Listen To The Talk Theatre In Chicago Show!

This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with theatre reviewer Carol Moore. Carol talks about her 15 years as a theatre critic in Indiana and in the Chicago area.
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This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with Scott Westerman who stars in the Artistic Home's The Time of Your Life. Scott speaks about playing Joe and the significance of the play as well as his direction of Macbeth last season.
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This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with Allison Hendrix, the director of Kokandy Production's Loving Repeating. She talks about the casting, the decision to do a show about Gertrude Stein, and all the details that go into doing a chamber musical.
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This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with Alex Higgin-Houser, the artistic director of Underscore Theatre Company and director of their current production Borderlands: Three Chords and the Truth now playing at the Frontier Theatre.
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This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with Malcolm Ruhl from Ring of Fire: The Music Of Johnny Cash now running at the Mercury Theatre. He tells what it is like to be both musician and music director of a show.
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This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with Steve Pickering, the veteran actor and one of the stars of The Little Foxes at the Goodman Theatre. Steve talks about The Little Foxes and Lillian Hellman. He also talks about his long association with the Goodman Theatre and his time as artistic director of Next Theatre.
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This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with Anthony Crivello who plays Louis Prima in Louis and Keely 'Live' at the Sahara now playing the the Royal George Theatre. Crivello talks about Louis Prima's life and career and what it is like to play such a legendary character. He also talks about his long and award-winning career.
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This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with Fred Anzevino from Theo Ubique who directs Jesus Christ Superstar at No Exit Cafe. Fred talks in detail about the process of casting a rock opera in an intimate space and about the audition process.
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This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with Lia Mortensen, the star of Profiles Theatre's The Other Place. She talks of the challenge of doing the role and about her 30 year career as an actor and a director.
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This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with playwright Bruce Graham. Bruce talks about his play White Guy On A Bus which is playing at Northlight Theatre. He also talks about being an actor, comic, college professor, and about his writing process.
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This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with publicist Noreen Heron. Noreen talks about the roles of a publicist, how they help theatres sell tickets, and her background in theatre beginning with the Candleight Theatre.
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This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with theatre critic Jacob Davis. Jacob talks about his ealry impressions of the Chicago theatre scene and his collegiate theatre training at the University of Illinois.
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What makes hyper-realism work on stage? ATC Artistic director PJ Paparelli and actor Keith Kupferer join Anne Nicholson Weber to talk about developing and rehearsing the world-premiere production of Stephen Karam's play, The Humans.
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This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with Jay Torrence, the author and one of the stars of Burning Bluebeard. Jay talks about his writing and production practices used to create Burning Bluebeard and about being in a play that he wrote.
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One of the pleasures of the Chicago store-front scene is seeing our great actors work in tiny spaces. This week's podcast features actors Brad Armacost and Coburn Goss and director Jeff Christian, who join Anne Nicholson Weber to talk about playing up close and personal in Irish Theatre of Chicago's production of Conor McPherson's Shining City.
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This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with Patrick Belics, the artistic director at Spartan Theatre Company. He talks about their landmark production of Tony Kushner's A Bright Room Called Day and the future of Spartan Theatre.
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Chicago's storefront theatre scene is bursting at the seams. How does a new company break in? After two break-even seasons, with a subscription base and a clutch of good reviews for their most recent production of Richard Greenberg's "Take Me Out", Eclectic Full Contact Theatre seems to have done it. Founding member Andrew Pond and Michael Woods join Anne Nicholson Weber to talk about how and why they faced the challenge.
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This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with Francis Guinan, the star of The Night Alive currently playing at the Steppenwolf Theatre. He talks about the show as well as his acting career.
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This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with Alex Weisman, the star of TimeLine Theatre's My Name is Asher Lev playing at Stage 773. Alex talks about the experience in doing the play.
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Under the auspices of Remy Bumppo Theatre, twelve experienced Chicago actors are gathering each Monday night in a rehearsal room on Ravenswood Ave to study scenes with eight of Chicago's leading directors. Anne Nicholson Weber listens in as director Lia Mortenson coaches participants through scenes from J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls, and interviews Lia and Remy Bumppo Artistic Associate Annabel Armour about the purpose and structure of the "Master Scene Study Class".
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This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with Alex Sanchez the choreographer of On the Town at the Marriott Theatre. Alex talks about the challenges of doing a show not seen in Chicago in 70 years, needing triple threat performers and using a small in-the-round stage.
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This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with Ronald Keaton who wrote and stars in Churchill. He talks about how and why he came to do a solo show about Winston Churchill. He also talks about his involvement with SoloChicago- a new theatre company dedicated to mounting solo Equity-based theatre.
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How can the theatre reach a generation that is used to sampling its art before buying? Or, put another way, what is the theatrical equivalent of movie trailers or Spotify? That's the question currently being posed by a new theatre company in town, The Common Room. Founders Mary Hollis Inboden, Alexander Lane and Benno Nelson join Anne Nicholson Weber to talk about their current experiment along these lines - a weekly live show, cheap and short, that features scenes from several productions currently playing around Chicago.
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This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with Gerald Frantzen, the artistic director at Chicago Folks Operetta and translator and male lead in their production of Ball at the Savoy at Stage773. He talks about the usa premier of the German operetta from 1932 that was banned by the Nazis. Ball at the Savoy is part operetta and part jazz-infused Broadway musical. He also speaks about the mission of Chicago Folks Operetta.
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Each year, a Chicago actor is chosen to spend a year training and acting at the Stratford Festival in Ontario. Under the aegis of the Chicago Associates of the Stratford Festival, each year's Chicago Fellow is given the opportunity to train at the Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre, and to act as a member of the company. On this week's podcast, former Fellows Melanie Keller and Erin Neal join Anne Nicholson Weber to talk about their experiences at the Festival.
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This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with Andrew Hobgood, the artistic director at the New Colony and director of their hit show, Orville and Wilbur Did It!. Andrew talks about the process of developing their shows in detail emphasizing the collaboration of the actors with the playwright.
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Rivendell Theatre Ensemble has a spanking new home, a focused mission, and a fine production of Courtney Baron's new play, Eat Your Heart Out. Artistic Director Tara Mallen, founding ensemble member Mary Cross, and her husband and fellow cast-member Michael Szeles join Anne Nicholson Weber to talk about the history of the company, the challenges of acting with your spouse, and the technical demands of a script that cuts rapidly back and forth among multiple story lines.
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This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with Roslyn Alexander. She talks about writing and performing her one person show, The Passion of Emma Goldman, and her preparation to do a 90 minute one person show and her career.
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Vieux Carre was one of Tennessee Williams' first plays and one of his last -- begun in the late 30s but not completed until forty years later, near the end of the playwright's life. The premiere production was a major Broadway flop and, despite the importance of its writer, the play has been seldom produced since then. Now Raven Theatre has brought it to Chicago audiences. Director Cody Estle, dramaturg Lukas Brasherfons and set designer Ray Toler join Anne Nicholson Weber to talk about the history, merits and challenges of this little known Williams work.
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This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with Edward Hibbert, one of the stars from the Lyric Opera's production of The Sound of Music. He talks about his role in the show as well as his time on the hit TV show Frasier and his major Broadway credits.
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The provocative title of Mike Bartlett's play, "Cock", refers to both sexuality and cock fighting. Profiles Theatre cast members Christopher Sheard, Jake Szczepaniak, Eleni Pappageorge and Torrey Hanson join Anne Nicholson Weber to discuss sex on stage, acting without thinking and what an actor's friends should wear to a performance.
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This week on the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast Tom Williams talks with Jonathan Abarbanel. He talks about being the chairman of the Executive committee of the American Theatre Critic association and how they help select the Regional Tony Award theatre and all about the process of ATCA's playwright award. He also talks about his career as a theatre critic.
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What are the pleasures and pitfalls of composing incidental music for a play? Chicago composers Christopher Kriz (multiple Jeff award nominee, including for his music for Lifeline Theatre's 2013 production of Pride and Prejudice) and Daniel Knox (Jeff-nominated for his music for Mary Arrchie's production of The Glass Menagerie), and actor/violinist Greg Hirte (incidental music for Piven Theatre's production of The Language Archive), join Anne Nicholson Weber to talk about their work.
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