Spotlight Theater would like to thank everyone who made our Regional Premiere of Al Takes a Bride and our production of Tennessee Williams' Suddenly Last Summer such successes, and is very pleased to announce the opening of our season closer, Eric Bogosian’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated play Talk Radio. A story that was ahead of its time, Bogosian’s 1987 play predicted the rise of the shock jock as a nationally reviled and simultaneously adored entertainment icon, a few years before Howard Stern and his kind became household names. The story takes place in one night of the life of Barry Champlain the outspoken, opinionated, fast-talking, frequently rude, and very popular host of “NightTalk” on WTLK, a Cleveland-area, all-talk radio station. On the night that we tune in to Barry’s life we discover his show is on the eve of going into national syndication, so there’s a lot riding on tonight’s show. Barry’s producer, successful, young businessman Dan Woodruff, WTLK’s financial savior and the creator of their all-talk format, cautions him to take it easy on the air tonight, the night before his show is picked up in new markets all over the country. The last thing they need to do is upset the new sponsors and blow the big deal…but the reason Dan hired Barry is the same reason he has cause for concern…Barry is a wild card, a maverick, and the one thing you don’t do to him is try to hold him back…so with the fate of his show, and perhaps even his own hanging in the balance, Barry embarks on a rollercoaster evening of talking to callers of every type, friendly, crazy, angry, racist, caring, irresponsible, deceptive, starkly honest, funny, deadly serious, political, fanatical, disturbed, and good-intentioned, all the while, pushing his usual, outrageous and incendiary behavior to the limit…with dangerous results… The show is directed by Spotlight’s Vice-President, Jeff Gamlin who praises the script saying, “It’s a well-written show, which rings even truer nowadays than it did at the time of its creation. One of the lines spoken by Barry, the DJ, is ‘Your own lives have become your entertainment.’ This is exponentially more true now than it was in 1987 when you consider the tidal wave of “reality” shows television is currently awash in, not to mention the trend of talk shows in recent decades turning to more and more personal subject matter, people airing their deepest, most private secrets for the benefit of networks’ ratings; for example “The Jerry Springer Show” and “The Maury Show,” with its constant televising of paternity test results. Our lives or at least, each others’ lives have definitely become a large staple in our entertainment diet.” Gamlin goes on to say, “The show is far more entertaining than one would expect from the concept, which is, basically, audiences are invited into a radio station’s studio for one night to watch a DJ go through the paces of his show. Much of it, though not all of it, is a guy sitting in a chair talking to people, which doesn’t sound very exciting on the surface, but it is; electrifying, in fact, at times. Barry’s exchanges with the callers are dramatic, moving, sometimes frightening, and often hilarious. There’s even a healthy dose of social commentary woven into the fabric of the show, primarily through the use of the callers as a sort of ‘America in microcosm.’ It’s got everything you could want from a night at the theatre.” Talk Radio premiered off-Broadway at The Public Theater on May 28, 1987. The production featured Bogosian in the lead role of Barry, with John C. McGinley (recently of Scrubs fame, among many other shows and films) as Stu, both of which continued on in their roles to the film adaptation, directed by Oliver Stone in 1988. The show made its Broadway premiere twenty years after its debut on the stage, on March 11, 2007, in a production starring Liev Schreiber, and featuring Law & Order: SVU stars Stephanie March and Peter Hermann, and The Covenant's Sebastian Stan, receiving Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Drama League award nominations for Best Revival of Play and Best Actor in a Play, while Schreiber was awarded the prestigious Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance. Each transition the play made, from stage to film, and from there to Broadway, came with changes in the script/story. Gamlin, aware of all these versions of the story affirms, “Our production will have a little something different for audiences. You can be sure you will see a version of Talk Radio that has never been seen before.” Not only will audiences see something new on stage, but they’ll see it on a new stage built for this show. Spotlight Theater is proud to announce the opening of...Spotlight Theater, our brand new performance space in New Lenox, IL conveniently located only 10 minutes away from both Interstate 355 and Interstate 80. After years of searching Spotlight has finally found our own year-round, home theater. Gamlin says of acquiring the new space, “This is a big step forward for our theatre company. Having a space that we have complete control over 365 days a year opens up so many opportunities for us. It’s great for both us and the actors and directors who work with us. It’s a great advantage for actors and directors to be able to rehearse on the stage the show is going to be on, from day one of the rehearsal process, and the set for the show as much as a month ahead of opening. For the theatre it’s great because we never have to worry about the availability of a performance space again. We know we always have a place to perform.” Spotlight’s many plans for our new home include offering acting classes for both children and adults to the public, taught by actors with professional experience, and making our stage available to other groups who need a place to perform or just a place to hold an event of some kind. For Talk Radio, Spotlight will be offering discount tickets, only $10, to New Lenox residents in order to welcome our new neighbors into our new home. Gamlin concludes by saying, “Talk Radio paints a portrait of America that is simultaneously dramatic, funny and disturbing; shining a light into the dark corners of the “land of the free,” and we couldn’t be more proud to welcome audiences into our new home with this production.”
Spotlight Theater Presents… Talk Radio By Eric Bogosian By special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc. Adapted and Directed by Jeff Gamlin of Westmont, IL Assistant Directors: Ken Schaefer of Worth, IL & Mercy Pattawi of Westmont, IL
Fridays, June 17th & 24th and Saturdays, June 18th & 25th at 7:30 P.M. Sundays, June 19th & 26th at 3:00 P.M.
Tickets: $14 for adults or $12 for seniors over 61 and students with ID & $10 for New Lenox residents (present driver’s license/state ID when purchasing tickets) Buy Tickets for Talk Radio now at www.Spotlight-Theater.com (online purchase fees apply) or reserve them on our 24-hour Ticket Hotline at 708-941-8294 !
More details are available at: Spotlight-Theater.com facebook.com/SpotlightTheater twitter.com/Spotlightheater
Cast List:
The Cast: Rick Baiker of Chicago, IL as Sid Greenberg Matthew Bockus of Bolingbrook, IL as Bernie Ken Schaefer of Worth, IL as Spike Tony Herman of Oak Forest, IL as Stu Noonan Nicole Fleming of Burbank, IL as Linda Macarthur Brian Whitlock of Chicago Ridge, IL as Barry Champlain Matthew Walsh of Orland Park, IL as Dan Woodruff Vic Kuligoski of Orland Park, IL as Kent Polly Rutherford-Serpe of Orland Park, IL as Dr. Susan Fleming Tina Matriciano of Palos Hills, IL as Dr. Fleming’s Operator
As The Callers… Tony Herman of Oak Forest, IL Vic Kuligoski of Orland Park, IL Randy Trull of Hickory Hills, IL Polly Rutherford-Serpe of Orland Park, IL Matthew Bockus of Bolingbrook, IL Jay Barry of Oak Forest, IL Tina Matriciano of Palos Hills, IL Rick Baiker of Chicago, IL Nicole Fleming of Burbank, IL Matthew Walsh of Orland Park, IL Mercy Pattawi of Westmont, IL Rich Struzik of Orland Park, IL
Vote For This Show
Spotlight Theater's Show Listings;){kind=spacer}
Send Message;){kind=spacer}
Report Inappropriate Content
