Category: Chris Jones
A Red Orchid Theatre’s new Artistic Director: Kirsten Fitzgerald
Kirsten Fitzgerald has been a veteran ensemble member for A Red Orchid Theatre (based in Old Town) for many years. She now can add another title to her acting bio – that of artistic director. Kirsten Fitzgerald will replace Guy Van Swearingen, who has been the AD since the theatre’s founding in 1993. In an interview with Sun-Times’ theatre critic Hedy Weiss, Fitzgerald explained:
“We’ve been discussing a transition for a while…..It has been by sheer force of will, energy and devotion on the part of Guy and the ensemble that we’ve flourished all these years, and we want to keep that spirit going.”
And, regarding Guy Van Swearingen’s replacement by someone from within the theatre ensemble, Chris Jones, in his Trib blog “The Theater Loop“, adds:
“It’s unsurprising that A Red Orchid picked one its own. The long-standing company is known for its fiercely loyal company members, a group that includes the stage-and-screen actors Michael Shannon and Danny McCarthy.”
Congratulations Kirsten!!
Chicago Tribune’s Top Plays of 2007
In alphabetical order, here are the Chicago Tribune’s choices for the top 10 plays of 2007:
The Adding Machine
(Next Theatre – and soon Off-Broadway)
August: Osage County
(Steppenwolf – and now receiving rave reviews on Broadway)
Between Barack and a Hard Place
(Second City)
The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow
(Collaboraction)
Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
(Congo Square)
Merchant on Venice
(Silk Road Theatre Project)
Othello
(Writers Theatre)
Shenendoah
(Marriott Theatre)
The Sparrow
(House Theatre)
A Stead Rain
(Chicago Dramatists)
To see further discussion regarding each show, go to Chris Jones’ The Theater Loop blog posting.
