Ensemble

• Three-city tour, including Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles
• Promotion in conjunction with "The Year of Chicago Theatre," a year-long initiative by the City of Chicago and the League of Chicago Theaters
• Publicity in national magazines interested in performing arts and culture, such as Vanity Fair, Variety, and the Atlantic, as well as in major newspaper culture and book sections
• Publicity in national theater and performing arts/drama outlets, such as Playbill (3.5M circ.), TheaterMania.com (600K+ UMV), and Backstage (500K+ UMV)
• Promotion in conjunction with local and regional tourism bureaus as well as with theaters and organizations featured in book
• Publicity to regional arts and culture reporters and editors
• Publicity in Midwest regional print, online, and broadcast outlets
• Advertising in trade publications
• MIBA and GLIBA promotion
• Special prepublication mailings

A monumental behind-the-scenes oral history of Chicago’s theater movement spanning 1953 to the present day, from the people who made it happen. Includes commentary from scores of celebrated actors, writers, and more.Chicago is a bona fide theater town, bursting with an explosive, innovative vitality that’s fed every sector of the entertainment industry—from Hollywood to Broadway to Studio 8H—for as long as it’s delighted adoring local fans.

Ensemble is an in-depth, first-of-its-kind history of Chicago’s internationally celebrated theater scene, spanning 65 years and told through first-person accounts from the people who made it happen.

Among many other topics, this book explores the early days of the fabled Compass Players and the legendary Second City in the ’50s and ’60s; the rise of internationally acclaimed ensembles like Steppenwolf in the ’70s; the explosion of storefront and neighborhood companies that began in earnest in the ’80s; and the enduring global influence of the city as the center of improv training and performance.

Drawing from more than 300 interviews, author Mark Larson has woven a narrative that expresses the spirit of Chicago’s ensemble ethos: the voices of celebrities such as Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ed Asner, George Wendt, Michael Shannon, and Tracy Letts comingle with stories from designers, composers, and others who have played a crucial role in making Chicago theater so powerful, influential, and unique.