Photo credit: Michael Brosilow

In a time when New York producers are parched for new musical ideas, Chicago is disproving the old adage that a fresh, winsome work is as rare as- well, as rare as an affordable modish wardrobe. For the second year, the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre has commissioned the talents of two young, spirited composers to concoct a wholly original and beguiling musical treat for summer audiences. And fortunately for Chicago, composer Alan Schmuckler and book writer/lyricist David Holstein are more than up to the task in their quirky, contemporized adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s celebrated tale, “The Emperor’s New Clothes”.

Interview by Alissa Norby

ShowBiz Chicago: Walk me through the process of adaptation. How did you work to pair David’s text with Alan’s score to tell this new version of “The Emperor’s New Clothes”?

David Holstein (DH): Alan and I create the story together. Then we sit down and decide what parts of the story should be songs and which should be scenes. He goes off to write the music and I go off to write the scenes and keep an eye on the overall narrative. Then we get together make sure the puzzle fits.

Alan Schmuckler (AS): And the line between dialogue and song isn’t as neatly defined as you might think. Lots of times Dave takes a crack at a scene, shows me the draft, and then I say, well, these few lines of dialogue , I think there’s a song in there. So the next draft of that scene, some of Dave’s lines are gone, and there’s a song in its place, with some new dialogue sprinkled throughout. Inspiration piggybacks on inspiration.

ShowBiz Chicago: Despite its age, this “Emperor” seems to have a contemporary flare, specifically with Sam going off to college and the enviro-friendly message. Was there a specific style, either in terms of text or music, that you went for to add to its modern connection?

AS: Our story is all about the crashing-together of old and new (a father and a daughter, a mother and a son), so I had in mind a score that would do the same: a blend of classic and contemporary musical theater. Hopefully it sounds like it was written sixty years ago and last week at the same time.

DH: In terms of text, we really wanted to keep things relevant and current. Especially when you’re telling a story to kids, you want to create as many points of connection as possible.

ShowBiz Chicago: Alan, your 2007 work with Michael Mahler, “How Can You Run with a Shell On Your Back?” was an enormous success. What did you take from this experience, as well as your stage work, that influenced your approach with “Emperor”?

AS: I do not think I can put into words what a special experience “Shell” was. I learned the value of totally trusting your collaborators, and the joy (and responsibility) of being totally trusted. As far as the acting goes, the jobs I am lucky enough to do onstage inform the writing I do as much as the other way around. I am hugely fortunate in that I get to do both.

Photo credit: Michael Brosilow

ShowBiz Chicago: Rachel Rockwell is quickly becoming one of Chicago’s most sought-after directors for her unique style of musical staging. Can you talk about working with Rachel, as well as her approach to the piece?

DH: Rachel is amazing. She brings so many good ideas to the show and she is such a hardworking collaborator. We have been through two workshops with her on this show and I can honestly say we could not have done it without her.

AS: Rachel has pitch perfect instincts and a lightning fast mind. Which means she gets what Dave and I are going for, and then she directs and stages in a way that communicates that vision with crystal clarity. The result is both definitively hers and definitively ours. Amazing, and rare.

ShowBiz Chicago: The concept of the parent-child relationship, and the challenges yet rewards therein, seems to be an especially important theme in the show. Tell me about what you hope kids and family will take away from these messages.

DH: This is one of the shows where if we have done it right, towards the second to last song, the parents will start putting their arms around their kids and the kids will start crawling into their laps. Our hope is that parents will leave the show more connected to their kids, and visa versa.

AS: I think a lot of times we do not see what is right in front of us. Whether it is “invisible” fabric or the fabric of our closest relationships, we take a lot for granted because “that’s just how it is”. It does not occur to us to see things from any perspective other than our own. I hope parents and kids walk away a little more aware that they are deeply connected to each other and that just because their points of view differ does not mean there is any love lost.

ShowBiz Chicago: Finally, both of you consistently work on new theatre pieces. What do you both see as the importance of introducing children to original stage works, as opposed to the more common stage version of popular young adult movies?

DH: I think as long as families are going to the theater together period that is a good sign. But for starters, I think taking children to original stage works introduces them to simpler stories that were created for a simpler medium. Movies tends to have more characters, more locations, more plot, more cutting back and forth between things and when you adapt that for the stage that complexity needs to be paired down. I think it is too hard maintain the original impact of the film version, because you are trying to contain something larger. When you write something especially for the theater, you are starting with a simple idea and expanding it, not the other way around.

AS: No joke, I think bringing your kids to an original stage work is one of the best things you can do for their minds and hearts. A brand new story nourishes and sparks the imagination. They have never heard it before, so all they have is what is happening right now in front of them. Plus, a lot of those movies are already brilliant, why skim a little of their magic off the top when you can whip up a fresh dose?

“The Emperor’s New Clothes” runs through August 29, 2010 at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre at Navy Pier. For tickets or for more information, please visit www.ChicagoShakes.com.

[caption id="attachment_4238" align="alignleft" width="473" caption="Joshua Rollins and Michael Patrick Thornton in "Suicide, Incorporated". Photo credit: Emily McConnell"][/caption]

Situated in a quaint, effacing storefront in the heart of Jefferson Park, The Gift Theatre has been generating some of the city’s finest dramatic works since its inception. Andrew Hinderaker’s new “Suicide, Incorporated”, a searing drama that unflinchingly examines both the course and consequence of its titular subject, is drawing sold-out crowds weekly. Playwright Andrew Hinderaker and artistic director/performer Michael Patrick Thornton (also of ABC’s “Private Practice”) caught up with ShowBiz Chicago to discuss the unprecedented success of the piece, the Gift’s unique performer-playwright partnership, and why matters of death can give way to the most enlivening of theatre.

Interview by Alissa Norby

ShowBiz Chicago: How did the concept behind “Suicide, Incorporated” begin and what attracted you to writing this piece?

Andrew Hinderaker (AH): After losing a friend to suicide, and reading some alarming statistics on the rate of suicide among men (and young men, in particular), I really wanted to address the relationship between suicide and masculinity. It just seemed like a clear and strong connection and I felt like very few people were talking about it. So I reached out to the JED Foundation in New York, who focus specifically on suicide prevention for college students. They put me in touch with some parents who’d lost their sons to suicide, as well as young men who had attempted to take their own lives. These conversations crystallized what I wanted to write about — not only that relationship between suicide and masculinity, but also the unique kind of grief that comes when a loved one commits suicide. So I knew what I wanted to write about, but finding a way in was a challenge.  When writing a piece about suicide — particularly when there’s a personal connection — it can easily turn into something educational or confessional, more akin to a diary entry or academic presentation than a compelling piece of theater.  Fortunately for me, while I was trying to write the piece, I also had a miserable paying job with a company that ‘edits’ its clients admissions essays for undergraduate and graduate school. In my opinion, that company was at best morally questionable, essentially rewriting their clients’ work for a fairly hefty sum.  But it gave me the idea for the company in “Suicide, Incorporated” — and once I had the premise, the entire story unraveled for me. And I knew it was a story that would allow me to discuss the topic I wanted to address, while also providing tension and humor.

ShowBiz Chicago: Tell me about the development process with “Suicide”. How did it morph from the page, to Steppenwolf’s First Look, to its premiere with the Gift?

AH: I wrote the first draft in 2007, and in general, I don’t share anything until that first draft is complete. Once it’s done, I’ll share it with folks I trust, and who won’t judge me too harshly. Because the soul of the story is usually in tact in that first draft, but the writing itself is, well, not polished. So I’d take the initial draft to a weekly writing group I was attending at the time, hear a scene read, and make changes. After probably the fourth or fifth draft, Aaron Carter at Victory Gardens was nice enough to give the play a staged reading. A few months after that, Jeni Mahoney (head of playwriting at NYU and Artistic Director of the Seven Devils Playwrights Conference) called me to tell me they’d selected “Suicide, Incorporated” for Seven Devils. Honestly, that’s where the greatest development happened; I had nearly 40 hours of rehearsal and a staged reading at the end, so I had a great forum for exploration. First Look happened shortly after Seven Devils, and gave me the opportunity to work with Michael and Jonathan. Really, I’ve been extremely lucky that the development process for this play hasn’t been rushed and has allowed me to work with some tremendous artists.  When you have the opportunity to write a draft, have it read at Victory Gardens, then take a couple months off, write another draft and have it read at Seven Devils, then take a couple months off, write another draft and have it read at Steppenwolf — you’re very lucky indeed.

ShowBiz Chicago: Mike, how did you get involved with the production and what attracted you to it as both a performer and artistic director?

Michael Patrick Thornton (MPT): I first encountered the play through Steppenwolf’s First Look Rep two years ago and immediately fell in love with its economy and restraint, its giant heart and mind. The piece semmed to benefit from intellectual and emotional intimacy, which were two things I knew The Gift’s small storefront space could provide. As an actor, I loved Norm’s humour and heart. I understood his lonliness and the feeling of a world turned inside out. As Artistic Director, I felt a play about the male inability to ask for help would take on a special resonance in working class Jefferson Park (where Gift is) not to mention the play’s subject is personal to me.

ShowBiz Chicago: Walk me through the rehearsal process for “Suicide”. How did the production shift and grow through collaboration during this time?

AH: This is probably a better question for Mike, but from my perspective, it was a really lovely rehearsal process. Jonathan was at the helm, and if I had questions or comments during rehearsal, I’d run them past him, and he’d incorporate them into rehearsal, or into his notes. For the most part, I tried to watch each scene and tighten up moments. There were some definite rewrites that occurred during rehearsal, but nothing that major.

MPT: Same here. I assured Andrew early on he’d be welcome at all rehearsals. It was very open and welcoming and ribald humour during breaks often broke up the drama.

ShowBiz Chicago: Mike, you of course star in the popular “Private Practice” on ABC. What was the experience returning to the Chicago theatre scene for this production?

MPT: I couldn’t wait. I love doing the TV show, but Gift is my heart and soul, and getting back to the slightly dusty, cavernous rehearsal room was sweet, sweet delight.  We’re sold out every night. It’s been a great homecoming.

ShowBiz Chicago: The play is set primarily in a business that edits suicide notes, a very brutal environment. Why was this harsh setting, that truly shines a light on individuals’ willingness to capitalize on others’ pain, important as a context?

AH: The easy answer is that it was a way to introduce some humor into a very heavy, very dark subject, and to ultimately make the play more entertaining. And to make it more dramatic — Jason’s desire to save his clients is clearly and strongly opposed by not only his boss, but the clients themselves — a set-up that would ensure tension and conflict throughout. Ultimately, though, I’m most fascinated and troubled by this cutthroat capitalist country we live in. People talk about this being a perverse or ‘brutal’ company, but to me it’s not worse than hundreds of ‘legitimate’ companies that exist in this country, and so clearly profit at the expense of others’ pain. At the same time, I’m deeply proud to live in this country and grew up in a Midwestern city where folks were almost always good to one another. So as a writer, I find myself fascinated by the coexistence of philanthropy and brutal capitalism in America, and the ways in which compassion arises in the most unfeeling of places.

ShowBiz Chicago: The majority of the actors that perform in “Suicide” are not part of the Gift ensemble. What was the experience collaborating with these younger actors to tackle the show?

MPT: In many ways the fact that I am the only ensemble member has been a real gift, if you’ll forgive the pun. Norm’s (the character I play) entire journey takes place with strangers, and while I perform regularly with Ed Flynn (who plays Scott) in Gift’s improv show Natural Gas and have worked with both Jim Farruggio and Jay Worthington at Gift and Steppenwolf, yes, they are not ensemble members of The Gift, I have not collaborated with this group for a decade, and there is something rich in acknowledging that; that I am alone without my fellow Gift ensemble, which engenders a sense of ‘who are these people, how did I get here’ which I think is valid for and synchronistic with Norm’s experience. It makes me feel entrusted to live up to and embody Gift’s ethos and the great dizzying talents of the ensemble who are not onstage with me through my performance, and as far as the younger cats in the play go, they may be younger but they have an emotional intelligence and level of commitment that belies their age. If you underestimate them, they’ll devour you.

ShowBiz Chicago: One of the most striking elements of the production to me is its use of humor, both warm and at times sardonic. What is the purpose for both you Andrew as a playwright and Michael as an actor in using this kind of humor to tell parts of “Suicide, Incorporated”?

AH: To me, the most meaningful moments on stage and in life occur when humor and pain coexist.

MPT: Jonathan Berry (our director) said early on that Norm’s sardonic, self-deprecative humour is a very good reason for his still being alive. I think when we can laugh at something, that provides distance, and even just a little bit of distance can be a godsend by providing a wedge between you and the awful, all-encompassing immediate experience of your pain. It’s interesting: by being able to laugh at something—whether we know it or not or don’t want to know it—we have already partly moved on. Sometimes that acknowledgment is the most painful and scary thing. Because who are we then?

ShowBiz Chicago: You’ve mentioned recently your interest in the concept of masculinity, with both “Suicide” and “Kingsville”. How do you see the relationship between masculinity and self-harm?

AH: From a statistics standpoint, it’s just recognizing that 80% of suicides are completed by men, and that the two highest groups (men late teens-30 and men, 60s, I believe) coincide with those difficult stages for guys when they’re trying to figure out how to be men, and how to negotiate through life when they’re losing all those qualities that make them masculine in this culture. It’s very important, however, to recognize that people who commit suicide are almost always suffering from severe psychological illness and a huge component of suicide prevention involves getting people in touch with the treatment they need. And to put it simply, men are far less likely to seek out help. They’re less likely to reach out — to professionals, even to friends — and to me, it’s vitally important that we begin to redefine masculinity such that the act of reaching out is seen as one of strength.

ShowBiz Chicago: Michael, how did you incorporate these ideas of masculinity, as well as those of intimacy, in your interpretation of Norm?

MPT: Well, Norm’s a lot more guarded than I am. There are differences in physicality and voice, etc., but all these somewhat academic topics of male masculinity for me—the actor—simply translate and reduce to two things: fear, and love.

ShowBiz Chicago: Andrew, why do you think we as a culture often refuse to view these acts of violence with a gendered lens?

AH: I’m not sure. I suspect that there’s a fear, and a legitimate one, that if we viewed suicide as a “male issue,” we’d be ignoring the very many females who contemplate, attempt, and complete suicide. I also suspect that there’s a real hesitation in taking an approach that could be construed as making men ‘victims.’ The truth is that of course males are at an advantage in many areas of our society; it’s ridiculous, for example, that in this day and age, there’s still a tremendous discrepancy in wages among women and men, but that disparity exists — and must be addressed, and is just one of many areas where men are at an advantage in a sexist society.

That said, to me it’s not about making men ‘victims’; it’s about exploring the role we all play in perpetuating a construct of masculinity that is unhealthy at best, dangerous at worst. We don’t hesitate, for example, to explore eating disorders through the lens of gender, and to examine the relationship between that very significant problem and our societal constructs of femininity.  Our failure to do the same with masculinity and its possible relationship to suicide, school shootings, and violence at large is a problem I hope to address.

ShowBiz Chicago: On an ending note, what projects are coming up for both of you either in Chicago or beyond?

AH: You mentioned “Kingsville,” and that opens in mid-October at Stage Left, in their new Theatre Wit space (more info at www.stagelefttheatre.com). I also have a reading of a brand new play, “Dirty,” a comedy about a porn company for the social good. That reading will take place at Chicago Dramatists on Saturday, July 24th at 2 PM, and will also be directed by Jonathan Berry. (more info at www.chicagodramatists.org) July. And in August, I head down to Austin, to begin an MFA in Playwriting. (Complete information can be found at www.andrewsplays.com)

MPT: I’ll be reprising my role as Tad Rose in Gift’s remount of “The Ruby Sunrise” July 28th – August 1 at Theatre on the Lake. I improvise with “Natural Gas” every Wednesday night at 8m & Friday nights after Suicide, Incorporated @ 9:30pm, I’m shooting Ron Howard’s “Cheaters” in August, hopefully returning to “Private Practice” in the fall, and appearing onstage at Steppenwolf in “Middletown” in 2011.

“Suicide, Incorporated” now runs through September 12, 2010 at the Gift Theatre. For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit www.TheGiftTheatre.org.

Photo courtesy of Lookingglass Theatre Company

Most adolescent boys do away with their freshly-acquired Bar Mitzvah money before you can say “Haftorah”. But not David Schwimmer. Instead, the Lookingglass Theatre Company co-founder and “Friends” superstar mounted what was to become his theatre company’s most illustrious and withstanding production, “Lookingglass Alice”, based on the cherished novels of Lewis Carroll. The company’s Artistic Director David Catlin recently caught up with ShowBiz Chicago to discuss the adaptation and production process for Alice’s latest journey (now playing through August 1, 2010 at the Water Tower), and why this fourth trip down the rabbit hole just may be the best yet.

Interview by Alissa Norby

ShowBiz Chicago: This is the fourth time Chicago audiences will be treated to “Lookingglass Alice”. For our readers who do not know the story, take me back to 1987 when this production was first getting developed.

David Catlin (DC): We were students at Northwestern University and David Schwimmer had some money in a bank account that he had gotten for his Bar Mitzvah. He decided to self-produce an adaptation of “Alice in Wonderland”. That particular adaptation had been done by Andre Gregory at the end of the 1960s. It was this very physical production that was ensemble-based and had what you would call a “poor theatre” setting, very simple and transformational and not necessarily strictly for kids. It had a lot of grown-up ideas in it because there was a great deal of response to the turbulence of the 1960s in that production. There was this book that described the process that this [company] went through, and Schwimmer had an old tattered copy of this. So he brought six of us in to do it and use nontraditional ways to create the story. The production did well enough on campus that we brought it to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and decided to start a company, Lookingglass. Flash forward fifteen years, we were building a theatre here at the Water Tower and our artistic director at the time suggested that we return and re-tackle that material.

ShowBiz Chicago: I understand that at this time you had become a parent. How did this new personal role affect your approach to the children’s story?

DC: Going into 2005 I was a young father and had a daughter who was about two and a half years old. It occurred to me how just swiftly she was moving through life, even at that age. I remember one of her very first sentences was, “When can I get my ears pierced?” So one of the things we had discovered and felt very strongly about in doing “Alice” is that these stories were a loving gift from Lewis Carroll to the real Alice Liddell. They were written in a very Victorian world with lots of rules and strict regulations for behavior. Society had really pressured kids to grow up fast and become little adults. So with “Through the Lookingglass”, the structure is actually set up to be a Chessboard. Alice starts as a pawn and the book ends with her being crowned a queen. I realized that, for me and my personal way into the story, was what I would want to tell my daughter about growing up: not to do it too quickly, and to hang onto all of the amazing things that kids are so good at, like believing in impossible things. We as adults often forget how to do that.

ShowBiz Chicago: Carroll’s work is of course noted for its sense of wonder and whimsy, but more so its sense of play. How have you been able to incorporate the idea of play into the physical production?

DC: We try to let every square inch of the theatre be part of our playground. Just as the play leads to very different paths, we try, through design and circus work, to evoke this same sense of the unexpected. I have also tried to make the show a little bit loose in terms of feeling spontaneous. There are things that we do that require prolonged degrees of focus and attention for actors’ safety, but there are also big sequences where actors are encouraged to discover. To me, play is very much about the ability and willingness to discover, to see things anew. This story, particularly “Alice in Wonderland”, was told to the real Alice and her sisters on a boat ride. So although Carroll may have been thinking about these characters before, they came out in this spontaneous, unscripted way. We want to evoke this sense of play, of responding and exploring in the moment.

ShowBiz Chicago: How did you design the production to tap into these concepts for audiences?

Photo courtesy of Lookingglass Theatre Company

DC: A lot of the props are also reminiscent of childhood. There are balls that show up, distorted scales, physical transformations. A piece of fabric becomes a sea of tears and some junky old folding chairs become a tea party. That idea of transforming simple objects into amazing things, I mean kids do that so beautifully, and we want to continue that willing suspension of disbelief.

ShowBiz Chicago: How did the partnership with the Actors Gymnasium begin, and what is the significance of cirque performance in the role of storytelling for you as an Artistic Director?

DC: The relationship with Actors Gymnasium started really because, as theatres, we have the same DNA. One of the founders was in that initial Northwestern production. As the company was starting, Cirque Du Soleil was doing one of its initial tent shows here in Chicago and we as a group saw it together. We thought, “This is so exciting.” We thought theatre, like that, should bring people to the edge of their seats and always evoke a visceral, kinesthetic response. We want you to experience it in your muscles and in your stomach. There is something about the impossible instance of watching a cirque performance that just fit the Lewis Carroll world, something about the idea of seeing people do things that are magical and entirely unexpected. And there’s also that dizzying quality that you get, and we want you to feel that same effect much like how Alice may have felt falling down that rabbit hole.

ShowBiz Chicago: The recent Tim Burton adaptation of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” focused a great deal on the themes of good vs. evil inherent in the text. Your adaptation tends to focus more on the lyricism and acrostics of the story. Was this intentional?

DC: Yes, I am very interested in the things that I want my daughter to really think about and therefore the elements of his stories that I want young people to think about. To me, there is somewhat of a battle going on here, but it’s a battle between the strict, rational mindset of the Red Queen and the kind of irrational force that is the White Queen. The White Queen is telling Alice to believe in impossible things, to return to being a kid. The Red Queen wants propriety. So the conflict for Alice is between these. As we see the Red Queen in our production, she is this incredibly tall, 15-foot force but by the end she is tiny and basically floats away on an umbrella.

ShowBiz Chicago: How did the concept of childhood identity, and the development of it, factor in to your understanding of the text as an adaptor?

DC: As the Red Queen diminishes, Alice’s esteem and sense of self in the world grows, because this story really is about identity. There’s this concept in psychology known as the “Lookingglass Self”, which says we define ourselves based on how we believe others perceive us, or see us through the lookingglass. We often, and children in particular, look to others to find who we are. But eventually Alice learns we must look at ourselves to truly define ourselves. Essentially, each square on the Chessboard represents one of those stages in our lives. You look at the work and you can see it. The Tweedles call to mind that awkward stage in adolescence, when we are so concerned with how our friends see and act toward us and how we might fit into that equation. Then there’s Humpty Dumpty, which really shows the moment in our young adult lives when we lose somebody, someone important to us, a situation we cannot fix. It makes us older, takes away our childhood.

ShowBiz Chicago: One of the most notable elements of the production is the relationship you portray physically between Carroll and Alice. Why did you decide to make the author such a prominent character in Alice’s journey?

DC: I think partly because this is a loving gift to her from him. It’s these two people who had this connection and loved each other, and that connection is an important force in the story. So in a way it creates two worlds within the production. Carroll was a lonely soul, coming from a big family but never really able to fit in with the real world. I think there is something sad but also beautiful about his connection to Alice, because that world he was most interested in was the one they created together.

ShowBiz Chicago: What do you hope children who see your production take away from its message of the power in imagination?

DC: We live in a world with so much stimulation coming at us, with video games and iPods. I hope that kids will take away the idea of creation, of creating new worlds and characters and to ultimately be okay with that nonsense. Not everything has to be logical and perfect. As Humpty says, “What if you had two eyes on the side of your head, your mouth is above and your nose above? That would be something, that would be different.” And Alice says, “That wouldn’t look very nice.” Humpty responds, “Wait ‘til you try.” So I hope that kids will leave wanting to try new things, outside of the boxes that we as adults often make for them. Go out, invent impossible things and believe in impossible things.

ShowBiz Chicago: What does the name “Lookingglass” continue to mean to the company?

DC: It means a lot of things, but among them the connection to Lewis Carroll and the celebration of nonsense and irreverence. Also, the pursuit of clever ideas and that source of wonder that Alice brings into the world. But more, the idea of the mirror that reflects who we are as a society. We need to look into that mirror, and I believe theatre can be one of the best kinds to understand and become aware of the world that surrounds us.

“Lookingglass Alice” runs through August 1, 2010 at Water Tower Water Works at 821 N. Michigan Ave. in Chicago. For more information or to purchase tickets please visit www.LookingglassTheatre.org.