In the beginning, there was the cramped bookstore anteroom so small a backstage was out of the question. And if you got cast in a show at the Writers Theatre of the early 1990s, you’d be called to sell ads and stuff envelopes for mailers in addition to learning your lines.
“There was very much an all-hands-on-deck feeling,” says Scott Parkinson, a Broadway vet and New York-based actor who launched his long and illustrious career from the back of Books on Vernon, the Glencoe storefront where Writers Theatre started in 1992. “Everybody pitched in,” says Parkinson. “It was wonderful and it was my artistic home. It still is.”
When “Arcadia” opens March 16 at Writers Theatre’s 250-seat Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Theatre, one of the theatre’s two performance venues in the multi-million dollar, 36,000-square-foot Glencoe facility, it will mark the beginning of a new era for the company. The space, designed by internationally renowned architect Jeanne Gang, is aesthetically gorgeous and technologically of-the-moment. At the champagne-and-black-tie gala officially opening the new digs a few weeks ago, Parkinson found himself remembering when.
“A few of us were kind of looking around at this incredible space and going ‘Oh my God. Do you remember when we were making cold calls between shows, trying to get the local business to buy ads?'” Parkinson said.
They’re paying attention now, on a national level. It’s fact, not opinion, that Writers is one of the most renowned regional houses in the country. If you’re an actor, you want to work there. If you’re a writer, you want to be produced there. And if you’re a start-up theater trying to spin two planks and a passion into something lasting? You want to pay attention. (See sidebar).
It’s no coincidence that Artistic Director Michael Halberstam is baptizing the new building with’s “Arcadia.” Tom Stoppard’s time-tripping thriller/romance/mystery/mindblowing-disseration-on-the-cosmos toggles between the setting of an English country estate in the early 19th century where a young student proposes an earthshaking scientific discovery and the early 1990s where two academic rivals race to unravel the mysteries left behind. The drama ponders the three questions that will ever vex humankind: How did we get here? What’s the point? What happens afterward?
“‘Arcadia’ fits in with the overall conversation we’ve been having with our audience,” says Halberstam, “The way Stoppard looks to the future while at the same time having a conversation about the past that’s emotional, and authentic. It embodies our mission statement — we seek work that brings insight to past and present alike.”
Parkinson plays a scholar who fancies himself a modern-day Lord Byron but who is actually something of a horse’s arse. “I told my agent I didn’t even want to audition for anything that would conflict with ‘Arcadia.’ I was adamant,” he says.
Others in the cast share Parkinson’s sense of commitment to Writers, if not his sense of history.
Callie Johnson was a toddler when Parkinson was stuffing envelopes and making cold calls. The 2012 graduate of Chicago’s Columbia College makes her writers debut as Chloe Coverly, a luminous young woman with more passion than caution.
“Chloe’s understanding of the universe is all tied up with love. And sex,” says Johnson. “She has this line where she talks about how everything in the universe is ordered and is determined by the laws of physics. A plus B will always equal C. Or it would, if it wasn’t for love. Love is the wild card that throws everything off.”
The line Johnson refernces is classic Stoppard: Tinged with sadness and wise enough to make see the world differently than you did before you heard it. It also captures the heart of “Arcadia”.
The plot delves deep into matters of literature, architecture, botany, landscaping trends, Chaos Theory, the First Law of Thermodynamics, physics, metaphysics and history. There is a climactic scene all to do with grouse hunting. There is copious sex, a duel, a mysterious hermit, and a beautiful young genius who dies young but leaves behind a staggering legacy. There is also a very important tortoise. Halberstam is reveling in all of it.
“Producing in this new space is joyous,” he says. “When you first walk in, there’s a moment when you gasp because it is so beautiful. And as you sit in the theater, you start to realize how significantly it grew from our original space. And how familiar it feels. The 250 seat (mainstage) gives us scale but loses none of the intimacy we’ve always had. The 99-seat studio theater is just like the book store, only better. Basically, we wanted to take our former spaces and reinvent. I think we’ve succeeded.”
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Michael Halberstam’s Six Steps Toward Becoming a Successful Theater:
So you want to start a theater company? Join the club: Every year, at least half a dozen new theaters crop up in Chicago, but most of them are memories inside of a few years. Herein, Writers Theatre Artistic Director Michael Halberstam provides a few pro-tips on how to stick around.
1) You may be an artist, but you are not above sweeping the floor.
During Writers Theatre’s early years, everybody did everything. Actors sold ads. Directors folded mailers. For the first decade, Halberstam was at the theater every single night, an all-purpose dogsbody and bottle washer in chief. “I never found any task too menial,” he says, “I still don’t. It’s important for me to stay in the trenches.”
2) Pay your artists way more than the minimum, even if it means you are chronically understaffed.
“One of the most important parts of our mission statement is that we pay our artists aggressively,”says Halberstam, ” Because we pay above what (the actors’ Union) Equity demands, we’ve always been short staffed elsewhere. I tell every department head I hire that they will always be understaffed.
3) Engagement Part 1: Keep a mailing list
“You must keep track of every single person that comes through your door,” says Halberstam, “Every. Single. Person. I find myself constantly repeating this conversation with younger artists: I’ll see a show and I’ll ask the artistic director about the mailing list they’ve kept of people who bought tickets. And they’re like ‘oh, we don’t do that.’ And I’m like ‘Well, you just completely wasted a show.’ Keeping track of people isn’t a choice. You either do it, or you don’t have a theater.”
4) Engagement Part 2: Think of the Yogis
“Engagement starts the second somebody contacts you asking about a show and continues until they’re at home reading the program, maybe weeks later. If you’re not doing outreach and education every step of the way, you will fail,” says Halberstam.
“But there are endless ways to reach people beyond having them get tickets to a play. In yoga, one of the principals is meeting people where they are. That goes for art too. Maybe you bring someone in by having jazz in the Atrium on Sunday. Or maybe you take an educational program into the schools. I see arts and culture as fundamental to a community as Civil Rights. You want to be part of your community? You have to meet them where they are.”
5. You Have No Excuse for Throwing a Bad Party
“As theater people, we really have no excuse for not having fabulous galas,” says Halberstam. “When you have people who have decided to make you part of their social life, who are willing to pay significant sums of money to come party with you, you need to deliver something spectacular. Frankly though, I don’t know how we’re going to top this year’s gala. We had 80 performers, many who flew in from all over the world to be there. I get a lump in my throat just thinking about it.”
6. Remember Your Roots
So against all odds, you find yourself with a multi-million dollar, world-renowned facility where everybody wants to work. Now what?
“Our guiding principal has always been tied to intimacy,” says Halberstam. “We never want that to change. The size of the theater can’t diminish the intimacy we’re known for. I see our space as an epic canvas where we can engage audiences on an intimate level. That’s what we’ve always done, and that’s what we’ll continue to do. “
Writers Theatre presents ‘Arcadia’
When: March 16–May 1
Where: Writers’ Theatre, 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe
Tickets: $35
Information: 847-242-6000; Writerstheatre.org