The New Works Virtual Festival

Kevin Pollack has been really busy in the days of COVID-19. There is the hit music video ”Holiday” on his YouTube channel that has been receiving significant recognition for both content and pure enjoyment.

With Thomas Eliot Squires, Pollack hosts the popular series Zooming the Movies on Facebook. Tonight’s offering is Miracle on 34th Street, a live benefit for the Actors Fund starring John Ruebenstein and featuring Megan Cavanaugh, David Girolmo and many others. The Grinch, A Christmas Story and Love Actually are in the works for the weeks ahead.

Pollack’s new album, The Other Side, will be available soon on Spotify. It’s a vigorous blend of 80’s retro and pop that should be on everyone’s Christmas download list.

But, Pollack’s roots are in the theatre and it is that artistic platform that is home for one of the most ambitious – and genuinely groundbreaking – virtual ventures of our sequestered time. The New Works Virtual Festival, founded by Pollack with actors Bart Shatto and Jim Auld, is running nightly through December 25, benefits The Actors Fund and showcases established and rising playwrights who receive a first-class virtual reading by an A-list roster of actors. The series has Chaz Ebert among its’ producers.

The Festival began in earnest on December 5 with “Oscar and Walt,” by Donald Steven Olson, a play about the meeting of Oscar Wilde and Walt Whitman. Readings in recent weeks included “Secret Hour” by Jenny Stafford, “We the People” by Harrison Zeiberg.

Coming up tonight: “The Wickham Way” by Rachel Rubin Ladutke with songs by Lisa Brigantino that is set at a Vermont bed and breakfast during a paralyzing snowstorm with a mix of fascinating characters gathered together for the memorial of an influential and socially-forward mentor.

If you happen to be in Vermont in a paralyzing snowstorm—which most of Vermont is right now—or anywhere else for that matter, you should certainly tune in to this or any of the other free readings in the series. While you are there, support the effort of these creatives with a generous gift to The Actors Fund. For a complete list of plays and times, visit the Facebook live page.

The New Works Virtual Festival The twenty selected works, chosen from over 700 submissions, cover a broad spectrum of themes. Each reading includes a scrolling copy of the script in the lower third of the screen so the viewer can read along for themselves. The use of a narrator for stage directions varies from play to play. These are zoom readings of projects in various stages of development that are performed and presented extremely well.

Like and subscribe to The New Works Virtual Festival on Facebook and YouTube as well as: @newworksvirtualfestival on Instagram and @NWVfestival on Twitter for announcements and information. Use the hashtags #NWVFest and #NewWorksVirtualFestival for all related content. The Festival continues through December 25, 2020.

Read More: Jonathan Mandell Feature 12|5|2020

Support the Actors Fund by visiting: www.actorsfund.org/nwvfest

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HEIDI KETTENRING - Chicago Celebrates Sondheim!

There are more than a few things you need to know about Heidi Kettenring, the accomplished Jeff Award-winning actor and vocalist that you may have seen on stages all across Chicagoland.

In addition to the Artists Lounge Live Karen Carpenter concert performance that is gearing up for the holidays at Mercury’s Venus Cabaret and a flurry of roles that will keep her busy on stage well into next summer, Kettenring will be appearing at the Auditorium Theatre in ‘Chicago Celebrates Sondheim!’ on November 16th with the Chicago Philharmonic under the direction of Rich Daniels. The concert, directed and produced by Joan Curto, features Paul Marinaro, Beckie Menzie, Johnny Rodgers, Robert Sims with Tom Michael, Sophie Grimm, David Edelfelt, Rodrick Dixon, Susan Werner, Laura Freeman, Marianne Murphy Orland and Jaymes Osborne in a 90th birthday musical salute to Steven Sondheim.

In balancing a busy career and personal life with actor/husband David Girolmo, Kettenring expects that they will be separated often. In our recent CONVERSATION about the concert, Kettenring recalled staying in touch daily during the summer run in Mary Zimmerman’s The Music Man at the Goodman Theater while David was out of town playing the Lion in the Wizard of Oz at the Maine State Music Theatre.

That sparked a delightful story about a memorable performance that does not appear among the over 40 shows on her resume as Dorothy in a high school production of The Wizard of Oz in Nashville.

There’s much more about her career in Chicago, the Sondheim concert, and what will make the holidays a little brighter in a touching and memorable conversation with the superbly talented, Heidi Kettenring. PODCAST

Northwestern theatre and Mary Zimmerman… “I went to Northwestern. (Mary Zimmerman) was teaching there at the time and I couldn't get into her class the whole four years that I was there. There was the Theatre major and then there was also something called ‘Performance Studies’ major…a lot of people transferred out of the theatre program into performance studies because you could not get into her class or Frank Galati’s class. They just filled up so quickly. And truth be told, I've never even had the opportunity to audition for her until this year because I've been busy every time one of her shows has come through. It was a 25-year dream sort of realized, which was wonderful.”

The Music Man at Goodman… “Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn wore one of the most magnificent red, white and blue costumes that I've ever seen. I saw the rendering of it and I think I even said out loud, “Do I actually get to wear that?” It was quite patriotic and oddly comfortable…. It was thrilling for me. Similar to working with her, I've never worked at the Goodman. They tend to cast their shows a little bit later and so often I've already been working when their auditions have rolled around. And I've also auditioned for some things that were not quite the right fit... So, it was a dream come true kind of all the way around to finally get to work there, to finally get to work with Mary, to do The Music Man for the first time. I had never been in The Music Man. I actually had not even seen The Music Man until about seven years ago when my friend Bernie (Yvon) did it at the Marriott Lincolnshire beautifully. … It was a great time of year to do it. … being downtown in the summertime, because I live in Evanston, so getting to spend just active time downtown, was fun. And that theater. They treat everyone really, really well. It was a truly special experience.”

Balancing careers with husband David Girolmo… “It's interesting. People ask me that a lot and the first thing I say is I don't know any different. I don't know what it's like to be with somebody who is not in the business, so I can't compare in that way. But what I do know is that he's the most important thing to me. He's a bit older than I am. So, when we met, he immediately said, ‘You know. Look… Listen… This is what I do. This is what I do for a living. This is how I do it.” Meaning ‘I might have to go out of town to work. The hours are different from a 9 to 5 job. I have to work on holidays often.’ And that is just how this business works. And obviously there is always room for negotiating, but for the most part, that's the way that it is.…The thing that keeps it from being difficult is that he's the person. He's my favorite person. And, honestly, technology has helped immeasurably. When we first met it was a lot harder getting into contact with each other when he was out of town. You know, you have to make a date. ‘I'm going to be by the rotary telephone at a certain time.’ We don't have to do that anymore. And, honestly, we almost communicate more when we are out of town because we text constantly. We both want yours as the first voice that I hear. Yours is the last voice that I want to hear. We probably speak on the telephone four or five times a day. We text all day, so it's hard because obviously we are not in the same place. But it's not hard because it's like breathing.”

CHICAGO CELEBRATES SONDHEIM!
AUDITORIUM THEATRE
NOVEMBER 16, 2019 8PM
Chicago Philharmonic
under direction of Rich Daniels featuring:
Joan Curto, Johnny Rodgers, Beckie Menzie,
Paul Marinaro, Heidi Kettenring and Robert Sims
TICKETS or CALL: (312) 341-2310

Chicago Celebrates Sondheim!… “For this concert, I'm not sure if I'm at liberty, so I'm not going to say because I want people to be surprised by what I'm singing. My two songs are vastly different. One of them I could sing without thinking about it. The other one I know that my knees are going to be knocking together right before I sing it. And a lot of that is because it's very wordy and I'm going to be standing backstage running through those lyrics up until I walk out on stage. But, that said, it's so much fun and I've never performed it in front of people. So that's going to be really fun to see what it's like to actually hear the audience's response to the song because that's part of it, too. …There are truly songs that, the second I hear them, I think, ‘Oh, I'm going to sing that.’ And there are times that people asked me to sing something and I take a big swallow and go, ‘Whoa. Really? Okay.’ … (the Sondheim) catalog is so vast and so wonderful. Honestly, quite complicated to sort of turn into singular events. I'm really excited to see how some of these songs are plucked out and turned into performances.”

Chicago Philharmonic at the Auditorium Theatre… “Singing with the Philharmonic. There is nothing like that. It almost feels like you're being buoyed on this wave of music behind you. It's so thrilling. I really cannot wait to see what it feels like to sing songs that already feel great.”

Next Up… “Karen Carpenter concert. We're putting together a Christmas version at the Mercury’s Venus Cabaret. …Then, in the new year, I'm doing a new musical at Paramount Theater in Aurora called “Secret of My Success.” And then after that I will be doing “As You Like It” at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

Something special for Christmas from David? — Listen to the PODCAST to find out. et

Comments have been edited for length and clarity.

Production Photos
All My Sons, Court Theatre | The Music Man, Goodman Theatre - Liz Lauren
Wicked - Joan Marcus

November 16, 2019
CHICAGO CELEBRATES SONDHEIM
2019 Annual Fall Gala, honoring Patti Eylar and Charlie Gardner
Auditorium Theatre
TICKETS

Sarah Siddons Society Gala
Supporting scholarships to theatre students at
top drama departments across Chicagoland.

December 20-29, 2019
Mercury Theater and Artists Lounge Live
present
MERRY CHRISTMAS DARLING
Heidi Kettenring Sings Karen Carpenter
Venus Cabaret | Mercury Theater
TICKETS

ARTISTS LOUNGE LIVE - HEIDI KETTENRING VIDEO

PODCAST available on Apple Podcasts, Libsyn, Stitcher, IHeartRadio and Radio.com App
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