Wheaton Drama set to premiere author's first play
The red carpet will roll out and the champagne will flow tonight as Wheaton Drama presents the world premiere of local playwright Bill Ball's "Creating ARThur."
"Creating ARThur" is a comedy about the misadventures of two brothers who try to immortalize their dead brother by hanging one of his paintings in an art museum.
Ball of Grayslake, well known as a tour director in Wheaton Park District's travel program, submitted his script under a pseudonym.
"I submitted it under a false name because I knew many of the people involved and I didn't want them to be prejudiced," he said.
Dee Hicks, Wheaton Drama's co-production manager, said, "I got six of the funniest people I knew to sit around my kitchen table to read it. The script wasn't in finished condition. At first, it was more of a radio script, a dialogue between two characters. We wanted him to develop the parts for the two wives. He took our thoughts and rewrote it. He made corrections. He has seen plays all over the world. Now he's learning how you go about writing a show. It has developed into a nice show."
As a travel guide, Ball has led tours to all 50 states, more than 100 countries and seven continents.
The theater buff has seen hundreds of productions in English-speaking countries, including New Zealand, Australia, England and South Africa, as well as local theater from Steppenwolf to Hyde Park's Court Theater.
Ball and his wife, Wendy, also attend community theater throughout the Chicagoland area.
"I chose Wheaton's theater for two reasons," he said. "I had seen the theater. It's superb, an incredible facility. But the main reason is that I've seen their productions. Their productions are first-rate, more like an equity theater."
As a tour guide, Ball has visited art museums throughout the world as well. One such visit inspired the theme of the show.
"My parents were on one of my tours," he said. "My dad looked at a modern sculpture and said, 'I've got stuff in my garage that looks better than that!' That led me to question, 'What is art? Why is one piece considered great and another piece can stand on a street corner and sell for $25?'"
Ball wrote the first draft in a few days.
"It just started flowing," he said. "Revisions, making sure every scene and every joke flowed well, that took four to five months."
He is continuing to make revisions as Annie Walker Bright has been directing it.
"Annie is a genius," Ball said. "I watched how she staged some of the scenes. She took a good joke I wrote and made it a great joke. She made the play run at a frantic pace and made it a hilarious romp though the art world."
Though Ball knew many of the people involved in Wheaton Drama, most of them were in the production end, not actors. He didn't write the script with anyone in mind.
"When I met the two men who were cast, it was perfect casting," he said. "It is unbelievable watching them play the roles. They are Alex and Andy to me, the two lead characters. I'm happy to let them take my words and turn them into magic."
Tonight's performance of "Creating ARThur" will be for an invitation-only audience. Public performances begin Saturday.
"Creating ARThur"
When: 8 p.m. Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday; 8 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and July 19; 3 p.m. July 20
Where: Wheaton Drama's Playhouse 111, 111 N. Hale St., Wheaton
Cost: $16 per ticket
Parking: Free in nearby city lots
Tickets: (630) 260-1820