Open Rehearsal: The Court Theatre Blog
University of Chicago
October 6, 2011
Incoming Iliad, Incoming Interns
Huzzah, huzzah! The admin fellows have arrived! We have three new Kemper Fellows this quarter: Alexis Chaney, our new development intern, Claire Wilson, our new grant writing intern, and Michelle Lee, our new marketing intern. I would have had all our interns write a little introduction of themselves for this blog post, but I’m really only allowed to monopolize Michelle’s time. Michelle will also be helping me with content for the blog in the coming weeks, so you should probably get to know her:
Hi! My name is Michelle Lee, and I’m the new Marketing Intern at Court Theatre. I’m a second-year student at the University of Chicago majoring in English with a possible minor in French. It’s day four of my internship here, and so far, it’s been quite interesting. I’ve toured the inner organs of the theatre, helped compile information on prospective guests, and organized marketing mailings, among other things.
Customary introduction aside, I’m a writer, bibliophile, and lover of art. It’s my personal goal to read fifty books a year (not counting school books), and as terribly cliché as it sounds, I want to end up in Europe writing novels à la style de Margaret Atwood. Indeed, Atwood is the epitome of who I want to become as a writer. Other inspirations include Nicole Krauss, Jonathan Safran Foer, Richard Siken, J.M. Coetzee, Kurt Vonnegut, Chuck Palahniuk, and Susan Fromberg Schaeffer. As you can see, my literary tastes veer toward postmodernism and poetic prose.
I’m truly excited for this internship and am thrilled to be working behind-the-scenes for what I think is one of the few genuine yet high-caliber theatres in the United States. Part of what I like about working at small non-profit organizations is that their size, or lack thereof, forces everyone to collaborate. The interpersonal relationships that are forged as a result are incredible. People care about what they’re doing and can depend on each other—not to mention the creativity that comes from an interactive environment! You can’t really find that anywhere else.
Welcome Michelle and welcome Claire and Alexis!
September 27, 2011
What’s the Haps: the O Week edition
“The Freshmen are coming, the Freshmen are coming!!!” the echoing cry resounded through the empty corridors, tree-lined pathways, and buzzing inboxes on campus for weeks until finally, one unassuming Monday in September, they arrived. They came in groups, they came with families, and some of them even came from distant, far-off places. Only one thing was certain: they were here and they wanted posters.
Ok, so it wasn’t really that dramatic, but I do enjoy throwing in a little fiction to spice things up.
Anyway, “O-Week,” also known as the University of Chicago’s Freshman Orientation, went down last week and of course Court Theatre had to join in the fun. We participated in an event hosted at the Smart Museum on Friday from 9:00-10:30 (I had forgotten that 9:00 is not considered “early” for students fresh out of high school.They will soon learn the truth.) We had season magnets, Spunk posters, and totally rad temporary tattoos—basically all the SWAG one could ever need. And, of course, I used treasures I found in our props storage last Thursday along with a borrowed dress form and costume from the costume shop to make our display look, well, awesome.The costume was a gown from Court’s production of Orlando; strangely, it matched the decor of the Smart Museum lobby and, even more strangely, it may or may not have fit me perfectly….but don’t tell anyone I said that.
As I watched all of the new freshman file into the Smart Museum lobby, munching on donuts and drinking coffee, I started to feel a little sentimental thinking about my own college experience. As a student in the arts I kept incredibly busy, yet somehow I still missed out on some amazing opportunities. I remember feeling like I didn’t have time to go see theater because I was studying it. I remember feeling like visiting the art museum on campus was just too much of an investment….and it was free. It sounds a little cheesy, but I really hope these kids heard us when we invited them to drop by the theater and see a show. I really hope they know how lucky they are.
March 12, 2010
Big Love
For those of you in the Hyde Park neighborhood (and beyond!), Court Theatre would like to put in a last-minute recommendation for you to go see Chuck Mee’s play Big Love at University Theater at the University of Chicago. The show is directed by Sean Graney, director of They Mystery of Irma Vep and What the Butler Saw at Court, and a lecturer in the Theater and Performance Studies department at the UofC. Not only is it one of the best student productions I’ve seen at UT, it’s also one of the best theater productions I’ve seen this year, hands down.
Big Love has three more shows: Friday 3/12 at 8:00, and Saturday 3/13 at 2:00 and 8:00. See it in the First Floor Theater in the Reynolds Club at 5701 S. University Avenue. More details here.
