Chicago Theatres To Dim Lights; Hold Memorial in Honor of Late Frank Galati

Several major theatres across the Chicago-area will dim their marquees or lobby lights on the evening of Saturday, May 13, 2023 in tribute to late playwright, director, actor and educator Frank Galati, who passed away January 2, 2023 at the age of 79.

Marquees will be dimmed for one-minute at 7:15 pm at Broadway In Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre and James L. Nederlander Theatre, Goodman Theatre and Steppenwolf Theatre. Northlight Theatre will dim their inside lobby lights for one minute at 7:45 pm, just prior to the evening performance.

Additionally, friends, family, colleagues and community leaders will gather for a private memorial in Galati's honor on Monday, May 8, 2023 at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, co-hosted by Steppenwolf, Northwestern University, Northlight Theatre, Goodman Theatre and Asolo Repertory Theatre. Featured speakers include, playwright/director Mary Zimmerman, former Goodman Artistic Director Robert Falls, Steppenwolf ensemble members Amy Morton and Lois Smith, lyricist/composers Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, Galati's husband Peter Amster, and others. Please note: the memorial is by invitation-only.

About Frank Galati

Frank Galati (November 29, 1943 - January 2, 2023) joined the Steppenwolf ensemble in 1985 and won two Tony Awards in 1990 for his adaptation and direction of Steppenwolf's pivotal production of The Grapes of Wrath on Broadway. He was also nominated for a Tony Award in 1998 for directing the hit musical Ragtime. Although Galati is known primarily as a director of epic plays and musicals (Steppenwolf's Homebody/Kabul, Broadway's Ragtime), he was an equally adept actor (Steppenwolf's The Drawer Boy, The Tempest) and adaptor (Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay for The Accidental Tourist). Galati directed his adaptations of Murakami's after the quake (2005-2006) and Kafka on the Shore (2008) at Steppenwolf, along with his adaptation of E.L. Doctorow's The March (2012). His productions at The Goodman Theatre, where he was an associate director from 1986-2008, include The Visit, She Always Said Pablo, The Winter's Tale, The Good Person of Setzuan and Cry the Beloved Country. He was also an artistic associate at Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Florida. Most recently, he directed Asolo Rep's 2022 world premiere musical Knoxville, which he adapted from James Agee's novel A Death in the Family. In 1974, Galati co-founded Evanston Theatre Company, which would later become Northlight Theatre Company. Galati was a professor in the Department of Performance Studies at Northwestern University, where he taught for many years. He was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Theater Hall of Fame in 2022. Galati is survived by his husband Peter Amster.

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