Steppenwolf News

Ensemble Member and three-time Tony and Emmy nominee Martha Plimpton will be the guet of honor at the 2nd annual Steppenwolf Salutes WOMEN IN THE ARTS fundraising luncheon on Tuesday March 15, 2011. She will be interviewed about her work by Steppenwolf Artistic Director Martha Lavey in a format that's similar to Inside the Actors Studio. In Chicago she appeared in The Playboy of the Western World, The Glass Menagerie, The Libertine (which was her first production with Steppenwolf) and, as a director Absolution with Steppenwolf Theater Company. She became an ensemble member in 1998.

In other Steppenwolf news they announced the cast for their production of "The Hot L Baltimore" by Lanford Wilson.




Steppenwolf member Tina Landau's production, March 24-May 29, 2011, will feature company members Alana Arenas, Kate Arrington, K. Todd Freeman, James Vincent Meredith, Yasen Peyankov and Molly Regan with Kimberly Hébert Gregory, Sean Allan Krill, TaRon Patton, Namir Smallwood, Samuel Taylor, Allison Torem and Jacqueline Williams.

Opening night is April 3. The Hot L Baltimore will appear in Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St., in Chicago.
According to Steppenwolf, "The Hotel Baltimore used to be the swankiest place in town — now it has a date with the wrecking ball. Eviction notices just went out to its residents, who live on the fringes of society and call the seedy hotel home. This acclaimed play from the author of Balm in Gilead is filled with everyday humanity — unexpectedly intimate and moving. [It] reveals the private lives of an unconventional community about to be turned inside out."

Steppenwolf's 1980 production of Lanford Wilson's Balm in Gilead later transferred Off-Broadway. Other plays by the Pulitzer Prize winner seen at Steppenwolf include The Fifth of July, Home Free, his translation of Three Sisters (1985) and Burn This.
Landau's Steppenwolf directing credits include The Brother/Sister Plays, Superior Donuts by ensemble member Tracy Letts (also on Broadway), The Tempest, The Diary of Anne Frank, Cherry Orchard, The Time of Your Life, The Berlin Circle and her own play, Space.

The production team for The Hot L Baltimore includes James Schuette (sets), Ana Kuzmanic (costumes), Scott Zielinski (lights) and Rob Milburn & Michael Bodeen (sound and original composition). Deb Styer is the stage manager and Rose Marie Packer is the assistant stage manager.

For tickets and information, call (312) 335-1650 or visit www.steppenwolf.org.