This article by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Playbill magazine in May 2012. Metallica helped Nick Sandys get into the right frame of mind when he was playing the title character of Macbeth. The Chicago actor blasted the heavy-metal band on his car stereo as he drove to the theater. When he’s in the car… Continue reading Creatures of habit: Actors’ routines
Tag: playbill
Playbill feature: ‘The Pirates of Penzance’
This article by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Playbill magazine in April 2012. When it comes to pirates in pop culture, Jack Sparrow is a Johnny-come-lately. He’s been swashbuckling his way across movie screens for a mere nine years — since 2003, when Johnny Depp starred in the first Pirates of the Caribbean film. Sparrow… Continue reading Playbill feature: ‘The Pirates of Penzance’
What Will Wrote: Chicago’s role in the debate over Shakespeare
This article by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Playbill magazine in April 2012. For hundreds of years, people have questioned whether William Shakespeare really wrote the plays we attribute to him. Strangely enough, a Chicago judge ruled on the question in 1916. For a brief time, an official legal decision was on the books in Cook County… Continue reading What Will Wrote: Chicago’s role in the debate over Shakespeare
Playbill feature: ‘The Hunchback Variations Opera’
This article by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Playbill magazine in March 2012. What are Ludwig van Beethoven and Quasimodo doing together on the same stage? Why are they sitting at a table with microphones? And why are they singing operatically about a stage direction written by Anton Chekhov? Audiences may well wonder about these… Continue reading Playbill feature: ‘The Hunchback Variations Opera’
Christmas theater, past and present
This article by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Playbill magazine in December 2011. It’s December. Everywhere you turn, the lights twinkle. Christmas carols jingle. And Ebenezer Scrooge, George Bailey or maybe a department-store elf called Crumpet are center stage once again. For Chicago’s theaters, the holidays have always been an important time of year. However,… Continue reading Christmas theater, past and present
Early African-American theater in Chicago
This article by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Playbill magazine in January 2011. Walking through downtown Chicago one day in 1882, lawyer Jarvis Blume spotted a shoeshine boy performing Shakespeare scenes for a small crowd of bootblacks and newsboys. Blume was amazed — especially because this 12-year-old thespian was black. He could hardly believe that this… Continue reading Early African-American theater in Chicago
Censorship in Chicago theater
This article by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Playbill magazine in March 2010. Chicago used to be the kind of town where actors were afraid of saying words like “hell” or “damn” on the stage. And taking off their clothes during a play? Unthinkable. These days, smoking a cigarette is just about the only thing that… Continue reading Censorship in Chicago theater
On fight choreography
This article by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Playbill magazine in February 2010. Staging a fight scene for a play is a bit like designing a rollercoaster ride: it should look dangerous, but it needs to be safe. Those swords you see onstage don’t have sharp edges, but they can deliver some serious bruises. Many… Continue reading On fight choreography
What is a dramaturg?
This article by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Playbill magazine in October 2009. Of all the people listed in a theater program, the most mysterious may be the dramaturg. Or should that be dramaturge? The spelling is hard to pin down, and so is the definition of exactly what this person does. “I wish I had… Continue reading What is a dramaturg?
Chicago theater lingo
This article by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Playbill magazine in September 2009. Theater people have a language all their own. But the lingo doesn’t always translate from house to house. Take the term “Strawberry Shortcake,” for example. It was coined at Lookingglass Theatre in 2001, when the actress Lauren Hirte needed a costume to… Continue reading Chicago theater lingo