New York is one of the capitals of the world and Los Angeles is a constellation of plastic....But Chicago is a great American city. Perhaps it is the last of the great American cities. - - - Norman Mailer, "Miami and the Siege of Chicago," 1968 (also credited to Frank Lloyd Wright)

Chicago is the best city in America. Even if I hadn't been raised in its shadow, I would be awed by its sheer vibrant life. While LA lurched from riot to riot and New York became addicted to a punch-drink NASDAQ for its health, the Windy City continued yet another year of growth and discovery. I first grew to love actors here, and had no idea then that other kids didn't get to see plays at theatres like the Goodman, Steppenwolf and Wisdom Bridge (of sainted memory).

So who choose Chicago? That's what we'll explore in the next few pages. Most importantly for our purposes, it is the third busiest city for an actor in the US. While it's $100 million a year of film/tv production may pale next to the $2.5 billion of New York, it is still far ahead of any other city. It is home to extensive commercial production as well as a thriving print and fashion market. What Chicago is best known for, though, is THEATRE. And it has more than a hundred of them.

After my 8 years in the trenches of New York theatre ,a scene that is now the prisoner of celebrity driven fluff and over-indulgent avant-garde garbage, I am more convinced than ever that the best non-musical work in America is being done in Chicago.

One of my clients (from Chicago) calls himself a 'gunslinger'. That sort of sums up the experience of a lot of Chicago actors, that they're jack-of-all trade entertainment professionals who might be acting in one show while desiging another and writing yet a third. The Steppenwolf crowd is famous for it, but they're only the best known of the lot.

Of course the downside of this is that to make a living as an actor in Chicago, sometimes you HAVE to be doing three things at once. Chicago has a little thing known as the CAT CONTRACT which has theatres which can pay as little as $137.50 a week!

The Chicago page is broken down into three pages (for now). You're on the first. The second is an FAQ for beginning actors based on interviews with two of Chicago's most distinguished professionals. The third will offer information and links to schools and theatres as well as some basic hints on making one's way in Chi-town.
So enjoy!