Time Out Chicago January 12, 2006
Curtain time
Following much prelaunch fanfare, Chicago Children's Theatre unveils its inaugural production.
By Judy Sutton Taylor
Although 2006 is just a few days old, it's already shaping up to be a great year for kids in Chicago: Saturday 14 marks the long-awaited debut of the new Chicago Children's Theatre, with the first preview performance of the musical A Year with Frog and Toad.
A little more than a year after leaving her position as executive director at Lookingglass Theatre to focus on their goal, cofounder and artistic director Jacqueline Russell is finally seeing all of her hard work come to fruition. The play, based on the popular books by Arnold Lobel, kicks off the company's first season at the Goodman's Owen Theatre.
Russell and her fellow cofounder, board chair Todd Leland, started from scratch to fill what they saw as a void in children's theater in Chicago. “People have recognized that there is a need for a company like this—one with a significant budget that uses as significant venue—in the city that has the greatest theater scene in the country,” Russell says. “Children go everywhere in Chicago—to museums, good restaurants; they're not excluded from anything—so it makes sense that this is a place for a first-class children's theater. It's an extension of the city's philosophy.”
Many of the biggest names in Chicago's artistic and philanthropic communities are embracing the concept. Claude Binder left his job as Steppenwolf's general manager to become executive director here, and Frog and Toad is being directed by Henry Godinez, a resident artistic associate at the Goodman with a lengthy list of theater accomplishments.
Grants have come in from prominent locals like Gigi Pritzker Pucker, the Harris and Crown families; corporations including Exelon, Boeing and Target; and philanthropies like the Prince Charitable Trusts and MacArthur Foundation. (Binder and Russell anticipate a budget of about $2 million in the first full year of production, and expect to move toward a projected annual budget of $3 million to $5 million.)
“They see what we're doing and get that it's good for Chicago and want to invest in it,” Russell says. The public seems to get it too: At press time, preseason ticket sales stood at more than $50,000, and the opening fund-raiser gala had sold out by mid-December.
But it's still been a challenge to seize all the opportunities with a finite amount of time and human resources, according to Russell. She has also served as education director forming partnerships with other cultural institutions like the Notebaert Nature Museum, which will have hands-on amphibian exhibits in the Owen lobby, and planning show-and-tell sessions after each performance. “This is an experience that you won't be able to have watching something on TV at home,” she says.
Russell's long-term goals are about much more than engaging kids in theater. “It's wonderful to inspire young people to become theater makers, but it's so much more important to see the kid who's really into science grow up to become a supporter of the arts,” she says. “We want to motivate kids to become our future audiences and philanthropists as well as artists, for them to see the value, excitement and beauty of the theater.”
For Godinez, it's about conveying a larger message to a fresh generation of theatergoers. “We want kids to get that feeling of a shared communal experience with other kids—for them to laugh together and get afraid together. And we want them to notice a connection between art and other aspects of their lives, how a play reverberates throughout their other experiences in the world. In essence, our goal is to get new audiences to fall in love with theater: everything from Shakespeare to Brecht.”
That means none of what Godinez calls “theme-park acting” and an investment on every level—from set and costume designs to the musical score—on par with a main-stage play at the Goodman, Steppenwolf or Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, he says.
“We're taking this very seriously,” he explains. “You always consider your audience, and in this case, we know that they are way smarter and more aware than they're usually given credit for.”
Next up is finding works to produce that maintain the standard Frog and Toad has set. “We'll spend time looking at existing plays and developing new work,” Russell says. Eventually, the company would also like a home of its own with amenities such as glass rooms for crying kids and family bathrooms—things that should create a whole new group of ardent supporters in grateful parents.
© 2006 Time Out Chicago