in a kind of induced delusion, a merging of the actor’s persona<br />
with the character’s. Understandably, this can cause some confusion for even the most experienced thespian, when<br />
the emotional reflexes of the actor become the same as those of the character he’s playing—and an intimacy that<br />
begins onstage overtakes offstage lives as well.<br />
This unique occupational hazard forms the basis for Sarah Ruhl’s latest play, <strong>Stage</strong> <strong>Kiss</strong>. It’s a dichotomy that she’s<br />
explored before, notably in Passion Play (produced at the <strong>Goodman</strong> in 2007), in which the actors taking part in dramatic<br />
renderings of the final days of Jesus Christ begin to assume the traits of the characters they play. <strong>Stage</strong> <strong>Kiss</strong><br />
takes this conceit even further: Two actors (known only as He and She), long estranged since the crumbling of a brief<br />
but torrid affair that ended years ago, are cast opposite each other in a romantic melodrama. Inexorably, their behindthe-scenes<br />
relationship morphs into something very much like what they’re creating in rehearsal—with the resultant<br />
upheavals in their personal lives. With singular intelligence and wit, Sarah imbues this conflicted situation with terrific<br />
humor, wisdom and honest humanity, exploring the often tenuous grasp that we all have on our own identities.<br />
<strong>Stage</strong> <strong>Kiss</strong> is the latest in a series of provocative new works commissioned by the <strong>Goodman</strong> and is the result of a<br />
developmental process that has spanned nearly two years. It reaffirms Sarah’s position as one of the singularly gifted<br />
voices of the contemporary American theater—and will take you on a delightful and moving journey into the unpredictable<br />
terrain of human relationships.<br />
Robert Falls<br />
Artistic Director<br />
1
IN THE ALBERT<br />
Playing the Part:<br />
A Conversation with<br />
Sarah Ruhl and Jessica Thebus<br />
By Tanya Palmer<br />
For playwright Sarah Ruhl, the theater<br />
is not only the place where she makes<br />
her living—it’s also the place where she<br />
investigates life. Ruhl, whose mother<br />
is an actor, has been immersed in<br />
the theater from an early age, including<br />
a stint in her teenage years at the<br />
legendary Piven <strong>Theatre</strong> Workshop in<br />
Evanston, where she first met director<br />
Jessica Thebus. In her illustrious<br />
career as a playwright (to date, her<br />
professional résumé boasts a MacArthur<br />
“Genius” Grant, two Pulitzer Prize nominations<br />
and a Tony nomination) Ruhl<br />
has often been drawn to the notion of<br />
performance. <strong>Goodman</strong> audiences will<br />
remember her ambitious three-part epic,<br />
Passion Play: a cycle in three parts,<br />
staged at the <strong>Goodman</strong> in 2007, in<br />
which Ruhl explores what the impact<br />
of portraying a Biblical figure might<br />
do to an actor’s sense of self. Passion<br />
Play depicts three separate passion<br />
plays throughout history—one set in<br />
Elizabethan England, one set in Nazi<br />
Germany and a third set in Vietnam-era<br />
South Dakota—and in each section the<br />
characters struggle with their identification<br />
with, and differences from, the<br />
iconic characters they embodied (namely<br />
Jesus, Pontius Pilate, Mary and Mary<br />
Magdalene). The tension in Passion Play<br />
between its characters’ dual identities—<br />
their authentic selves and the fictional<br />
characters they portray—became Ruhl’s<br />
springboard for exploring issues of religion,<br />
nationhood and identity.<br />
In <strong>Stage</strong> <strong>Kiss</strong>, Ruhl returns to the subject<br />
of the theater—and in particular<br />
the tension between actor and role—but<br />
in a wildly different package from the<br />
often dark and thorny world of Passion<br />
Play. This time she tackles the world of<br />
contemporary professional theater with<br />
a kind of lightness and frivolity (though<br />
with a steely intelligence and precision),<br />
introducing the audience to He and<br />
She, two veteran actors with a complex<br />
romantic past who are unexpectedly<br />
reunited when they are cast as the lead<br />
roles in a 1930s stage melodrama. As<br />
their present day lives and memories<br />
become more and more intertwined<br />
with the fictional world they inhabit in<br />
rehearsal (and subsequently in performance),<br />
the theater becomes both the<br />
literal backdrop for the play and the<br />
window through which Ruhl is able to<br />
explore the tension between what is real<br />
RIGHT: Sarah Ruhl in rehearsal for Passion Play: a cycle in<br />
three parts. Photo by Peter Wynn Thompson. OPPOSITE:<br />
Brian Sgambati and Kristen Bush in Passion Play: a cycle in<br />
three parts, produced in 2007. Photo by Liz Lauren.<br />
2
“She’s really trying to get at this emotional<br />
truth that I find to be very exciting…<br />
and she does it through a highly<br />
theatrical language, which is appealing<br />
to any director.”<br />
—Director Jessica Thebus on Playwright Sarah Ruhl<br />
and what is imagined—assuming the<br />
two can ever really be separated.<br />
In a 2008 profile in The New Yorker by<br />
critic John Lahr, Ruhl described her desire<br />
as a playwright to capture “how people<br />
subjectively experience life…. Everyone<br />
has a great, horrible opera inside him.”<br />
In <strong>Stage</strong> <strong>Kiss</strong>, He and She, whose past<br />
love affair is given a new form and a new<br />
language in the often hilarious but clunky<br />
1930s play, find themselves struggling to<br />
parse the difference between their interior<br />
drama and the roles they’ve been hired<br />
to perform. What results is a very human<br />
exploration of love, nostalgia and commitment,<br />
and how we perform not only roles<br />
on the stage—but also the roles we take<br />
on and shed throughout our everyday lives.<br />
In a recent conversation with the<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong>’s Director of New Play<br />
Development, Tanya Palmer, Ruhl and<br />
her longtime collaborator Jessica Thebus<br />
talk about how this play emerged, what<br />
connects it to Ruhl’s previous work and<br />
what fuels their collaboration.<br />
Tanya Palmer: What was the initial<br />
inspiration for <strong>Stage</strong> <strong>Kiss</strong>?<br />
And to what extent do these external<br />
gestures reflect or change internal states?<br />
I was interested in looking at that phenomenon.<br />
And as I read more 1930s<br />
Broadway chestnuts, I was interested in<br />
the question of the language of intimacy<br />
more broadly. That is, who is to say<br />
what’s a more “real” way of talking about<br />
love; our shaggy televised way of talking<br />
about love in the year 2011, or the highflown<br />
romantic language of the ’30s?<br />
TP: The two of you have collaborated on<br />
a number of plays through the years—<br />
including the <strong>Goodman</strong>’s production of<br />
The Clean House and Steppenwolf’s production<br />
of Dead Man’s Cell Phone, among<br />
many others. What elements draw you<br />
together as collaborators so frequently?<br />
SR: I love working with Jessica because<br />
at this point we have a shared vocabulary.<br />
Things I always love about Jessica<br />
are her sense of playfulness, her visual<br />
imagination and her gifts as a storyteller.<br />
Jessica Thebus: I’m drawn to Sarah’s<br />
work because it’s so truthful. It feels like<br />
she is always exploring and digging at<br />
the heart of a true experience—an experience<br />
which is difficult to get to or put into<br />
words. She’s really trying to get at this<br />
emotional truth—about grief, about love,<br />
about relationships, about acceptance—<br />
that I find very exciting, and she does<br />
it through a highly theatrical language,<br />
which is appealing to any director. But to<br />
me, that makes the struggles of the characters<br />
in the play feel even more true,<br />
because it conveys what it’s like to be in<br />
your own head struggling with something.<br />
The language is very theatrical—you<br />
could even say magical—and that’s<br />
always delightful to put on the stage. But<br />
it goes with the emotional heart of the<br />
play—she uses that theatrical language to<br />
really capture what it’s like to have a certain<br />
kind of fantasy, or obsession, or fear,<br />
and so it feels very familiar in an unusual<br />
and very, very exciting way.<br />
TP: As a director, what do you most strongly<br />
connect with in this particular play?<br />
JT: I think the temptation to make your<br />
fantasy real. We’re in a business where<br />
everyone is always hugging each other<br />
and where your bread and butter is fan-<br />
Sarah Ruhl: Watching rehearsals for the<br />
past 15 years or so, I got to thinking,<br />
“What a weird job it must be to have to<br />
kiss people in front of other people.” And<br />
of course any kiss has some reality on<br />
stage, as does drinking a glass of water<br />
on stage or urinating on stage. But to<br />
what extent is the kiss a performance?<br />
SYNOPSIS<br />
Actors and ex-lovers He and She are thrown together as the romantic leads in a<br />
present-day revival of a long-forgotten 1930s melodrama; neither has seen the other<br />
in the 20 years following their break-up. In that time She has married and had a<br />
daughter; He is currently living with a girlfriend. Once rehearsals for the play begin,<br />
they quickly lose touch with reality as the romantic story onstage begins to follow<br />
them offstage. <strong>Stage</strong> <strong>Kiss</strong> explores what happens when these lovers share a stage<br />
kiss—or a real one.<br />
3
IN THE ALBERT<br />
NORTHERN TRUST INVESTS IN STAGE KISS<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong> is pleased to continue its<br />
longstanding partnership with Northern Trust as the<br />
Major Corporate Sponsor of <strong>Stage</strong> <strong>Kiss</strong>. Northern<br />
Trust was thrilled to team up with the <strong>Goodman</strong><br />
this season to support this clever new comedy by<br />
MacArthur “Genius” Grant winner Sarah Ruhl.<br />
give back to the communities that have supported<br />
Northern Trust’s success for generations. <strong>Goodman</strong><br />
<strong>Theatre</strong> enriches the lives of so many and we are<br />
happy to lend support to this fine organization”<br />
said Sherry Barrat, Vice Chairman, Northern Trust<br />
and a <strong>Goodman</strong> trustee.<br />
“Since our founding in 1889, Northern Trust has<br />
advanced a culture of caring and a commitment to<br />
invest in the communities we serve. We strive to<br />
tasy, and you’re constantly digging it out<br />
of your psyche and opening it up and<br />
displaying it. And so there’s always this<br />
thin line between what’s real and what’s<br />
fantasy. Actors experience it all the time.<br />
Directors less so I think, but we do occasionally.<br />
You start to think, “Am I in love<br />
with this person...or am I just kissing<br />
them every night of an eight-week run?”<br />
Whatever piece you’re working on deeply,<br />
you start to be affected by it because<br />
you’re using your emotional imagination<br />
with such depth. I think that it’s really<br />
funny to put that out on the plate.<br />
TP: What particular challenges does this<br />
play present to you as a director?<br />
JT: I think Sarah’s work is always challenging.<br />
It’s very funny; there’s a sort of<br />
vaudeville or burlesque quality to it, but<br />
at the same time it has to be extremely<br />
truthful. So you need to play both of<br />
these instruments at once, and you’ve<br />
got to balance both in a way so that one<br />
doesn’t drown out the other. I think that’s<br />
true of her work in general, but it’s very<br />
true of this play. The other challenge is<br />
that because this play is about the theater,<br />
you don’t want to spend too much<br />
time on the in-joke. Since we’re people<br />
in the theater making a play about the<br />
theater, there are things that we would<br />
find hilarious that wouldn’t communicate<br />
to the audience. But, on the other hand,<br />
people love plays about the theater and<br />
stories about the theater because it’s<br />
such a human thing to do—to get up and<br />
perform for each other. And many, many,<br />
many people do it in different ways, so<br />
it’s not as unfamiliar to a general audience<br />
as we sometimes think.<br />
TP: Where do you think this particular<br />
play fits into Sarah Ruhl’s body of work?<br />
JT: Sarah’s plays are different in that they<br />
each have their own world. This one is<br />
very much about theater, and about the<br />
imagination, and it explores the agreements<br />
we make, the world we build with<br />
our imagination, and how we reach out<br />
to that imagination to comfort ourselves<br />
when we need it. And it’s also about the<br />
theater. I mean, it really is about what it<br />
means to be in the theater, or any line<br />
of work in which you’re creating another<br />
self. I think that’s what kind of makes this<br />
world particular to itself. The language<br />
in the other plays might be theatrical,<br />
but this one really brings it right into the<br />
phenomenon of the theater. In terms of<br />
what’s similar to her previous work, I feel<br />
like it’s very funny in the way that Sarah’s<br />
plays are funny, and it’s sexy in the way<br />
her plays are sexy. It’s about love and lust<br />
and the forbidden. So all of that is really<br />
juicy and delightful, but I do think it’s<br />
really getting at this heart of the question:<br />
What is the truth of relationships? Where<br />
do we find compassion and comfort? And<br />
who are we really connected to and why?<br />
And I feel like that is similar to the rest of<br />
her work.<br />
TP: Sarah, how do you see this play fitting<br />
into your body of work?<br />
SR: Well, starting with Passion Play,<br />
which was my first play, I became interested<br />
in this whole bug-bear of what it is<br />
to represent so-called reality, and what it<br />
is to be an actor. I think maybe because<br />
I started as a poet, and then became a<br />
playwright, the whole impetus of theater—of<br />
one person pretending to be<br />
another person—seemed rather naughty<br />
4
to me, because you don’t have that same<br />
dynamic in writing a poem. So I’m always<br />
interested in that great lie, the lie of theater,<br />
of pretending to be something you’re<br />
not in front of other people who are<br />
watching. I find that wonderfully rich and<br />
strange. If reality itself is something of an<br />
illusion (as some world religions argue)<br />
then plays are definitely an illusion. So<br />
I think a lot of my work is interested in<br />
that sort of third zone of reality, of what’s<br />
between the audience and the actor.<br />
them, the kind of Broadway plays we’ve<br />
forgotten, that have endless props listed<br />
in the back of the script—white gloves,<br />
tea sets, drawing rooms, European visitors,<br />
that sort of thing. Some of those<br />
works were written by playwrights whose<br />
names are lost forever, or even two<br />
people writing plays together who are all<br />
but forgotten today.<br />
TP: How does <strong>Stage</strong> <strong>Kiss</strong> capture the<br />
essence of those forgotten plays?<br />
TP: In the first act of <strong>Stage</strong> <strong>Kiss</strong>, the<br />
main characters are performing in a<br />
revived 1930s boulevard comedy that<br />
you wrote specifically for this play. Were<br />
there particular plays from that period<br />
that you read that inspired you? What<br />
did you draw from those plays to create<br />
the play you imagine your characters<br />
performing in?<br />
SR: The plays I read for research were<br />
intentionally forgettable. I only stole one<br />
line: “Hiding in a library seems kind of<br />
dry.” And I did notice that everyone in<br />
that play seemed to be called Millicent.<br />
And I re-read Noël Coward, whom I<br />
love. But I was really more interested in<br />
plays that had two or three writers on<br />
JT: This play is a pleasure—it’s sexy, it’s<br />
funny, it’s irreverent in terms of the theater<br />
and a kind of glamorous world. It’s<br />
silly in a way that is completely joyful,<br />
and it is about our hearts and the dance<br />
our hearts do when we’re drawn to<br />
someone, or drawn away from someone.<br />
And how funny and sad that is. And that<br />
we end up in relationships, ideally—and<br />
I’m going to go out on a limb and say<br />
that it’s true—in a place where we do<br />
find what works for us. Even though we<br />
have wildly excited imaginations and<br />
we’re tempted and things are confusing<br />
at times in our lives; we end up reaching<br />
out to the things we truly love.<br />
“I’m always interested in that great lie,<br />
the lie of theater, of pretending to be<br />
something you’re not in front of other<br />
people who are watching. I find that<br />
wonderfully rich and strange.”<br />
—Sarah Ruhl<br />
OPPOSITE: Guenia Lemos and Mary Beth Fisher in<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong>’s 2006 production of Sarah Ruhl’s<br />
The Clean House. Photo by Liz Lauren. ABOVE: Director<br />
Jessica Thebus and actors Patrick Clear and Christine<br />
Estabrook in rehearsal for The Clean House. Photo by<br />
Michael Brosilow.<br />
MAYER BROWN SUPPORTS<br />
NEW WORK<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong> salutes Mayer Brown for<br />
its generous support as a Corporate Sponsor<br />
Partner of <strong>Stage</strong> <strong>Kiss</strong>. Mayer Brown, a returning<br />
production sponsor, is a global law firm with<br />
its largest office in Chicago. The firm is proud<br />
to partner with the <strong>Goodman</strong> to bring this new<br />
comedy by a recognized MacArthur “Genius”<br />
Grant winner to Chicago audiences.<br />
Libby Raymond, Mayer Brown partner and<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong> trustee said, “I’m pleased to represent<br />
my partners in supporting the <strong>Goodman</strong>. Mayer<br />
Brown is committed to improving the quality of<br />
life in all our communities by supporting arts and<br />
culture, public interest legal groups and other<br />
charitable organizations.”<br />
The <strong>Goodman</strong> gratefully acknowledges Mayer Brown’s<br />
commitment to excellence and community service.<br />
5
IN THE ALBERT<br />
Reel vs. Real: Iconic <strong>Kiss</strong>es<br />
on the Silver Screen<br />
By Steve Scott<br />
Whether it signifies the beginning of a<br />
romance, the consummation of an illicit<br />
affair or a death sentence pronounced by<br />
a Mafia Don, the kiss is one of the most<br />
common and most intimate human interactions<br />
found in popular entertainment,<br />
providing audiences with some of their<br />
favorite memories—and sometimes, as<br />
in Sarah Ruhl’s play <strong>Stage</strong> <strong>Kiss</strong>, leading<br />
to unanticipated results off camera as<br />
well. Here is a look back at some of the<br />
most memorable stage and screen kisses<br />
of the recent past.<br />
Jersey studio. Although it lasted a scant<br />
20 seconds, the sequence caused an<br />
immediate sensation, with critics and<br />
civic leaders expressing outrage. Critic<br />
Herbert Stone wrote, “Neither participant<br />
is physically attractive and the<br />
spectacle of their prolonged pasturing<br />
on each other’s lips was hard to beat<br />
when only life size. Magnified to gargantuan<br />
proportions…it is absolutely<br />
disgusting!” Perhaps inevitably, The <strong>Kiss</strong><br />
became the Edison Company’s most<br />
popular release of the year.<br />
was condemned as morally objectionable<br />
by some, audiences flocked to see<br />
what would be Valentino’s last role;<br />
he collapsed at the New York premiere<br />
of the film and died several days later.<br />
Despite a personal life at odds with his<br />
screen persona (his two divorces led to<br />
rumors of sexual ambiguity), Valentino’s<br />
impassioned clinch with Bánky remains<br />
one of the most potent images of lust<br />
from the silent era.<br />
THE CLASSIC KISS:<br />
GONE WITH THE WIND (1939)<br />
The pairing of screen icon Clark Gable<br />
and little-known British actress Vivien<br />
Leigh proved to be box office magic<br />
in this epic Civil War romance, which<br />
reigned for decades as Hollywood’s<br />
most successful film. The most dis-<br />
THE SCANDALOUS KISS:<br />
THE KISS (1896)<br />
The first kiss recorded on film originated<br />
on the Broadway stage in a<br />
musical comedy entitled The Widow<br />
Jones. In the second act of the play,<br />
the show’s stars, May Irwin and John<br />
C. Rice, engaged in a lingering smooch<br />
that caught the attention of Thomas<br />
Edison’s company, which had recently<br />
purchased the rights to a motion picture<br />
projector known as the Vitaphone.<br />
To showcase his new product, Edison<br />
filmed Irwin and Rice’s kiss in his New<br />
THE EXOTIC KISS:<br />
THE SON OF THE SHEIK (1926)<br />
As the first truly legendary lover of the<br />
screen, Rudolph Valentino inflamed the<br />
libidos of millions of female moviegoers<br />
in such period melodramas as The<br />
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and<br />
The Sheik (both 1921). But his most<br />
notorious love scene came in the sequel<br />
The Son of the Sheik, in which the hotblooded<br />
title character forced himself<br />
upon the alluring kidnapped dancer<br />
Yasmin (Vilma Bánky), exclaiming, “For<br />
once, your kisses are free!” Although it<br />
“A kiss is a lovely trick designed by<br />
nature to stop speech when words<br />
become superfluous.”<br />
—Ingrid Bergman<br />
6
cussed sequence takes place at the foot<br />
of a giant staircase, where a frustrated<br />
Rhett Butler suddenly and fiercely kisses<br />
his vixenish bride, Scarlett O’Hara,<br />
then whisks her up the stairs for a<br />
presumably torrid reunion. Off screen,<br />
there were few sparks between the two:<br />
Leigh particularly hated her love scenes<br />
with Gable, citing his continuing problem<br />
with bad breath caused by a set of<br />
ill-made dentures.<br />
THE PLAYFUL KISS:<br />
TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT (1944)<br />
In stark contrast, the seemingly unlikely<br />
pairing of 19-year-old Lauren Bacall and<br />
44-year-old Humphrey Bogart created<br />
sparks both on- and offscreen. To Have<br />
and Have Not told the story of a nightclub<br />
singer named Slim (Bacall) and a heavydrinking<br />
charter boat captain (Bogart),<br />
and their first scene together became one<br />
of film’s most erotic seduction sequences<br />
ending with one of Bacall’s most famous<br />
lines: “You know how to whistle, don’t<br />
you, Steve? Just put your lips together—<br />
and blow.” This exchange started a reallife<br />
romance and marriage that lasted until<br />
Bogart’s death in 1957.<br />
THE NEVER-ENDING KISS:<br />
NOTORIOUS (1946)<br />
Although they were never a couple offscreen,<br />
Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman<br />
shared a lengthy, lingering smooch in<br />
this Hitchcock classic that set the standard<br />
for sophisticated lovemaking—and<br />
still holds the record as the longest kiss<br />
ever recorded on film (and one of the<br />
most geographically complex—the lovers<br />
began their tryst on a hotel balcony,<br />
OPPOSITE: A movie poster for the 1926 film Son of the<br />
Sheik, starring Rudolph Valentino in his last role.<br />
“She had a very big mouth. When I was<br />
kissing her, I was aware of a faint echo.”<br />
—Hugh Grant, on kissing Julia Roberts<br />
then moved to a telephone, and ended<br />
at the front door of the hotel room).<br />
Although industry censors forbade<br />
kisses of more than three seconds in<br />
duration, Hitchcock cleverly designed a<br />
sequence in which the actors kissed for<br />
the allowed length of time, then nuzzled<br />
and whispered for a few seconds, then<br />
returned to their lip lock. Total elapsed<br />
time: nearly three minutes.<br />
THE BEAUTIFUL KISS:<br />
A PLACE IN THE SUN (1951)<br />
For sheer physical beauty, few screen<br />
kisses can match the wide-screen, intimate<br />
close-ups of Elizabeth Taylor and<br />
Montgomery Clift in their initial embrace<br />
MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS FOUNDATION<br />
CONNECTS AUDIENCES TO STAGE KISS<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong> is delighted to recognize<br />
Motorola Solutions Foundation as a Corporate Sponsor<br />
Partner for <strong>Stage</strong> <strong>Kiss</strong>. Reflecting the company’s<br />
vision to help people be their best in the moments<br />
that matter, the foundation is pleased to partner<br />
with the <strong>Goodman</strong> to bring this original work from<br />
Chicago’s own Sarah Ruhl to the stage.<br />
“The Motorola Solutions Foundation is thrilled<br />
to support <strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong> in its effort to promote<br />
original works of art, such as <strong>Stage</strong> <strong>Kiss</strong>,”<br />
as the doomed lovers Angela Vickers<br />
and George Eastman, which climaxed<br />
with Taylor’s immortal words, “Tell<br />
Mama. Tell Mama all.” Now recognized<br />
as one of Hollywood’s most incisive dissections<br />
of the American dream, the film<br />
(and the kiss) were career-changers for<br />
both actors—the relative newcomer Clift<br />
was established as the most sensitive<br />
leading man of his era, and Taylor, wellknown<br />
for her child and teenage roles,<br />
became (at age 18) the epitome of<br />
adult allure. Although never romantically<br />
involved, the two were close friends<br />
in private life, a relationship that gave<br />
unexpected depth and feeling to their<br />
onscreen passion.<br />
said Matt Blakely, Director, Motorola Solutions<br />
Foundation. “At Motorola Solutions, we promote<br />
innovative thinking, encouraging creative development<br />
among all individuals.”<br />
The <strong>Goodman</strong> gratefully acknowledges Motorola<br />
Solutions for its continued generous support<br />
this season.<br />
7
IN THE ALBERT<br />
RIGHT: Marilyn Monroe<br />
in the celebrated comedy<br />
Some Like it Hot.<br />
THE ICONIC KISS:<br />
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953)<br />
The adulterous affair between an army<br />
sergeant and a captain’s wife culminated<br />
in perhaps the best-known screen<br />
kiss of all time: Burt Lancaster and<br />
Deborah Kerr locked in a fervent seaside<br />
embrace with the ocean’s waves<br />
washing over them. Although torturous<br />
to film, the scene was one of the<br />
most erotically charged couplings yet<br />
seen in an American film, and helped<br />
make the movie one of the blockbusters<br />
of its time. It also may have led to<br />
an offscreen romance between the two<br />
stars: although Kerr denied the rumors,<br />
Lancaster eventually confirmed the affair.<br />
THE COMIC KISS:<br />
SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959)<br />
Billy Wilder’s Prohibition-era farce—one of<br />
film’s most celebrated comedies—featured<br />
Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis (both donning<br />
outlandish drag as two-bit musicians<br />
fleeing a Mob hit) and the reigning sex<br />
goddess of the 1950s, Marilyn Monroe. In<br />
a movie dripping with innuendo, the most<br />
erotically charged sequence came when<br />
Monroe seduced Curtis (now disguised<br />
as a rich oilman) in order to “cure” his<br />
self-confessed impotence. Although tame<br />
by today’s standards, the scene inflamed<br />
moviegoers of the time, and helped make<br />
the movie one of the most successful<br />
screen comedies of all time. Alas, the<br />
onscreen chemistry between the two stars<br />
evaporated once the cameras stopped<br />
rolling: Curtis, impatient with Monroe’s<br />
habitual lateness and neurotic behavior,<br />
famously told one reporter, “<strong>Kiss</strong>ing her is<br />
like kissing Hitler.”<br />
THE INTERSPECIES KISS:<br />
PLANET OF THE APES (1968)<br />
The screen has also seen a host of memorable<br />
unconventional kisses: the tender<br />
smooching of the two canine leads in<br />
Lady and the Tramp, or the Sicilian “kiss<br />
of death” between brothers Michael and<br />
Fredo Corleone in The Godfather: Part<br />
II. But perhaps the strangest coupling<br />
came in the sci-fi hit Planet of the Apes,<br />
when the displaced human astronaut<br />
played by Charlton Heston bade farewell<br />
to a comely scientist-ape, played by Kim<br />
Hunter. Amid crashing waves (reminiscent<br />
of From Here to Eternity), the two<br />
engaged in a chastely romantic moment,<br />
sparked by Heston’s line, “Doctor, I’d like<br />
to kiss you goodbye.” Replied Hunter,<br />
“All right—but you’re so damned ugly!”<br />
THE SILHOUETTED KISS:<br />
BUGSY (1991)<br />
Lothario Warren Beatty is no stranger to<br />
offscreen romance spawned by onscreen<br />
liaisons, as evidenced by his torrid affairs<br />
with such leading ladies as Natalie Wood<br />
and Leslie Caron. But a more permanent<br />
relationship began when Beatty was<br />
“It was brief, swift, and then it<br />
was done. It was a professional<br />
job. I needed to be kissed, and<br />
I was kissed.”<br />
—Uma Thurman<br />
paired with Annette Bening in the 1991<br />
film based on the life of mobster Bugsy<br />
Siegel. Among the first scenes filmed by<br />
the pair was a lingering kiss in a shadow<br />
against a movie screen. The screen lovers<br />
soon became an offscreen couple;<br />
today, they enjoy one of Hollywood’s<br />
most enduring marriages.<br />
THE REUNION KISS:<br />
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (2005)<br />
Although the past decade has seen a host<br />
of memorable cinematic pairings, perhaps<br />
none was as fervent as the tortured<br />
relationship between cowboys Ennis Del<br />
Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake<br />
Gyllenhaal) in Brokeback Mountain. After<br />
an initial tryst in a secluded tent, the two<br />
go their separate ways for four years;<br />
when they finally come back together they<br />
share a kiss of almost unbearable passion<br />
and hunger. Although same-sex kisses<br />
were far from unusual in mainstream<br />
films, the romantic and erotic frankness of<br />
this sequence was unprecedented; it was<br />
voted “the best screen kiss of all time”<br />
by the European website LOVEFiLM.com,<br />
and immediately entered the pantheon of<br />
legendary screen romances.<br />
HAVE YOUR OWN FAVORITE<br />
SILVER SCREEN SMOOCH?<br />
Head to the <strong>Goodman</strong>’s blog<br />
(<strong>Goodman</strong>-<strong>Theatre</strong>.Blogspot.com)<br />
and tell us about your favorite<br />
Hollywood kiss!<br />
8
Sarah Ruhl’s<br />
Comedic Cocktail<br />
By Neena Arndt<br />
BOTTOM: Alfred Lunt, Noël Coward and Lynn Fontanne<br />
in Design for Living (1933). Photo courtesy of the Ten<br />
Chimneys Foundation.<br />
A butler named Jenkins. Songs, dances<br />
and old lovers. Bubbly champagne and<br />
bubbly repartee. It’s the stuff of 1930s<br />
plays by writers like Noël Coward, George<br />
S. Kaufman, Moss Hart and Edna Ferber.<br />
It’s the stuff that cheered a nation in the<br />
wake of the stock market crash of 1929,<br />
keeping audiences entertained even as<br />
their bank accounts dwindled. And it’s<br />
stuff that often feels hopelessly dated<br />
now, in an era when many theaters aim<br />
to produce works with weightier themes.<br />
The characters, plot lines and dialogue<br />
can feel clunky and hackneyed in 2011,<br />
and while 1930s audiences were laughing<br />
with 1930s plays, 2011 audiences<br />
might laugh at them. Like all decades,<br />
the 1930s produced some memorable<br />
hits that represented the best of their<br />
genre—You Can’t Take It with You, The<br />
Man Who Came to Dinner, Private Lives<br />
and Design for Living, to name a few—<br />
but also produced thousands of forgotten<br />
flops by playwrights who lacked the verbal<br />
agility of Coward, Kaufman and other<br />
successful writers.<br />
Enter Sarah Ruhl. In her new play <strong>Stage</strong><br />
<strong>Kiss</strong>, Ruhl creates a world in which two<br />
present-day actors are cast in a (fictitious)<br />
play called The Last <strong>Kiss</strong> that flopped on<br />
Broadway back in 1932. The actors are<br />
ex-lovers, but haven’t seen each other<br />
in years; in a coincidence worthy of a<br />
1930s comedy, the characters they are<br />
playing are also reunited lovers. Realities<br />
merge and soon the lines between actors<br />
and characters are blurred; along the way<br />
Ruhl provides delightful glimpses of The<br />
Last <strong>Kiss</strong>, which she penned after reading<br />
a selection of plays from the era. (The<br />
Last <strong>Kiss</strong> does not exist in its entirety—<br />
Ruhl only wrote the select scenes that<br />
appear within <strong>Stage</strong> <strong>Kiss</strong>.) While the dialogue<br />
she creates may be slightly exaggerated,<br />
it is also hilariously accurate; with<br />
her characteristic wit and and sly humor,<br />
Ruhl creates a skillful parody of the kinds<br />
of plays that triumphed or—more often—<br />
bombed on 1930s stages.<br />
Depression-era comedies trace their<br />
roots at least as far back as the nineteenth<br />
century, when song and dance<br />
routines and smart-aleck dialogue ruled<br />
the vaudeville stage. Those vaudevillian<br />
elements, in slightly altered form, also<br />
appeared in melodramas, which used<br />
music and stylized movement to portray<br />
intense emotions. In vaudeville and<br />
melodrama, there was little attempt at<br />
realistic dialogue; rather, the language<br />
was heightened and ostensibly witty. As<br />
the nineteenth century came to a close,<br />
writers like Gerhart Hauptmann and<br />
Henrik Ibsen began working towards a<br />
new, more realistic aesthetic that would<br />
come to define much of twentieth-century<br />
theater, but the first half of the century<br />
still carried traces of the old genres.<br />
As any viewer of 1920s and ’30s films<br />
can attest, the accepted acting style at<br />
the time was more heightened and melodramatic<br />
than today, and filmmakers<br />
and playmakers alike still considered it<br />
acceptable to throw in a musical interlude<br />
that did little or nothing to advance<br />
the plot; they valued entertainment over<br />
storytelling. <strong>Goodman</strong> audiences will be<br />
familiar with such interludes from the<br />
2009 production of Animal Crackers,<br />
the 1928 Marx Brothers Broadway hit.<br />
Although Animal Crackers, like many<br />
Broadway shows of its time, is a musical,<br />
there also exists a poorly defined<br />
genre called “plays with music”—that<br />
is, plays with only a few musical numbers,<br />
or plays with songs that were not<br />
originally composed for the theater. The<br />
Last <strong>Kiss</strong>, Ruhl’s play-within-a-play,<br />
falls within this genre. A prime real-life<br />
example of a play with music is Lynn<br />
Riggs’ 1931 play Green Grow the Lilacs,<br />
now best known as the play on which<br />
the musical Oklahoma! is based. Green<br />
Grow the Lilacs features traditional folk<br />
songs that enhance the atmosphere of<br />
the piece, setting it firmly in the western<br />
territory that would later become<br />
Oklahoma. They do not, however, move<br />
the plot forward or provide insight into<br />
the characters. Famously, Rodgers and<br />
Hammerstein adapted Riggs’ play into<br />
a musical that synthesized storytelling,<br />
song and dance into one cohesive<br />
whole—but that wasn’t until 1943. In<br />
the 1920s and ’30s, audiences were still<br />
accustomed to plays in which characters<br />
could inexplicably burst into song, and<br />
Sarah Ruhl takes full advantage of this,<br />
9
IN THE ALBERT<br />
LEFT: Franchot Tone as Curly McClain & Helen Westley<br />
as Aunt Eller Murphy in Green Grow the Lilacs (1931).<br />
Photo courtesy of Billy Rose <strong>Theatre</strong> Division, The New<br />
York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Astor, Lenox<br />
and Tilden Foundations.<br />
giving the characters in the play-withina-play<br />
song and dance numbers that<br />
seem, to our modern sensibilities, to<br />
come out of nowhere. Ruhl’s songs also<br />
feature lyrics that echo the lyrics of popular<br />
songs of the 1920s and ’30s. They<br />
tend to be poetic but simple, and to deal<br />
lightly with themes such as attraction<br />
and love. Audiences who saw Animal<br />
Crackers may recall lyrics such as:<br />
In between the songs, the characters in<br />
The Last <strong>Kiss</strong> are reminiscent of the characters<br />
we might meet in a Noël Coward<br />
play: well-coiffed, cocktail-consuming<br />
members of the upper class. They have a<br />
butler, a maid and a solarium. Although<br />
they are not British, they refer to each<br />
other using phrases like “old cad” and<br />
“old man.” One character suffers from a<br />
catastrophic illness, but Ms. Ruhl handles<br />
the situation with such glib frivolity that<br />
the illness adds to the humor rather than<br />
casting a pall over the play-within-theplay.<br />
Like Coward’s work, which often<br />
deals with grave topics such as the dissolution<br />
of marriages, The Last <strong>Kiss</strong> never<br />
takes serious issues seriously: for careworn<br />
audiences of the 1930s or 2011, that can<br />
prove a welcome respite from reality.<br />
After The Last <strong>Kiss</strong> closes, the two actors<br />
find themselves cast in another play—a<br />
“gritty, downtown New York kind of a<br />
thing” called I Loved You Before I Killed<br />
You, or, Blurry. This play thrusts them<br />
into a wildly different theatrical aesthetic.<br />
Its characters would be more at home in<br />
a play by Edward Bond, Mark Ravenhill<br />
or Sam Shepard than in a 1930s comedy:<br />
they are down-and-out, disenfranchised<br />
and working as whores and pimps.<br />
But I Loved You Before I Killed You never<br />
reaches the level of grittiness it aspires to,<br />
as the dialogue is overwrought and clichéd.<br />
It serves as another opportunity for<br />
Ruhl to showcase her considerable skills<br />
as a satirist—with hilarious effects.<br />
In the theater, as in other aspects of<br />
life, styles come and go. What seems<br />
standard one decade may look ridiculous<br />
the next, and in only a few decades the<br />
conventions of an art form can transform<br />
beyond recognition. And for every writer<br />
whose name goes down in history, and<br />
whose plays are produced long after their<br />
lifetimes, countless writers fade into anonymity<br />
soon after opening night. Many<br />
1930s plays are not only never produced,<br />
but their manuscripts have been lost,<br />
rendering them inaccessible to the present<br />
generation. But <strong>Stage</strong> <strong>Kiss</strong> opens up<br />
the world of a long-ago era, allowing us<br />
to revisit styles whose heyday may have<br />
passed—but are still recognizable and<br />
valuable, if only in comedic form.<br />
Three little words—<br />
Oh what I’d give for that wonderful<br />
phrase.<br />
To hear those three little words<br />
That’s all I’d live for the rest of my days<br />
And what I feel in my heart they tell<br />
sincerely;<br />
No other words can tell it half so clearly.<br />
Three little words, eight little letters<br />
That simply mean “I love you.”<br />
Sarah Ruhl parodies this kind of love<br />
song with lyrics like these:<br />
Love me just shy of forever<br />
Or love me till six o’clock.<br />
Love me whatever the weather<br />
Love me in afghan or sweater<br />
Whether it’s May or December<br />
Oh love me just shy of forever<br />
Darling,<br />
Love me past six o’clock.<br />
GOODMAN SPONSORS EMBRACE STAGE KISS<br />
The <strong>Goodman</strong> offers special thanks to the following<br />
individuals for sponsoring the world premiere of<br />
Sarah Ruhl’s romantic comedy <strong>Stage</strong> <strong>Kiss</strong>.<br />
The Edith-Marie Appleton Foundation<br />
Patricia Cox<br />
Shawn M. Donnelley and Christopher M. Kelly<br />
Andrew “Flip” Filipowski and Melissa Oliver<br />
Sondra and Denis Healy/Turtle Wax, Inc.<br />
Alice Rapoport and Michael Sachs, Sg2<br />
Merle Reskin<br />
Richard and Sheryl Weisberg<br />
10th Anniversary Season Sponsors<br />
Julie M. Danis and Paul F. Donahue<br />
Leon and Joy Dreimann<br />
Sara F. Szold<br />
Women Playwrights Season Sponsors<br />
Commitments as of March 22, 2011<br />
Roger and Julie Baskes<br />
Joe and Palma Calabrese<br />
Joan and Robert Clifford<br />
James and Kathleen Cowie<br />
Brett J. Hart and Dontrey Britt-Hart<br />
Andrew and Cindy Kalnow<br />
Eva and Michael Losacco<br />
M. Ann O’Brien<br />
Neil Ross and Lynn Hauser<br />
Alice and John J. Sabl<br />
Shaw Family Supporting Organization<br />
Beth and Alan Singer<br />
Orli and Bill Staley<br />
Randy and Lisa White<br />
New Works Season Sponsors<br />
Bill and Linda Aylesworth<br />
Doris and Howard Conant<br />
Denise and John Ginascol<br />
Linda and Peter Krivkovich<br />
Orli and Bill Staley<br />
<strong>Stage</strong> <strong>Kiss</strong> Director’s Society Sponsors<br />
10
Theater, Diversity and<br />
the Social Contract<br />
By Jonathan Abarbanel<br />
PART FOUR OF FIVE CELEBRATING A DECADE ON DEARBORN<br />
It should come as no surprise to Chicago<br />
audiences that the <strong>Goodman</strong> is committed<br />
to diversity in both principle and<br />
practice. You need only look at who they<br />
are—from the Board of Trustees, to the<br />
staff, to the artists who bring the work to<br />
the stage. Though “diversity” has become<br />
a very popular buzzword today, a mere<br />
declaration of diversity may represent very<br />
little—so spend a few minutes to consider<br />
what it means in a theatrical context, and<br />
particularly in action at the <strong>Goodman</strong>.<br />
Diversity is a manifestation of the familiar<br />
phrase “art mirrors life,” which means<br />
that theater has an obligation to reflect<br />
the society in which it exists, not merely<br />
in form but also in content. Some academics<br />
call this “the social contract,”<br />
holding theater accountable for creating<br />
dialogue about matters spiritual, ethical,<br />
moral and/or political. As a leadership<br />
cultural institution in a multi-ethnic<br />
metropolis, the <strong>Goodman</strong> has the desire<br />
and duty to uphold the social contract,<br />
by telling the stories and exploring the<br />
themes of the many communities represented<br />
by the varied and diverse ticketbuying<br />
public they perform for.<br />
Truth be told, 50 years ago American<br />
theater didn’t speak of the diversity of<br />
the American people. An awakening in<br />
the arts coincided with the civil rights<br />
movement and with the growth of nonprofit<br />
regional theaters from the 1960s<br />
onwards. <strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong> was created<br />
in 1925, but the re-establishment of a<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong> professional company dates<br />
only from 1967, so it was perfectly in<br />
sync with American professional theater<br />
as it marched through “multi-culturalism”<br />
and “color-blind casting” on its way to the<br />
more profound diversity embraced today.<br />
The <strong>Goodman</strong>’s commitment to multiculturalism<br />
was born under the artistic<br />
leadership of Gregory Mosher and has<br />
grown broader and deeper under the<br />
direction of Robert Falls, artistic director<br />
since 1986 (both Mosher and Falls have<br />
had Executive Director Roche Schulfer as<br />
their “business” partner). Mosher introduced<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong> audiences to the works<br />
of Richard Wright and Wole Soyinka<br />
(among other artists of color) and oversaw<br />
a 1979 production of Arthur Miller’s<br />
stage adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s An<br />
Enemy of the People with an all African<br />
American cast. His legacy of diversity<br />
continued with the implementation of<br />
color-blind casting for the <strong>Goodman</strong>’s<br />
annual production of A Christmas Carol,<br />
a tradition still maintained after nearly 35<br />
years. There weren’t any black or Latino or<br />
Asian citizens of early nineteenth-century<br />
London, but the <strong>Goodman</strong> chooses to<br />
ignore that fact in telling a universal story<br />
But it goes deeper than putting on a<br />
show. The <strong>Goodman</strong> also approaches<br />
diversity through the vertical structure of<br />
its administration and staff, its outreach<br />
programs (see the last issue of On<strong>Stage</strong>)<br />
and its creative commitments. In these,<br />
too, the <strong>Goodman</strong> strives to keep the<br />
social contract alive and well.<br />
RIGHT: John Judd, Michael Perez and Lisa Tejero in the<br />
2010 production of A Christmas Carol. Photo by Liz Lauren.<br />
11
AT THE GOODMAN<br />
Asian, Native American). Among the<br />
theater’s Board of Trustees, 17 percent<br />
represent minorities, and of the 106 fulltime<br />
employees, 15 percent represent<br />
Chicago-area minority communities.<br />
These statistics suggest the <strong>Goodman</strong> is<br />
doing something right, keeping in mind<br />
that their approach to diversity has two<br />
prongs: the artistic and the administrative.<br />
You can’t really be successful in one<br />
unless you are successful in the other.<br />
Crisply put, if a large urban theater<br />
company expects to engage and hold a<br />
diverse audience—and it must if it expects<br />
to have a future—it must be pertinent to<br />
that audience not only in talking the<br />
talk but also in walking the walk, both<br />
onstage and backstage.<br />
A leadership theater needs to address<br />
racism, ageism, sexism, gender identification,<br />
spirituality, opportunity and<br />
much more, and it needs to do so in<br />
its corporate structure as well as its<br />
public product.<br />
of redemption and the human spirit. The<br />
terminology has evolved, too: color-blind<br />
casting has yielded to “non-traditional<br />
casting” which implies a variety of<br />
options beyond skin color. A female<br />
Scrooge? It hasn’t happened yet but it<br />
could, and the <strong>Goodman</strong> wants audiences<br />
to appreciate the possibilities.<br />
Of course, diversity today is measured by<br />
far more than race alone. A leadership<br />
theater needs to address racism, ageism,<br />
sexism, gender identification, spirituality,<br />
opportunity and much more, and it<br />
needs to do so in its corporate structure<br />
as well as its public product. Under Falls’<br />
direction the <strong>Goodman</strong> has achieved truly<br />
structural diversity, which is apparent<br />
from the make-up of the Artistic Collective<br />
with which Falls creates artistic policy.<br />
The seven Collective members include<br />
men and women of various races, religions,<br />
ethnic heritages, ages and sexual<br />
orientations. Ditto the <strong>Goodman</strong> staff<br />
from department heads to those in the<br />
box office, the concession stands and at<br />
the security desk.<br />
The <strong>Goodman</strong> can throw figures at you<br />
to toot its horn. For example, the <strong>Goodman</strong><br />
will employ 165 artists during the 2010 –<br />
2011 Season (actors, designers, directors,<br />
musicians and so on) of whom 31 percent<br />
will be persons of color (black, Latino,<br />
The <strong>Goodman</strong>’s longstanding relationship<br />
with the late August Wilson is a good<br />
example of the theater’s commitment to<br />
walking the walk. Artistic Director Robert<br />
Falls first brought Wilson’s work to the<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong> in 1986 with a production of<br />
Fences, and fostered a 20-year relationship<br />
with the venerated playwright that<br />
resulted in the <strong>Goodman</strong> staging all 10<br />
plays in Wilson’s Century Cycle—an<br />
impressive artistic achievement never<br />
before accomplished. A more recent<br />
example of the theater’s commitment to<br />
representing the contemporary experience<br />
of minorities onstage exists in the<br />
world premiere of Thomas Bradshaw’s<br />
Mary, which appeared in the Owen<br />
<strong>Theatre</strong> in February. The <strong>Goodman</strong> commissioned<br />
the play from Bradshaw and<br />
anticipated the controversy and commotion<br />
it raised in addressing racism, sexism,<br />
do-goodism and LGBT acceptance.<br />
That’s the social contract at its best: a<br />
work that stimulates discussion from<br />
many perspectives, rather than playing<br />
to an audience’s comfort zone.<br />
The <strong>Goodman</strong> also maintains a long<br />
tradition of showcasing smaller off-Loop<br />
theater companies, a history that began<br />
back in the 135-seat studio theater of<br />
the old <strong>Goodman</strong> where the then-young<br />
12
DIVERSITY IN ACTION<br />
SILK ROAD THEATRE PROJECT<br />
Lookingglass and Remains companies were seen. In the wonderful<br />
new <strong>Goodman</strong> complex, partnerships have been forged with<br />
Albany Park <strong>Theatre</strong> Project, Congo Square <strong>Theatre</strong> Company,<br />
Teatro Vista, Silk Road <strong>Theatre</strong> Project and other outstanding off-<br />
Loop companies devoted to the stories and themes of particular<br />
racial or ethnic communities.<br />
Another obvious example of diversity is the biennial Latino <strong>Theatre</strong><br />
Festival, curated by Artistic Collective member Henry Godinez,<br />
which has brought to the <strong>Goodman</strong> not only numerous Chicagobased<br />
artists but also outstanding Latino theater companies from<br />
throughout the Americas. Last summer’s Latino <strong>Theatre</strong> Festival<br />
presented a staged reading of a new play by Chicago author Tanya<br />
Saracho. Now Teatro Vista’s production of Saracho’s El Nogalar<br />
is being presented in association with the <strong>Goodman</strong> in a worldpremiere<br />
production in the Owen <strong>Theatre</strong> (March 26 – April 24).<br />
As for the administrative prong of the <strong>Goodman</strong>’s commitment<br />
to diversity, much of it was detailed in the third article (this<br />
is the fourth) in this series celebrating the 10th anniversary<br />
of the new <strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong> Center on Dearborn Street. That<br />
article addressed education and community development, and<br />
highlighted such initiatives as the Student Subscription Series,<br />
the Cindy Bandle Young Critics program (for 11th grade girls),<br />
the General <strong>Theatre</strong> Studies program, the CONTEXT Series and<br />
GeNarrations, a new program designed to help seniors shape<br />
and perform their life’s stories. Broadly speaking, all of these<br />
programs embrace diversity as a means of developing not only<br />
the next generation of audiences, but also the next generation of<br />
artists, managers and even critics.<br />
With the continued commitment of its Board of Trustees, its staff<br />
and its audiences, the <strong>Goodman</strong> intends to make itself a model<br />
of diversity not just for Chicago, but for theater in America.<br />
OPPOSITE: Ivanesa Cabrera in Teatro<br />
Buendía’s La Visita de la Vieja Dama.<br />
Photo by Liz Lauren. LEFT: James Earl<br />
Jones in <strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong>’s 1986<br />
production of August Wilson’s Fences.<br />
Photo by William B. Carter.<br />
The <strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong> first partnered<br />
with Silk Road <strong>Theatre</strong><br />
Project in 2008 and then again in<br />
2010. Such affiliations often extend<br />
beyond presenting a single show in<br />
the Owen. This June, for example,<br />
both the <strong>Goodman</strong> and Silk Road<br />
will cross-promote their simultaneous productions of works by<br />
Asian American playwright David Henry Hwang. The <strong>Goodman</strong><br />
offers the world premiere of Chinglish (June 18 – July 24)<br />
while Silk Road presents the Chicago premiere of Yellowface<br />
(June 14 – July 17). Further, the Silk Road show will be directed<br />
by <strong>Goodman</strong> Artistic Collective member Steve Scott, who<br />
has directed several previous Silk Road productions.<br />
BELARUS FREE THEATRE<br />
In January and February the<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong> was one of several<br />
Chicago theater organizations to<br />
host a month-long visit by Belarus<br />
Free <strong>Theatre</strong>—political refugees<br />
from the oppressive regime in their<br />
native land. The troupe performed<br />
its award-winning piece, Being Harold Pinter, which has been<br />
staged previously in London and New York among other cities.<br />
The Belarus Free <strong>Theatre</strong> (BFT) does not directly represent<br />
a Chicago community; still, <strong>Goodman</strong>’s decision to support<br />
the company’s visit is another example of keeping the social<br />
contract alive and well by engaging Chicago audiences in a<br />
political debate at the very moment that unexpected freedom<br />
movements were exploding around the globe (“even in<br />
Wisconsin” as Robert Falls joked in speaking about the BFT).<br />
Photo of Yana Rusakevich in Being Harold Pinter by Liz Lauren.<br />
CONGO SQUARE THEATRE COMPANY<br />
Congo Square <strong>Theatre</strong> Company<br />
first mounted a Christmas show in<br />
the Owen <strong>Theatre</strong> in 2004—the<br />
poet Langston Hughes’ Black<br />
Nativity, offering an African<br />
American gospel holiday production<br />
at the same time as A<br />
Christmas Carol played in the Albert. Congo Square has<br />
returned with different versions of their concept each year<br />
(but one) since 2004, this year calling the show simply The<br />
Nativity. The <strong>Goodman</strong> is particularly pleased to have been<br />
able to partner with Congo Square again this past December<br />
as Congo Square emerged from nearly a year of major reorganization<br />
and inactivity, providing marketing and box office<br />
support along with the Owen <strong>Theatre</strong>, helping them remain<br />
part of the fabric of Chicago’s theater life.<br />
13
RE<br />
THE 2011/12 SEASON IS<br />
Creating much excitement, demand or discussion; character<br />
IN THE ALBERT<br />
14<br />
“RED HOT” is the very definition of the <strong>Goodman</strong>’s 2011/12 Season.<br />
Featuring two brilliant Broadway hits (Red and Race); Tennessee<br />
Williams’ fiery Camino Real; Regina Taylor’s incandescent musical,<br />
Crowns; Danai Gurira’s ardent world premiere, The Convert—<br />
and more! It’s a sizzling combination of hits, classics and new<br />
works, from artists that set the theater world on fire.<br />
RENEW TODAY AT<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong><strong>Theatre</strong>.org/Subscribe<br />
or 312.443.3810<br />
DON’T DELAY! YOUR RENEWAL DEADLINE<br />
IS SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2011<br />
Owen Season Sponsor<br />
Principal Support of Artistic Development<br />
and Diversity Initiatives<br />
HAROLD AND MIMI STEINBERG<br />
CHARITABLE TRUST<br />
Support of New Work Development<br />
Exclusive Airline of<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong><br />
ROBERT FALLS<br />
RED<br />
BY JOHN LOGAN<br />
DIRECTED BY ROBERT FALLS<br />
Starts September 17, 2011<br />
Full-blooded and visceral, the Tony<br />
Award-winning Red takes you into the<br />
mind of abstract expressionist Mark<br />
Rothko, for whom paintings are “pulsating”<br />
life forces and art is intended<br />
to stop the heart. Red chronicles the<br />
tormented painter’s two-year struggle<br />
to complete a lucrative set of murals<br />
for Manhattan’s exclusive Four Seasons<br />
restaurant, and his fraught relationship<br />
with a seemingly naïve young assistant<br />
who must choose between appeasing<br />
his mentor—and changing the course<br />
of art history. Set amid the swiftly<br />
changing cultural tide of the early<br />
1960s, Red is a startling snapshot of a<br />
brilliant artist at the height of his fame,<br />
a play hailed as “intense and exciting”<br />
by The New York Times.<br />
Official Lighting Sponsor
D HOT (adj. red-hot):<br />
ized by intense enthusiasm or passion; very fresh or new.<br />
IN THE OWEN<br />
DAVID MAMET<br />
TENNESSEE WILLIAMS<br />
REGINA TAYLOR<br />
DANAI GURIRA<br />
RACE<br />
BY DAVID MAMET<br />
DIRECTED BY CHUCK SMITH<br />
Starts January 14, 2012<br />
This latest work by Pulitzer Prize winner<br />
David Mamet ruthlessly examines guilt<br />
and oppression, via a compelling crime<br />
mystery. Two high-profile lawyers—one<br />
black, one white—are called to defend<br />
a wealthy white client charged with the<br />
rape of an African American woman,<br />
but soon find themselves embroiled in<br />
a complex case where blatant prejudice<br />
is as disturbing as the evidence at<br />
hand. With characteristic bluntness,<br />
Mamet leaves nothing unsaid in this<br />
no-holds-barred suspense story which<br />
the Chicago Tribune declared “intellectually<br />
salacious.”<br />
CAMINO REAL<br />
BY TENNESSEE WILLIAMS<br />
DIRECTED BY CALIXTO BIEITO<br />
Starts March 10, 2012<br />
Tennessee Williams’ hauntingly poetic<br />
allegory takes us to the mysterious<br />
Camino Real, a surreal netherworld<br />
populated by a colorful collection of<br />
lost souls anxious to escape but terrified<br />
of the unknown wasteland lurking<br />
beyond the city’s walls. When Kilroy,<br />
an American traveler and former boxer<br />
inadvertently lands in Camino Real, he<br />
sets off on a phantasmagoric venture<br />
through illusion and temptation in an<br />
attempt to flee its confines—and defy<br />
his grim destiny. Called “one of Williams’<br />
most imaginative plays” by The New<br />
York Times, Camino Real is a sensual<br />
carnival of desire and desperation.<br />
PLUS ONE MORE ALBERT AND TWO MORE<br />
OWEN THEATRE PLAYS STILL TO COME!<br />
CROWNS<br />
ADAPTED AND DIRECTED<br />
BY REGINA TAYLOR<br />
Starts June 16, 2012<br />
Regina Taylor’s gospel musical sensation<br />
returns to the <strong>Goodman</strong>, promising<br />
audiences a rollicking good time. When<br />
Brooklyn-born Yolanda relocates to the<br />
South after the death of her brother,<br />
she finds strength in the tales of the<br />
wise women who surround her—and<br />
the powerful rituals connected to their<br />
dazzling hats. Fusing the music of the<br />
South with rich storytelling and abundant<br />
“hattitude,” Crowns is a jubilant<br />
celebration of song, dance, cultural<br />
history—and glamorous headwear.<br />
Corporate Sponsor Partner<br />
THE CONVERT<br />
BY DANAI GURIRA<br />
DIRECTED BY EMILY MANN<br />
Starts February 25, 2012<br />
Set amid the colonial scramble for<br />
southern Africa in 1895, The Convert<br />
tells the tale of Jekesai, a young<br />
girl who escapes a forced marriage<br />
arrangement with the help of a stalwart<br />
black African catechist, Chilford<br />
Ndlovu. Caught between her loyalties<br />
to her family and culture but indebted<br />
to this new Christian god, she becomes<br />
Chilford’s protégé; but when an anticolonial<br />
uprising erupts she is forced<br />
to decide which side of the conflict<br />
she will choose—and where her heart<br />
truly belongs. The Convert explores<br />
the untold cultural and religious collisions<br />
caused by the British colonists<br />
in this section of southern Africa (now<br />
Zimbabwe) with wit and compassion,<br />
and the reverberating effects still felt in<br />
the region today.<br />
15
IN THE WINGS<br />
NINA CHIN<br />
Local Seniors Find Their Inner Voice<br />
Through GeNarrations Writing Program<br />
In September of 1941, my family was returning to Shanghai<br />
from a year’s sabbatical in Sydney, Australia. The air was thick<br />
with the threat of war, but Bebe and I were oblivious to the<br />
seriousness of the situation. We busied ourselves with the fun<br />
and excitement of travel as we met new playmates while playing<br />
onboard the ship.<br />
As we left Sydney Harbour, the ship docked next to ours was<br />
painted battleship gray. She was a gigantic ship that towered<br />
over ours and dwarfed it. At her bow, the words “Queen Mary”<br />
filtered faintly through the gray. Even she, England’s proudest<br />
and largest passenger liner, was dressed for war and waiting in<br />
Sydney Harbour to carry Australian soldiers off to England to<br />
help in her fight against Germany. Our ship, the Nellore, sailed<br />
to Shanghai under strict “black-out” enforcement. Our porthole<br />
windows were painted black. How exciting to be sailing the<br />
Pacific at night in total darkness! Our imaginations ran wild as<br />
we conjured up visions of pirates, intrigue and suspense! We<br />
wondered why the adults seemed so serious and concerned.<br />
So begins “The Baptism,” written by Nina Chin—a story of<br />
life in Shanghai under the World War II-era Japanese occupation.<br />
It is just one of more than 75 memoirs developed as part<br />
of the <strong>Goodman</strong>’s newest educational program, GeNarrations.<br />
GeNarrations, a storytelling and writing program for adults 55 and<br />
older, enables seniors to draft and tell the stories of their lives.<br />
Workshops, which were developed in partnership with the City<br />
of Chicago’s Senior Services Area Agency on Aging, are held<br />
in senior centers across Chicago and Evanston. Teachers use<br />
techniques and curricula developed in the <strong>Goodman</strong>’s General<br />
Theater Studies (GTS) program, which helps young people<br />
explore the power of their own stories.<br />
Each six-week workshop series takes its theme from a mainstage<br />
production at the <strong>Goodman</strong>. In the inaugural session,<br />
writers were inspired by our production of Hughie/Krapp’s Last<br />
Tape. Our second series took its theme from Candide. Both<br />
series culminated with storytelling performances at Renaissance<br />
Court in the Chicago Cultural Center.<br />
The next round of workshops, which begins in April, is<br />
inspired by the world premiere of Sarah Ruhl’s <strong>Stage</strong> <strong>Kiss</strong><br />
and will examine the joys and pangs of first love, a theme the<br />
seniors will share with students in the <strong>Goodman</strong>’s General<br />
Theater Studies program over the summer. Students in GTS,<br />
who are accustomed to oral history narrative and devising theatrical<br />
scenes, will be paired with senior writers to teach the<br />
adults how to dramatize their stories for the stage. The scenes<br />
they create will be incorporated into the final production GTS<br />
devises in July.<br />
Adults interested in participating in GeNarrations can check<br />
the <strong>Goodman</strong> website under the Education tab (Education.<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong><strong>Theatre</strong>.org) for workshop locations.<br />
JPMORGAN CHASE BECOMES PRINCIPAL<br />
SUPPORTER OF SIGNATURE EDUCATION<br />
PROGRAM<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong> is thrilled to recognize JPMorgan Chase as the Principal<br />
Corporate Sponsor of its Student Subscription Series.<br />
JPMorgan Chase—committed to being a catalyst for economic and cultural<br />
development in the communities it serves—is teaming up with the <strong>Goodman</strong><br />
to support professional development for educators that enhances learning<br />
opportunities in the classroom and gives Chicago Public School students a<br />
rich theatergoing experience. In addition to strengthening the critical thinking<br />
and communication skills that are important tools for lifelong learning, the<br />
program fosters creativity, promotes self expression and celebrates diversity.<br />
“JPMorgan Chase is committed to building vibrant communities, focusing on<br />
community development, education and the arts. We are honored to have<br />
been a partner with the <strong>Goodman</strong> for many years. This year, we proudly<br />
support the 2010/2011 Student Subscription Series, as well as the 10th<br />
Anniversary Season,” said Amy Fahey, President, Midwest Middle Market,<br />
Commercial Bank, JPMorgan Chase and a <strong>Goodman</strong> trustee.<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong> extends sincere thanks to JPMorgan Chase for including the<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong> in its vision for outstanding corporate citizenship in Chicago, and<br />
thanks the bank for its generous leadership support.<br />
16
SETH BOCKLEY LAURA JACQMIN ROHINA MALIK LISA DILLMAN<br />
Meet the Playwrights Unit<br />
Since its founding in 1925, <strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong> has maintained<br />
a commitment to producing new plays. Works like Ruined,<br />
American Buffalo, Seven Guitars and Spinning Into Butter premiered<br />
at the <strong>Goodman</strong> before receiving productions across the<br />
nation as well as widespread recognition as some of the most<br />
important works of our era. The process of creating a play, from<br />
inception to fully realized production, is often long and arduous,<br />
and writers typically revise their work through a series of<br />
workshops and readings. Aiding playwrights in the development<br />
of new work is one of the key components of the <strong>Goodman</strong>’s<br />
mission; each year audiences get a behind-the-scenes peek into<br />
that process with the New <strong>Stage</strong>s Series—a series of new works<br />
performed in staged readings. This year, the theater has added<br />
a fresh element to its new play development programming: the<br />
newly formed Playwrights Unit, which is comprised of four local<br />
writers—Seth Bockley, Laura Jacqmin, Rohina Malik and Lisa<br />
Dillman—who meet once per month to discuss their plays in<br />
progress. All four of these writers possess unique voices and<br />
each approaches writing differently; it is precisely this diversity<br />
that leads to fruitful discussions. At each meeting, two of the<br />
writers come prepared with the latest installment of the play<br />
they are working on. The group reads the play, and conversation<br />
commences. Each writer receives valuable feedback and support<br />
from peers and benefits from a structured writing process.<br />
Come June, each play workshopped by the Playwrights Unit will<br />
be presented in a staged reading format, allowing the writers to<br />
hear their plays read aloud by actors. This program, along with<br />
the New <strong>Stage</strong>s Series, the <strong>Goodman</strong>’s frequent new play commissions,<br />
and the year-round activities of the <strong>Goodman</strong>’s Literary<br />
Department, provides much-needed support for writers—the first<br />
step on the long road to producing stellar world premieres.<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong> Scenemakers Take the <strong>Stage</strong><br />
Make a Scene at the <strong>Goodman</strong>! The <strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong><br />
Scenemakers—a passionate group of young professional theater<br />
fans—relaunched in January with a new membership structure.<br />
The Scenemakers now offer two levels of membership—the<br />
Scenemakers Board and Scenemakers Associates—and the<br />
group is rapidly expanding with several exciting upcoming events.<br />
The Scenemakers Board provides emerging leaders with the<br />
opportunity to gain non-profit arts leadership experience, while<br />
Associates enjoy the benefits of the Scene subscription package—<br />
three Owen <strong>Theatre</strong> plays and three pre-show parties—while<br />
gaining the opportunity to delve deeper into the art.<br />
On March 10, 2011, more than 100 Scenemakers and guests<br />
attended Cocktails and Carnage. Potential members heard<br />
a pre-show presentation from God of Carnage director Rick<br />
Snyder and costume designer Birgit Rattenborg Wise as they<br />
sipped cocktails and enjoyed appetizers. After the performance,<br />
they mingled with the cast of God of Carnage and learned firsthand<br />
the benefits of becoming a Scenemaker.<br />
ABOVE (left to right): New Scenemaker Jason Knupp with his wife, Deborah Knupp.<br />
Scenemakers President Aaron Davidson speaking at the event. Photos by Allie Wigley.<br />
If you are interested in becoming a Scenemaker, please visit<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong><strong>Theatre</strong>.org/Scenemakers.<br />
17
SCENE AT THE GOODMAN<br />
Auction an<br />
Amazing Success<br />
This year’s Fame, Fantasy, Food, Adventure Auction, held on<br />
February 7 at The Peninsula Chicago, was a smashing success,<br />
raising over $300,000 for the theater. Many thanks to<br />
the event co-chairs who worked so hard to make the evening<br />
happen: Women’s Board President and Trustee Joan Clifford,<br />
Women’s Board members Mary Ann Clement and Stacy Devine<br />
and Board of Trustees Chair Jaime Viteri. The lively and entertaining<br />
combination of auctioneers Trustee Leslie Hindman and<br />
Life Trustee Peter C.B. Bynoe kept the energy up and the prizes<br />
moving. Special thanks to Event Sponsor and Exclusive Airline<br />
of <strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong> American Airlines, Sponsor Partner Leslie<br />
Hindman Auctioneers and Supporting Sponsors Citi Private<br />
Bank and Joan and Robert Clifford.<br />
AMERICAN AIRLINES SUPPORTS THE<br />
GOODMAN AT HOME AND ABROAD<br />
This season, American Airlines is pleased to continue its 28-year sponsorship<br />
of <strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong>, an award-winning and beloved Chicago institution.<br />
Like the <strong>Goodman</strong>, American Airlines, an 85-year institution in Chicago, is<br />
a leader in its field. From its “Gateway to the World” hub at Chicago O’Hare<br />
International Airport, American, along with regional carriers American Eagle<br />
and AmericanConnection, offers an average of 3,400 nonstop flights to nearly<br />
500 destinations every day, including Beijing, China and—starting May 1—<br />
Helsinki, Finland.<br />
This longstanding partnership between pillars of the community allows the<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong> to present the finest theater artists from across the globe to its<br />
Chicago audiences and demonstrates American Airline’s strong commitment<br />
to the city of Chicago.<br />
TOP (left to right): Auction Co-Chairs and Women’s Board members Stacy Devine and<br />
Mary Ann Clement. Auctioneers Trustee Leslie Hindman (Leslie Hindman Auctioneers) and<br />
Life Trustee Peter C.B. Bynoe.<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong> Celebrates<br />
Premiere Supporters<br />
On March 16, more than 150 guests gathered at Petterino’s for an<br />
exciting pre-show dinner to celebrate the <strong>Goodman</strong>’s committed<br />
Premiere Society members. Members of the <strong>Goodman</strong>’s Artistic<br />
Collective and the <strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong> Board of Trustees had the<br />
opportunity to thank our donors for their tremendous support. After<br />
dinner, donors went to the theater for a performance of Yasmina<br />
Reza’s hilarious God of Carnage. It was a wonderful evening!<br />
RIGHT (top to bottom): Premiere Society member John Jelinek and Dolores Jorgensen<br />
with Trustee Linda Hutson and Women’s Board member Joan and Warwick Coppelson.<br />
Luminary member Mary Bishop and Trustee Kristin Anderson–Schewe. Director’s Society<br />
Sponsor and Trustee M. Ann O’Brien with guest Ron Sipiora.<br />
18
Mary Opens at the <strong>Goodman</strong><br />
On Monday, February 14, artists, sponsors and guests gathered<br />
at Club Petterino’s to celebrate the opening of Thomas<br />
Bradshaw’s new play, Mary. Following cocktails and dinner,<br />
guests made their way to the Owen <strong>Theatre</strong> to watch the world<br />
premiere. Thank you to the sponsors who made this production<br />
possible: Major Production Sponsor The Edith-Marie<br />
Appleton Foundation; Prince Charitable Trusts, Prince Prize for<br />
Commissioning Original Work for Mary; Principal Supporter<br />
of Artistic Development and Diversity Initiatives The Joyce<br />
Foundation; 10th Anniversary Season Sponsors (listed on page<br />
10) and Director’s Society Sponsors Roger and Julie Baskes.<br />
RIGHT (top to bottom): Mary Playwright Thomas Bradshaw and Director May Adrales,<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong> Executive Director Roche Schulfer, Benna Wilde (Prince Charitable Trusts) and<br />
Director’s Society Sponsors Trustee Roger and Julie Baskes. <strong>Goodman</strong> Life Trustee and<br />
Honorary Chairman Albert <strong>Goodman</strong> (The Edith-Marie Appleton Foundation) and Maria<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong>. The Edith-Marie Appleton Foundation was the Major Production Sponsor of Mary.<br />
A Joyous Night of Carnage<br />
More than 250 guests attended the opening of God of Carnage<br />
on Monday, March 14. The evening began with a sophisticated<br />
dinner at Club Petterino’s, followed by the performance in<br />
the Albert <strong>Theatre</strong>. Special thanks to Lead Corporate Sponsor<br />
Allstate, Corporate Sponsor Partners Fifth Third Bank and Katten<br />
Muchin Rosenman LLP, 10th Anniversary Season Sponsors and<br />
Women Playwrights Season Sponsors (listed on page 10) and<br />
Director’s Society Sponsors Jill and Richard Almeida, Roger and<br />
Julie Baskes, Marcia S. Cohn, Amy and Thomas Fahey, Lindy<br />
and Mike Keiser, M. Ann O’Brien, Michael and Christine Pope,<br />
Linda and Mitchell Saranow, Cynthia and Michael R. Scholl and<br />
Lorrayne and Steve Weiss.<br />
RIGHT (top to bottom): <strong>Goodman</strong> Trustee Patty VanLammeren (Allstate), God of Carnage<br />
Director Rick Snyder and Chairman Patricia Cox. Allstate is the Lead Corporate Sponsor<br />
of God of Carnage. Sponsors of God of Carnage (back row) Jill and Richard Almeida,<br />
Roger Baskes, Albert and Maria <strong>Goodman</strong>, guests, Director Rick Snyder, Steve Weiss,<br />
Christine and Michael Pope, Executive Director Roche Schulfer, Michael Scholl, Chairman<br />
Patricia Cox, Alice Rapoport, (front row) Julie Baskes, Cynthia Scholl and Lorrayne Weiss.<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong> Executive Director Roche Schulfer with Alvin Katz (Katten Muchin Rosenman<br />
LLP.) Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP is a Corporate Sponsor Partner of God of Carnage.<br />
God of Carnage Director’s Society Sponsors Jill and Richard Almeida with Keith Goldstein.<br />
19
OFF STAGE<br />
<strong>Stage</strong> <strong>Kiss</strong> Events<br />
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PLAY, THE PLAYWRIGHT AND THE WORK ON OUR STAGES<br />
AT THESE THOUGHT-PROVOKING PUBLIC PROGRAMS.<br />
STAGE KISS ARTISTS TALK<br />
Featuring Playwright Sarah Ruhl<br />
Wednesday, May 4, 2011<br />
6 – 7pm | Healy Rehearsal Room<br />
The Artists Talk series connects theater audiences with <strong>Goodman</strong><br />
artists in conversations about their process held in an intimate<br />
environment. Learn about Sarah Ruhl’s world premiere <strong>Stage</strong><br />
<strong>Kiss</strong> from the playwright herself before a 7:30pm performance.<br />
$10 general admission; $5 Subscribers, students with ID,<br />
and <strong>Goodman</strong> donors.<br />
STAGE KISS POST-SHOW DISCUSSIONS<br />
April 30 – June 5, 2011<br />
On Wednesday and Thursday evenings, stay after the performance<br />
for a post-show discussion with members of the <strong>Goodman</strong>’s<br />
artistic staff and cast members. No reservations necessary.<br />
FREE<br />
EVER FORGET A PERFORMANCE? RUN INTO<br />
UNEXPECTED CONSTRUCTION? MISS A SPECIAL<br />
DISCOUNT? NEVER AGAIN, WITH ENEWS!<br />
Join <strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong> eNews and you’ll receive special<br />
Subscriber-only benefits and important information.<br />
YOU’LL BE SENT:<br />
• Performance reminders<br />
• Front Row, the Subscriber-only e-newsletter<br />
• Traffic and construction updates<br />
• Special ticket offers and discounts from the <strong>Goodman</strong><br />
and other arts groups<br />
• Restaurant offers—and more!<br />
To join eNews, simply give us your email address when you<br />
call, or access your account at <strong>Goodman</strong><strong>Theatre</strong>.org/access<br />
and provide your email when prompted.<br />
This will also enable you to complete free online exchanges*—<br />
anytime, anywhere!<br />
*Free online exchanges for the 11/12 Season will be available in September 2011. You can exchange your 10/11 tickets<br />
online now. Free exchanges can only be made up to 24 hours in advance of your performance. Upgrade charges may apply.<br />
STUDENT SUBSCRIPTION SERIES<br />
THRIVES WITH SUPPORT OF<br />
POLK BROS. FOUNDATION<br />
As one of the first funders of <strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong>’s Student Subscription Series,<br />
the Polk Bros. Foundation has provided stalwart support for 25 years, allowing<br />
the program to blossom into its current form: an award-winning program<br />
which sets the bar for arts education nation-wide and serves 2,700 Chicago<br />
Public School students and their teachers annually through world-class<br />
programming. <strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong> salutes the Polk Bros. Foundation for its<br />
dedication to making Chicago a place where all people have the opportunity<br />
to reach their full potential, and thanks the Foundation for its long history of<br />
commitment to and leadership support for quality education programs like the<br />
Student Subscription Series.<br />
ANNOUNCING AN EXCITING NEW SUBSCRIBER<br />
BENEFIT—FREE UNLIMITED EXCHANGES!<br />
Now <strong>Goodman</strong> Subscribers receive free unlimited ticket<br />
exchanges by phone, at the box office—or now online 24/7<br />
at <strong>Goodman</strong><strong>Theatre</strong>.org! Exchanging tickets has never been<br />
easier—or more convenient.<br />
DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE<br />
STAGE OR SCREEN KISS?<br />
Did “Reel vs. Real: Iconic <strong>Kiss</strong>es on the Silver Screen” (page 6)<br />
miss your favorite film kiss? Keep the conversation going on the<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong>’s blog. Visit <strong>Goodman</strong>-<strong>Theatre</strong>.Blogspot.com to post<br />
your thoughts, pictures, clips or memories of the silver screen’s<br />
most legendary lip-locks.<br />
GOODMAN THEATRE PRESENTS<br />
Downtown Dream Date<br />
The perfect night on the town for one lucky couple, chosen<br />
by fans of the <strong>Goodman</strong>!<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong> is throwing a Chicago dream date for one<br />
couple—and the details of their date are up to you! We’re offering<br />
a lavish night on the town centered around a performance<br />
at the <strong>Goodman</strong> of Sarah Ruhl’s <strong>Stage</strong> <strong>Kiss</strong>, and each week on<br />
our Facebook page fans will get to vote on a different romantic<br />
element of the evening—where they’ll enjoy a pre-show dinner<br />
or post-show cocktails, for example. By May 16 we’ll have the<br />
whole date planned, and the only thing left to do will be to<br />
pick the lucky couple!<br />
Head to Facebook.com/<strong>Goodman</strong><strong>Theatre</strong> for more information<br />
and to help us plan our mystery date.<br />
20
In the Albert<br />
STAGE KISS APRIL/MAY/JUNE 2011<br />
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat<br />
PREVIEWS<br />
8:00pm<br />
4/30<br />
2:00pm<br />
7:30pm<br />
5/1<br />
5/2<br />
5/3<br />
7:30pm<br />
5/4<br />
7:30pm<br />
5/5<br />
8:00pm<br />
5/6<br />
2:00pm<br />
8:00pm<br />
5/7<br />
2:00pm<br />
7:30pm<br />
5/8<br />
Opening<br />
7:00pm<br />
5/9<br />
Sold Out<br />
5/10<br />
7:30pm<br />
5/11<br />
2:00pm<br />
7:30pm<br />
5/12<br />
8:00pm<br />
5/13<br />
8:00pm<br />
5/14<br />
CENTER STAGE<br />
Scenemakers Vice President Craig McCaw shares<br />
why he supports <strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong>.<br />
How did you become involved with the Scenemakers<br />
Board? How long have you been on the Board?<br />
A coworker of mine had a friend on the Board and<br />
recommended it to me. I met with some of the<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong> development staff and it seemed like a<br />
great fit. I have been on the board since early 2007.<br />
2:00pm<br />
7:30pm<br />
2:00pm<br />
7:30pm<br />
2:00pm<br />
2:00pm<br />
7:30pm<br />
5/15<br />
5/22<br />
5/29<br />
6/5<br />
5/16<br />
5/23<br />
5/30<br />
7:30pm<br />
7:30pm<br />
7:30pm<br />
5/17<br />
5/24<br />
5/31<br />
7:30pm<br />
7:30pm<br />
7:30pm<br />
5/18<br />
5/25<br />
6/1<br />
2:00pm<br />
7:30pm<br />
2:00pm<br />
7:30pm<br />
7:30pm<br />
5/19<br />
5/26<br />
6/2<br />
8:00pm<br />
8:00pm<br />
8:00pm<br />
5/20<br />
5/27<br />
6/3<br />
2:00pm<br />
8:00pm<br />
2:00pm<br />
8:00pm<br />
5/21<br />
5/28<br />
6/4<br />
Why do you support the <strong>Goodman</strong>?<br />
The <strong>Goodman</strong> is the oldest nonprofit theater in<br />
Chicago. It is a very significant part of the Chicago<br />
cultural scene and is something I am honored to<br />
be a part of.<br />
What other nonprofits do you support?<br />
I am on the Young Leadership Council at the Juvenile<br />
Diabetes Research Foundation Illinois Chapter, which<br />
is another group similar to the Scenemakers Board.<br />
What has been your favorite production<br />
in our recent history? Why?<br />
The Long Red Road. It was the <strong>Goodman</strong> directorial<br />
debut of Philip Seymour Hoffman and the world<br />
premiere of the play by Brett C. Leonard. It was my<br />
favorite because of the effect it had on me long after<br />
the show. It was a very powerful production and one<br />
I will never forget.<br />
Why would you recommend joining<br />
the Scenemakers?<br />
It is a great group of young professionals that is in a<br />
transition stage so there are some very exciting initiatives<br />
for new members to get involved in. Twenty<br />
years from now when hopefully the group is still<br />
thriving you can look back and say, “I was part of<br />
the group that created this.” That’s an exciting thing<br />
to be a part of.<br />
To learn more about the Scenemakers, please<br />
visit <strong>Goodman</strong><strong>Theatre</strong>.org/Scenemakers or email<br />
Scenemakers@<strong>Goodman</strong><strong>Theatre</strong>.org.<br />
Top: Catherine Warren and Scenemakers Vice President Craig McCaw.<br />
HOTEL MONACO CHICAGO—<br />
A GOODMAN THEATRE PREFERRED HOTEL<br />
Step into Chicago at the Hotel Monaco Chicago, a Kimpton hotel. Hotel Monaco Chicago is situated in the heart<br />
of downtown Chicago, conveniently located near <strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong>.<br />
Guest rooms at Kimpton’s boutique Hotel Monaco Chicago have been remodeled and feature design elements<br />
from around the globe. Additionally, Hotel Monaco Chicago now offers guests a host of new and exciting programs<br />
unlike those at any other Chicago hotel. Now when you stay at Hotel Monaco Chicago you can partake in<br />
Glide with GM, a bi-weekly Segway tour hosted by a hotel manager; or borrow a Flip camera on loan from the<br />
hotel; or take part in Step into Chicago—a new program in which Hotel Monaco Chicago teams up with Chicago<br />
Greeter to offer iPods with customized, guided walking tours.<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong> patrons receive rates from $155 – $195 at this pet-friendly, four-star hotel, which features<br />
complimentary wine bar for guests after 6pm. These rates are good through August, 2011, so be sure to<br />
take advantage of them now. Don’t forget to tell your family and friends who are looking for a place to<br />
stay during the spring and summer months. Call 312.960.8500 and mention <strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong> and the<br />
code GMT. While staying at the hotel, guests can also dine on the classic home-style American cooking at South<br />
Water Kitchen. <strong>Goodman</strong> patrons who show their ticket stubs will receive a complimentary dessert with the purchase<br />
of an entrée. Hotel Monaco Chicago is located at 225 North Wabash Street.<br />
21
WHAT GREAT THEATER SHOULD BE<br />
170 NORTH DEARBORN<br />
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60601<br />
Non-profit Org.<br />
U.S. Postage<br />
P A I D<br />
Chicago, IL<br />
Permit No. 2546<br />
ONE ENCHANTED<br />
DECADE<br />
Saturday, May 21, 2011<br />
5:30pm Cocktail Reception<br />
6:30pm Matthew Morrison Performance<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong><br />
Followed by dinner and dancing<br />
to the Al Sofia Orchestra<br />
Fairmont Chicago<br />
Black Tie<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong> Gala<br />
Featuring Matthew Morrison<br />
Roche Schulfer<br />
Executive Director<br />
Patricia Cox<br />
Chairman,<br />
Board of Trustees<br />
Margaret M. Janus<br />
Swati Mehta<br />
Gala Co-Chairs<br />
Robert Falls<br />
Artistic Director<br />
Joan Clifford<br />
President,<br />
Women’s Board<br />
James E. Annable<br />
Deborah A. Bricker<br />
Lester N. Coney<br />
Shawn M. Donnelley<br />
Albert Ivar <strong>Goodman</strong><br />
Sondra A. Healy<br />
Carol Prins<br />
Honorees<br />
Gala Sponsor Partners<br />
Sharon and Charles Angell<br />
Joan and Robert Clifford<br />
Patricia Cox<br />
Shawn M. Donnelley and<br />
Christopher M. Kelly<br />
Ellen and Paul Gignilliat<br />
Sondra and Denis Healy/Turtle Wax, Inc.<br />
Wayne and Margaret Janus<br />
Swati and Siddharth Mehta<br />
Michael and Kay O’Halleran<br />
Carol Prins and John Hart<br />
Alice and John J. Sabl<br />
Gala Benefactors<br />
Albert and Maria <strong>Goodman</strong><br />
Exclusive Airline of<br />
<strong>Goodman</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong>