Steppenwolf Theatre has coaxed the Broadway star Katrina Lenk back to Chicago to star in Stephanie Alison Walker’s “Adirondack Chair Circle,” directed by Pam MacKinnon.
Lenk is known for her 2017 Tony Award-winning performance in “The Band’s Visit” on Broadway and also for originating the central role in Marianne Elliott’s gender-swapped revival of Stephen Sondheim’s “Company.” Lenk was last in a Steppenwolf show in 2005 (“Lost Land”), when her career was just beginning. She’ll join Caroline Neff, Wendy Mateo and Sadieh Rifai in the cast of Walker’s world-premiere satire of suburban warriors fighting the school board. Also joining the fight is David Darrow, who recently impressed as Mozart in Steppenwolf’s production of “Amadeus.”
I first saw Lenk’s work in 2001 when she appeared as Yitzak in “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” at what was then the Broadway Theatre in Chicago. This is looking like quite the high-profile production.
Midnight Circus celebrates 20 years
I’ve been writing about Chicago’s Midnight Circus for its entire history. It has always been Chicago’s little-circus-that-could, driven by the hugely talented (and very persistent) married couple of Jeff Jenkins and Julie Greenberg.
For the last 20 years, Jenkins and Greenberg mostly have performed shows in Chicago’s parks. I won’t forget the amazing COVID-era show in 2020 in Foster Park, when furloughed circus folks from the Cirque du Soleil and other world-class operations were so antsy to perform, and so respectful of Jenkins and Greenberg’s little big top, they drove from miles away to the South Side of Chicago to work outdoors.
That was part of the 2020 fall parks tour of the Midnight Circus (talk about a show that filled a deep void) and there are three more chances to catch this fall’s 20th anniversary version, including at Jefferson Park (this weekend), Evanston’s Tallmadge Park, (Sept. 18, 19 and 20) and Welles Park (Sept. 25, 26 and 27 and then Oct. 2, 3 and 4). Greenberg says the 20th-anniversary company includes 16 circus performers and one rescued pit bull. The 75-minute production includes tight wire, aerialists, hand balancers, acrobats, jugglers and, this being the Midnight Circus, comedy.
“The reason we keep doing it is the same reason we took the circus out of theaters and into the parks 20 years ago,” Greenberg told me. “We saw a real disparity in who had access to the arts in Chicago, and wanted to find a way to bring world-class circus directly into neighborhoods across the city.”
Mission accomplished, for 20 years. Tickets and more information at midnightcircus.net.
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Anniversary for the Arcada
The Arcada Theatre of St. Charles celebrated its 100th anniversary this past weekend. The 1,000-seat theater opened on Sept. 6, 1926, reportedly attracting Chicagoans by the trainload, beginning life as a silent movie theater before offering vaudeville acts. More recently, it has mostly been a music venue with 897 seats, but there have been live shows in the modern era, too, many produced by the theater’s current operator, Ron Onesti.
Like the Egyptian Theatre in DeKalb, a gorgeous place, the Arcada’s exterior was designed by Elmer Behrns. Lester J. Norris designed the Arcada’s interior; interestingly, Norris also was a cartoonist for the Tribune.
Hit shows sell quickly
Kokandy Productions’ “Sunday in the Park with George” has sold out most of its September shows and reports best availability in October. Theater Wit’s “Adolescent Salvation,” another storefront-style hit, is now running seven shows a week, a rarity in off-Loop theater, but a smart way to pack more people into one of the summer’s best shows. Northlight Theatre, meanwhile, has already added a week to the run of “The Front Page,” the inaugural production in its new Evanston home. BJ Jones’ production now runs at least through Oct. 25.
Jeff Awards announces team
The 58th Equity Joseph Jefferson Awards are slated for Monday at the Harris Theater and I, for one, am hoping for a more joyous celebration than the rancorous non-Equity Jeffs earlier this year. The production team for the ceremony is made up of director Ray Frewen, musical director Michael Mahler, co-hosts Michelle Duffy and James Earl Jones, and announcer Janet Ulrich Brooks. Media design will be by Anthony Churchill, and Imani Ross is stage manager. Jeff Awards Equity Wing chair Barry Taylor is the boss man.
A Gift of a cast
Gift Theatre has announced the cast of its upcoming production of Netta Walker’s “Hayward,” opening Oct. 18. Director AmBer Montgomery’s cast will feature Shanésia Davis, Gregory Fenner, Ireon Roach, Sydney Charles, Victor Musoni, Watson Swift, and Alfred H. Wilson.
Chris Jones Recommends
“Theater of the Mind” in an open run by the Goodman at the Reid Murdoch Building; “Pandemonium, Please Hold” in an open run on the Second City Mainstage; “Vape! The Grease Parody” through Jan. 3 at Apollo Theater; “Adolescent Salvation” through Oct. 3 at Theater Wit; “Sunday in the Park with George” by Kokandy Productions at Chopin Theatre; “Come From Away” through Oct. 18 at Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.