Tell Me More | Episode 32: Mark Larson on Chicago’s Gritty Theatrical Community

On this episode of BroadwayRadio's "Tell Me More," Matt Tamanini talks to scholar and author Mark Larson whose book “Ensemble: An Oral History of Chicago Theater” is available now. In this 650 page tome, Larson chronicles the rise of the Second City’s theatre community starting with Second City and the Compass Players in the 1950s and 60s, and via over 300 interviews tells the story to Chicago’s gritty climb to theatrical prominence. In writing the book, Larson spoke to a wide breadth of figures associated with the Windy City theatre community, some of those names are familiar, and some aren’t, but the truism that they all came back to was that in Chicago, it was about the work first, and about the community close behind. The book features interviews with Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, William H. Macy, Alan Arkin, Gary Sinise, Michael Shannon and many many more. Purchase the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Ensemble-Oral-History-Chicago-Theater/dp/1572842342 https://www.amazon.com/Ensemble-Oral-History-Chicago-Theater/dp/1572842342 Contact Matt: matt@broadwayradio.com Twitter: @BWWMatt Instagram: @BWWMatt Theme music provided by www.bensound.com