Sidney Eden
Sidney Eden was an American actor, director, playwright, producer, teacher, and theatrical archivist whose career spanned more than five decades in Chicago and New York City. He is known for founding the First Chicago Center theatre in the early 1970s, presenting the Chicago and Broadway productions of Eugene O’Neill’s Hughie starring Ben Gazzara, directing for the Leonard Bernstein Festival of American Music, writing for major theatre publications, and donating one of the largest private theatre libraries to Actors’ Equity Association.
Early life
Eden was born in Chicago, Illinois. He studied acting and directing with José Ferrer, José Quintero, and John Cassavetes. Before entering professional theatre, he worked extensively with Chicago actors, teachers, and Equity members, establishing a lifelong connection with the city’s theatre community.
First Chicago Center
In 1971 Eden founded the First Chicago Center, a legitimate theatre located in the Chicago Loop (Dearborn between Madison and Monroe). The opening attraction was Ben Bagley’s The Decline and Fall of the Entire World as Seen Through the Eyes of Cole Porter, starring Kay Ballard.[1]
Productions presented by Eden at the First Chicago Center included:
- Hughie / Duet, starring Ben Gazzara
- When You Comin’ Back, Red Ryder? by Mark Medoff
- Sheba, a musical adaptation of William Inge’s Come Back, Little Sheba, starring Kay Ballard
- Additional plays featuring leading Chicago and New York performers
According to The Chicago Tribune (October 15, 1974), the First Chicago Center finished “in quantitative second place” in that season’s Joseph Jefferson Awards, winning three Jeff Awards:[2]
- Best principal dramatic actor (Mark Medoff, Red Ryder?)
- Best supporting actress (Louise Hovanec, Red Ryder?)
- Best guest artist (Ben Gazzara, Hughie)
All awards were accepted on behalf of the recipients by Eden.[2]
Chicago and regional work
Eden directed and produced extensively in Chicago and the Midwest throughout the 1970s, including productions at the Goodman Theatre, the St. Nicholas Theatre, and other venues. His Chicago work included both dramatic and musical theatre, and he collaborated with numerous prominent Chicago-based actors, designers, and directors.
Broadway and New York productions
Eden presented the New York and Broadway production of Eugene O’Neill’s Hughie starring Ben Gazzara, which was praised by critics including Clive Barnes of The New York Times. He also worked as an actor in productions such as Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been? and collaborated with New York theatre institutions across several decades.
Leonard Bernstein Festival of American Music
In 1978 Eden directed West Side Story for the Leonard Bernstein Festival of American Music at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The production featured choreography by Richard Jones and musical direction by Robert Gutter, under festival director Alan Light.[3]
Writing and criticism
Eden wrote several plays and contributed theatre criticism and articles to publications including:
- The Village Voice
- Broadway Magazine (NBC TV’s “Tempo”)
He also taught acting, including his well-known course Acting for Non-Actors.
Recordings and jazz work
In his later years, Eden produced the jazz album Then and Now, featuring Joe Albany, Zoot Sims, Clark Terry, Jimmy Raney, Richard Davis, and Mel Lewis. The cover artwork was created by José Ferrer. The album and Eden’s archival work with Albany’s recordings were reviewed in the New York Press.[4]
Philanthropy and library donation
In 2002, the Actors’ Equity Association News reported that Eden donated more than 4,000 volumes of theatre books, play scripts, reference works, recordings, and historical materials to the Ray Lonergan Memorial Library in Chicago.[5] The donation approximately doubled the size of the collection and was described as a “major gift” by Equity officials, noting Eden’s belief that “actors should come first.”
Legacy
Eden’s posters, production materials, and archival videos are preserved by his family and are being catalogued on an external archive website. His work in Chicago and New York theatre, as well as his contributions to directing, producing, acting, and preservation, continue to be cited by theatre historians and artists who worked with him.
References
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedTribune1971 - ↑ 2.0 2.1 Dettmer, Roger (15 October 1974). "Goodman tops the field". Chicago Tribune. pp. 1–2.
- ↑ "Leonard Bernstein Festival of American Music Program". University of Massachusetts Amherst. June–July 1978.
- ↑ J. E. Taylor (1990s). "…and His Dead Friends". New York Press.
- ↑ "Invaluable Resource for Chicago Actors". Actors' Equity Association News. 30 September 2002.
Category:American theatre directors Category:American theatre managers and producers Category:American male stage actors Category:Acting teachers Category:20th-century American dramatists and playwrights Category:20th-century American male actors Category:People from Chicago
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