A Great Review from a new fan of 16th Street!

Hey all at 16th Street,

I saw "The Last Barbecue" twice, and loved it. I knew that I would have to come back.... so I did. I saw "The End of the Tour" last Saturday and loved it just as much. Cecilie Keenan did great things with a wonderful cast. I was probably most impressed with the relationship that Madrid and Kevin were able to develop. Those two men were outstanding together, so genuine and lovable, so three dimensional and real. They weren't stereotyped people, they weren't over the top gay men, they were real people, they were three dimensional human beings. The stage presence of Madrid was overwhelming, he forces you to listen to every word he has to say. Kevin was able to cry like a man that has been beaten into submission, to watch a man being pushed to that point is painful, and he made it so real. Kathleen was able to dig so deep and truly react to everything, she made everything important, significant, and meaningful. In her specificity she was able to develop a great character. Roslyn is a treat, with her wonderful timing and bravery to just jump in and be bold she keeps you on your toes. Valerie was wonderful, it is often hard to pay attention to the characters that don't really say much, but she was able to say everything without opening her mouth. Her face told a thousand stories because everything meant something to her, and it was beautiful to see her reacting and living through Norma. Ron was definitely able to find subtlety and boldness, and he was good at choosing exactly when each was appropriate. H.B. Ward was just outstanding. He was so invested in his cat, his daughter, his house, Jan, and Tommy... it was heartbreaking. He was able to make me wonder how he got that cat to stay in the box, he got me mad at him for hitting his wife, he made me feel bad that they couldn't even be in the same room any more... he made me feel so much. It is for these reasons that I'm coming back to see the show again. I'm very excited, and I wanted to thank you all. And to you, Ann Filmer, thank you for making all of this possible.

Thank you from a lover of theatre and the art we create,
Bob Gardner

Thank you, Bob, for sharing. This makes us all here at 16th Street very happy!

Thoughts on Home

We are only into our second show in our Season Three 2010: What is Home? but I am already hearing such lovely musings on home from our audience members. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Keep them coming.
This below from 100 Club member, Rich Faron:

"We were very moved by the play. Afterwards I kept thinking about your theme of 'Home' and one thing that 'Tour' helped to render are the many facets of 'home'. There is the reality of the home that continues to be in real-time but there also exists the home of our memories, the memories of others who have shared our home with us and perhaps most importantly the way that all of that can be suddenly altered when we eventually return home. And for that reason I'd like to shout-out a 'Bravo' for the staging which allowed all of the characters to remain in the scene while the play moved from one scenario to another. Each scene whether 'live' or not... reinforced for me that 'Home' is not something that can be defined in any singular fashion."

Thanks for the dialogue.

Lots of laughs, pain and hope

Here is a review posted on Chicago reader online by one of our audience members. Thanks for the dialogue!

"Don’t miss this play! Great theater in a little space. Our group of four saw ‘The End of the Tour’ and went through the range of feelings – joy, sorrow, fear, hate and love. Johnson writes strong story elements of family and friends, dysfunctional as they were. As audience members, if we didn’t directly relate to their stories, the story certainly appealed to our emotions. Lots, of laughs, pain and hope. Well acted and well staged. Congratulations to 16th Street and the theatrical company for a highly entertaining evening. Keep them coming."

Top 10 Reasons to see The End of the Tour

This email below was posted on Berwyn Talks blog from Ted Korbos. And it is so good, I just had to repost it here. Thanks Ted for your approval and your wit!

In my best David Letterman fashion, here are my top 10 reasons to see "The End of the Tour"

10. Ronald Reagan - his speeches, his home town and his former girlfriends (sort of).

9. The 16th Street Theatre - its intimate setting allows the play to grab you by the throat.

8. Tommy - the stereotypical Sox fan - dressing sloppy, guzzling beer and conjecturing about menopause and love.

7. Silence - the silent acting in the "off-screen" scenes that play out in darkness next to the "on-screen" main scene.

6. Chuck - the husband whose world is falling apart, walking around with a dying cat in a cardboard box,

5. Coldness - the coldness of Jan toward her husband Chuck and Andrew toward his partner David.

4. Andrew - Andrew is HOT!, especially in the opening scene in his pajamas and tank top t-shirt - think older version of Patrick Kane with a more well defined body.

3. Mae, the Drama Queen - .Mae, the elderly matriarch of a dysfunctional family, entertaining her fellow senior citizens in a nursing home by singing the Johnny Cash song "I Walk the Line".

2. Mothers - Mae, the mother who can't give up her small town thinking; David, the ultimate Jewish mother; and Jan, the woman who has become a mother to her husband Chuck.

1. Hugs -
- the frantic hug between Jan and Mae at the nursing home when Jan tells Mae she's moving away;
- the tearful hug between Andrew and David after Andrew is once again rejected by his mother Mae;
- the non-hug between Tommy and Chuck after Jan tells Chuck she doesn't love him any more;
- the awkward hug between Jan and Ronald Reagan's old girlfriend at the nursing home
- the warm hug between siblings Andrew and Jan at the end of the play.

Thanks Ted! You deserve a hug!

THIS TRAIN getting people talking

After watching Tony in THIS TRAIN I find myself sharing stories I've never told anyone about my past. There must be something about Tony... here's what you have been sharing with us:

"Thinking about how my parents both made it through The Depression, Mom in Oklahoma and Texas and Dad in Virginia and West Virginia. Tony Fitzpatrick's This Train opened at 16th Street Theater in Berwyn last night -- it's an emotional ride through those days and today. Thanks Tony and Ann Filmer!" -- Debbie

"The piece was so powerful, it's taken three days to find the words
to express my gratitude for this theater experience!
Like homespun cloth, like jazz . The driving rhythm . . . I could feel the
energy of the rushing train . . . the unrelenting mindless force
that changed a nation and people's lives . . . also as a symbol of the rush
business and politics that catch folks in a whirlwind and obliviously
moves on . . . . contrasted with the details of daily life . . . infused with meaning
through impassioned storytelling.
From my point of view, this was a masterpiece echoing the life force
manifesting beauty, horror, humor . . . heart.
Authentic . . . truly a great privilege to be present to the monumental, human
presence of Tony Fitzpatrick and his friends.
Congratulations, Ann . . . for bringing This Train into the station." -- Joyce

"I must say I've seen a lot of theater in my life and found This Train to be hilarious, sweet, and thought provoking. It made me nostalgic of growing up in the old neighborhood as I have encountered many of the characters Tony speaks of in the play. I laughed, I cried (I did). Wonderful!!" -- Michael

"Thanks for putting together such a fab show! THIS TRAIN was really outstanding....I am a native Chicagoan and so I made a lot of immediate connections with it but I believe there are a lot of universal themes..." -- Rich

"Congrats, Ann,

Thank you for a string of unique pearls, linked together for an excellent concept of home. You directed a clean and simple sketchbook of impacting notions that appeared and disappeared right before our eyes. With surprising brevity, the echoes reverberated many hours later.

This brought to mind an article I recall from many years ago about Picasso visiting a Kindergarten art class. He said, 'When I was their age, I could draw like Raphael; I've been trying to draw like they do ever since.'

You and Tony succeeded in jumping into the middle of our lives and showed us pictures we're often too busy to otherwise notice."

Ron and Celia

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Keep them coming. We treasure the dialogue.

Fitzpatrick... Fitzgerald... it's only a name

Thanks Nina Metz and Tribune for coming and covering Tony Fitzpatrick's THIS TRAIN at 16th Street Theater. Always appreciate the attention and coverage.

"For some reason Fitzgerald never bothers to explain what the symbols mean. It's a baffling omission that robs the images — of crossed arrows and entwined circles — of their context and power. It's a small yet vital shard of unfinished business."

To Nina: Tony says you and Tribune owe him at LEAST half a star for fu*king up his name in the final paragraph. Hopefully by the time I post this blog Tribune will have corrected the error.

To reader: I also sent Nina, who I really like by the way and who has always made it out to our little Berwyn theater, an email correcting her on another point:

Tony explains three symbols in the show:
"This one is symbol for 'This Town is hostile' " he says as he points to his projected collage before Sally Timms sings.

He also names the hobo symbols tattooed on his arms: "This one means Don't give up. This one means Get out fast. Each morning I look at both and decide which is the most prudent action to take"

So, Nina, I take your bafflement and raise you.

I would love to dialogue more about the show with you, Nina, and others. I love to hear what people get or don't get out of the show, especially with a new work.

Thanks for the dialogue.

Tony Fitzpatrick in Best of Chicago - New City

According to New City Tony Fitzpatrick is the

Best iconic Chicago personality now that Studs is gone

We agree.

"Studs Terkel was the last of a generation of Chicagoans who came of age in the fifties and sixties, and through a combination of talent, output and staying power became fixtures in our cultural consciousness...." Read the whole entry here.

I was out of town last weekend. Maybe someone can grab me a leftover copy of New City from November 11 ?

And remember to see Tony here at 16th Street Jan 21 - 30.