Daily Rehearsal: ‘Hit the Wall’ brought back for a summer on the lake

Daily Rehearsal: ‘Hit the Wall’ brought back for a summer on the lake

WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.
Theater on the Lake (Courtesy of the Chicago Parks District)
1. Hit the Wall, which everyone and the world loved, is being brought back at Theater on the Lake this summer for their 60th season. The line-up looks particularly good; it’s reboots of old productions, like TJ & Dave, Moby-Dick from the Building Stage, Farragut North and Sweet Confinement from SiNNERMAN, among others. Additional programming apparently includes an “Opening night birthday party with cake and cocktails June 13” and a “A singles networking event with Mingle Around.”

2. It’s the sixth anniversary of Jokes and Notes this weekend, and they’ll be celebrating with local comedians and house MCs, owner Mary Lindsey told the RedEye. She also sounds like a taskmaster, in the best of ways: 

I am a time titan. They have to respect the time. For national acts, I do have them sign a form that says that you will have to pay a fine if you go over the time. It’s not a banquet hall where we’re just having a party. There’s a format here; it’s a business and I try to be consistent so that people waiting for the second show aren’t sitting outside in the cold or the heat when they could be enjoying themselves and having some cocktails.

I also require them to have good stage presence physically, to project a professional image. Because I think that if you want to be taken serious, you gotta dress the part.

3. You can still register for summer classes at the Annoyance; do so before May 10 and get a discount.

4. The Butcher of Baraboo at A Red Orchid has been extended for two weeks, through June 3.

5. “It’s a long way from the planet Naboo to Athens, Greece. For actor Ian McDiarmid, the journey took seven years.” That’s the beginning of Hedy Weiss’ profile on McDiarmid, formerly of Star Wars and now in Timon of Athens.

Questions? Tips? Email kdries@wbez.org.