2002-2003 Season

“Studs Terkel has captured the melody of America.”
                                                   – Nicholas von Hoffman

For the 2002-2003 Season, The Acting Company presented an original adaptation of American Dreams: Lost and Found by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Studs Terkel.  The New York Times called it “the best of Terkel’s works...a stirring, hopeful book.”  It exemplifies his ability to capture the voices of Americans from all walks of life.  An embittered winner of the Miss U.S.A. pageant; a businessman enamored of success; farm kids dreaming of the city and city boys determined to get out; the Boston Brahmin, the KKK and a 19 year old Puerto Rican bellhop – these interviews show the simple dreams and grand aspirations of us all. Terkel’s real-life stories defy our stereotyped expectations and locate the humanity underneath the skin of his subjects.  Whether the goal is to run a small-town newspaper, own a piece of land, build a fourth television network or become the best bodybuilder in the world, Terkel gleans highly dramatic, funny and powerful tales from each encounter.  An Acting Company world premiere featuring original music surrounding and connecting Terkel’s stories and a cast representative of a cross section of American society.

The Author Studs Terkel

Studs Terkel is the author of eight books of oral history, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Good War, a memoir entitled Talking to Myself and the just-published Will the Circle Be Unbroken.  His other books include Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great American Depression and Race: How Blacks and Whites Think and Feel about the American Obsession.  His daily radio show on WFMT in Chicago was broadcast on stations throughout the world until last year.  Mr. Terkel is currently based at the Chicago Historical Society, archiving his massive collection of interviews. 

American  Dreams: Lost and Found continued The Acting Company’s series of commissioning, developing and producing new plays based on great American literature. Following powerful and successful productions of Willa Cather’s O Pioneers! (2000-01) and Mark Twain’s Pudd’nhead Wilson (2001-02), American Dreams brought to the stage the work of one of our most powerful contemporary American writers. This production was joined in touring repertory by As You Like It. The Acting Company's current production as a part of the New Classics series is Murder by Poe. This production brings to the stage the work of one of our country's most well-known and widely read writers and will be joined in touring repertory by one of Shakespeare’s timeless masterpieces, Richard III.