Beyond the Gold Curtain: Show Off the Stage [VIDEO]

We are thrilled to launch our brand new web series "Beyond the Gold Curtain." In BTGC, we'll give you glimpses of the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago that the audience never gets to see. Journey with us on stage, up in the grid, above the arches, and more! In this first episode, we'll put you right where the performers stand as we "Show off the Stage."

   

Intern Intros - Meet Gary!

Hi! I’m Gary. I am currently the Operations Intern at the Auditorium Theatre for the summer. I have only been in Chicago for two weeks, and I love all the experiences I have had so far! I am a junior Sociology/Anthropology major at Denison University, located in Granville, OH. So you may ask: “What brings a Sociology/Anthropology major to Chicago for an internship at a theatre?”

There are a few reasons…

First, I love theatre. I enjoy watching people use their talents to entertain patrons for a few hours. When I see a show, I am transported to an artistic, imaginative, and creative world. I forget about all my worries and assignments that I have to complete and am immersed in what is happening on stage.

Second, I love the people who work here. Everyone is a little bit crazy, which makes everyday exciting and new. We joke around a lot and have fun while we work. I enjoy how my supervisor, the patron services coordinator, and I bicker about little things and tease each other. It makes the day go by much faster if you can laugh while you are working!

Third, I love pretty and shiny things. Who would want to work in a drafty, grey, and boring cubicle in an office building? I get to come to work every day and marvel at the beautiful golden arches as I enter the theatre. The theatre glistens and sparkles, welcoming me as I enter. A National Historic Landmark, the Auditorium Theatre is known internationally for its perfect acoustics, innovative architecture and stunning design. I am consistently amazed by its exquisiteness, and I always find another intricate detail I didn’t notice the day before.

Last and certainly most important, I love myself! I want to be considered significant and make an impact where I work. I did not want to be an intern who pushes paper, fetches coffee, and runs errands for their supervisors. As an intern at the Auditorium Theatre, I don’t have to do any of that. They took the time to understand my wants and desires. They wanted to know what I want to learn about and are designing my internship to fit my needs, not theirs.

I love the city of Chicago and my internship at the Auditorium Theatre. I hope everyone can eventually work in a place as beautiful and exciting as I am right now!

Three Reasons Why Theatre Lovers Should See Eifman

Nicole Losurdo is the Auditorium Theatre's Senior Director of Education and holds a Masters Degree in Educational Theatre  from New York University.

 

Three Reasons Theatre Lovers Should See The Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg’s production of Don Quixote, or Fantasies of a Madman, this week at the Auditorium Theatre:

1. Thoughtful use of dramatic conventions. Eifman wows the theatregoer with his expert use of the stage and theatrical conventions. He fearlessly creates a space for the ballet to unfold in a way that mirrors a traditional theatre director. He considers and plays with light and shadow to create very specific spaces and places much more intimate than most story ballets: small, hot, vast, drafty, and eerie. His use of levels draws the eye across the stage, up and back again, forcing the viewer’s to dance across the stage in a seamless sweep with and against the choreography. Visually stunning, his costume choices are interesting and used to enhance the development of character and story. When considering the range of movement dance costumes need to be designed to accommodate, like scissor sharp jumps and high leg extensions, one sits in amazement watching the Eifman dancer work their costume as an extension of the character’s body. Boris Eifman’s work has a dramatic and emotional charge, and it is fueled by his theatrical sensibility. It is exciting ballet. Which brings me to number 2...
2. Boris Eifman is a master of storytelling. Unlike a more traditional story ballet filled with expositional gesture, Eifman delicately and expertly reveals dramatic and emotional moments through dramaturgic movement. Eifman does not wish to merely tell a story through movement, but he wishes to share a story by examining the mystery of the human soul, bringing the audience to a “philosophical contemplation of life” through movement. He has something to say in his ballets, social parallels to draw, important ideas to express. Eifman’s curiosity permeates through his ballets in a way that forces his audience to do the same, to wonder and grapple with larger questions and issues relevant in the here and now – not just in the moment of the ballet or in the Fantasies of a Madman. 
3. The Eifman Ballet is just cool. Don Quixote, or Fantasies of a Madman takes place in an insane asylum, not your typical backdrop for a story ballet. But, I would also argue that the Eifman Ballet is not your typical ballet company. Sure, they can plié, arabesque, and grand jeté with the best of them; the company’s technical ability is even evident to non-dance enthusiast’s sensibility, but Eifman’s dancers also radiate a realness of emotion and expression – almost as genuinely as a method actor. You are pulled into their performance and intrigued by what you see at every moment. 

The Auditorium stage becomes a black box theatre for Apple Tree's "The Mistress Cycle"

The Auditorium is thrilled to present Apple Tree Theatre's acclaimed production of The Mistress Cycle, a musical about the lives of 5 mistresses throughout history.

This remount will feature the majority of the original cast! Chris Jones of the Tribune called this show, "a must-see for lovers and supporters of new musicals."

We're creating a theatre-in-a-theatre for this production, seating 200 audience members on the stage.

Tickets went on sale at 10am today! Call 800.982.2787, visit ticketmaster.com/auditorium or come by our box office at 50 E. Congress Parkway for tickets . Groups and ATRU subscribers can call 312.431.2357 for discount information.