Talk Theatre In Chicago

This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with theatre critic Larry Boomer. Larry talks about his background reviewing plays and he talks about his favorite shows of 2012.

Seventeen years ago, actors Brad Armacost, Lia Mortensen and Si Osborne starred in a production of Brian Friel's Faith Healer that took Chicago by storm, running four months in a tiny storefront space and then joining the line-up in Steppenwolf's inaugural studio theatre series. They are remounting that production at The Den Theatre, again under the direction of J.R Sullivan, and join Anne Nicholson Weber to talk about Friel's tricky play and the return to a pivotal experience in their development as artists.

This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with John Reeger - the actor and the playwright of four musicals with the late Julie Shannon. He talks about The Christmas Schooner and how he and Julie collaborated to write musicals. He also talks about the memorial celebration of Julie Shannon's life and work.

The American Blues Theater has been presenting a version of It's a Wonderful Life: Live! at the Biograph every holiday season for the last eight years Four members of the cast -- Kevin R. Kelly, John Mohrlein, Gwendolyn Whiteside and Shawn J. Goudie.- join Anne Nicholson Weber to talk about the history of this perennial Chicago favorite, the style and aesthetic of the production, how Foley Artist Shawn Goudie creates the sound effects, and some of the extras -- carol singing, live jingles for local businesses, and "audiograms" -- that contribute to the show's warm, community spirit.

This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with Nick Sandys -- the artistic director at Remy Bumppos think theatre. Nick talks about their new show You Never Can Tell as well as Remy Bumppo and the mission of the theatre company.

What's it like to reprise a role you first played 14 years ago? Lookingglass actors Raymond Fox, Doug Hara and Louise Lamson join Anne Nicholson Weber to talk about their long association with Mary Zimmerman's play Metamorphoses, how to keep a performance alive and fresh over a long run, and how their performances have changed over time.

This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with Anthony Freud - the General Director of the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He talks about his background, the current Lyric opera season and his vision for the future of the Lyric Opera.

Education and outreach are a big part of what many Chicago theatres do. Three leaders in this field -- Hallie Gordon (Artistic and Education Director For Young Adults at Steppenwolf Theatre), Marilyn Halperin (Director of Education and Communications at Chicago Shakespeare Theater) and Nicole O'Connell (Director of Education at Writers Theatre) -- join Anne Nicholson Weber to discuss how and why their theatres are reaching out to teachers and students in the Chicago public schools.

This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with TaRon Patton, the director of Bulrusher by Congo Square Theatre. She talks about Bulrusher and the upcoming shows at Congo Square Theatre.

How and why do you put science on stage? This week's podcast features two of the artists involved with the production of Peter Parnell's QED, currently being produced by theatre4humanity and Collaboraction. Rob Riley plays physicist Richard Feynman in the show; Matthew Grayson designed the sound and graphics. Matt is also a professor of engineering at Northwestern University where he produced an earlier incarnation of this production as part of an annual series of plays about science. Rob and Matt join Anne Nicholson Weber to talk about Feynman, left- and right-brain creativity, and the creative combustion that results when artists and scientists collaborate.

What lies behind the art of singing Stephen Sondheim's music? Carmen Cusack and Jason Danieley join Anne Nicholson Weber to talk about what they've learned about Sondheim's music performing the lead roles in Chicago Shakespeare Theatre's current production of Sunday in the Park with George.

This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with Jackie Taylor from Black Ensemble Theater - she talks about what the fine job Rueben Echoles did with One Name Onlyand also talked about her company's mission and the future of the Black Ensemble Theater.

This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with Jeremy Ramey- the music director for Theo Ubique's Smokey Joe's Cafe and Jeff Award winner for Light in the Pizza- he talks about the challengers of music direction as well as being a conductor/musician and his career from child protege to Doctorate from Juilliard School of Music.

Why is Edward Albee's writing like Shakespeare? Why is an Albee script like a musical score? Why are Albee lines so hard to learn? On this week's podcast, Anne Nicholson Weber is joined by actors Patrick Clear and Annabel Armour and director Nick Sandys to talk about Remy Bumppo's current production of Seascape and the lessons they've learned about how to perform Albee's work.

This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with Larry Adams who plays the lead in 42nd Street at Theatre At The Center in Munster. He talks about the show as well as his long career as a leading song and dance performer in Chicago.

This week's podcast features director Jennifer Green and stage manager Jessica Forella, who join Anne Nicholson Weber to discuss their experiences working with the young cast of Piven Theatre Workshop's current production of Tusk Tusk by Polly Stenham -- how they went about working on adult materials with child actors, how the processes of casting and rehearsing differ, and why they got better at their jobs doing this show.

This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with Bill Larkin who plays Edward Kleban in Porchlight Music Theatre's production of A Class Act.

Our podcast this week focuses on Cor Theatre's inaugural production of Skin Tight by Gary Henderson. Joining us to talk about the show and the company are Victoria Deiorio (Co-Founder, Director), Tosha Fowler (Co-Founder, cast member), Scott Cummins (Fight Director) and Julia Neary (Fight Director / Movement). They talk with Anne Nicholson Weber about the physicality of the piece, including the metaphorical uses of movement, how a fight is choreographed to tell a story, and how actors depicting lovers become comfortable with physical intimacy on stage.

This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with Marilyn Eisenberg. She talks about her life changing experiences after seeing musical theatre as well as her favorite theate companies in the Chicago area.

This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with Stan Klein--the actor and co-star of Nickel History with Tony Fitzpatrick talks about his show and about how he created Firecat Projects in Chicago that is a home for artists to show their creations with being charged any fees.