Bartender, I’ll have a…Ale Asylum Ambergeddon, please!
I’m SURE you remember me from such Factory shows as…White Trash Wedding and a Funeral remount. I played Drew, the dopey sidekick of the Lonnie, the bad guy everyone loved to hate. You WON’T remember me from Factory shows: Hey! Dancin’!, The League of Awesome, Easy Six, The Gray Girl, Toast of the Town (remount), ‘Namosaur!, Take the Cake, and Hotel Aphrodite. I either managed those stages or those productions. You MAY have seen me as a well-dressed guy, unbeknownst to you that I was pulling all the strings and pushing all the buttons.
I got involved with the Factory because…I was interning at the Goodman when Noah Simon (Factory emeritus) was understudying. He saw my skills and recommended me to a few companies, of which Factory sounded the most intriguing to me. After a couple interviews I was the stage manager for Hey! Dancin’!. When they kept asking me to come back, and I kept saying yes, it was clear that I needed to stick around with these rascals for a while. Then they voted me into the company. Then they picked me as Operations Manager. Then they chose me to be the Booking Manager for the new Howard space!
My current/next gig is…I am stage managing Worthy with Adventure Stage Chicago. We open April 25th! Then I’m taking the summer off of shows to focus on the operations and booking of our new home!!! I will then be stage managing our very first show there, Zombie Broads!
I give a shit about our move to Rogers Park because…The glory of Factory could no longer be contained by any space except one of our own design. We are emerging stronger, funnier, ridiculouslier. The Jester is polishing his shoes and cinching up his tie.
If I had to force you to listen to 2 albums, they would be…Riding with the King by BB King and Eric Clapton, and Up by Great Big Sea
My favourite Factory memory is…It’s a toss up. There was that time when Manny Tamayo screamed at me for 5 minutes for being late to strike. I never laughed so hard in my life. Shitbird. Jermaine Thomas and I were the only two people to see the incredible evolution of the long awkward dry hump scene in Hey! Dancin’!. Every single show, it changed just a bit. Sometimes longer or faster, sometimes deeper thrusts, sometimes it was so intense that no one could contain it and exploded at the same time…into laughter…exploded into laughter at the same time.
I’m switching drinks, I’ll have a…Bourbon! Rowan Creek, couple ice cubes on the side, please.
This is Big Time, Big Money Phil. He manages us in every damn way possible. He even feeds us, making his own sausage and kombucha. And he runs marathons. What a goddamned slacker.
