Results tagged “steppenwolftheatre”

At the center of Fake, which opened Steppenwolf Theatre’s season on Tuesday night, is the “Piltdown Man.” A reconstructed skeletal head consisting of skull and jawbone fragments allegedly discovered in a gravel pit in Piltdown, England in 1912, Piltdown Man was considered to be the missing link between man and ape. Although its authenticity was challenged almost immediately, it was not declared a forgery by the scientific community for 40 years, when advances were able to prove that the reconstruction was actually an orangutan jawbone combined with the skull of a modern man. Got it? Now on to the actual play.

The Theatre Office at Chicagoist Towers almost can't handle the amount of news we’ve heard this week. Here’s everything we’re talking about:

2009 marks the 100th birthday of Nelson Algren, the quintessential Chicago author. Long before the word "hipster" had even been coined, he chronicled the bleak existence of society's misfits, living on the fringe in West Town and Wicker Park. His best known books are The Man with the Golden Arm, Chicago: City on the Make and Never Come Morning, which no less than Hemingway declared "the best book to come out of Chicago." They describe a Chicago so different from our city today that they almost read like science fiction, yet when Algren lived here he often hung out at the Rainbo Club and the Gold Star.

Author Michael Ruhlman

We always thought the making of a chef started in a kitchen, and progressed from there. Anyway, as part of their "Traffic Jam" series, Steppenwolf Theatre is hosting a discussion this Sunday between Alinea owner/chef Grant Achatz and author Michael Ruhlman. The discussion, called "The Making of a Chef," will cover the "hypermodern" culinary movement of which Achatz is largely considered the herald, the place of the "celebrity" chef in America, and what defines excellence in an industry as increasingly PR-driven as the five-star dining concept. It should be an interesting conversation between two intelligent and passionate men; although Ruhlman's a skeptic of the science food movement, he sings the praises of Achatz. It seems to be a running theme among critics who regard molecular gastronomy as smoke and mirrors, but allow that Achatz is the exception to the rule.

For this month's preview, we were going to compare our local theater companies to figures on Capitol Hill, contemplating that special, intimate relationship between more experienced hands and up-and-coming ensembles. But well, scandals happen. Instead, we'll stick to the “neighbors” metaphor. This week: Running Away With the Circus: Redmoon Theater Spectacle ’06: Twilight Orchard The Scene: Over 60 actors frolic and flourish in Columbus Park for an audience largely there for the first time and...

It’s just an address—2851 North Halsted—that a few Lakeview condo owners will soon call home. The post office, utility companies, and most of Chicago are fairly indifferent to the new construction and what it displaced. But dedicated theatergoers and Chicago history buffs will need a moment to compose themselves as the wrecking ball meets the building once home to the Steppenwolf Theatre, the Organic Touchstone, and the St. Nicholas Players (the launching pad for some kid named David Mamet). Steppenwolf has moved on and current tenant ComedySportz will transfer to nifty new facilities, but that doesn’t diminish the spiritual importance of this scruffy Lakeview space.

August is Chicago theater’s pre-season, just a month away from a new round of mainstage magic and hype. This weekend three companies help prepare us, presenting 22 new shows on 3 stages. But unlike another pre-season, these performances may actually serve as a barometer for future success. Steppenwolf Theatre’s First Look Repertory of New Work is a showcase as antidote to endless workshopping, offering three shows in their developmental stages. These scripts represent the cream...

Late last week, seven-year old Darragh Quinn Dolan, one of two actresses portraying Kayla in the Steppenwolf Theatre’s “The Pain and the Itch,” was released from the production amid a controversy over the role of young children in a rather adult show.