Rondi Reed
From August: Osage County and Wicked.
The “resident character woman” of Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Rondi Reed, talks about her current stint as Madame Morrible in the Broadway juggernaut Wicked, a role she originated in the musical’s Chicago company, including why we’re suddenly seeing her in a big Broadway musical for the first time, after 30 years in Chicago’s best-known theatre ensemble. She also discusses her college years at Illinois State University, where she first met the team who would become the founders of Steppenwolf; why after graduation she decamped for Minnesota; when the invitation to join Steppenwolf actually came; why she didn’t journey to New York for the famed production of Balm in Gilead; her directing debut with John Guare’s Lydie Breeze; her extended tenure in the original production of Picasso at the Lapin Agile and the brief Broadway run of The Rise and Fall of Little Voice; whether she has the opportunity at Steppenwolf to ask for plays to be done specifically based on her interest; why the company seems to have so many meetings and how they’ve sustained that over the years; her reasons for initially declining the role of Mattie Faye, written by Tracy Letts with her in mind, in August: Osage County, as she sets the record straight about whether or not the company resisted bringing the show to New York; the remarkable experience of returning to August for its final performance at the last minute, playing the role she created for a single performance with a company of actors she didn’t know, including Phylicia Rashad, why she’s only in recent years begun appearing in roles outside of Steppenwolf; and how long we can expect her to stay in the magical world of Wicked.
Original airdate – March 10, 2010.
Running time – 1:03:44.
For more information, to listen online, or to download the episode go to Downstage Center’s Rondi Reed program page.
You can also download directly the Rondi Reed program (mp3).
Posted on Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 at 9:23 am
by
American Theatre Wing
Filed under:
Actor,
Audio,
Downstage Center.
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