The Royal George Lights Up
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Some 18 months ago, when Jujamcyn and Perkins took over the complex, they talked about keeping the theaters lit with new plays, revivals, and Chicago productions of important works from New York and elsewhere. But since the national tour of Angels in America departed last February, Jujamcyn and Perkins have had difficulty delivering on that promise. They had hoped to follow Angels with the world premiere of Lend Me a Tenor author Ken Ludwig’s Moon Over Buffalo. But when that show was delayed Jujamcyn and Perkins hastily arranged to move the off-Broadway hit Family Secrets from the Shubert Theatre to the Royal George. (That show’s producers had become concerned that the 2,000-seat Shubert was too big for the intimate one-woman show.) After Family Secrets closed in late June Jujamcyn and Perkins weren’t able to line up a summer attraction for their main stage.
Christopher Ashley, who directed the original off-Broadway production of Rudnick’s play Jeffrey as well as its recently released film version, is slated to direct the Chicago production of I Hate Hamlet, which is being capitalized at around $380,000. For the past several weeks producers have been struggling to cast the show, but many of the best Chicago actors are already committed to other productions. They’ve reportedly widened their search to include Los Angeles. Frank Gorshin, who played the Riddler on Batman, was rumored to be cast in the show, but the producers insist he was never under consideration.
Michael Halberstam, Writer’s Theatre artistic director and a member of the First Stages executive committee, believes the card is a good way for theaters that don’t have a lot of money to sell more tickets. But Halberstam knows that the discount alone won’t bring people in to see a show: “Usually it’s the collective result of hearing about a show from a friend, maybe seeing an ad, a good review, or a listing and then the possibility of a discount as well.” The First Stages collective’s next project, which should be completed early in 1996, is a resource guide that will enable member theaters to quickly find out what kinds of equipment and props are available for loan from other companies in the collective.
