Thank You and Good Night, Chicago

I’ve been wondering quite how to start this one off… I thought about going musical-esque with “Kiss Today Goodbye, Point Me Toward Tomorrow” which for those of you NOT of the musical theatre ilk is a quote from A CHORUS LINE. I also briefly considered “Give me your hands if we be friends” from Puck’s epilogue of Shakespeare’s MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, but that seemed too obvious, and a little self-aggrandizing…. Asking for applause?!!? That’s something a designer never does… well… at least, I wouldn’t do that.

I’ve also been trying to think of a way of summarizing the past 12 years (my tenure here in Chicago), and that too is proving a touch challenging. A career (especially in theatre) is an amorphous entity. It ebbs and flows in strange and often unexpected ways, and I can say, in all honesty, that when Janna and I moved here in April of 2000, I could never have anticipated the journey that I have been on. Our plan was to stay through graduate school (3 years) and maybe one or two more, if we were enjoying it and if I could find enough work to keep me busy…. But here we are… 9 years after I finished my MFA, and having had a career I would never have imagined.

During my time in Chicago, I’ve had my share of ups and downs… shows that worked, shows that didn’t -- experiences that were amazingly positive that didn’t’ go anywhere (and some that did), and horrible experiences that led to amazing ones (and some to nowhere). There’s little rhyme of reason to a career in theatre, and as I repeatedly tell my students it’s not a business of what you know but of WHO you know.

If I were to start writing about the individuals that have shaped my career, I’d be writing a 40-page dissertation, and it would sound vaguely like a vapid and incredibly long-winded award-acceptance speech, and there’s not time for that at the moment.

But what I WILL say is that I have been incredibly lucky. I’ve gotten to work with amazing people, and even luckier that some amazing people have wanted to continue working with me. I try to remind myself of this, but at times it’s hard, the ebb of the business can be rough. About a year ago, I was a little down on where I felt my career was moving…. I had a string of interviews where I’d lost out to the same younger, sexier, hipper designers, and after a few times… that can really sting. The thing that brought me back around, ironically, was the putting together my materials to apply for teaching jobs. Having to list out my accomplishments, the shows and companies and directors I’ve worked for, it put it all back into perspective. And coincidentally, realizing that I was once the younger/hipper designer that pushed around other (truly incredible) designers that I really look up to…. Let’s just say, life-lesson learned.

Yes, there are designers of my own “generation” whose careers have far outpaced/eclipsed my own. That’s typical. We can’t all be “the wunderkind”, and what’s important is to find your own path, and for me. to concentrate on MY OWN work.

In putting things together, what I realized is that in 12 years, I’ve designed 117 shows, 103 of which were designed for Chicago companies. Through those 103, I’ve worked with 23 different theatre/opera companies in 28 venues around town… and I should add here that for the first 3 years of those 12, I was in grad school (and only free to take on projects during the summer), and that for the past 7, I’ve been teaching full-time at University of Chicago. I’ve designed 9 shows that have been nominated for Best Production at the Jeff Awards, and 4 times, my own work has been nominated. I’ve had shows move from the non-profit sector to for-profit commercial runs, and I’ve even had a show move to New York,  off-Broadway.

While there is part of me that certainly yearns for more, bigger, better, brighter professional jobs, I have to take the time to accept that what I’ve had has been special and what I HAVE accomplished here is significant, if to no one else, than certainly to me. Part of me has been moping, worried about what this change is going to mean to my capital C, CAREER, and yes, it’s going to change, and yes, sometimes that change is scary, but it will also allow life to take a more balanced form, and there’s incredible opportunity in that balance.

I’ve also been thinking about what this life change means in reference to this blog. Out of simple necessity, I won’t be designing nearly as many shows as I’ve been able to take on in Chicago, in part because there simply are nowhere near as many theatre companies in Ithaca. I will also be slightly more involved in the day-to-day world of Ithaca College than I have been at UChicago. So my options are to alter the purpose of this blog or find new ways to explore the topics I find of interest. I’m supposing that I’ll do a little of both. I’m very seriously considering writing more about the education side of what I do, as well as include posting about shows where I’m the mentor and NOT the designer, proper. We’ll have to see how this shift will play out. I hope you’ll continue to find it of interest, and please get in touch if you find things worthwhile.

I’m often asked, “what the show you’re most proud of?” and my answer (as self-serving as it may sound) is always… “whatever I’m working on next”. Moving forward is the only positive direction in this business. You can’t simply rest on what you’ve done, for if you do, you stop growing. And dammit, I still have too much to learn.

So… getting back to where I began this post… the title of this one comes from perhaps the classiest sign-off of all time. That of Johnny Carson on his last taping of The Tonight Show. The NBC execs had wanted him to do a big 2 hour prime-time blow out, but he demurred, stating that he wanted to go out the way he came in, doing the show he loved. So, I leave Chicago similarly. So fortunate to have had what I’ve had. No one can take that away from me. I’m now ready for this next step, whatever it may mean.