Friday, October 16, 2009

Thoughts on Chicago...

Why being in Chicago with the Addams Family is so special...

Chicago is my hometown. I lived in this area until I was 18, and then again in my early twenties as a freelance director. Now I am back, as a Drama League fellow on the Addams Family, which is currently in tech at the Oriental Theatre (and I do mean "currently": I am sitting in the theatre right now.) Being back here "on assignment" is wonderfully weird. I am here for the first time, and I am coming home. I have been keeping a mental list of these surprises and contradictions:

... From my fabulous 29th Floor company-provided studio apartment, I can see the RR Donnelly building and the Merchandise Mart, places I temped as a starving artist in Chicago ...

... Adams Street in downtown Chicago, named for our 2nd and 6th Presidents and the street on which my father has worked for 15 years, now seems to be missing a second "D".

... I left Chicago to be a Luce Scholar in Vietnam ... so is it a coincidence that I am back to work on a project in the ORIENTAL Theatre?

I'll keep thinking of more. In the meantime, I just feel grateful to be here, excited for the cast to arrive this weekend, and looking forward to the next few weeks working on my first pre-Bway musical.

More updates to come.
David

No comments: