Ensemble: An Oral History of Chicago Theater
- on March 24th, 2019
- in Billy News •
Image © Lisa Ebright
For those of you that follow us on Facebook, you may remember towards the end of 2017 we posted a couple of extracts from a book by Mark Larson called ENSEMBLE: AN ORAL HISTORY OF CHICAGO THEATER, one of which is posted below regarding REMAINS THEATER (the company Billy started).
If you have fallen in love with the Chicago Theater scene through coming to see Billy perform in the city, then this is the book for you. Learn more about the book at the official website Ensemble-Chicago.com
This book now has a release date for August 13, 2019 which you can pre-order and purchase through Amazon by clicking on the image below.
Extract from Mark Larson
I WAS WORKING ON THIS AND HAD TO SHARE IT. I GET SUCH A CHARGE OUT OF THE INFECTIOUS ENERGY AND SPIRIT THAT HAS DRIVEN THE CHICAGO THEATER SCENE, EXEMPLIFIED HERE BY REMAINS THEATER PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT THE LATE 70s:
WILLIAM PETERSEN: We were just sort of producing animals. “Let’s get theater in here! Hey, here’s something I’ve never seen! Let’s bring that in!” “HOW are you going to bring that in? You don’t have any money!” “Yeah, but so what? We’ll bring it in, and we’ll see what happens!” We called that “meistering”.
AMY MORTON: Meistering was about, “get in there and get it done.” It was like, if you need money, if you need somebody’s time, if you need wood for your set …
NATALIE WEST: …Charm, cajole, threaten, do whatever it takes.
AMY MORTON: If you’ve got to meister it that way, you’ve got to meister it that way, but you’ve got to get it done. God, we were really young and rabid!
WILLIAM PETERSEN: Everybody that was part of the establishment of the theater scene in Chicago was totally supportive. They wanted us to do stuff, and they wanted us to do well. There was no competition, which was the other great thing about the whole ensemble experience in Chicago at that time: everybody wanted to share their stuff with everybody else.
REMAINS MEISTERED A WAY TO BRING TO CHICAGO A WILD ADAPTATION OF “ULYSSES” BY AN ENGLISH COMPANY CALLED TRIPLE ACTION THEATER WHOM THEY’D MET AT A THEATER FESTIVAL IN CANADA. STUDS TERKEL SAW THE SHOW AT THE JANE ADDAMS THEATER AND, AS HE WAS WONT TO DO, GOT CAUGHT UP IN THE SPIRIT, TOO.
WILLIAM PETERSEN: Studs went, “Oh, I LOVE this!” And, you know, there’s a guy in the show walking around with a carrot in his ass! Afterwards, Studs was like, “I’ve got to talk to you guys! This is great shit you’re doing here. I’m all for it. I want you to come down to my studio, do my show. Bring these guys in, too! I love the English!”
REMAINS THEATER WOULD THEN WORK WITH TRIPLE ACTION’S DIRECTOR, STEPHEN RUMBELOW, TO ADAPT “MOBY DICK” IN WHICH PETERSEN PLAYED AHAB. IT PLAYED AT THE GOODMAN STUDIO THEATER IN 1981 TO MUCH ACCLAIM.
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Excerpt from “Ensemble Chicago: The Making of a Theater Town, An Oral History” — a book in progress with Agate Publishing. http://ensemble-chicago.com.
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