Piven Theatre Workshop

Last updated

The Piven Theatre Workshop is located in Evanston, Illinois and was founded by Joyce and Byrne Piven. [1] [2] For over 30 years, it has existed both as a professional theatre company and a training center for children and adults. Famous alumni to come out of the program include Jeremy Piven, John Cusack, Aimee Garcia, Joan Cusack, Ann Cusack, Aidan Quinn, Laurel Holloman, Lili Taylor, Ann Lippert, Julian Bailey, playwright Sarah Ruhl and Kate Walsh.

Related Research Articles

John Cusack American actor, producer, and screenwriter

John Paul Cusack is an American actor, producer, screenwriter, and political activist. He began acting in films during the 1980s and has since starred in more than 85 films, including Sixteen Candles (1984), Tapeheads (1988), Say Anything... (1989), Bullets over Broadway (1994), Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), Being John Malkovich (1999), High Fidelity (2000), Runaway Jury (2003), Igor (2008), Hot Tub Time Machine (2010), The Frozen Ground (2013) and Maps to the Stars (2014). He is the son of filmmaker Dick Cusack, and his older sisters are actresses Joan and Ann Cusack.

Compass Players

The Compass Players was an improvisational cabaret revue active from 1955 to 1958 in Chicago and St. Louis. Several members went on to form The Second City Theater in 1959.

Jeremy Piven American actor

Jeremy Samuel Piven is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He is best known for his role as Ari Gold in the comedy series Entourage, for which he won a Golden Globe Award and three consecutive Emmy Awards. He also starred in the British period drama Mr Selfridge, which tells the story of the man who created the English department store Selfridges, and portrayed Spence Kovak on Ellen DeGeneres's sitcom Ellen.

Richard John Cusack was an American actor, filmmaker and humorist.

<i>Must Love Dogs</i> 2005 romantic comedy movie directed by Gary David Goldberg

Must Love Dogs is a 2005 American romantic comedy film based on Claire Cook's 2002 novel of the same name. Starring Diane Lane and John Cusack, it is the second film directed and written by Gary David Goldberg and was produced on a budget of $30 million. The film focuses on a woman's struggle with divorce and meeting new people afterward.

Ann Cusack is an American actress. She had minor roles in both the 1996 comedy Multiplicity, A League of Their Own (1992) and The Informant! (2009). Additionally, she has made guest appearances in a number of television series, including Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, One Tree Hill, Charmed, Ghost Whisperer, The Unit, Boston Legal, Bones, Frasier, Ally McBeal, Criminal Minds, Private Practice, Fargo, Better Call Saul, and The Boys.

The Actors Gang

The Actors' Gang is an experimental theatre and nonprofit group based at the Ivy Substation in Culver City, California. It was founded in 1981 by a group of actors, including Tim Robbins, now a member of the board and Artistic Director of the troupe. The group states its mission is "to create bold, original works for the stage and daring reinterpretations of the classics".

Steven Dietz is an American playwright and theatre director. Called "the most ubiquitous American playwright whose name you may never have heard", Dietz has long been one of America's most prolific and widely produced playwrights. In 2019, Dietz was again named one of the 20 most-produced playwrights in America.

Ann Harada is an American actress and singer who is best known for the musical Avenue Q, in which she originated the role of Christmas Eve, the heavily accented Japanese therapist.

Bernard "Bernie" Sahlins was an American writer, director and comedian best known as a founder of The Second City improvisational comedy troupe with Paul Sills and Howard Alk in 1959. Sahlins also opened the Second City Theatre in Toronto in 1973.

Joyce Hiller Piven is an American director, teacher, and actress. She and her late husband, Byrne Piven, were actors in the Compass Players. Later they founded the Piven Theatre Workshop in Evanston, Illinois and became teachers to a generation of stars such as John Cusack, Joan Cusack, Aidan Quinn, Adam McKay, and their son Jeremy Piven and daughter Shira Piven.

Greg Hirte

Greg Hirte is a professional violinist, actor, and composer based out of Chicago, Illinois.

Chopin Theatre

Chopin Theatre Productions is a 501C3 not for profit art presenter and producer at the historic Chopin Theater building in Chicago. Built in 1918 in what is now Wicker Park., the theater is located across the Polish Triangle. Chopin Theatre’s 500+ annual theater, literary, music, film and social events are often avante garde or international. Its mission is to promote enlightened civic discourse through a diverse range of artistic offerings.

State Theatre (Ann Arbor, Michigan) Movie theater in Ann Arbor, Michigan

The State Theatre is an operational former movie palace in Ann Arbor, Michigan, designed by C. Howard Crane in the Art Deco style.

Carmen Cusack

Carmen Cusack is an American musical theater actress and singer. She is known for playing Elphaba in the Chicago, North American Tour and Melbourne productions of the musical Wicked, as well as for originating the role of Alice Murphy in the Broadway musical, Bright Star.

<i>Good People</i> (play)

Good People is a 2011 play by David Lindsay-Abaire. The world premiere was staged by the Manhattan Theatre Club in New York City. The production was nominated for two 2011 Tony Awards – Best Play and Best Leading Actress in a Play, with the latter winning.

Shira Piven American director, writer and filmmaker (born 1961)

Shira Piven is an American director, writer and filmmaker. She directed the 2014 film Welcome to Me starring Kristen Wiig.

Amazingrace Coffeehouse was an influential counterculture music and performance venue in Evanston, Illinois, during the 1970s. Run by a collective called the Amazingrace Family, it was known for its welcoming atmosphere, eclectic menu, excellent sound system, and respectful audiences. Amazingrace was the top music club in the Chicago Reader poll 1973-1975, plus Number 3 in the 1975 wrap-up of "Who's Who in Chicago's Alternative Culture". Performers from a wide variety of genres played at Amazingrace from its beginning on the campus of Northwestern University until its final incarnation at The Main on Chicago Avenue in Evanston.

Shaindel Kalish was an American actress on stage, on old-time radio, and in films. Her first name was sometimes spelled "Scheindel". She was also known at various times as Judith Blake, Ann Shepherd, Ann Preston, Judith Preston Blake, Ann S. Sheps, and Ann Shepherd Mann. She was a victim of the Hollywood Blacklist.

References

  1. Showalter, Thea (April 11, 2019). "Piven Theater continues dialogue of mass incarceration through new play detailing experiences of incarcerated women". The Daily Northwestern . Retrieved June 5, 2020.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  2. Adler, Tony (June 21, 2013). "Veteran theater teacher Joyce Piven talks about her new book". Chicago Reader . Retrieved June 5, 2020.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)