How do you mark the one-year anniversary of an event like the one that happened on Sept. 11, 2001?
New York City will sponsor a variety of events and concerts. Broadcast television networks have announced plans to reduce or eliminate commercials for special news programs they have scheduled.
In Chicago, the biggest event likely will unfold at noon on Sept. 11 at Daley Plaza, in the Loop. Though details won’t be announced until next week, city officials have been working on plans for the past couple of months.
“It’s important that we do some public event,” said Cindy Gatziolis, a representative of the Mayor’s Office of Special Events, which is planning the Daley Plaza gathering.
“It’s all part of the healing process for everyone in America,” said Gatziolis.
“We Chicagoans weren’t there in New York or Washington, but this is our country, and we’re all really the same on that day.”
But what else is being planned for local stages, movie screens and museums? We’ve asked many local organizations what plans — if any — they are making for Sept. 11, 2002, and why.
On Sept. 12, 2001, Chicago’s Court Theatre almost canceled its scheduled performance of JoAnne Akalaitis’ production of “Mary Stuart.” But the theater decided to go ahead. It was pleased with the result.
“It was the most amazing night for both our patrons and our artists,” says Diane Claussen, Court’s executive director. “It was what that particular group of people needed on that particular night.”
The pervasive view among Chicago theaters regarding the first anniversary of this painful date is that such a need will still be in play. The issue has been simplified because Sept. 11, 2002 falls on a Wednesday night (an evening when many Chicago theaters are dark) and early enough in the fall that some major local players, such as the Goodman Theatre, have not yet kicked off their fall slates.
But while most Chicago theaters aren’t planning special events, those with scheduled performances plan to go on with the show. Court will be presenting its season-opener, “Phedre.”
“There’s not so much a necessity to talk about the date as [it is to] have people come together through the art,” says Marj Halperin, executive director of the League of Chicago Theatres. “That’s the point of doing theater in the first place.”
Although sales currently are light, “The Vagina Monologues” will be up and running at the Apollo Theatre. Producer Rob Kolson recalls that some people wanted to buy last-minute tickets to the show on Sept. 11 2001 (a night when the performance was canceled), so he thinks there will be demand this year.
“We don’t intend to cancel,” Kolson says. “People might want to use it as an escape.”
Even though Second City’s current review is called “Thank Heaven it Wasn’t 7/11,” there will still be a performance on Sept. 11, 2002. “We talked a bunch about it,” says Second City producer Kelly Leonard. “We decided to just do what we do and let the mood inform the improv that night.”
Other shows slated to go ahead include “The Blue Man Group,” a preview of “Love Labor’s Lost” at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and an opening of the musical “The Wild Party” at the Circle Theatre of Forest Park.
“Artists have an obligation to continue to perform during the hardest times,” says “Wild Party” director Kevin Bellie. All proceeds from Circle’s opening night are going to the New York City Policemen’s Fund. However, when planning previews for its fall production of “The Fantasticks,” Pegasus Players intentionally avoided the Sept. 11 date, preferring to schedule shows on Sept. 10 and Sept. 12 instead. A spokesman for the theater said it was done “out of courtesy.”
— Chris Jones
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Pop music
Though Wednesdays are usually a relatively busy night during the late summer tour season, that won’t be the case for many touring rock artists on Sept. 11. Many club owners and artists will honor the day with a respectful silence.
Even Bruce Springsteen, whose latest album, “The Rising,” directly addresses the aftermath of the tragedy, is taking two weeks off from his world tour around the anniversary. Other major artists are playing shows in close proximity to the date, including the Rolling Stones (who open a string of Chicago dates on Sept. 10 at the United Center), but most are being actively discouraged from booking shows on the anniversary.
“What would you be saying as an artist if you do perform?” says Andy Cirzan, vice president of Jam Productions, the largest independent promoter in the Midwest. Jam has not booked any shows for the days on and around Sept. 11. “If an artist wanted to play on that day, I imagine we would have a serious discussion about their intent. That day has so much baggage attached to it, it would be impossible to do a concert that’s just about the music. You’re going to have to make some sort of political statement. So far, in my dealings with artists who are touring around that time, we’ve had an unspoken understanding that it’s going to be a day for America to reflect, not a day for entertainment, frivolous or otherwise.”
Dolly Parton, whose current tour ends this month, disagrees. “I think we definitely need to have some music on that day,” she says. “I would have no problem performing on that day if asked to do so. I wouldn’t be afraid. It might be uneasy to do something in New York, but how long can we run scared? The terrorists are winning really big because they got us all scared. I hope there are gonna be tons of different concerts all over that day.”
But many club owners say it will take a special event for them to open their doors. Schubas has a Sept. 11 show scheduled with three local rock bands, but it’s charity event for a local foundation, FTC, that offers scholarships to needy students.
“FTC approached us about doing a show, and it was one of the only dates we had available,” says Matt Rucins, the club’s talent buyer. “We would have discouraged a band from playing a regular show, but the spirit of this — helping others — was right. Otherwise, we’d be closed.”
— Greg Kot
Art museums and galleries
With few exceptions, Chicago art institutions will stress normalcy as the anniversary of Sept. 11 takes us back to an abnormal time.
“We want to welcome people and will not ask for even voluntary admission,” said James Wood, director of the Art Institute of Chicago. “But we are not mounting some special event. Most people will spend time at home watching TV. And large, general art museums offer the antithesis to that kind of `hot’ coverage. They immerse people in history through visual objects as a counterpoint to a terrible present, not as an escape but a place that expresses transcendent human values.”
The Museum of Contemporary Art, which does emphasize the present, also will waive its voluntary admission in addition to conducting a small ceremony for the presentation of a Tony Fitzpatrick etching commemorating 9/11 (which was commissioned by the MCA and has been sold through its store) to the historic Engine No. 98 Fire Station, a neighbor on East Chicago Avenue.
Neither the Chicago Cultural Center nor School of the Art Institute of Chicago, both of which were involved in memorials last year, have finalized plans for the anniversary. However, Gallery 37 Center for the Arts will mount an exhibition of commemorative works by artists in the apprentice program (Sept. 11-Nov. 30).
The Peace Museum will open “9/11: A Year in Retrospect,” which brings together photographs by Marshall Kappel with speakers and a prayer vigil (6-9 p.m. Sept. 11). The Harold Washington Library Center also will host the traveling “September 11 Photo Project,” an open forum of more than 5,000 thoughts and photographs (Aug. 17-Sept. 21). Other venues, including the Terra Museum of American Art, have programs pending.
“Sept. 13 is the opening of the art season [in commercial galleries],” said Natalie Van Straaten, executive director of the Chicago Art Dealers’ Association. “It’s a celebratory time, and there was some question if the openings were too soon after [the anniversary], but they will happen pretty much as usual.”
— Alan G. Artner
Museums
Museums are trying to decide how to mark the anniversary, with some offering free admission that day and special programming.
The Chicago Historical Society will display photographs depicting the destruction of the World Trade Center and its aftermath. “New York September 11” opens Sept. 6, and will be followed with a series of commemorative events on, before and after the anniversary. They include student art projects, a round-table discussion and musical performances. Admission on Sept. 11 will be free. “I think it’s going to help people to see and remember because it’s so important, you can’t process it by yourself,” said Tamara Biggs, director of exhibitions.
The Field Museum will have the Lincoln Park High School Chorus sing a program of patriotic and spiritual songs at 10 a.m. on Sept. 11, followed by a moment of silence. Spokeswoman Pat Kramer said the Field, the Adler Planetarium and the Shedd Aquarium will be open at no charge. “We thought it would be an appropriate time a year later to open our doors and remember,” she said.
The Museum of Science and Industry is still contemplating what it would do.
— Raoul V. Mowatt
Jazz
If all goes as planned, Chicago’s jazz life will continue undisturbed, with clubs and concert halls staying open. Yet none are known to be planning special performances to mark the occasion.
“We’re going to do what we always do — play music,” said Joe Segal, owner of Chicago’s most prominent jazz club, the Jazz Showcase, on West Grand Avenue.
“We don’t want to close, and we don’t want to do anything unusual. My philosophy is: Get the suckers who attacked us and get on with life.”
That philosophy has been taken up by most of the city’s better jazz rooms, which rarely make long-range plans for any occasion.
At Andy’s, the seven-days-a-week food-and-music joint on West Hubbard Street, Chicago musicians will take the stage as always. But the September lineup has not yet been completed, according to a club manager. Ditto the Empty Bottle, on North Western Avenue, where an avant-garde jazz set will take place on the evening of Sept. 11, the personnel yet to be announced.
The city’s top jazz repertory orchestra, the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, already had a concert scheduled for Sept. 11 at Columbia College Chicago, on South Michigan Avenue, where it is based.
“I’ll probably say something to the audience about the occasion, but the concert will go on as previously planned,” said William Russo, conductor of the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, which will play scores from Duke Ellington’s musical “Jump for Joy,” as well as music by Russo. The idea, added Russo, is to “open our season pretty much as we always would.”
— Howard Reich
Movies
Last September, movie theaters provided refuge for families looking for an escape, a respite from terrorism woes — which leaves cinemas in an awkward place when deciding how to mark 9/11’s one-year anniversary.
Some are implementing a patriotic reflection during the day, but most say it’s too early to tell.
“Like many companies, we’re carefully evaluating the best way to properly commemorate the occasion,” said John McCauley, vice president of marketing for Loews Cineplex.
Charles Coleman, film program director for Facets Cinematheque, hasn’t settled on films for the occasion, although he’s considering rerunning “Underground Zero,” a collection of short films on 9/11. Facets originally ran the program June 14-20.
“We probably will do something, but we’re still thinking about it,” Coleman said. “I do want to do something that’s appropriate.”
The week following the terrorist attacks last year, the Music Box played a sing-along reel of the National Anthem before films. Since then, owners Bob Chaney and Chris Carlo have implemented other ways of showing support for the nation.
“Every week the organist has been adding in patriot songs in intermission. The reaction has been positive. We did this during the Gulf War and it was negative . . . so it’s a whole different mind-set,” Carlo said. For the anniversary, they will “probably” bring back the sing-along reel before Jean Cocteau’s “Beauty and the Beast.”
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— Robert K. Elder
Classical music
While the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Lyric Opera and many other classical music organizations will be dark, there will be some activity on Sept. 11. Fine arts radio station WFMT-FM 98.7 will turn over its entire program schedule to “A Day of Reflection.”
Running from 6 a.m. to midnight on Sept. 11, the special program will include remarks from such artists and arts leaders as Joshua Bell, Lynn Harrell, Lyric Opera’s William Mason and the Chicago Symphony’s Henry Fogel. There also will be live broadcasts of 9/11 commemorative concerts by the German Symphony Orchestra from Berlin and the New Jersey Symphony, performing Verdi’s Requiem in a simulcast with WTTW-Ch. 11.
The program was conceived by WFMT vice president Steve Robinson and program director Dennis Moore.
“We felt it was essential on this occasion to provide people with a program devoted mainly to music that would bring them solace and remembrance,” said Holly Gilson, manager of corporate communications for Network Chicago.
Lyric Opera General Director William Mason said the company is dedicating its entire 2002-03 season to the victims and survivors of 9/11. He said the Lyric will not include any commemorative music in the free concert to be given Sept. 8 in Grant Park by the Lyric Opera Orchestra and Chorus, with Samuel Ramey, Dolora Zajick and other vocal soloists. That event had been planned and announced months ago.
“The other day we discussed something of a commemorative nature but decided it wasn’t appropriate to what was planned as a festive event,” he said.
— John von Rhein
Dance
The Instituto Cervantes of Chicago is taking the approach that art has a healing power and is continuing its Chicago Flamenco Festival Sept. 4-14. A flamenco music concert featuring Spanish guitarist Paco Javier Jimeno and vocalist Rocio Bazan will perform at the Old Town School of Folk Music on Sept. 11.
“In Spain, we know terrorism and tragedy firsthand,” said Francisco Moreno, executive director of Instituto Cervantes. “We believe cultural activities can combat terrorism. We don’t want to be silent. We’re paying tribute to life and sending a message of hope.”
Since the fall dance season typically begins in late September — including Joffrey Ballet of Chicago and the Dance Center of Columbia College — there are no major performances scheduled for Sept. 11.
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago will be on tour. But Asimina Chremos, co-artistic director of Links Hall — known for its year-round experimental dance performances — noted “there will probably be some kind of rehearsal [that night]. We are carrying on as usual until we can carry on no more.”
— Lucia Mauro