Synopsis
In a cramped walkup on Manhattan’s West Side, Frankie, a waitress, and Johnny, a short order cook, have fallen into bed together at the end of their first date. Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune brings together one of Steppenwolf’s original ensemble members, Laurie Metcalf, with its newest, Yasen Peyankov, in a humorous and gritty interpretation of a man and woman in need of one another. This one-night stand asks all the questions we are afraid to ask ourselves about love—and if we are really prepared to meet the one person we can not live without. “a first-rate revival…the actors here are superb.” Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times “a reverently romantic revival… a big crowd-pleaser. It'll be date night all summer in Chicago with Frankie and Johnny.” Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune traveled to Dublin in the summer of 2004. Find out more about our productions that have traveled beyond Chicago.Running Time
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Cast & Artists
The Artists
- Directed by: ensemble member Austin Pendleton
Featured Ensemble Members
Program Articles
Austin Pendleton has turned his hand to playwrighting with great success in recent years. Associate Artistic Director Curt Columbus called Austin at his New York home to talk about his career — and a series of happy accidents that have brought him were he is as an artist today.
In Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, two people who meet by chance discover that they were meant to be together. So Backstage sent Artistic Assistant Dan Granata out to ask ensemble members about the series of unpredictable accidents, chance meetings, and unlikely partnerships that brought them into one of the longest–standing, most successful relationships in the American Theater — Steppenwolf.
It is gratifying to reach the end of a season, to have launched all five of our subscription-series shows — to have all of them "in play." What begins as a series of ideas becomes a series of experiences — experiences that coalesce with, reverberate against, and inform each other.
James F. Ingalls' lighting designs have been gracing Steppenwolf's stages for years; most recently he lent the twilight glow to The Violet Hour, the harsh interior shapes to Purple Heart, and the saturated tones of memory to The Royal Family. Audiences are all familiar with Mr. Ingalls' subtle genius without ever being aware that he has been involved in the production, because he deals only in the ephemera of light. Backstage decided to have a chat with this "unseen" designer who, this time, is responsible for Frankie and Johnny's "clair de lune," the brilliant light of the moon.
No one in the early days of the company could have foreseen that Steppenwolf would become a recognizable name not just in Chicago and around the United States, but internationally, as well.