Wheels in Motion.
" The wheels are in motion. There's nothing you can do to turn it back. The only thing you can do is cooperate. To play ball. To become part of us." - Taylor Most of the New Leaf and Curse of the Starving Class team met up recently at one of our favorite haunts for a fantastic first read through together. We gathered ourselves around some good food and a few drinks and listened to these incredible actors breathe life into the dangerously beautiful words of Sam Shepard. Rehearsals start on March 2nd and we can't wait to roll up our sleeves and dig. Special thanks ...
Nick Keenan gets a nod
New City listed company member Nick Keenan as one of the 50 people who perform for Chicago Theatre. We couldn't agree more. "Nick Keenan’s the kind of guy you can’t wait to see a few years down the road. You know he is going to be doing something stellar because he is already one of the most exciting artists in town. The young designer’s resume has blown up to include many of Chicago’s major theaters, and he is is a thinker to boot. Follow his musings on web technology, theater infrastructure and community building on his blog theaterforthefuture.com." Check out ...
A New Funding Model for New Leaf
So, it's official: New Leaf has a track record of putting up some of the best productions in Chicago with one of the smallest operating budgets in the city. After closing the books on The Man Who Was Thursday, we find ourselves with more pleasant surprises - our ticket sales and two comparatively modest but vital grants have paid the entire production budget for our spring production of Curse of the Starving Class, and go a long way towards funding the first production of the 2010-2011 season. If you have followed the national conversation on theater funding in the last ...
Treehouse Podcast: Brutal Selfish Rattlesnake
Did you miss our second Treehouse reading of BRUTAL SELFISH RATTLESNAKE, Aaron Weissman's beautifully savage western musical? Well now you didn't. You can download the full length play on our podcast. Our next Treehouse is this Saturday at 1 pm at 2045 N. Lincoln Park West: Leocadia, directed by Jack Tamburri of the Plagiarists. As Leocadia is being licensed for this one-day performance, the only way to catch that reading will be in person... Unless you know a couple generous donors who can help us raise $150 to pay for podcasting rights for the performance (it's tax deductible!). ...
A Change of Season…..well, for me at least.
// Jul 5th, 2009
So, I am just over my 4 year New Leaf-aversary and (as with all relationships) I have pushed, pulled, laughed, cried and searched for who I am in this “we.” Most of it has been the internal struggle of what I want to do vs. what I am doing and whether or not I even [...]
Summerfest Photoblog
// Jun 30th, 2009
For those of you who haven’t seen it: a view of our space from the rarely-used stage:
Circle reading at the beginning of rehearsal: Kristina Johnson in the foreground; PJ Schoeny, Marsha Harman, and Sean Fawcett in the background:
Marsha and Sean rehearsing Jon Steinhagen’s ‘The Mailman Knows Who Shovels’ …:
…with Jess Hutchinson directing:
Erin Shelton, reading in Bilal [...]
Best. Idea. Ever.
// Jun 27th, 2009 I’ll be honest – for me, about 80% of any given general audition is about getting to know the person who’s just walked in the door. Because process is so important to me, because I really do believe that theatre is about bringing out the humanity in one another, because I will have to spend [...]
An hour, a day, a lifetime…
// Jun 22nd, 2009 Jess wrote last week about our plans for the Mid-North Association’s annual Summerfest. If you’re just joining us, we commissioned local playwrighting geniuses and Friends of New Leaf Bilal Dardai and Jon Steinhagen to each write a short play based on memoir texts generated by long-time Lincoln Park residents.
The two plays could not have been more [...]
A foot in each season and a Fest between
// Jun 15th, 2009 This weekend we’re turning something that started as an experiment last year into an annual tradition. I like traditions. They feel like checkpoints to me – which I think is why I’m feeling especially eager about this one, since it’s a checkpoint at a time when I feel like I’ve got my feet in two [...]
