Category Archives: Comedy

Picture Paris…

Our good friends Brad Hall and Julia Louis-Dreyfus have made a wonderful short film that will make its debut this weekend at The Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

“Picture Paris” will be shown on Saturday, January 28th at 7:40 pm and Monday, January 30th at 10:10 pm. To watch the trailer, click here.

Click here for tickets.

In “Picture Paris”, Julia plays Ellen Larson, a Southern California suburban mom with an empty nest and a longing for the City of Lights. I won’t give away anything else, except that the film – written and directed by Brad – is shot beautifully, the ensemble acting is pitch perfect, and Julia is better than ever. The music is another great character in the film – and Steve (another good friend) Rashid wrote the original score.

It must also be noted that Mr. Hall took meticulous care to get all the details right – on both sides of the pond. Not only do the locations and street scenes in Paris capture the spirit and romance of that grand European capital – exacting attention was also paid to Ellen’s house in Southern California. In fact, after a vast and exhausting search to find the perfect suburban home, Brad and Julia used our house in Woodland Hills. They shot for a week at our domicile this past June while Victoria and I were in Chicago doing “The Vic & Paul Show” at the Prop Theatre with Steve (there’s that name again) Rashid.

See “Picture Paris” soon, if you can. If you can’t get to Santa Barbara next weekend – hopefully Brad & Julia’s charming, funny (and surprising) opus will soon be coming to a film festival near you. Meanwhile, check out the “Picture Paris” blog here.  Adieu, mon ami!

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Vic & Paul & The Chicago Tribune!

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And Now A Word From Our Friends…

Thank you, Julia, Brad, Lewis, Alan and Suzie!

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Just One Week Until the Fun Begins!

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Counting Down to “Vic & Paul”…

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The PTC Arrives on Wikipedia.

Fans, friends and former members of The Practical Theatre Company can now celebrate another PTC milestone: The PTC has made it to Wikipedia.

Thanks to the good work of University Archivist Kevin Leonard and his staff at the Northwestern University Archives, a brief history of The Practical Theatre is now available worldwide on the largest and most popular general reference site on the Internet. Check out The Practical Theatre Company’s Wikipedia page at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Practical_Theatre_Company

Here’s a few interesting facts about Wikipedia from http://www.OnlineMBA.com...

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The Holiday Season Has Begun — And that means “The Vic & Paul Show”!

Here’s what our friends Brad Hall, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Suzie Plakson and Lewis Black have to say about “The Vic & Paul Show“…

Join the holiday happening at Mayne Stage. Click here for tickets, or call the Mayne Stage box office: 773-381-4551

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Just One Fleeting Month Until “The Vic & Paul Show” opens in Chicago…

There’s just one month until “The Vic & Paul Show” opens at Mayne Stage in Chicago – and here’s what a few of our very good friends have to say…

If you don’t have your tickets yet – you can get them here.

See you at Mayne Stage for the holidays!

And fans of Riffmaster and the Rockme Foundation should check out closing night, December 30th – when Riff and the boys are going to cap the run with a rocking closing night celebration.

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Louis D — RIP

Louis DiCrescenzo (right) and Terry Shaughnessey backstage at "Bozo the Town".

The one and only Louis DiCrescenzo, the gifted artist who designed and built both The John Lennon Auditorium at 703 Howard Street and The Piper’s Alley Theatre at North & Wells, passed away last week.

Brad Hall, his cast-mate in the original production of “Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?”, introduced Louis to The Practical Theatre Company in 1981. Louis’ imprint on the PTC was much, much larger than the big man himself.

The big man in a note session backstage with us during "Bozo the Town". (From right) Sheldon Patinkin, Vic, Paul, Louis D., Bea and Steve Rashid. (Kyle Hefner, below left)

Big, affable, talented Louis D will be remembered by members, friends and fans of The Practical Theatre Company not only for his visionary theatre designs – but also for his scene-stealing performances as stage manager in “Art, Ruth & Trudy” and “Bozo the Town”, as well as his wonderful turns on the PTC/WMAQ-TV projects, “Overnight Guest” (as landlord, Nick Nickolopopolous) and the Emmy-winning live broadcast of “Deer Season.”

Paul, Louis, Kyle and Vic in "Bozo the Town". (1987)

Louis D was larger than life.

And we were glad to have worked, rehearsed, performed – and laughed – with him.

RIP Louis.

We love you.

Here’s Louis’ obituary in The Chicago Tribune…

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“The Vic & Paul Show” in Chicago — Last Day to Get 2 for 1 Tickets!

(Sorry. The discount is not available for all dates.)

“The Vic & Paul Show” will run for 10 performances, December 20-30, at Mayne Stage in Rogers Park.

And we’d love you to be there with us.

Go the Mayne Stage website’s “Vic & Paul Show” page…

And type in the promo code “paul” when you order your tickets through Friday, November 4th.

See you all in December!

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