ROCHE SCHULFER - Serving the Art at Goodman Theatre

July 15, 2019 / Ed Tracy

The Goodman Theatre opened its new Dearborn center in 2000. Roche Schulfer, the long-serving Executive Director responsible for that project, had already been on the job for 20 years.

A few years ago, in recognition of his 40 years of service, a large bronze plaque was installed in the sidewalk under the Goodman marquee.

And on the night before we sat down for our CONVERSATION, Roche Schulfer could be found in the lobby greeting the opening night audience eager to view Mary Zimmerman’s revival of Meredith Willson’s “The Music Man”—the Tony Award winning director’s 16th Goodman show in a 25-year association that began with Goodman’s Artistic Collective.

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categories / Theater, Music, Business, Directing, Musical Theater
tags / Goodman Theatre, Roche Schulfer, Robert Falls, Mary Zimmerman

SHARRIESE HAMILTON - Making Dreams Come True

April 28, 2019 / Ed Tracy

There were a few weeks left to see the multi-talented Sharriese Hamilton in the moving Chicago Children’s Theatre production of Cheryl L. West’s “The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963” when we had a conversation following a student performance on April 23rd. Hamilton plays the mother of a fun-loving family dealing with an upstart older son and the road trip from their home in Flint, Michigan to her mother’s home in Birmingham, Alabama to help turn things around. The imaginative story plays out through the observations of the Watson’s younger son as he discovers how discrimination and racism impacts his family’s life through events that occur on the trip and in Birmingham. It’s entertaining and enlightening children’s theater—a real conversation starter—dealing, as Hamilton says, “with real issues and real people.”

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categories / Theater, Music, Children’s Theatre, Musical Theater, History
tags / Sharriese Hamilton

CORY LIPPIELLO - Casting West Side Story at Lyric Opera

April 15, 2019 / Ed Tracy

The air is humming at Lyric Opera of Chicago these days. And no matter who you to talk to, there is a feeling that something great is coming. That something would be the highly-anticipated coproduction of “West Side Story” presented by the Lyric, the Houston Grand Opera, and Glimmerglass Festival, directed by Francesca Zambello and featuring Corey Cott as Tony, Mikaela Bennett as Maria, Amanda Castro as Anita, Brett Thiele as Riff and Manuel Stark Santos as Bernardo.

No matter whether you place your priorities on acting, singing or dancing—and everyone has to dance—the cast for the upcoming Broadway at Lyric show requires top-tier triple threat talent to deliver the magnificent Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim score with Jerome Robbins original choreography recreated by Julio Monge. James Lowe will conduct members of the Lyric Opera Chorus and Orchestra.

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categories / Theater, Music, Business, Musical Theater
tags / Francesca Zambello, Julio Monge, James Lowe, Corey Cott, Mikaela Bennett, Amanda Castro, Brett Thiele, Manuel Stark Santos, Cory Lippiello

LOUIS CONTEY Hannah and Martin-Shattered Globe Theatre

April 08, 2019 / Ed Tracy

If you are a student of 20th century philosophy, the distinguished works of Hannah Arendt and Martin Heidegger will be familiar. For the rest of us, the Shattered Globe Theatre revival of Kate Foder’s “Hannah and Martin” directed by Louis Contey, is an opportunity to understand the relationship—and passionate love affair—between the young German-Jewish student and her mentor and the impact that the rise to power of the Nazi party had on the course of their lives. Set at various times from their first meeting in 1924 to the 1946 Nuremberg Trials, the play chronicles Heidegger’s fall from grace after his ill-fated public endorsement of Nazi party ideology and the conflict that Arendt and those around him face as a result.

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categories / Theater, Directing, History
tags / Louis Contey, Kate Fodor, Christina Gorman, Lawrence Grimm, Daria Harper, Doug McDade, Cortney McKenna, Steve Peebles, Jazzma Pryor, Drew Schad

JANET ULRICH BROOKS - MASTER CLASS

November 23, 2018 / Ed Tracy

When Janet Ulrich Brooks decided to bypass a move to Kansas City and land in Evanston, Illinois in 1988, the decision was made in part because of the potential for more artistic work in Chicago’s vibrant theater community. Primarily, she came to help care for her newborn niece, Laura. Looking back on it now she says her role as a nanny was the best day job she ever had.

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categories / Theater, Musical Theater, History, Music
tags / Janet Ulrich Brooks

NEIL HANSON - UNKNOWN SOLDIERS

November 10, 2018 / Ed Tracy

This podcast - the 70th in the CONVERSATIONS series and second of three programs recorded in London entitled CONVERSATIONS on High Street - is a fascinating look back 100 years to the end of World War I and the events that followed with author and historian, Neil Hanson.

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categories / Interviews, Military Themes, History, Books
tags / Neil Hanson, World War I

LARRY YANDO - Brave. Magical. Out on an Edge.

October 25, 2018 / Ed Tracy

Spend a few minutes with the brilliant actor Larry Yando and you might think, as I do, that he is a happy-go-lucky kind of guy. So, when I turned that particular description back to the roles he plays, it launched us on a fascinating conversation about why he has, in fact, ended up most often playing what he termed ‘the meanies.’ Not just your average, everyday meanie, either.

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categories / History, Military Themes, Theater, Musical Theater

GREG CAMERON – RESOURCING THE ARTISTRY AT THE JOFFREY BALLET

October 10, 2018 / Ed Tracy

An exciting new season is around the corner for Joffrey Ballet and it includes a double dose of the phenomenal Christopher Wheeldon. First up, Swan Lake returns to the Auditorium Theatre beginning October 17th. The Nutcracker, Wheeldon's reimagined holiday classic, set during the construction of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, opens December 1st and runs through December 30th, aligning with exhibits and other events capping a year-long celebration of the Exposition’s 125th anniversary.

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categories / Business, Dance, Music, New Media

MICHAEL WEBER - NEW HOME. NEW FACES. JUST GETTING STARTED.

October 04, 2018 / Ed Tracy

With over twenty-five years in Chicago theatre, a vast knowledge of Broadway musicals and a new big move to a downtown location, Michael Weber, Porchlight Music Theatre’s Artistic Director, appears to be just getting started.

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categories / Business, Comedy, Directing, Dance, History, Music, Musical Theater, Theater

BURNHAM'S DREAM - THE WHITE CITY

May 29, 2018 / Ed Tracy

Chicago playwright and documentary filmmaker June Finfer who has been collaborating on the music and lyrics with Elizabeth Doyle, a prominent Chicago vocalist, pianist, composer and musical director join the conversation to talk about the development process behind the musical, what they have learned about the Burnham legacy and how this very Chicago story will translate to the musical stage.

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categories / Musical Theater, History

RISHI SHARMA: Preserving World War II Combat Stories, One Veteran at a Time

May 23, 2018 / Ed Tracy

Rishi Sharma has logged a lot of hours on the road in recent years, connecting, meeting and filming interviews with combat veterans who served in World War II. To date, he has amassed a comprehensive archive of over 850 interviews – easily over 4,500 total hours and counting — all part of his ambitious plan to honor America’s World War II heroes and preserve their stories for generations to come.

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categories / History, Military Themes, Commentary, Film/TV, New Media, Interviews

TONY MACALUSO - THE STUDS TERKEL RADIO ARCHIVE

May 07, 2018 / Ed Tracy

Remember May 16, 2018. That will be the day that fans of the spoken word have two things to celebrate. The first is to honor what would have been Studs Terkel’s 106th birthday. The second is the public launch of a new online project that has been years in the making – The Studs Terkel Radio Archive. There is a preview of things to come in our CONVERSATION with WFMT Radio Network Director Tony Macaluso which includes clips from a 1960 interview between Studs and silent film legend Buster Keaton.

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categories / Film/TV, Comedy, Business

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