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STORIES ON STAGE
About Stories on Stage
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About Stories on Stage
Stories on Stage presents live dramatic readings of literature
by professional actors in a theatrical setting. Modeled on the
highly successful Selected Shorts program out of New
York, Stories on Stage provides an opportunity for Chicago-area
artists and audiences to participate in and experience this
special merging of the literary and dramatic arts.
Each Stories on Stage program features three or four
stories sharing a common theme. Both established writers and
new voices are represented by works originating from published
collections, magazines, and literary journals. Programs have
featured work by a wide variety of authors, including masters
such as Raymond Carver, Edith Wharton, James Joyce, and Eudora
Welty; newer voices, including Edwidge Danticat, Andrea Lee,
Rick Moody, and Emily Prager; and local authors Elizabeth Berg,
Sharon Solwitz, Sandra Cisneros, Maxine Chernoff, and Michael
Anania. |
Each story is read by a single actor, who works with the director
on the interpretation and presentation of the work. Stories on
Stage has attracted many of the top performers in the vibrant
Chicago acting community to participate in its programs. Among them
are: Mike Nussbaum, Consuelo Allen, Lisa Dodson, Hollis Resnik,
Jim True, Scott Parkinson, Amy Morton, Annabel Armour, Karen Aldridge,
Kevin Gudahl, and Tim Edward Rhoze. As a special treat, our audience
has also enjoyed readings by John Mahoney, Cherry Jones, Lois Smith,
and Elizabeth McGovern.
Through the years, the artistic team has featured a prominent line-up
of Chicago's national and local award-winning directors including
Mary Zimmerman, Eric Simonson, Meryl Friedman and Henry Godinez.
Currently the artistic team includes Cheryl Lynn Bruce, Ed Sobel,
Abigail Deser and founding members Judy O'Malley, Michael E. Myers
and Steve Scott.
Selections from the live performance season are broadcast on Chicago
Public Radio. Since the first season of Stories on Stage
in 1993, Chicago Public Radio broadcasts have established an audience
of around 20,000 listeners. Some previous broadcasts may also be
heard over the internet through the Stories on Stage Audio
Library.
Since 1992, Stories on Stage has presented more than 100
different programs—more than 300 stories read by more than
300 actors.
History
Stories on Stage founder, producer, and executive director
Kathe Telingator brought together Chicago-based theater directors
Michael E. Myers, Judy O'Malley, Steve Scott, Eric Simonson, and
Mary Zimmerman to form the artistic team for the first Stories
on Stage season in 1992. After assembling a board of directors,
Stories on Stage was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit
in March of the same year. Recruited as a collaborative partner,
Chicago Public Radio served as Stories on Stage's official
radio sponsor, offering promotional support and taping all the live
performances.
The premiere season of ten evening performances was presented at
the Organic Theater in Chicago. From 1993-1995, performances took
place at both the Organic Theater and the Court Theater. In 1996,
Stories on Stage moved to the Performance Studio at Chicago
Public Radio.
As of February 1997, Stories on Stage became a presentation
of its longtime partner, The WBEZ Alliance, Inc., which provides the
project a base of operations as well as the administrative support
to further secure its future. A new collaboration with the Museum
of Contemporary Art was also established and all regular season performances
since that time have been presented in the MCA theater.
Special Performances
Each year, Stories on Stage also produces several specially-themed
performances. These offerings have included "Reflections of Mothers
So Young," featuring stories written by pregnant teens, as well
as programs for the Harold Washington Library and the Printer's Row
Book Fair. The tenth anniversary season in 2002 included two "Best
of Ten" performances, with stories chosen by the audience from
ten years of Stories on Stage performances.
In 2003, Stories on Stage presented its first single author
performance devoted to the stories of Tobias Wolff. Another first
was the performance of a novella, a four-hour reading of Jane Smiley's
The Age of Grief.
Special Events
For the annual launch of the live performance season in the past
few years, Stories on Stage has commissioned award-winning
authors to write pieces all beginning with the same opening line.
The first season featured stories by Dan Chaon and Chicago authors
Sharon Solwitz and Elizabeth Berg. Last year the challenge was taken
up by Richard Bausch, Bonnie Jo Campbell, and Chicagoan Carol Anshaw.
Short Story Competition
In 2001, Stories on Stage inaugurated its first short story
competition, "Now Hear This" for unpublished short stories
written by local authors. Judged by members of the local writing
and artistic community, the competition received over 600 entries
in its first year and was so successful it was repeated in 2002.
The winning stories were presented in a special program at the MCA
during "One Book, One Chicago" in October of that year,
and were published in the River Oak Review (Spring/Summer 2003).
(The competition is currently on hiatus.)
Support
Financial support Stories on Stage is derived from ticket
sales, individual contributions, and foundation and corporate support.
Among others, sponsors have included the Elizabeth Cheney Foundation
(exclusive sponsor of the 2001 season); the Sara Lee Foundation
(exclusive sponsor of the 2002 season); and the Starbucks Coffee
Company (exclusive sponsor of the 2003 season); Barbara's Bookstores (exclusive sponsor of the 2004 season).
Over the years, Stories on Stage has established a very strong
fan base, with one-third of its house sold to subscribers. Ticket
buyers are extremely diverse in age and ethnicity, and the live
performances draw audiences from the city to the far-reaching suburbs.
In the last few years, Stories on Stage has enjoyed many
sold-out performances and its audience continues to grow.
Executive Producer Kathe
Telingator
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