The former chief critic of the "Chicago Tribune" uses historical records, interviews, and personal memories to chronicle Chicago's theater world from the 1830s to the present day.
Who produced the first stage adaptation of "The Wizard of Oz" in 1902-nearly forty years before the movie classic? What entertainment juggernaut began in a converted Chinese laundry on Wells Street in 1959? Where did Louis (Studs) Terkel make his stage debut? When did the original production of "Grease" open at Kingston Mines Theater?
Richard Christiansen, former chief critic for the Chicago Tribune, answers these and many more questions about the rich role of the theater in Chicago, from its earliest days in 1837 to its present state as a diverse community of artists with international stature. In A Theater of Our Own, he draws upon his exclusive interviews, insights, and memories gathered over a period of more than forty years of reviewing the arts. This history and memoir traces the evolution of the Chicago theater scene from small theaters to major institutions such as the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the Goodman Theater, and The Second City. Along the way, Richard Christiansen relates his behind-the-scenes conversations with some of Chicago's most acclaimed writers, directors, and actors--David Mamet, Frank Galati, Mary Zimmerman, John Malkovich, Laurie Metcalf, Harold Ramis, Gary Sinise, and Joe Mantegna--all a part of Chicago's theater renaissance from the 1970s onward. To this day, Chicago remains a city known for its imaginative, innovative, and influential theaters and artists. A Theater of Our Own, a valuable contribution to the history of theater, is a book written for anyone who enjoys the theater and its people.
| FOREWORD |
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ix | |
| INTRODUCTION |
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xiii | |
|
1 A Thrilling Little Place" |
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3 | (8) |
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2 "Something Attractive at the McVicker's" |
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11 | (8) |
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3 "The City Assumed a Metropolitan Air" |
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19 | (16) |
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4 "Two Barrels of Slippers" |
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35 | (10) |
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5 "A Glimpse of That Order and Beauty" |
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45 | (6) |
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6 "By All Means Start Your Own Theatre" |
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51 | (16) |
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7 "We Were a Landlocked Town" |
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67 | (8) |
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8 "There Actually Was a National Theater" |
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75 | (12) |
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9 "Chicago Is Hard Up for Writers" |
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87 | (10) |
| 10 "It's a Comedy School" |
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97 | (22) |
| 11 "It Was an Honor to Work There" |
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119 | (14) |
| 12 "We Improvised" |
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133 | (12) |
| 13 "Let All the Flowers of the Arts Bloom" |
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145 | (16) |
| 14 "We'll Have a Scene" |
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161 | (14) |
| 15 "It's Good Writing" |
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175 | (14) |
| 16 "It Was the Arrogance of Youth" |
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189 | (6) |
| 17 "The Field Is Littered with Bodies" |
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195 | (24) |
| 18 "We Needed to Tribe Up" |
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219 | (16) |
| 19 "The Vast Chicago Theater Market" |
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235 | (16) |
| 20 "It All Came Together with Salesman" |
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251 | (14) |
| 21 "The New Theater Capital of the United States" |
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265 | (18) |
| 22 "They've Become Institutions" |
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283 | (14) |
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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297 | (4) |
| BIBLIOGRAPHY |
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301 | (4) |
| INDEX |
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305 | |
Richard Christiansen has been an arts journalist for more than forty years, covering theater, dance, film, the visual arts, and a variety of arts and entertainment subjects in Chicago, the nation, and abroad. He began his career in 1956 as a reporter at the City News Bureau of Chicago and moved to the Chicago Daily News a year later. In 1978, he joined the Chicago Tribune as its critic-at-large, arts and entertainment editor, and, finally, chief critic and senior writer, a post he held until his retirement in 2002.
