''Paul Sills' Story Theatre'' is a play with music, adapted from

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful beings. In most cult ...

s collected by the

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among th ...

and

Aesop's Fables Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE. Of diverse origins, the stories associated with his name have descended to ...

Productions

The ''Story Theatre'' debuted at 1848 N. Wells Street, during the summer of 1968. That building was the original location of

The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise and is the oldest ongoing improvisational theater troupe to be continually based in Chicago, with training programs and live theatres in Toronto and Los Angeles. The Second City Theatre o ...

, which had already moved to its new and current location at 1616 N. Wells St. After Sills finished doing Story Theater there, it was torn down. ''Story Theatre'' went on to play at the

Yale Repertory Theatre Yale Repertory Theatre at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut was founded by Robert Brustein, dean of Yale School of Drama, in 1966, with the goal of facilitating a meaningful collaboration between theatre professionals and talented stude ...

and in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. The Yale production was filmed as an episode of public television's ''

NET Playhouse ''NET Playhouse'' was an American dramatic television anthology series produced by National Educational Television. NET subsequently merged with WNDT Newark to form WNET, and was superseded by the Public Broadcasting Service, though the NET tit ...

''. The ''Story Theatre'' opened on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

at the Ambassador Theatre on October 26, 1970 and closed on July 3, 1971, after 243 performances and 14 previews. Directed by

Paul Sills Paul Sills (born Paul Silverberg; November 18, 1927 – June 2, 2008) was an American director and improvisation teacher, and the original director of Chicago's The Second City. Life and career Sills was born Paul Silverberg in Chicago, Illinoi ...

, it featured Paul Sand, Valerie Harper,

Richard Schaal Richard Schaal (; May 5, 1928 – November 4, 2014) was an American film and television actor born in Chicago, Illinois. Career In 1962, Schaal joined Chicago's famed Second City, becoming skilled in sketch and improvisational comedy. H ...

Peter Bonerz Peter R Bonerz (, born August 6, 1938) is an American actor and director. Early life Bonerzwas born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Elfrieda (née Kern) and Christopher Bonerz. He grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he attended Marquette Un ...

Melinda Dillon Melinda Dillon (born October 13, 1939) is a retired American actress. She received a 1963 Tony Award nomination for her Broadway debut in the original production of ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'', and she was nominated for the Academy Award ...

Richard Libertini Richard Joseph Libertini (May 21, 1933 – January 7, 2016) was an American stage, film and television actor. He was known for playing character roles and his ability to speak in numerous accents. His films include ''Catch-22'' (1970), '' The I ...

and

Hamilton Camp Hamilton Camp (Born Robin S. Camp, 30 October 1934 – 2 October 2005) was a London-born actor and singer, who relocated to the United States with his family when he was a young child. He became an American folk singer during he 1960s, and ev ...

Linda Lavin Linda Lavin (born October 15, 1937) is an American actress and singer. She is known for playing the title character in the sitcom ''Alice'' and for her stage performances, both on and off-Broadway. After acting as a child, Lavin joined the C ...

joined the cast as a replacement." 'Story Theatre' Broadway"
Playbill, retrieved October 8, 2017 Sills and the company developed "Story Theatre" from actual

fairy tales A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

, using improvisational theater techniques they adapted from his mother’s (

Viola Spolin Viola Spolin (November 7, 1906 — November 22, 1994) was an American theatre academic, educator and acting coach. She is considered an important innovator in 20th century American theater for creating directorial techniques to help actors to be ...

) books and teachings. These techniques, under Sills direction evolved into

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, the first

improvisational theater Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, a ...

company in the US and eventually into another outgrowth, Story Theatre. Transformation, mime, and dance are the basis of the "Story Theatre" method. Story Theatre improvises plays from stories, myths, folk tales, and legends. The ''Story Theatre'' on Broadway was composed of 8 actors with a rock-folk band, "The True Brethren", enacting fairy tale stories. The stories included "

The Bremen Town Musicians The "Town Musicians of Bremen" (german: link=no, Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' in 1819 (KHM 27). It tells the story of four aging domestic animals, w ...

," "

The Little Peasant "The Little Peasant" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'', number 61. It is Aarne-Thompson type 1535, The Rich Peasant and the Poor Peasant, and includes an episode of type 1737, Trading Places with ...

," " The Robber Bridegroom," "The Master Thief," "

The Fisherman and His Wife "The Fisherman and His Wife" (Low German: ''Von dem Fischer un syner Fru'') is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in 1812 (KHM 19). The tale is of Aarne–Thompson type 555, about dissatisfaction and greed. It may be classified as ...

," "Two Crows," "

The Golden Goose "The Golden Goose" (german: Die goldene Gans) is a fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm (KHM 64). Story In the Brothers Grimm version, the hero is the youngest of three brothers, given the nickname Simpleton as he is not handsome or stro ...

," "

Henny Penny "Henny Penny", more commonly known in the United States as "Chicken Little" and sometimes as "Chicken Licken", is a European folk tale with a moral in the form of a cumulative tale about a chicken who believes that the world is coming to an end ...

," and "Venus and the Cat". Each cast member portrayed the various characters in each story; for example, Paul Sand was the Robber Bridegroom, Turkey Lurkey, Cowherd and Rich Peasant, and the Simpleton. Musical numbers featured "

I'll Be Your Baby Tonight "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" is a 1967 song by Bob Dylan first released on ''John Wesley Harding''. It features Pete Drake on pedal steel guitar, and two other Nashville musicians, Charlie McCoy on bass guitar and Kenneth Buttrey on drums, both o ...

" and "

Dear Landlord "Dear Landlord" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It was recorded on November 29, 1967, at Columbia Recording Studios, Nashville, produced by Bob Johnston. The song was released on Dylan's album ''John Wesley Harding'' on Decembe ...

" by

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically dr ...

' " Sing This All Together", and "

Here Comes The Sun "Here Comes the Sun" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1969 album ''Abbey Road''. It was written by George Harrison and is one of his best-known compositions. Harrison wrote the song in early 1969 at the country house o ...

" by

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

. Additional music was by "The True Brethren" (

, Waqidi Falicoff, Raphael Grinage, Loren Pickford). A television adaptation, produced in Canada for the

CTV Television Network The CTV Television Network, commonly known as CTV, is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. Launched in 1961 and acquired by BCE Inc. in 2000, CTV is Canada's largest privately owned List of Canadian ...

and featuring several cast members from the play, aired in 1971.
imdb.com

Awards and nominations

Source: Playbill *

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

**Best Play (Produced by

Zev Buffman Zev Buffman (born Ze'ev Bufman) (October 11, 1930 – April 1, 2020) was a Broadway producer who served as president and CEO of Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, Florida. He produced more than 40 Broadway shows. He partnered with Elizabeth Taylo ...

) (nominee) **Best Featured Actor in a Play—Paul Sand (winner) **Best Lighting Design—H. R. Poindexter (winner) *

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. F ...

**Outstanding Performance—Paul Sand (winner) **Outstanding Director—Adapted and Directed by Paul Sills (winner)

References

External links

* {{IBDB title, 3091
Paul Sills Reflects on Story Theatre
Interview by Laurie Ann Gruhn 1970 plays