some thoughts on chicago’s theatre scene…

There’s a debate a’brewin’ in the Chicago theatre scene. 

Said debate is actually a bunch of debates all rolled into one – triggered by the presence of Broadway in Chicago (the big scary corporate giant that imports Broadway national tours to Chicago’s large downtown theatres), as well as blogs like http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/off-broadway-in-chicago/

Chicago is a theatre city that can stand on its own two feet when compared to New York or Los Angeles. We’ve got impressive nationally known theatres (The holy trinity of Goodman, Steppenwolf, and Chicago Shakespeare are the first to come to mind) and a strong storefront theatre scene, made up of groups that are constantly striving to produce new works and take on old classics. There’s a ton of talent in this town, that’s not in question.

Chicago’s vibrant storefront scene does not want to be seen as merely “Off-Broadway.”

They want to be seen as “Chicago, an important theatre city.”

And, Chicago should be known that way.

BUT, to paint B.I.C. as completely evil purely because it’s a corporation and the free-wheeling Storefront scene as theatrical heaven on earth is incorrect, also.

I have to be honest:

I’m considering myself retired from theatre (and getting ever so slightly more and more annoyed with those who doubt my belief that I am done with creating theatre, but that’s a different post….)

As a former Artistic Director, I left my company because I felt overwhelmed. I felt like all the work was falling on my shoulders and no one cared. It created an enormous amount of pressure on me, and I’m not alone – I can name you three other young people in high positions in small Chicago companies who have expressed the same feelings to me (Two of whom wound up leaving said companies for the same reasons as me.  The third hangs on.) I won’t name them here, but it’s a sign of something.

Though I have great respect for many of Chicago’s storefront champions (GreyZelda Theatre Group, The Strange Tree Group, The House Theatre, and New Leaf Theatre among others) I have also been disappointed many, many times by shows I’ve seen in the Chicago storefront scene, even by groups that are widely held up as ground-breaking and impressive.

Oftentimes, I find myself going in to these smaller shows expecting pretension. I’m aware that in any art form, there are going to be people who create pretentious or weird things purely for the sake of seeming pretentious and weird, but it’s made me ever so cautious about what I go see. (Sometimes – like in the case of Hubris Productions fantastic staging of “Bent” earlier this summer, I am proven to be dead wrong.) 

Sometimes – and I won’t name names here – I leave shows feeling like I’ve wasted my audience-member dollars, which aren’t that plentiful. I’m a receptionist, it’s a recession in case you hadn’t heard, and at $20 a pop on average for storefront shows, I have to say I’m starting to value feeling like I’m getting my moneys worth.

Maybe I’m not “cool” enough for Chicago theatre, but I fell in love with theatre because of a production of Annie I saw when I was in 4th grade. It was magical and inspiring. It has been a long time since I’ve seen a show I would consider magical and inspiring. (While Marriott’s “Hairspray” is a gem, it’s essentially a smaller copy of the utterly inspiring and magical original Broadway production.)

I like musicals, and like to be entertained, and feel like that very trait is one that makes many members of Chicago’s theatre scene look down. While I value the writings of Pinter, Albee, and the like, seeing pieces by them doesn’t inspire much excitement in me. And the fact that everyone seems to reviving Arthur Miller for this upcoming season only makes me want to roll my eyes a little.

You know what? I’m going to see the National tour of CATS tonight. And I’m excited.

And if you look down on me for that, you are a snob.

Get over yourself.

One of the things apparently discussed at the recently held Chicago Storefront Summit was the idea of a code of ethics.  I’ve worked in and around Chicago’s scene enough to know that a code of ethics IS needed, as many groups are lacking in basic skills.  For example, someone should teach courses in how to make sure all people who get to claim the title of a company member pitch in and help on projects so one poor soul doesn’t wind up carrying enormous burdens (financial and otherwise).  Perhaps also, how to NOT produce pieces merely because a company member (or, dare I say, checkbook-wielding person) wrote it.  Also, things like how to treat people with decency, and how to not be creepy would be helpful to many groups. How many times have two groups been sharing a performance space and one group discovers the other group has damaged a costume piece, prop, or set piece of theirs?

Dear Theatre-People in General: I know this is going to be hard concept to grasp, but maybe like 10% of the “real world” gives a shit about theatre. I’m from Northern Michigan, and even “Wicked” (gasp! I invoked the very name!) is largely unheard of around there. They know “Phantom of the Opera” and maybe “Les Mis” and “Rent,” but on the whole, they don’t care. So, the fact that you starred in some fringe production of a piece your best friend wrote on an off-night at the Viaduct doesn’t make you a celebrity, so don’t act like you’re famous.

Dear Theatre-Companies in General: There are over 250 producing theatre companies in the Chicago area. Think about that for a second. Now, think about your target audience, which is essentially… me. I have some disposable income and I love theatre. You are competing with 249 other groups for my audience dollar. Daunting, isn’t it? So maybe you should look outside yourself and your small little world before selecting to do a piece one of your company members has always wanted to play the lead in, even though it’s been done four times in recent years and is being done by another group at this exact moment. (There were how many productions of Macbeth last year around town?)

I’m bitter, yes. Whatever.

But I’m not devoid of hope.

There are some seriously good people working in the scene that are gathering forces to turn things around. Rebecca Zellar, Betsy Morgan, Jessica Hutchinson, Dan Granata, and Nick Keenan are a few people I’m sending mad amounts of positive energy too, as I think they’re the type of people who actually care about theatre as an art form rather than a way to stroke their egos and feel special. I truly think they can clean up some of the messiness thats around and revive a spirit of collaboration amongst the theatre groups in Chicago who are actually going to hang around.

That leaves me hopeful.