Behind the ‘Line

View Articles:

Share your thoughts

The past few weeks have been extraordinary as all of us at TimeLine have seen the world premiere of To Master the Art by William Brown and Doug Frew — the first play commissioned by TimeLine to be presented on our stage — open to glowing reviews and thrilled audiences. Response has been so enthusiastic that the eight-week run sold out within days! Very unfortunately, the production is not able to be extended, but we ...
Read More >

Our Julia story

I’m a foodie. Rivaled only by the theater, the kitchen is my chosen sanctuary and laboratory, and I gluttonously imbibe all things epicurean—magazines, websites, cookbooks, gadgetry, you name it. Like many of you who might share this passion—swept up by the current Food Network, farm-to-table, ...
Read More >

Celebrating 100 years of Baird Hall

The cornerstone of Wellington Avenue United Church of Christ was laid on Thanksgiving morning, November 24, 1910. The church celebrated its centennnial with a special benefit event on October 23. Last weekend, several of my TimeLine colleagues and I had the opportunity to attend a ...
Read More >

2010 Equity Jeff Awards

TimeLine enjoyed a great evening celebrating the 2009-10 Chicago theatre season last night, celebrating with friends and colleagues from this amazing theatre community, and capping the night with the 2010 Equity Jeff Award for Outstanding Production, Play (Midsize Theater) for The Farnsworth Invention! Look closely ...
Read More >

Recommended reading

In advance of the premiere of To Master the Art, many audience members have started to request readings to accompany the play. Here is a brief list of books that many of the design team and actors have read, as well as recommendations for further ...
Read More >

Joyful and productive

I have worked in many great theaters with many fine people, but I can’t remember when I’ve had more fun in rehearsal than I’m having now with To Master the Art. A recent Wednesday night’s rehearsal was (typically) joyful and productive, and it is a thrill to be part of this process. It was a full room:  Bill, the director; Doug, his partner as playwright; actors and understudies; the stage manager, Ana, and her assistant, ...
Read More >

An ever-changing role

On Sunday I took part in the Company Member Discussion after the matinee performance of Frost/Nixon — a discussion that is always one of my favorite events during each production. It is when the TimeLine Company Members — the group that collectively selects the plays in ...
Read More >

What a start!

The first rehearsal of To Master the Art — TimeLine’s upcoming world premiere that tells the story of Julia and Paul Child’s time together in Paris during the 1950s — was this week. As always it was a festive occasion of bringing together a cast ...
Read More >

Around a table

Isn’t it delicious that so often a first rehearsal involves a table read? That’s what I was thinking last night as Bill Brown gathered his cast, production team and other TimeLine family members  around for the first rehearsal of To Master the Art. In theatre, ...
Read More >

Share your thoughts

TimeLine’s Chicago premiere of Frost/Nixon has been running for three weeks now and the response has been extraordinary! Many of Chicago’s theater critics have already had their say (read all the professional critical response at our website …) but we want to give you a ...
Read More >