By Nina Metz and Kate Zambreno

The Players

Chicago theater's 50 leading characters

By Nina Metz and Kate Zambreno

Whether you're a longtime follower of Chicago's stages or a relative newcomer, you can't avoid a dropped jaw or two over the continuing success we're enjoying. Whether it's the Tony Awards or the Hollywood soundstage, the influence of Chicago continues to soar. But most of the action, thankfully, remains right here in town, where the recent brick-and-mortar triumphs of Chicago theater give testament to seemingly unlimited artistic achievement. All of which makes culling a list of the fifty top players on and behind Chicago's stages an increasingly impossible task. In reducing our original 150 names, we tried to give special consideration to recent achievements, in an attempt to give the list at least some of the vitality of the scene it represents.

1. MARY ZIMMERMAN

Director, writer and teacher

Forget for a moment that she won the Tony this year for best direction of a play "Metamorphoses" , or that she's one of the original founding members of Chicago's next big-league theater company Lookingglass , or that she recently co-wrote an opera with Philip Glass "Galileo Galilei," recently staged at the Goodman . Forget even that she continues to live and work in Chicago as a professor of performance studies at her alma mater, Northwestern , despite considerable success that could have taken her elsewhere. Perhaps most importantly, Zimmerman is a visionary, altering and reinventing our definition of theater. Look for her re-staging of the Lookingglass favorite, "The Secret in the Wings" in mid-2003.

2. MARTHA LAVEY

Artistic director, Steppenwolf Theater Company

In six-plus years as artistic director, Lavey has served as supermom to Chicago's royal family, luring back members of the famous ensemble who would otherwise be too preoccupied on the small and silver screen to star and direct on Halsted Street. During her tenure, the company has revisited its rock 'n' roll roots by hosting younger, still-edgy artists and companies with its Traffic and Garage series' while churning out consistently provocative mainstage productions.

3. ROBERT FALLS

Artistic director, Goodman Theatre

With his "Aida," a National Broadway Theatre Award-winner for Best Direction, touring the country concurrent to its Broadway run, Falls scored a major coup for Goodman's upcoming season with a new Sondheim musical to be directed by Harold Prince, "Gold!" Beyond his Disney money-spinning, Falls solidified collaborations with respected playwright Rebecca Gilman "Blue Surge" and the epic-sized Brian Dennehy in the equally epic "Long Day's Journey into Night."

4. WILLIAM MASON

General director, Lyric Opera

When Mason succeeded the legendary Ardis Krainik after her death in 1997, he already had three decades of experience working in every capacity at the Lyric. For the past fourteen years this cultural institution has exceeded 100 percent of capacity in ticket sales and continues its commitment to American opera, filling its season with works by classics as well as such modern greats as Samuel Barber and Leonard Bernstein as well as world-renowned talent. Next season's revival of "Sweeney Todd" is sure to draw blood.

5. KELLY LEONARD

Producer, Second City

For many out-of-towners, Chicago theater boils down to one name: Second City. In the role of producer, Kelly Leonard maintains Second City's preeminence as a breeding ground for future stars on "Saturday Night Live," and training mecca for just about every man, woman and child locally performing sketch comedy and improv. Along with CEO Andrew Alexander and associate producer Beth Kligerman, Leonard son of WGN Radio's Roy Leonard continues Second City's long tradition of polishing comedic diamonds in the rough. In October, expect to see the company's national profile increase with the launch of Bravo's new TV show "Second City Presents...," an in-depth look at comedians and their craft hosted by Chicago writer Bill Zehme.

6. LOU RAIZIN

President, Broadway in Chicago

Every time you see a theater performance at the Cadillac, the Oriental or the Shubert, it's thanks to Lou Raizin and his team at Broadway in Chicago. Under Raizin's guidance, everything from "Fiddler on the Roof," to John Leguizamo's "Sexaholics," to Disney's "Aida" makes a pit stop in Chicago. And of course, Raizin makes sure we get our share of pre-Broadway tryouts like "The Producers," "Sweet Smell of Success," and "Movin' Out." The only question is why didn't we get "Hairspray?"

7. DAVID SCHWIMMER

Actor and co-founder, Lookingglass Theater ensemble

Although the most famous member of the company founded in 1988 by eight Northwestern University grads, Schwimmer has hewed to the ensemble mentality familiar from his role as Ross on "Friends." He could have written himself a Daddy Warbucks role by signing the multi-million dollar check needed for Lookingglass' swanky new home, the Water Tower Water Works. Instead, he's insisted on the involvement of the mayor and the community, while using his TV celebrity to raise funds. He's adapted and will direct Stud Terkel's "Race" for the inaugural show next spring, and rumor holds that he plans a permanent return to Chicago after the end of "Friends."

8. DIANE CLAUSSEN

Executive director, Court Theatre

Last spring, in an effort to increase the Court's visibility amongst those who rarely venture south of the Loop, the Hyde Park-based theater company temporarily moved from their digs at the University of Chicago to the Chicago Center for the Performing Arts for a production of "My Fair Lady." This savvy business decision--the show became the highest grossing production in Court's 48-year history--was spearheaded by Claussen, who is also current president of the League of Chicago Theaters. Expect to see more Court productions performed at the CCPA location this year. Claussen also continues to integrate the company more substantially into the fabric of local theater, as evidenced by the unique deal she brokered with Broadway in Chicago last year, which allowed her to offer tickets to the touring production of "Copenhagen" as a part of Court's regular subscription series.

9. BARBARA GAINES

Artistic director, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre

Gaines succeeds in making the Bard not only speak to modern audiences, but does it without dumbing-down the text. And it doesn't stop with Willy S. Their production of Sondheim's "Pacific Overtures," directed by Gary Griffin, will play London next season. Their decade-old education program now sees more than 60,000 youth flow in and out of the sparkling Navy Pier space each year. And Gaines has also worked to fill every gap of the season by playing host to kid-friendly shows like "The Wizard of Oz" and "Bombitty of Errors."

10. FRANK GALATI

Director

An indefatigable theater warhorse, the veteran writer, director, teacher, mentor and actor this year staged "The Royal Family" at Steppenwolf--where he is an ensemble member--as well as the musical "The Visit" at the Goodman--where he has been an associate director since 1986. Next stop--Tony Kushner's prescient Afghanistan-fixated "Homebody/Kabul" at Steppenwolf, and a Gertrude Stein tribute at his Northwestern home turf.

11. B.J. JONES

Actor, director & artistic director, Northlight Theatre

One of the most sought-after tickets this fall has been for the performance of "The Guys," the story of a New York fire captain struggling to write the eulogies for men he lost on September 11. The play makes its Chicago debut in large part thanks to the efforts of B.J. Jones, who will play the fire captain in this local production. In his five-year tenure with Skokie's Northlight, Jones has raised the company's caliber--both in the works it chooses and the actors and designers it employs--satisfying its core suburban audience and enticing a growing number of Chicago-based theatergoers. This fall, Jones directs a production of "Rounding Third" starring George Wendt of "Cheers" fame.

12. MARJ HALPERIN

President & CEO, League of Chicago Theaters

In addition to its overall mission as advocate and supporter of Chicago theater, the League of Chicago Theaters has become a publisher, as well. When program supplier Playbill snatched up and effectively shut down local rival Stagebill a few months back, Halperin and her cohorts took matters in their own hands. This fall, they will begin providing a glossy program called "Chicagoplays" to at least seventeen area theaters, including the Goodman and Victory Gardens. Take that, Playbill.

13. MICHAEL LEAVITT

Producer, Fox Theatricals

Thanks to producer Michael Leavitt and the folks at Fox Theatricals, tourists actually venture beyond the Miracle Mile and head on over to Lakeview for "The Blue Man Group," which has long been the one and only production in residence at the Briar Street Theatre. And when it comes to taking a Chicago production to Broadway, Leavitt is the man to do it. His credits include Goodman's "Death of a Salesman," and Steppenwolf's Tony-award winning "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." This year, Leavitt scored once again when his production, "Thoroughly Modern Millie" won the Tony for best musical.

14. LOIS WEISBERG

Commissioner, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs

Yes, this whirlwind of energy who brought you "Cows on Parade" and "Suite Home Chicago" is also the major force in city government pulling for local theater. Among Weisberg's recent achievements, Gallery 37 at 66 E. Randolph and the Chicago Cultural Center across the street at 77 E. Randolph now house performance venues. It's a notable development, enabling small ensembles to rent space in the Loop, Chicago's main theater district. This year, little guys like The Hypocrites and Speaking Ring Theatre and big kahunas alike like Broadway in Chicago can both call Randolph Street home.

15. HOPE ABELSON

Patron & arts advocate

One of the best-known arts patrons in Chicago, Hope Abelson's generous gift to Northwestern University is the kind that keeps on giving. For more than a decade, the Hope Abelson Artist-In-Residence program has brought established playwrights like Tony Kushner , directors and designers to work with Chicago's next theater generation. Abelson, a formidable Broadway producer who brought such trailblazing works like "A Raisin in the Sun" to the stage, is also a staunch supporter of numerous Chicago-area theaters. Her gifts are large a cool $1 million to the Goodman for their new space and small donating her fur vault back in the early days of the Theatre Building Chicago, which used it as a box-office safe .

16. STEVE TRAXLER

President, JAM Theatricals

Rather than being a passive landlord for Broadway carpetbaggers, JAM Theatricals, under Traxler's tutelage, combines attractions for the blue-rinse subscription set such as next season's "Grease" and Jackie Mason with more youthful fare such as "Shockheaded Peter." Operating in twenty-two touring markets, the Chicago-based entertainment company was influential in bringing Second City to Las Vegas and is currently producing the critically heralded "Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune" on Broadway, starring Edie Falco and Stanley Tucci.

17. DENNIS ZACEK AND MARCELLE MCVAY

Artistic director and managing director, Victory Gardens Theater

Zacek and McVay continue to bask in 2001's Tony glory, while staying true to the original mission of being a writer's theater, joining the Chicago triumvirate of Goodman for directors and Steppenwolf for actors. And new work of their playwright's ensemble, including Jeffrey Sweet, Claudia Allen, and Lonnie Carter, keeps coming. Last season Zacek also returned to the boards, starring in Sweet's newest, "Immoral Imperatives."

18. GERALD ARPINO

Co-founder, artistic director & choreographer, The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago

Back in 1956, the Joffrey Ballet was literally just a bunch of dancers six to be exact, including Gerald Arpino carting themselves around the country in a station wagon. Now almost fifty years later, the Joffrey is one of the premier American ballet companies, thanks in large part to Arpino's ongoing efforts. In the works is a Robert Altman film about Arpino and the troupe, starring Neve Campbell. Pirouetting to a theater near you, the movie will include footage of Joffrey rehearsals and performances.

19. CHARLES NEWELL

Artistic Director, Court Theatre

Charles Newell hit upon something great last year when he cast Chicago actor Guy Adkins in the title role of "Hamlet." Under Newell's direction which included a serious trimming of the Shakespeare play , the production was perhaps the most stunning work of Court Theater's 2001-2002 season. As artistic director of the company, Newell ensures this Hyde Park gem never becomes staid by regularly working with trailblazing directors such as JoAnne Akalaitis and Gary Griffin. This fall, Newell will direct a production of James Joyce's "The Dead."

20. HEDY WEISS

Critic, Chicago Sun-Times

With Richard Christiansen's departure, the relatively youthful Weiss finds herself in the position of the elder stateswoman of Chicago stage criticism. And by recently anointing House Theater "the next Steppenwolf," this sharp voice proved herself eager to dance into the role of maker and breaker of fledgling companies.

21. DAVID ZAK

Founder & artistic director, Bailiwick Repertory Theatre

Thanks to David Zak, Bailiwick is the leading Chicago theater company offering performances for and about the GLBT gay, lesbian, bi and transsexual community. In addition to their annual Pride Series and long-running shows like "Naked Boys Singing," Zak and his Bailiwick team bring a variety of non-GLBT work to their stage. A production of the Irish play, "The Beauty Queen of Leenane," is scheduled for this October.

22. AMY MORTON

Actor & director, Steppenwolf Theatre Company

This Oak Park native has been a fixture on and off Chicago stages for nearly two decades, first as an ensemble member with the now defunct Remains Theatre Company, and currently in her fifth year as a member of the Steppenwolf. Morton, who played Nurse Ratchet in the Chicago, London and Broadway productions of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," had a hand in some of her company's strongest work this past season, both as a director "Glengarry Glen Ross" and actor "The Royal Family" . This fall, Morton will appear in a production of William Saroyan's "The Time of Your Life."

23. TERRY KINNEY

Co-founder, actor & director, Steppenwolf Theatre Company

Back in 1974 with pals Gary Sinise and Jeff Perry, Terry Kinney founded the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and all but defined the take-no-prisoners Chicago-style of acting. More than twenty-five years later, the theater company continues to thrive thanks in part to founding members like Kinney a Tony nominee and household name thanks to movie roles and a recurring part on HBO's "Oz" , who returns to Chicago year in and year out to ply his trade as both actor and director. This April, Kinney will direct for the Steppenwolf the Midwest premiere of Richard Greenberg's "The Violet Hour."

24. SHELDON PATINKIN

Chairman, Columbia College Theater Department

In his role as chairman of Columbia College's Theater Department, Patinkin continues to be a walking-talking history of the architecture of Chicago-style improv. Nearly everyone with Columbia on their resume these days credits this founding father of Second City with showing them the funny ropes before turning them loose onto the scene.

25. MIKE NUSSBAUM

Actor

A close friend of and collaborator of playwright David Mamet for almost 40 years, Mike Nussbaum continues to be one of the few actors who can effortlessly master the tricky dialogue that is Mamet's stock in trade. Nussbaum's bravura performance this past year in the Steppenwolf production of Mamet's "Glengarry Glen Ross" and in Northlight Theatre's "Hearts" proves this actor has plenty of fire left in his belly. Perhaps known just as much for his billowy white mustache and doughy, kind face as he is for his acting ability he has also played roles in movies such as "Men in Black" and "House of Games" Nussbaum is Chicago theater's most accessible and dare we say, cuddly elder statesman.

26. CHARNA HALPERN

Producer and co-founder, ImprovOlympic

Keeper of the eternal flame of "The Harold," Halpern cultivates each year's crop of young bodies eager to shoot through next year's Saturday Night Live revolving door or at least land a coveted spot on a team at IO. Her instinct for team dynamics has kept this funny factory on Clark Street afloat for over twenty years, as there's nothing funny about her keen business sense.

27. JERRY PROFFIT

Chair, the Jeff Committee

This retired high-school theater director is finishing his first year as custodian of the secret society known for reserved-seats-marked-off-with-masking-tape on opening night. The 44 members of the almost forty-year-old institution behind the Joseph Jefferson Awards, our closest cousin to the Tony, see an average of about 150 productions a year, giving them the power to tap the approving godparent wand on a show that often extends runs and rewards prestige that even critics can't undo.

28. MICHAEL PHILLIPS

Theater critic, Chicago Tribune

Barely six months into his tenure as the new theater critic for the Chicago Tribune taking over for the retired Richard Christiansen , Michael Phillips has already caused a stir. In an unprecedented move, editors at Newsday, the Tribune's sister publication in New York, ran a copy of Phillips' not-so-glowing review of the musical "Movin' Out," which was in Chicago for its pre-Broadway tryout. Suffice it to say, many within the New York theater community were up in arms. The debate wages on about Broadway-bound productions, and whether or not the New York press should scrutinize these delicate commodities while they are still in their out-of-town gestation periods.

29. JAMES VINCENT

Artistic director, Hubbard Street Dance Company

Choreographer and dancer Vincent stepped into the mighty big dancing shoes of founder Lou Conte almost two years ago, assuming leadership of Chicago's preeminent homegrown dance company. The upcoming season represents his chance to shine in the spotlight, as the internationally renowned company celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary.

30. DAVID KIPPER

Chairman, Noble Fool

While Chicago's notorious for Second City-style comedy, the Kipper-led efforts to land a home for the eight-year-old company known for its "Flanagan's Wake" aka the Booze Man Group was a pricey-dicey $2.6 million gamble. But a Loop home, in the hopes of being the city's downtown base for comedy, taps directly into Da Mare's weakness for all things civic and Irish . Before Noble Fool, this well-connected arts patron was instrumental in bringing the Joffrey Ballet to Chicago in 1995.

31. CURT COLUMBUS

Artistic director, Theatre on the Lake

Summer theater in Chicago used to have all the pizzazz of rerun season on TV. Thanks in large part to this Steppenwolf artistic associate and former director of University of Chicago's University Theatre, this modest shack at Fullerton and Lake Shore Drive now plays host to all the tickets worth seeing lastseason-like critically acclaimed works by CollaborAction and The Hypocrites-at half the price. In addition, his 2000 translation of "Uncle Vanya" for Steppenwolf was published this year, and Columbus showed further range by translating "Maria Arndt" from German for Steppenwolf in January.

32. CHRIS JONES

Arts reporter, Chicago Tribune

Although passed over for the lead theater critic post at the Tribune, the former Newcity theater editor was elevated to staff arts reporter as a consolation prize. While lead critic Michael Phillips is getting his Chicago orientation, Jones continues to wear his passion for the stage on his sleeve, banging out balanced and knowing coverage of his long-running beat.

33. RICHARD DRIEHAUS

President, Richard H. Driehaus Foundation

A wealth of talent may exist in Chicago's theater community, but the search for funding is a constant struggle, particularly for small off-Loop ensembles that simply can't compete financially with fundraising behemoths like the Steppenwolf and the Goodman. Luckily, the Driehaus Foundation in partnership with the MacArthur Foundation is committed to supporting small theater. For qualifying Chicago-area theater and dance groups with operating budgets of less than $100,000 , the foundation offers grants ranging from $2,500 to $10,000. And in the world of small theater, this can make a significant impact.

34. GREG ALLEN

Artistic director and founder, Neo-Futurists

After years of being part of the fabric of the local fringe scene, the Neofuturists, led by Allen, may become tailors of the next fashion in Chicago exports think of ex-player Greg Kotis' precisely absurd book for "Urinetown" . "Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind," dinner theater for the experimental set yes, they're still ordering pizza if every seat sells out , is still going fresh and strong. Allen also allows his team of talent, including Connor Kalista, Rachel Claff, David Kodeski, and Sean Benjamin, to extend their idiosyncratic styles for plays longer than two minutes. Besides the over 500 original plays Allen's directed and written for "TMLMTBGB" since 1988, last fall Allen also wrote and directed "H20," a wordless meditation on love.

35. JACKIE TAYLOR

Founder & artistic director, Black Ensemble Theater

Does Jackie Taylor ever sleep? At any given time, she is writing, directing, producing, promoting, and/or acting in one of her many productions at the Black Ensemble Theater. It's enough to make your head swim, but somehow Taylor has juggled it all for more than twenty-five years. Her trademark productions consistently offer high-energy musical performances rousing even the most conservative of theatergoers that highlight the careers of African-American legends like Nat King Cole, Roberta Flack, Nina Simone and Jackie Wilson.

36. ANTHONY MOSELEY

Artistic director, CollaborAction

In just five short years on Chicago's theater scene, CollaborAction has become one of the city's most intriguing off-Loop companies. With Anthony Moseley at the helm, their Summer Sketchbook series a festival of ultra-short, brand-spanking-new one-act plays performed in a rave-like atmosphere has become a must-see annual event. Add to this their incredibly popular productions of "The Life and Times of Tulsa Lovechild" and "To Kill a Mockingbird." This fall, look for their Midwest premiere of "The Joy of Going Somewhere Definite."

37. JONATHAN PITTS

Executive producer, Chicago Improv Festival

If Second City is the place to hone one's comedic chops, then the Chicago Improv Festival is certainly the place to showcase those talents. Thanks to executive producer Jonathan Pitts, the annual, one-week festival gives local audiences a chance to check out the latest in sketch comedy and improv. Perhaps just as important, it is also an opportunity for performers Chicago-based, national and international to show their stuff to a group of producers and casting directors assembled by Pitts for the occasion.

38. MIA MCCULLOUGH

Playwright, Stage Left Theatre Company & Chicago Dramatists

If her award-winning "Chagrin Falls" is any indication, McCullough is well on her way to becoming a playwright of significance. Premiering last year at Stage Left, her look at capital punishment and small-town life was graced with impressive acting and design to complement McCullough's strong script. A Northwestern grad and a resident playwright with the Chicago Dramatists, McCullough also teaches creative writing at the Evanston Shelter for Battered Women. Her newest play, a one-act called "Suicide," will be produced at Stage Left this February.

39. RUSS TUTTEROW

Artistic director, Chicago Dramatists

For the past 23 years, Chicago Dramatists has welcomed scores of upcoming talent to rip open their souls in the form of works-in-progress in their weekly new play readings. Since 1986, artistic director Tutterow has continued this tradition of supporting new work, seeing it pay off this season as 18 plays open in Chicago with Chicago Dramatists lineage.

40. JIM LASKO

Artistic director, Red Moon

Things have changed since the spectacle theater company's first Hallow's Eve Ritual Celebration in 1995 drew 250 people. Now, the annual Halloween parade in Logan Square has a turnout of 10,000, and this puppet-company-that-could has grown to a million-dollar organization. Lasko's philosophy that art should be open to the masses consistently invigorates and stimulates their work, finding ways for the Logan Square community to participate whether through outdoor performances or their children's programs. Lasko staged the Buster Keaton/biblical story "Unbinding Isaac" at the Steppenwolf Studio last year, and experiments with three installations of Chekhov's "The Seagull" for the next year, just finishing "Nina" at the Humboldt Park Boat House.

41. ANDRE PLUESS AND BEN SUSSMAN

Sound designers

This dynamic duo are sound designers with designer ears, coveted by everyone who longs for a soundscape with more than a staid doorbell or jarring telephone ring. These resident artists at Court and Victory Gardens have worked with Roadworks, Lookingglass and About Face, and created the din of hell, replete with urban noises, for Zimmerman's "Metamorphoses."

42. TONY TOMASKA

Executive producer, Chicago Center for the Performing Arts

Although previously best known as the man behind the successful tourist trap, "Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding," his new Chicago Center for the Performing Arts moved assertively onto the map last year as a venue of import, starting with the production of "Love Letters" starring Mr. And Mrs. Charlton Heston, and culminating in its selection as the north side outpost of Hyde Park's venerable Court Theatre, which brought its production of "My Fair Lady" uptown.

43. JOYCE PIVEN

Actor, director, co-founder & artistic director, Piven Theatre Workshop

This past February, Byrne Piven, patriarch of "Chicago's First Family of Theater," succumbed to lung cancer at the age of 72. It is a substantial loss, but the Evanston-based theater company and workshop founded by Byrne and his wife Joyce more than thirty years ago alums include John and Joan Cusack, Lili Taylor and Aidan Quinn continues on as a notable force in Chicago theater. In May, Joyce Piven, mother of actor Jeremy and director Shira, and an accomplished actor in her own right, will direct "Collected Stories" for the Piven Theatre.

44. HOLLIS RESNIK

Actor

Hollis Resnik is equally at home acting on stage at the Court Theatre or singing on stage at the storefront cabaret Davenport's, a breadth of talent that has made her one of Chicago's busiest and classiest entertainers. Most recently, she performed with Patti LaPone in Ravinia's staging of the Stephen Sondheim musical, "A Little Night Music." This fall, she will play Shakespeare's wife in the highly anticipated Goodman production of "The Beard of Avon," and will also appear in Court's production of James Joyce's "The Dead." To top it all off, Resnik's first solo album a self-produced, 12-song CD entitled "Make Someone Happy" hits store shelves next month.

45. JESSICA THEBUS

Director & adaptor

Continuing in Mary Zimmerman's footsteps, with a knack for creating infinitely beautiful and visually striking productions, is Jessica Thebus. As a director/adaptor/writer, her efforts last season resulted in the Lookingglass production, "They All Fall Down: The Richard Nickel Story," and Redmoon Theatre's stunning "Salao-the worst kind of unlucky." It's no small wonder, considering her pedigree--she is the daughter of acclaimed local actor and teacher Mary Ann Thebus. Until recently, Thebus also ran the arts exchange program at Steppenwolf, but her alliance with the theater remains firm; this January, she will create and direct "No Place Like Home" for the company's studio series. In addition to other projects, Thebus will also direct "Abington Square" for the Piven Theatre this April.

46. MICHAEL MENEDIAN

Executive director, The Raven Theatre

It is no small feat when a small Chicago-area theater company is able to marshal enough political and monetary support to build a new theater space. It is a potentially backbreaking, heartbreaking and bank-breaking process to be sure, but The Raven's Michael Menedian proved it could be done. The ensemble's new Edgewater theater with a main stage, as well as a smaller studio space opened this past August for the company's first production in two years. Welcome back, Raven.

47. BRETT NEVEU

Playwright

This is clearly Brett Neveu's year. If you don't recognize the name, rest assured you will soon. Four of Neveu's plays are on tap for the 2002-2003 season, which has got to be some sort of record. Upcoming productions include Stage Left's "Empty" opening on 9/17 which deals with four friends and how their relationships are affected before and after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 , A Red Orchid's "Eric LaRue" in November, and Terrapin Theatre's "the go" in April. Earlier this summer, the Factory Theatre produced Neveu's Mametesque play "Eagle Hills, Eagle Ridge, Eagle Landing." A resident playwright with Chicago Dramatists, the prolific Neveu thankfully is not all work and no play. His dirty, subversive side is on display if you check out his web-based, R-rated comic strip "Stoopid Pigeon" stoopidpigeon.com .

48. BEAU O'REILLY AND JENNY MAGNUS

Playwrights, actors & founders, Curious Theatre Branch

Once considered a bastion of obscure and/or edgy theater, fringe fests nationwide are gaining new respect, thanks to the success of "Urinetown" penned by Chicago ex-pat Greg Kotis which made the leap from New York's Fringe Fest to legitimacy on Broadway, winning a few 2001 Tony's along the way. Chicago's equivalent, the six-week-long Rhinoceros Theatre Festival, is the brainchild of Curious Theatre Branch founders Beau O'Reilly and Jenny Magnus. The fest, in its 13th year, began earlier this month and continues through mid-October. The fest has called the Lunar Cabaret on Lincoln home for more than half a decade, but beginning sometime next year, O'Reilly and Magnus will need to set up shop elsewhere, as the Lunar's owner plans to redevelop the location. A resilient and inventive team to say the least, the Curious Theatre Branch is sure to find a location befitting their alternative mission.

49. ROB KOLSON

Producer

Long-time local producer Kolson continues to keep "The Vagina Monologues" appealing to a culture obsessed with television celebrity of any magnitude, through a rotating cast of former TV players. With the likes of former child stars Mayim Bialik "Blossom" and Maureen McCormick "Marcia Brady" , in the cast at times, you might suggest that he knows how to tweak America's insatiable "Lolita" complex as well.

50. THE REST OF THE STEPPENWOLF ENSEMBLE

Actors and directors

Even when the big names like John Malkovich, Joan Allen or John Mahoney are preoccupied with matters Hollywood, they always manage to keep at least one toenail in the Steppenwolf ring. This is especially true when it comes to raising money for the old homestead: Anyone up for dinner with Gary Sinise?

Edited by Brian Hieggelke

(2002-09-04)

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