Photograph by Erik Cornet

Working for Broadway In Chicago has its obvious perks, especially as the Events Coordinator. Being able to organize events in these beautiful theatres still amazes me. Even just walking through each theatre’s magnificent lobby, I discover something new that I hadn’t noticed before. It is easy to overlook the details surrounding you while watching a show with 2,000 other people (especially when the shows are so great) but when you have the privilege of working in them, you take notice.

In addition to the pre-show receptions, corporate meetings and movie screenings, we get many unique requests asking for use of the theatres. Recently, one was for a photo and video shoot at the Bank of America Theatre featuring author Charlie Newton. His novel Start Shooting, just published this January, is set in Chicago. This specific theatre is very important to the character Arleen Brennan, a working actress who auditions on stage for a revival of “A Streetcar Named Desire.” Listening to Charlie describe this pivotal scene, it was clear the impact it had on the story and how much the theatre meant to him, as well as Arleen. Although he didn’t want to relinquish his “tough guy” persona, Charlie started to get emotional while discussing Arleen’s journey. It was incredibly moving for him to be able to sit alone in the space that has so much significance to his character and his story.

The theatres have important meaning to a lot of people, whether it was where you had a first date with a special person or holds the stage you someday hope to perform on.  As Charlie and Arleen did, I hope everyone is able to experience the magic they create.

Jessica

I am ecstatic to be back in my hometown of Chicago with the Broadway touring company of MAMMA MIA! Ever since I learned the Windy City would be on our 2011-2012 Season, I knew that this week would represent a dream come true.

As a youngster growing up in the inner city, I was molded by this towering city, all the while guided by hopeful, supportive parents who fought hard to show me a better life outside of our tough neighborhood. With their encouragement, I would go on to attend music and dance classes, eventually studying at the Chicago Academy for the Arts. The lessons I learned there impact me to this day.

Chicago is also home to my commercial career… It is here that I began working in television, creating a foundation that has allowed me to succeed in the extremely competitive atmosphere of Los Angeles, where I’ve booked appearances on programs like Fox’s GLEE. Ironically, Chicago also launched my stage career, which lead me far from home and has taken me not only all over the U.S, but all over Europe as well. So it is such a gift to step on the stage of the historically restored Oriental Theater, where legends have performed in front of my family, friends and teachers. It feels like a celebration that’s come full circle.

In Mamma Mia!, I am in the ensemble and understudy the role of Ali, one of Sophie’s best friends. Being in this enormously popular musical is rewarding in a million different ways:  I get to travel. I do what I love 8 shows a week. And I’ve inherited a talented, multi-cultural cast as my second family, people I learn from and can rely on. Touring is such an eye opening experience.

I hope you enjoy the show as much as I enjoy performing it for you. And for the record, my favorite part of the musical is rocking out in the finale in a big Abba medley we like to call “the mega mix”. The rush I get when the audience gets on its feet, waving feather boas and wearing sequins, singing the songs word for word, is a moment that defies description.

All in all, not a bad way to make a living.

Thomasina Gross

MAMMA MIA! plays the Oriental Theatre January 24-29, 2012. Click here or call 800-775-2000 for tickets.

Photo by Steve Starr (www.SteveStarrStudios.com)

To be honest, I have never experienced a place quite like ‘The Miracle Center’. Jumping into a pool of clichés, I would have to say that the person you are from the first time you walk into the doors of The Miracle Center does not compare to the person you will become when you leave. When I first walked through the doors, I was just looking for a place to dance and refine my talents. I was in love with dancing, and did not know what to do with it; I wanted a career in the arts. However, I was not sure if that was what I wanted to really do with my future. I had huge artistic dreams, dancing on Broadway, auditioning for ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ and building a career in the Performing Arts. Joining The Miracle Center brought so much out of me, allowing me to grow in so many ways. Stretching my abilities as a dancer and testing my character, giving me opportunities of leadership, and chances to display grace and integrity. There is just an unimaginable amount of blessings that TMC has given me. Pushing me to apply and get accepted to Columbia College Chicago, pursuing a double major in Dance: Performance and Theater: Acting. As well as having the support of everyone at The Miracle Center to chase my dream of auditioning for the television show; ‘So You Think You Can Dance’. Mary Santana and The Miracle Center, is really a miraculous person and place.

There could not have been a better time for me to see the ‘IN THE HEIGHTS’. Being a hip-hop dancer, I sometimes feel inadequate to the world of Broadway and dance.  A lot of times, people hear about dancing (or even when I Google ‘dance’) the first thing you see is ballet shoes, ballerinas, and contemporary dancers in these beautiful positions. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love Ballet/Modern and participate in classes, however, my native style is Hip-Hop and sometimes I feel as if my style of dance does not get the respect I think it deserves. Seeing ‘IN THE HEIGHTS’ gave my heart such joy! Seeing Hip-Hop get some respect and appreciation on a Broadway stage gave me a sense of confidence. To know that I can do what I love and that people will appreciate it. Plus, the production was so wonderful and so well put together, and just so beautifully done! I have, honestly, never been so enthralled by a cast, drawn into the music and given the overwhelming urge to get up and dance during a production. I not only enjoyed the show, but I took so much from it.

Meeting the cast left me speechless! Not just because I was smiling too hard to talk, but having the chance to meet an absolutely phenomenal cast, and seeing how friendly and kind they were! They were wonderful on and off stage, coming to shake our hands with huge smiles, making me feel beyond welcomed. I would go so far as to thank the cast for just being themselves. Reminding me that no matter where I go I will always be myself. Also, I cannot put into words how much fun it was to dance and jam along side the cast, who gets that kind of opportunity? Well not very many people and I am so blessed to be able to have been someone to interact with such an amazing group of people. Thank you so much.

Eric Walter

The Miracle Center

TheatreFest by the numbers

• 4,183 – registered students and sponsors

• 172 –high schools represented in attendance

• 1 out of 4 - the ratio of schools in attendance at the festival

• 39 – students selected to be a part of the 2012 All-State Company of Almost, Maine

• 21 - schools who presented full-length plays and musicals at the Festival

As you can see – it really was an impressive weekend!

Broadway In Chicago was at the Festival to share some exciting programming we have for students.

We are thrilled to announce The Illinois High School Musical Theater Awards. This newly-established Illinois chapter of the National High School Musical Theater Awards will serve as an annual national celebration of outstanding achievement in musical theater performance by high school students. At TheatreFest, we had the chance to talk with many students who are either auditioning for or performing the lead roles in their high school musicals this year, and we are so excited to receive their applications to represent their schools in this program.

We also have incredible workshops led by Chicago professionals. There’s no better trip for theatre students than to come to Chicago for a full day of sightseeing, an educational theatre workshop, and seeing a Broadway In Chicago show.

I am so grateful for all of the theater teachers who lead the programs in these schools. Most of them do it for little to no money, but do it because they love it and know how important it is to their students. We were able to give a small thank you to teachers by raffling off tickets to BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL, a historic theatre tour, and a chance for some of their students to help lead an Educational Workshop.

The best thing about being at TheatreFest was knowing that we were meeting the upcoming leaders and stars of Chicago Theatre. The students at this festival are some of the most talented, hard-working students in the country. Whether they go on to be actors, directors, producers, patrons, designers – you can tell that these students have a future in the best industry in the best city. I am so excited for theatre in Chicago!

-Jamie Lynn

Theatres throughout Chicago will honor Maggie Daley, champion of theater in Chicago, by turning off marquee lights for two minutes at the beginning of her wake, which begins at noon at the Cultural Center in the heart of the theater district.  In celebration of her life, lights of theaters throughout the city will then remain aglow until the end of her wake at 10pm.

Maggie’s conviction that the arts make the difference for all children is an inspiration to all of us.  Maggie Daley had an extraordinary love of and commitment to the arts, and her legacy is the richness of the Chicago theater community that she did everything to support.  Her grace and spirit will live in our hearts and minds, and we are all forever grateful.

-Eileen

The show is fantastic! To Holland Taylor, an amazingly gracious and extremely talented actress who is gracing out stage at the Bank of America Theatre, thank you for bringing this show to life. I submit this blog as a thank you to her.

Holland – All I ever want for an audience is for them to go into the theatre just as they are at the end of any given day and to come out transformed, learning something about themselves or others that they were not expecting. And that was a perfect description of last night. It was truly an amazing experience. I thank you for inviting me into the room with not only Ann Richards (who I so looked up to) but also my mother, father and on a base level who I am as a woman, a wife, a mother. Allowing me to be reminded of why I do what I do and what a gift the passion that I have for my work is to me and to others. The essence of knowing that there are many like souls out there that don’t consider their work “jobs” but rather something that moves them beyond their own imaginations. You had the audience in the palm of your hands, as noted by the standing ovation before the lights even came back up for your bow. Thank you for bringing this wonderful play to Chicago.

To all of you – don’t miss out on this show!
Eileen

I recently discovered some unused points on my credit card – perfect timing for the holidays! I love companies that reward their customers for purchasing, whether through a punch card (buy 9 get the 10th one free!) or through a points system, which is why I was so excited to get the Audience Rewards program up and running in Chicago. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s very similar to other points programs out there. Join the program, enter your membership number when you buy tickets online, and you get points for the purchases you were going to make anyway. Then you can redeem the points for other tickets or merchandise down the road. Simple as pie! I talked about it a little on WGN Radio last week with Nick Digilio – did you hear?

If you want to join, just click here.

Eileen

The experience of moving Pinkalicious: The Musical from the Apollo Theatre to our new downtown home at the Broadway Playhouse has been, well, completely pinkatastic. In fact, our entire journey has been pinkerrific. We are coming up on 15 months with this project, and like all toddlers, we continue to be amazed by and learn from the world around us; in our case: the world of the Power of Pink.

One of the most rewarding parts of being in Pinkalicious is, by far, the enthusiastic response we receive from kids. When I first received my script, I was told it was based on a popular children’s book by Elizabeth Kann and Victoria Kann, and that it was currently pretty en vogue amongst 3-8 year olds. I remember thinking, “excellent, kids like it!” but never having heard of the book myself, I didn’t know it was a “thing.”

Oh, how wrong I was.

The moment Lara Mainier first took the stage as Pinkalicious Pinkerton, I was blown away by our audience’s response. They screamed, they cheered, and they called her name. It was sheer ‘Beatlemania,’ and it was overwhelming. Far more impressive is that their enthusiasm hasn’t waned: over a year later and in an entirely different venue, by the reaction of the crowd, every show still feels like a premiere.

But what is it about Pinkalicious? It hit me one day. We pack a lot of content into a 57-minute production.  It is not fluff, but actually chock-full of deeply important messages for our impressionable young audiences.

Pinkalicious: The Musical’s most prominent lessons are the ideas of family, acceptance, unconditional love, friendship, and the importance of keeping promises.  In what world are these topics mere fluff and not some of the most important lessons we can teach? I know I have learned these things from our show, though perhaps in a more behind-the-scenes sense.

My cast is my family. Of all the Pinkalicious cast members, past and present, every one of them has been absolutely wonderful, both as performers and as people. I don’t know an ensemble anywhere else that is as supportive, loving, and considerate as the one I surround myself with every week. We make each other laugh daily, and we accept each other for who we are, no matter how unconventional, no matter how different.

These kids are onto something. The ‘Power of Pink’ is more than just wanting to be pink from head to toe because you like the color. It is about finding yourself, and surrounding yourself with what you love and those who accept you for what you are. The ‘Power of Pink’ is about learning to accept what is different. The ‘Power of Pink’ is about moderation. The ‘Power of Pink’ is about keeping promises. The ‘Power of Pink’ is about forgiving petty disagreements.

Pinkalicious is more than a book and more than a musical. I hope that our audiences have been able to take away some of the same lessons I’ve soaked up from my experience so far. I have learned so much during this 15-month journey, and I have no intention of stopping. When you see us singing “Pink is love, pink is joy, and most of all, we love you,” know that we mean it.

Julia P. Gordon
Assistant Director and Alison in Pinkalicious: The Musical

I don’t know if there are many things that I love more than playing games. I was raised in a family where you could pretty much kick butt at the DICTIONARY game by the age of 10 and I play CELEBRITY with friends at game nights until the wee hours of the morning. So as fate would have it, last week I got to get my game on on the new ROSIE SHOW here in Chicago at Harpo Studios! I was picked to play a celebrity guessing game and I couldn’t have been more excited! (insert squeal and high kick) It was awesome to meet Rosie. I have been a fan for so long. She loves Broadway, I love Broadway, we love BROADWAY!  She was amazing. She is so naturally funny and down to earth and during commercial breaks she was answering questions from the audience. Valerie Harper and The Bacon Brothers were great guests. My Mom and I are big Kevin Bacon fans so it was great to see him. He is handsome as ever! (insert Footloose dance move and High belted line of “I need a Hero”)  The game segment was last and it all went by so quickly… all of of sudden it was time to go on stage! My competition was a cute gal who was sweet and all, but I was in the zone. And when I am in that zone, all I need is a sturdy bra and a pair of flats. There’s ’bout to be some jumping happening y’all. So we begin…Rosie chatted with us both for a minute and then she started the game called “DOODLES”. A celebrity face would pop up on the screen and we had to hit the buzzer when they removed one of the doodles if we knew who it was. First one…BAM! I got it right. Second one..BOOM! I got it right! Third one (with Rosie helping out my competition)… she got it right. But the next one?! I get it and I win! Then there was a quick bonus round and all of a sudden music, cheers, and I read the prompter to cue the confetti blast. I won a hotel stay and dinner. MAN! I love hotels and dinner. It was super fun and I just know her show will be a big success, and it deserves to be. I can’t wait for all the great performances she will have on and of course, I will have to tune in for the GAMES! Watch it with me!

- Shannon, Group Sales

Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Why do I go to theatre?  To be moved, and even inspired… by what I do for sure, but also by life.

Follies is one of those shows that functions on both levels for me. It is one of the most beautiful musicals of our time. It’s also wrapped up in so many memories for me that seeing produced so gorgeously on the stage of the Chicago Shakespeare Theater is a gift. You all know one of those die-hard Sondheim Fans – they can sing “I’m Still Here” for you  – but can they say they have really seen FOLLIES? Unless they have seen this show, they have not truly experienced Sondheim and his love for the business, performers he works with, and his understanding of people and their journey through life.

For me FOLLIES was one of the shows that solidified my career. I was lucky to have worked on the production that was done, to rave reviews, at the Candlelight Playhouse over 30 years ago.  It taught me so many things, the first being that masterpieces that don’t necessarily turn into big hits on Broadway can and often are embraced in Chicago. Secondly, no one should ever talk down to or underestimate their audiences; lavish them with the most sophisticated and brilliant theatre and they will go on to be life-long theatre-goers. And third, work is life in the theatre as I remember so vividly auditioning for the cast of FOLLIES in New York with my husband and his business partner, Director Bill Pullinsi. It was August 6, 1980, the first anniversary of my marriage to Tony D’Angelo, and we were in our hotel room reviewing all the pictures and resumes from the day, balancing some NY talent with the fabulous Chicago performers available. Bill said to Tony and I:

“You don’t really want to be alone on your Anniversary – do you? Of course not, I will order room service for all of us and we can finish our casting!”

That night and this show reminds me that a life in the theatre is your life – and a grand one at that!

Eileen