The Practical Theatre Company

Last updated
PTC Logo PTC Logo.jpg
PTC Logo

The Practical Theatre Company is a Chicago-based theatre company founded by Northwestern University students and active throughout the 1980s before returning to the stage in 2010. Its productions have included new plays, satiric agitprop, rock and roll events, and a series of successful improvisational comedy revues. The PTC, whose motto is "Art is Good", is notable for the fact that the entire cast of its 1982 improvisational comedy revue, The Golden 50th Anniversary Jubilee (Brad Hall, Seinfeld star Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Gary Kroeger and Paul Barrosse) was hired by Saturday Night Live . [1]

Contents

In the mid-1980s, The Practical Theatre Company operated two theatre spaces: the 42-seat storefront John Lennon Auditorium in Evanston, Illinois and a 150-seat cabaret in Piper's Alley at North & Wells in Chicago. During that period, with its run of hit improvisational revues, the PTC briefly rivaled The Second City as Chicago's leading comedy troupe.

History

Early years 1979-1980

The Practical Theatre Company was founded in 1979 under the name Attack Theater at Northwestern University by Brad Hall, Paul Barrosse, Robert Mendel, and Angela Murphy as a not for profit theater company dedicated to the production of improvisational comedy and new plays. The company's first show, Clowns, a play about two improvisational comedians written and performed by artistic directors Hall and Barrosse, opened on April 11, 1979, at Shanley Hall on the NU campus. [1] In September of '79, Attack Theatre's inaugural season closed with a pair of one-act plays staged at National College of Education: Playgrounds by Hall and On the Fritzz by Grace McKeaney and Lewis Black with a cast featuring Laura Innes. [1]

In 1980, after officially changing its name to The Practical Theatre Company, the group moved to Evanston's Noyes Cultural Arts Center for its second season. Among the shows that season was the first of the group's improvisational comedy revues, Bag O' Fun. The show's mix of slapstick, satire, absurdist comedy, agitprop, and literary sophistication tied together with music and offbeat song and dance numbers established a unique style and format that the PTC would refine in more than a dozen revues over the next seven years. [2]

The John Lennon Auditorium

The John Lennon Auditorium (1981) The John Lennon Auditorium (1981).jpg
The John Lennon Auditorium (1981)

In the fall of 1980, the company relocated to a leased storefront at 703 Howard Street on the border of Evanston and Chicago. The company named their new storefront theatre space The John Lennon Auditorium. [3] Just two months after they christened their new theatre in his honor, John Lennon was killed on December 8, 1980.

The 42-seat John Lennon Auditorium (The JLA) was designed by actor and theatrical designer Louis DiCrescenzo, whom Brad Hall had met when they were both in the cast of the original production of Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? Material support from other Chicago theatres helped the PTC to build The JLA. Artistic Director Robert Falls of Wisdom Bridge Theatre (located further east on Howard Street) was renovating his space and donated his old theater seats. Stuart Oken and Jason Brett of The Apollo Theatre in Lincoln Park donated lighting equipment. [4]

Thrills & Glory

Thrills & Glory (1981) Thrills & Glory (1981).jpg
Thrills & Glory (1981)

The Practical Theatre Company's third season, its first at the John Lennon Auditorium, proved to be a turning point for the group. The season opened on March 21, 1981, with Thrills & Glory, the group's second improvisational comedy revue. Rush Pearson, Gary Kroeger and Reid Branson joined Paul Barrosse in the cast. In one sketch, a squad of American soldiers found themselves on the eve of battle in Basra, Iraq. In its choice of satiric targets, The PTC was often ahead of its time. Later that season, a premiere of the dark comedy Stunning Achievements in Iowa by Mark D. Kaufman was a critical success, earning the group its first of many Joseph Jefferson awards.

Scubba Hey

The turning point that third season came when the prominent director Sheldon Patinkin came to the JLA to judge the group's third improvisational comedy revue Scubba Hey for the Joseph Jefferson Committee. Patinkin's involvement with The Practical Theatre helped to accelerate the young company's development, artistically and from a business standpoint.

Scubba Hey! (1981) Scubba Hey! (1981).jpg
Scubba Hey! (1981)

Scubba Hey featured Barrosse, Hall, Pearson and Louis-Dreyfus, whom Barrosse and Pearson met when they performed together in the 1980 Mee-Ow Show at Northwestern. Scubba Hey was a critical and box office hit, and the group closed its first season at the JLA with Beggar's Holiday, an original comedy which opened on November 28, 1981, to a glowing review by Richard Christiansen of the Chicago Tribune , who called the PTC "as zany a bunch of intellectual clowns as the Earth can hold." [5]

The Brothers Bubba

The Brothers Bubba (1982) The Brothers Bubba (1982).jpg
The Brothers Bubba (1982)

The PTC's second season in the John Lennon Auditorium opened on April Fools' Day, 1982 with The Brothers Bubba, the group's fourth improvisational comedy revue. Under Patinkin's guidance, Hall, Barrosse, Pearson, Kroeger, and Jane Muller crafted the company's most successful show to date, as 1,314 ticket buyers crammed into the 42-seat JLA over the six-week run. It was clear that, given the company's increasing popularity, a larger space (in addition to the JLA) was needed to mount the group's next improvisational comedy revue. [6]

Attack Theatre and The Practical Women

Meanwhile, the "Attack Theatre" name was revived for a series of agitprop after-shows under the direction of Terry McCabe, another NU alum. Attack Theatre took on social and political issues like gun control and the abuse of women in short, provocative pieces, staged after the main stage shows at the JLA. Other after-shows featured The Practical Women, a project led by PTC co-founder Angela Murphy, designed to encourage female talent in the male-dominated improvisational comedy environment. [7]

The Piper's Alley Theatre and Saturday Night Live

The Golden Jubilee (1982) The Golden Jubilee (1982).jpg
The Golden Jubilee (1982)

Sheldon Patinkin was responsible for introducing the PTC to Second City founder Bernard Sahlins, with whom they reached an agreement to open a cabaret in a Piper Alley's space behind Second City. The 150-seat Piper's Alley Theatre was designed by Louis DiCrescenzo specifically to be the home of the PTC's comedy revues. [8]

The Golden Jubilee

The first show at the Piper's Alley Theater, The Golden 50th Anniversary Jubilee, opened on July 28, 1982, and put the Practical Theatre in the national spotlight when it caught the attention of Saturday Night Live producers Dick Ebersol and Bob Tischler. Just weeks into the show's run, Ebersol and Tischler hired the four stars of the show, Hall, Barrosse, Louis-Dreyfus and Kroeger, as writers and performers on the well-known NBC late-night comedy program. [9]

The association with Saturday Night Live would cause considerable change within the PTC. Artistic Directors Hall and Barrosse split their time between working at SNL in New York and returning to Chicago on their breaks to oversee the Practical Theatre Company, especially pre-production and rehearsals for Megafun, the group's next comedy revue in Piper's Alley, and the opening of The Practical Women's first main stage show at The John Lennon Auditorium, A Cast of Squirrels Before Swine, featuring Angela Murphy, Isabella Hofmann, Lynn Baber, Sandy Snyder and Ileen Getz. Squirrels Before Swine’s 13-week run at the JLA was the PTC's longest to date. [10]

Megafun

Megafun (1983) Megafun (1983).jpg
Megafun (1983)

The PTC's second improvisational comedy revue at Piper's Alley, Megafun, opened on March 24, 1983 and became the company's longest-running, most successful show to date. Featured in the cast were Tom Virtue, Richard Kind, Victoria Zielinski, Jeff Lupetin, Lynn Anderson, Jamie Baron and Jane Muller. [11] To have followed its breakthrough national success with another critical and popular hit established The Practical as arguably the preeminent comedy company in Chicago. [12]

Babalooney and Off-Broadway

Babalooney (1983) Babalooney (1983).jpg
Babalooney (1983)

In the summer of 1983, after one season of SNL, Barrosse returned to full-time work with the Practical Theatre Company and the group's third comedy revue at Piper's Alley, Babalooney, featuring Barrosse, Pearson, Baron, Muller, Lynn Baber and Rod McLachlan, with Larry Schanker on piano and Ronny Crawford on drums. In his review of the show, Christiansen of the Tribune wrote, "It's encouraging, as well as entertaining, to see the Practicals still turning out the same sweet, zany humor that first endeared them to audiences. They may have lost some of their membership to Saturday Night Live in New York and to Second City next door, but as this revue proves, they have not lost their capacity for fun." [13] An enthusiastic Variety review caught the attention of Arthur Cantor, a New York-based theatrical producer, who brought the show to the Provincetown Playhouse in Greenwich Village in February 1984—but it had substantial cast and content changes. Babalooney was not nearly as successful Off Broadway as it was in Chicago. The show received mixed reviews from New York critics and closed after three weeks. [14]

Association with The Goodman Theatre

By the spring of 1984, The PTC was no longer operating in the Piper's Alley Theater, though it continued to stage shows at the John Lennon Auditorium in Evanston, most notably Soapbox Sweepstakes, a satire of the 1984 Presidential election campaigns which ran for 31 weeks, right up to Election Day.

The PTC's next comedy revue, The Merry Guys Who Windsurf, was staged at the Goodman Theatre studio and directed by Barrosse with a cast including Herb Metzler, John Goodrich, Ross Salinger, Kit Falsgraf, McLachlan and Baber. Backed by Michael Mennies on piano, Victor Peterson on Guitar, and Roger Anderson on drums, Merry Guys was well reviewed by critics, and Bury St. Edmund at The Chicago Reader opined, "The Merry Guys Who Windsurf is going to be your basic summer comedy hit." But Merry Guys failed to draw large audiences to The Goodman Studio. The group continued its association with The Goodman's artistic director Greg Mosher, who cast many PTC ensemble members (and musical director Shanker) in his adaptation of A Christmas Carol' at the Auditorium Theater, a landmark 3,900-seat theater in downtown Chicago. The production, whose cast included Barrosse, Hall, Frank Galati, Innes and Del Close, received mixed reviews from critics. [15]

End of an Era 1985-1988

In 1985, the Company refocused its efforts on staging plays at the John Lennon Auditorium, but after producing a pair of one-act plays, it became apparent that the 42-seat theater would not provide enough revenue to meet the costs of an Actor's Equity Contract the PTC had signed earlier in the year, and the group left the theater it had built.

Art, Ruth & Trudy

Art, Ruth & Trudy (1986) Art, Ruth & Trudy (1986).jpg
Art, Ruth & Trudy (1986)

In May 1986, the Practical Theatre Company opened its next improvisational comedy revue, Art Ruth & Trudy at Club Victoria, nearly two years since its last revue closed at The Goodman Studio. Featuring Barrosse, Victoria Zielinski, Baron, musical director Steve Rashid on piano, and guided by Patinkin, Art, Ruth & Trudy received very positive reviews and became the longest running show in the company's history. [16] The show then moved to the larger Briar Street Theater and on to the even larger Vic Theatre where it finished its 9-month run. [17]

Bozo the Town

In 1987, the company premiered its last comedy review of the 1980s: Bozo the Town at The Vic Theater. With Barrosse, Zielinski and Kyle Hefner in the cast, backed by Steve Rashid on piano and Don Stiernberg on guitar, Bozo received mixed reviews and ran for two months. [18]

Rock Me!

That same year, Patinkin worked with Barrosse and Hall to develop Rock Me!, a show about an aging garage band for Columbia College's New Musicals Project. On August 1, 1988, The Practical Theatre performed Rock Me! to a sold-out house at The Apollo Theatre. Joining Hall and Barrosse in the cast were Zielinski, Pearson, Peter Van Wagner and keyboardist Schanker. The production also starred fellow Northwestern alum Megan Mullally. Rock Me! would be the last PTC performance in Chicago for 23 years. [19]

The PTC Returns 2010

The Vic & Paul Show (2010-11) The Vic & Paul Show (2010-11).jpg
The Vic & Paul Show (2010-11)

After a 22-year hiatus, the Practical Theatre Company reemerged in June 2010 when Barrosse, Zielinski and Rashid opened The Vic & Paul Show in Los Angeles. They brought the improvisational comedy revue to Chicago for a one-week run in June 2011: the first PTC show in Chicago in 23 years. [20] The Vic & Paul Show returned to Chicago in December 2011 for a two-week run at Mayne Stage in the north side Rogers Park neighborhood. In the summer of 2012, The Vic & Paul Show played The Beverly Arts Center in Chicago, The 14th Street Theatre in Cleveland's Playhouse Square, and the iO West Theatre in Los Angeles. The PTC production Mr. Olsen's New Year's Rockin' Neighborhood was staged at 27 Live in Evanston, Illinois on New Year's Eve 2013.

In 2015, Paul Barrosse and Victoria Zielinski teamed with fellow Northwestern University and Mee-Ow Show alum, Dana Olsen, to write and perform a comedy revue entitled "The Vic & Paul & Dana Show" at iO West in Hollywood, featuring Steve Rashid on keys and Ronny Crawford on drums. The following year, they staged "Mr. Olsen's Holiday Party" at Studio5 in Evanston.

Graphic artists

The Practical Theatre Company worked with a number of distinguished graphic artists during its history, notably Ron Crawford, Gary Whitney, Paul Guinan and John Goodrich.

Rock & roll

The group's house rock and roll band, Riffmaster & The Rockme Foundation became a fixture on the Chicago club scene in the mid-1980s and continues to play together on occasion, most recently in 2010 at SPACE in Evanston and in 2013 at 27 Live, also in Evanston, the college town where The Practical Theatre began. [21] Another notable band formed by PTC members were The Daves. [22]

Production history

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Improvisational theatre</span> Theatrical genre featuring unscripted performance

Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted, created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, action, story, and characters are created collaboratively by the players as the improvisation unfolds in present time, without use of an already prepared, written script.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mandy Patinkin</span> American actor and singer (born 1952)

Mandel Bruce Patinkin is an American actor and singer, known for his work in musical theatre, television, and film. As a critically acclaimed Broadway performer he has collaborated with Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Patinkin's leading roles on stage and screen have received numerous accolades including a Tony Award, a Primetime Emmy Award as well as nominations for seven Drama Desk Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

The Compass Players was an improvisational theatre revue active from 1955 to 1958 in Chicago and St. Louis. Founded by David Shepherd and Paul Sills, it is considered to be the first improvisational theater in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apollo Theater</span> Entertainment venue in Manhattan, New York

The Apollo Theater is a multi-use theater at 253 West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is a popular venue for black American performers and is the home of the TV show Showtime at the Apollo. The theater, which has approximately 1,500 seats across three levels, was designed by George Keister with elements of the neoclassical style. The facade and interior of the theater are New York City designated landmarks and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The nonprofit Apollo Theater Foundation (ATF) operates the theater, as well as two smaller auditoriums at the Victoria Theater and a recording studio at the Apollo.

The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise. It is the oldest improvisational theater troupe to be continuously based in Chicago, with training programs and live theatres in Toronto and Los Angeles. The Second City Theatre opened on December 16, 1959, and has become one of the most influential and prolific comedy theatres in the English-speaking world. In February 2021, ZMC, a private equity investment firm based in Manhattan, purchased the Second City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viola Spolin</span> American academic and acting theorist

Viola Spolin was an American theatre academic, educator and acting coach. She is considered an important innovator in 20th century American theater for creating directorial techniques to help actors to be focused in the present moment and to find choices improvisationally, as if in real life. These acting exercises she later called Theater Games and formed the first body of work that enabled other directors and actors to create improvisational theater. Her book Improvisation for the Theater, which published these techniques, includes her philosophy and her teaching and coaching methods, and is considered the "bible of improvisational theater". Spolin's contributions were seminal to the improvisational theater movement in the U.S. She is considered to be the mother of Improvisational theater. Her work has influenced American theater, television and film by providing new tools and techniques that are now used by actors, directors and writers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Amsterdam Theatre</span> Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York

The New Amsterdam Theatre is a Broadway theater at 214 West 42nd Street, at the southern end of Times Square, in the Theater District of Manhattan in New York City. One of the first Broadway venues to open in the Times Square neighborhood, the New Amsterdam was built from 1902 to 1903 to designs by Herts & Tallant. The theater is operated by Disney Theatrical Productions and has 1,702 seats across three levels. Both the Beaux-Arts exterior and the Art Nouveau interior of the building are New York City landmarks, and the building is on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Sullivan Theater</span> Television studio in Manhattan, New York

The Ed Sullivan Theater is a theater at 1697–1699 Broadway, between 53rd and 54th Streets, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Built from 1926 to 1927 as a Broadway theater, the Sullivan was developed by Arthur Hammerstein in memory of his father, Oscar Hammerstein I. The two-level theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp with over 1,500 seats, though the modern Ed Sullivan Theater was downsized to 370 seats by 2015. The neo-Gothic interior is a New York City landmark, and the building is on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hayes Theater</span> Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York

The Hayes Theater is a Broadway theater at 240 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Named for actress Helen Hayes, the venue is operated by Second Stage Theater. It is the smallest Broadway theater, with 597 seats across two levels. The theater was constructed in 1912 for impresario Winthrop Ames and designed by Ingalls & Hoffman in a neo-Georgian style. The original single-level, 299-seat configuration was modified in 1920, when Herbert J. Krapp added a balcony to expand the Little Theatre. The theater has served as a legitimate playhouse, a conference hall, and a broadcasting studio throughout its history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theater in Chicago</span> Theater performed in Chicago, Illinois

Theater in Chicago describes not only theater performed in Chicago, Illinois, but also to the movement in Chicago that saw a number of small, meagerly funded companies grow to institutions of national and international significance. Chicago had long been a popular destination for touring productions, as well as original productions that transfer to Broadway and other cities. According to Variety editor Gordon Cox, beside New York City, Chicago has one of the most lively theater scenes in the United States. As many as 100 shows could be seen any given night from 200 companies as of 2018, some with national reputations and many in creative "storefront" theaters, demonstrating a vibrant theater scene "from the ground up". According to American Theatre magazine, Chicago's theater is "justly legendary".

Music Theater Works is a resident professional not-for-profit musical theatre company in Evanston, Illinois. It was founded in 1980 by Philip Kraus, Bridget McDonough, and Ellen Dubinsky.

Happy Happy Good Show was an improvisational comedy revue held at the Victory Gardens Studio Theater in Chicago during the summer of 1988. The cast and writers were largely made up of writers on strike from Saturday Night Live after the 1987–1988 season. The show is most notable for showcasing the performance talents of Bob Odenkirk, Robert Smigel, and Conan O'Brien, as the three had previously only showcased their writing talents. The revue was directed by Mark Nutter.

Sheldon Arthur Patinkin was a chair of the Theater Department of Columbia College Chicago, artistic director of the Getz Theater of Columbia College, Artistic Consultant of The Second City and of Steppenwolf Theatre and co-director of the Steppenwolf Theatre Summer Ensemble Workshops.

David Gwynne Shepherd was an American producer, director, and actor noted for his innovative work in improvisational theatre. He founded and/or co-founded the Playwrights Theatre Club, The Compass Players, the Canadian Improv Games, and the ImprovOlympic.

Lara Teeter is an American dancer, actor, singer, theater director and college professor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Alexander (producer)</span> English producer

Andrew Alexander is an English theatre and television producer best known for his previous leadership and co-ownership of The Second City, and co-developing and producing the television show SCTV.

The Playwright's Theatre Club was founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1953 by Paul Sills, David Shepherd and Eugene Troobnick. The theatre was noted for its original treatment and productions of classic plays as well as premiering original works, and was credited for the creation of The Compass Players and The Second City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Village East by Angelika</span> Movie theater in Manhattan, New York

Village East by Angelika is a movie theater at 189 Second Avenue, on the corner with 12th Street, in the East Village of Manhattan in New York City. Part of the former Yiddish Theatre District, the theater was designed in the Moorish Revival style by Harrison Wiseman and built from 1925 to 1926 by Louis Jaffe. In addition to Yiddish theatre, the theater has hosted off-Broadway shows, burlesque, and movies. Since 1991, it has been operated by Angelika Film Center as a seven-screen multiplex. Both the exterior and interior of the theater are New York City designated landmarks, and the theater is on the National Register of Historic Places.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "THRILLS & GLORY THE BRIEF, BLESSED HISTORY OF THE PRACTICAL THEATRE CO" . Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  2. ↑ Barrosse, Paul. "THRILLS & GLORY THE BRIEF, BLESSED HISTORY OF THE PRACTICAL THEATRE CO" . Retrieved 16 November 2011.
  3. ↑ Christiansen, Richard (May 1, 1981). "Theater: Dialog and drive buoy 'Subnormal' for Practical Co". Chicago Tribune. ProQuest   172334185.
  4. ↑ "The Practical Theatre Co. Part 1" . Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  5. ↑ Christiansen, Richard (8 December 1981). "The Art of Zaniness and Comedy is Taken to Practical Extremes". Chicago Tribune.
  6. ↑ "The Practical Theatre Co. Part Two" . Retrieved 16 November 2011.
  7. ↑ "The Practical Theatre Co. Part 1" . Retrieved 16 November 2011.
  8. ↑ Barrosse, Paul. "The Practical Theatre Co. Part 3" . Retrieved 16 November 2011.
  9. ↑ Christiansen, Richard (October 10, 1982). "THEATER: Why Chicago's finest actors want to leave". Chicago Tribune. ProQuest   175629303.
  10. ↑ Behrens, Leigh (Dec 10, 1982). "Onstage: "A Cast of Squirrels Before Swine"". Chicago Tribune. ProQuest   170565057.
  11. ↑ Reich, Howard (March 26, 1983). "Share Entertainment: Outrageous 'MegaFun' is another hit for those pros at Practical Theater". Chicago Tribune. ProQuest   175829125.
  12. ↑ Kogan, Rick (Jul 18, 1986). "Comedy revue assures a Practical future". Chicago Tribune. ProQuest   170848301.
  13. ↑ Christiansen, Richard (1 September 1983). "Babalooney Weighs in with the Laughs". Chicago Tribune.
  14. ↑ Rich, Frank (16 February 1984). "Theater: Babalooney". New York Times.
  15. ↑ McCracken, David (Dec 4, 1986). "Larry Schanker keeps tinkering with his 'Christmas Carol'". Chicago Tribune. ProQuest   170875974.
  16. ↑ Kogan, Rick (May 8, 1986). "Latest revue proves top comedy is Practical". Chicago Tribune. ProQuest   170822591.
  17. ↑ Kogan, Rick (August 11, 1986). "'Art, Ruth & Trudy' moves with fun intact". Chicago Tribune. ProQuest   170924559.
  18. ↑ Smith, Sid (May 21, 1987). "PRACTICAL TRIO SETS NEW REVUE: [SPORTS FINAL, D EDITION]". Chicago Tribune. ProQuest   291025385.
  19. ↑ "Part Four: The Last Laugh" . Retrieved 16 November 2011.
  20. ↑ Adler, Tony (June 9, 2011). "Practical Theatre Company vets Paul Barrosse and Victoria Zielinski stage their first sketch revue in 20 years". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  21. ↑ "All About The Rockme Foundation". 19 February 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
  22. ↑ Kogan, Rick (Oct 24, 1986). "Philadelphia Is The Daves' Kind Of Town" . Retrieved 16 November 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.