The curtain keeps rising on innovations
At 82 years old and counting, the Goodman Theatre is Chicago's oldest and largest professional not-for-profit theater company. But just because the Goodman is both big and old doesn't mean it hasn't put innovation at the forefront of its mission.
The Goodman, in fact, has for some time been focused on finding ways to be an exciting incubator for new work and a more inclusive and technologically advanced organization -- one that can lead the way for scores of Chicago theater companies, as well as other theaters around the nation that look to the Goodman as an innovator.
Tonight, for the third consecutive year, the Goodman is hosting the Chicago Innovation Award program, an ideal venue for saluting Chicago's most innovative individuals and companies..
Both Executive Director Roche Schulfer, who has been with the theater for more than three decades, and Artistic Director Robert Falls, who has been at the Goodman since 1986, have overseen many of the innovations that characterize the operation today.
Asked to point out what he considers the most important of many advances he and Falls have made over the years, Schulfer cites the appointments of the Goodman's first two artistic associates -- the late Michael Maggio and Frank Galati -- shortly after Falls came on board at the theater company.
Over the years, these artistic associates -- who now number six and are known as the artistic collective -- have helped choose the theater's programming and, where appropriate, directed productions. Schulfer said these artists have been instrumental in diversifying the theater's overall offerings, while enriching the talent pool from which the theater can draw.
Elsewhere, Schulfer and his staff have worked to keep the Goodman's constantly evolving Web site on the cutting edge. A remarkable 60 percent of Goodman single-ticket buyers make their purchases online. And Schulfer is exploring new ways to help the theater's season subscribers exchange tickets online with minimal bother.
Under Schulfer, the Goodman has aggressively forged a close relationship with local schools. In an unusual move, he has made some 2,500 students "season subscribers" who come to at least three productions a year to help establish a habit of attending theater on a regular basis.
Schulfer also isn't shy about stating that the Goodman has a theater facility that is arguably the most technically advanced of any regional theater in the country.
"We can fly scenery, move it into the wings, or drop it through the stage floor anywhere in the playing space," Schulfer said. "I have not found another regional theater that matches the technical flexibility we offer a director."
Finally, looking forward, as any innovator must, Schulfer says the Goodman is in the early stages of developing a program to commission and mount new works -- certainly the most important endeavor for any theater company looking to ensure a future for live theater in America.
Said the Goodman's boss, "The Goodman has produced close to 100 new plays over the past 30 years, and we want to debut many more."