Behind the ‘Line

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Current Event to Theater, via History

When do current events become history? When does history become theater? I am sitting at home after reading multiple books on the Frost/Nixon interviews, having watched the interviews and documentaries on the Nixon presidency and read biographies of Nixon and Frost. I am trying to figure out how I begin to summarize key information for the TimeLine Backstory (our program notes and audience guide). How to do justice to the sweep of history that many ...
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Back at Zero

We’ve set a goal of receiving donations from 150 subscriber households in July 2010. Follow our progress here! Summertime in a theatre’s Development Department is always interesting. You’d think that things would slow down since December is traditionally known as the time of year that ...
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FROST/NIXON 1st Rehearsal

Monday, July 5, 2010 marked the official launch of TimeLine’s 14th season, as cast and production team gathered for designer presentations and a first read-through of Frost/Nixon. As usual we documented the occasion with some behind-the-scenes photos  – you can relive the night with us ...
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Increasing by 50%

50% has been a big number for us this year. Earlier in the season we achieved a 50% increase in subscriptions over our 2008-09 year. We’ve had at least 50% more audience members see a TimeLine show this year compared to last. And today TimeLine ...
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Farnsworth Photos

Tonight was the production photo call for The Farnsworth Invention. This is the night when after a performance, the cast and stage management team work their way through the show a second time so that I can grab still photographs of specific moments. It can ...
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Better Than Broadway

On his recent trip through Chicago, the Wall Street Journal‘s drama critic Terry Teachout came to see The Farnsworth Invention. Today we got to see what he thought about the show, and well, it was great moment. This is how any theatre company hopes a national review will read, that’s for sure! An excerpt: What is it that makes Chicagoland theater so special—and so different from theater in New York? If I had to sum ...
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TBA no longer

TimeLine announced weeks ago that Frost/Nixon, Mastering the Art and The Front Page would be part of our 2010-11 season. But as sometimes happens, when we announced those three we also had to announce that one of our productions was still “TBA.”  Well, today we ...
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Art and History

** Note: A few spoilers ahead if you have not yet seen The Farnsworth Invention ** Philo T. Farnsworth examines an image dissector Frequently at TimeLine we grapple with the issues surrounding the intersection of art and history. The act of dramatizing some part of ...
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Digging deeper

Often when I do post-show discussions, audience members ask me about books that will allow them to dig deeper into the historical events that inspire a play. For The Farnsworth Invention, this is particularly important since there are many vital differences between Aaron Sorkin’s play ...
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Share your thoughts

TimeLine’s Chicago premiere of The Farnsworth Invention starts performances this week! The professional reviewers will weigh in soon but we want to give you a chance to share your own review, comments or questions about the production below. Pictured (from left): Zach Kenney, Bridgette Pechman, ...
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