Nancy Maes

Prop: Severed hand. Appearing in: "The Great and Terrible Wizard of Oz," The House Theatre. In "The Great and Terrible Wizard of Oz," a dark version of L. Frank Baum's...

Gear: Replica of 1845 Pleyel piano. Appearing in: "Monsieur Chopin," Royal George Theatre. When Hershey Felder set out to portray Frederic Chopin in a one-man play at the Royal George,...

Prop: Live dog. Appearing in: "Gypsy," Porchlight Music Theatre. A nationwide search was launched to find the right dog for the role of Chowsie in the Broadway production of "Gypsy."...

Prop: Joyce Carol Oates sock puppet. Appearing in: "Recent Tragic Events," Uma Productions. Playwright Craig Wright included a role of sorts for Joyce Carol Oates in "Recent Tragic Events." He...

Prop: Suicide note Appearing in: "Wide Open Beaver Shot of My Heart, A Comedy With a Body Count," Rhinoceros Theater Festival Though Ian Belknap bills himself as a comedian, he...

When Bruce Robbins and Martin Cohen opened an art center in the DePaul neighborhood in 1975, Robbins recalls, "It was kind of like Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland putting on...

Prop: Blueberry pie Appearing in: "Memory House," Victory Gardens Theater In "Memory House," Maggie (Taylor Miller) is making a blueberry pie from scratch on New Year's Eve as she encourages...

Prop: Leather harnesses. Appearing in: "Kiss," Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Tobin Del Cuore and Cheryl Mann of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago know firsthand about the meaning of that little two-word...

Prop: Love seat that looks like a hunk of meat Appearing in: "Eat," Asbestos Theatre Project, Rhinoceros Festival When Stephen Mosblech wrote "Eat," a work that chronicles the downward spiral...

Prop: 30-pound bag of rice Appearing in: "Jenny Magnus: A Solo Evening," Curious Theatre Branch, Rhinoceros Festival Jenny Magnus felt off-kilter when she gave birth to her daughter, Lena Luna,...