Loading Events

Back to All Events

  • This event has passed.

The Stage Actor’s Handbook with Michael Kostroff

June 14 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Author Michael Kostroff, best known for his five seasons as Maury Levy on HBO’s legendary hit series The Wire, is joining us on June 14th to talk about his new book, The Stage Actor’s Handbook. 

The book is an invaluable guide to the traditions and best practices of the professional stage actor, from first rehearsal to final curtain.

Professional stage actors are expected to have ready knowledge of a multitude of unwritten yet well-established protocols. Traditionally, this knowledge was passed along from one generation of stage actors to the next via word of mouth, or were learned by having one’s missteps corrected—until now.

In The Stage Actor’s Handbook, these protocols have finally been assembled into one volume, allowing theatre artists to know in advance what is expected of them. A definitive guide for professionals and aspiring professionals alike, this book details best practices on everything from rehearsal demeanor to backstage etiquette. It also shares the theatre’s unique vernacular and revered superstitions, as well as field-tested guidelines on touring, interactions with the public, and more.

The Stage Actor’s Handbook features bits of wisdom contributed by legendary stage actors, including Bebe Neuwirth, John Lithgow, Chita Rivera, Alfred Molina, Billy Porter, Betty Buckley, Harvey Fierstein, Sam Waterston, Jason Alexander, Cynthia Nixon, and Sir Patrick Stewart.

Other Events

Flock and Flower: Climate Change Theatre Action @ The Understudy

November 30 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Joe Schupbach and Alyssa Mohn are co-curating a reading as part of Climate Change Theatre Action. Launched in 2015, Climate Change Theatre Action is a worldwide festival of short plays about the climate crisis presented biennially to coincide with the United Nations COP meetings. Every other year, 50 professional playwrights, representing all inhabited continents as well as several co-cultures and Indigenous nations, are commissioned to write five-minute plays about an aspect of the climate crisis based on a prompt. This…

RSVP NOW
Flock and Flower: Climate Change Theatre Action @ The Understudy
November 30 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Pocket Playfest

December 1 @ 7:00 pm - December 2 @ 10:00 pm

6 emerging playwrights and directors have been creating a new work for the past 2 months – time to see their work! Over the past two months, 6 emerging playwrights and directors have been making new work together, come see what they’ve made! December 1st Red Devil – written by Andrea Berting and directed by Allie Robinson Cast – Bobbie Hart, Jamie Newell, Valerie Gorman   Recess – written by Mikayla De Guzman and directed by Erin Sheets Cast –…

RSVP NOW
Pocket Playfest
December 1 @ 7:00 pm - December 2 @ 10:00 pm

Psych Out Café featuring Fred Zimmerman

December 4 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Fred Zimmerman is a respected Chicago actor who has spent over 35 years acting in National Broadway Touring Companies (Hal Prince’s productions of Show Boat & Bounce, and Frank Galati’s Ragtime), at Regional Theaters, Stock Companies, and in theaters across Chicagoland, including Goodman, Court, Northlight, Porchlight, Water Tower, Lyric Opera, the Nederlander, the Auditorium, and 18 productions at Chicago’s Marriott Theatre. But when he isn’t onstage getting inside the heads of his characters, he uses his acting skills to get…

RSVP NOW
Psych Out Café featuring Fred Zimmerman
December 4 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

THE ALMOST EMPEROR OF THE UNOFFICIAL DEESTRICK OF LAKE MICHIGAN

December 5 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Winner of the 2020 Judith Barlow Award 2023 Broadway World Chicago Theatre Nominee for Best New Play CAST & COMPANY: Director – Kristin L. Schoenback Design & Production Manager – Rachael Nuckles –     –     – Ky Anderson – Poppy Kelsey Busboom – Ma Streeter Viv Delgadillo – Niles West Keenan Odenkirk – Potter Motherfucking Palmer Ryan Tang – Cap Streeter   SYNOPSIS: It is the 1920s in Chicago, and The District of Lake Michigan is thriving.…

RSVP NOW
THE ALMOST EMPEROR OF THE UNOFFICIAL DEESTRICK OF LAKE MICHIGAN
December 5 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm