The Theatrical in Chicago (or 6 Degrees)
No matter where I go, I search for and see the theatrical. And no matter where I am, I see and search for the connections to Amphibian.
I spent the weekend in Chicago, attending the board meeting of TYA/USA. While I was there, I discovered and sought out many theatrical ‘phib connections, including:
- Attending the Dallas Stars game (which most locals referred to as the “Chicago Blackhawks game”) and witnessing the climactic moment of the Blackhawks tieing up the game on a 6 on 3 power play with only 1.5 seconds left in regulation then winning the game by scoring :43 seconds into overtime
- One of my fellow board members attended TCU
- Seeing an enormous Shiner Bock billboard within minutes of first leaving the hotel en route to the first meeting at DePaul
- Knowing that ‘phib Drew Hayes may be around the corner…and being sad that with such a quick trip I would likely miss him
- Hearing the guys in the airport bar talking about attending Texas and Oklahoma, mentioning TCU in the course of talking about “the big game” (but not knowing what that big game was because if its not hockey I am clueless)
The ‘phib 6 degrees continued when I returned. On the train ride home who should sit down next to me by ‘phib Jonathan Fielding who had just come from seeing ‘phib Jessica Myhr in a production of The Cherry Orchard.
David A. Miller, Amphibian Company Member and director of last year’s Below the Belt, is the Guest Amphiblogger for October. When he is not talking about theatre or beer, he is talking about hockey.
lisa taylor said,
October 15, 2007 @ 7:19 pm
I’m in New Orleans talking by phone to folks in Fort Worth…it is hard to not think about Amphibian!
Kathleen said,
October 15, 2007 @ 7:42 pm
Speaking of Chicago, that is such a fantastic city for theatre and for those of us trying to create theatre to use as a model. Did you know that Chicago Shakespeare is only a few years older than Amphibian? They also started out by performing in borrowed spaces. The city of Chicago, however, donated their gorgeous space to them and now they pay about $1 per year. Steppenwolf is a great example of what Amphibian is working toward becoming. They were founded by Gary Sinise and John Malkovich, who are still very involved and go back and work with Steppenwolf whenever they can. We are a company made up of actors, designers, and directors who are making names for themselves all over the country, but who still make time to come back and work with the Phibs. The big difference, I think, is that people in Fort Worth have not learned to value theatre on the scale that cities in the Northeast have. They certainly value the arts. We have some of the best museums, opera, and classical music in the world. But somehow theatre is not on people’s radar as something worth investing time and money in. We need more Sinises and Malkoviches out there leading audiences to theatre. Our slogan is “keep the drama onstage.” This means two things: 1) The obvious one about not creating difficult emotional scenarios in your personal life and 2) Support theatre so that it can continue to exist. By the way, the t-shirts are only $15–plus shipping, handling, and fondling charges.
David A. Miller said,
October 16, 2007 @ 6:59 pm
While I was there, there was a lot of buzz about The House Theatre as an up and coming theater company as well. http://www.thehousetheatre.com/ Although I don’t regret seeing the hockey game, I do wish that I could have seen The Sparrow.
I meant to buy a shirt while I was in Fort Worth, especially so that I could trade in the shipping and handling charges for more of the third kind.