The last time I wrote about Theater on the Lake, back in 2006, the place was alarmingly decrepit, but big things were about to happen. A new artistic director with lots of energy and ideas about how to engage audiences had just been hired, and plans had been drawn up for a $6 million makeover of the charming old open-air building on the beach at Fullerton.
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- At the non-Equity Jeff Awards at Park West on Monday, TOTL, which remounts an array of the year’s best off-Loop theater every summer, was recognized with a special award for its “long contribution to the vitality of the city’s theatre scene.”
- On June 13 TOTL will open its 60th anniversary season, running weekly through August 5 with new shows selected by co-curators Meghan Beals McCarthy of Chicago Dramatists and Michael Patrick Thornton of the Gift Theatre Company.
- The offerings include an evening of long-form improv by local legends TJ & Dave; Hit the Wall, the Inconvenience company’s hot-ticket rock-infused take on Stonewall; and the Building Stage’s family-friendly adaptation of Moby-Dick —all at the bargain single-ticket price of $17.50 ($110 for the eight-show season).
- The League of Chicago Theatres has made TOTL the sole venue for its summer schedule of Theater Thursdays.
- And in an experiment intended to ensure fresh programming, the managing director will be appointing two new artistic curators from the local theater community every year.
But the old building is as decrepit as ever.
The rest of the $6 million renovation—dreamed up by Morris Architects Planners at a cost of $153,000—never happened. And the final curtain seems to have fallen on any impetus for it.
And Chavis is OK with that.
