Ann James
Narrator
Ann James is a Sideshow Theatre ensemble member and has appeared in its productions of Caught, Antigonick, Maria/Stuart, and Idomeneus. Among other companies with which she has also worked are the 16th Street Theater, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Goodman Theatre, Jackalope, Organic, Pivot Arts, Provision, Shattered Globe, and Stage Left. She is the founding director of Chicspeare Production Company, which has brought Shakespeare alive for more than 100,000 area residents through educational programs and productions.
Ann James will perform Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf with the Lakeview Orchestra on December 5, 2021. Learn more >>>
We sat down (virtually) with Ann James, the narrator for our upcoming performance of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf. Videos clips from the interview as well as a lightly edited transcript of our conversation is below.
“This is actually a second career for me. Though, I had always anticipated that I would go into theater.”
When did you start acting?
This is actually a second career for me. Though, I had always anticipated that I would go into theater. When I got to college, the program wasn’t a very good fit and I didn’t want to transfer. It was a liberal arts school and I thought if you’re an actor you should have a dilettante knowledge of many areas. I ended up staying and majoring in religion which detoured me. For a while, I was actually in the ministry. In my thirties, I realized that I was not in the right place or doing the right thing, and that I should really go back and figure something else out. I’m originally from Chicago so I moved back here, originally with the idea of writing, but then I thought “I’m going to go try out for something.” The Chicago park district at that time had a very extensive and semi-professional theater program. I tried out for a female version of “The Odd Couple,” and I got “Felicia,” as she was called (the Felix Unger character). I thought right away that this is what I should be doing. It was such a wonderful experience and I loved it so much, so I began to study more seriously in the Chicago area. I got my first professional acting gig when I was about 35 or 36, and I’ve been doing it ever since!
“I just love to make people laugh!”
What excited you the most about acting when you decided that is what you wanted to do?
There’s a family story. When I was only about 3 or 4 weeks old, my folks took me to visit my grandparents and great aunts and uncles for the first time. They were passing me around the living room, and my grandmother said, “She knows we’re laughing at her!” As much as the work I’ve actually done is more dramatic, I just love when people laugh! When I was in 2nd grade they were asking us what we wanted to be when we grew up. This is the early 60’s so it was odd if the girls said anything but a mom, a nurse, or a teacher - and I was like, “Ew, no way! I want to be a clown!” I didn’t like circuses because I was always upset about the animals, but I wanted to be a clown because they made people laugh!
“There’s a communal imagination. There are feelings and thoughts that people experience that they could not experience as individuals.”
Another thing is, what I recognized is a common theme between the work I was doing in the church and then on stage, was that there’s a communal imagination. There are feelings and thoughts that people experience that they could not experience as individuals. When you’re working on a comic play, you’ll have a sense that something is funny but you don’t really know where the laughs are until you perform it for an audience - they help you find them!
“Sitting in the audience [at an orchestra concert] I hoped that the musicians had a sense of how much was coming toward them of appreciation and being there in the music right with them.”
It’s a little different with classical music but the same things apply. I recently attended a Civic Orchestra concert, and the community loves that orchestra and the conductor was such a personable guy. Sitting in the audience, I hoped that the musicians had a sense of how much was coming toward them of appreciation and being there in the music right with them. I have a feeling that the musicians are so focused on being a part of the group, that they don’t often have that feeling until people go wild during the applause and solo bows.
“While the overriding intention of [Peter and the Wolf] was to perform it for young people or inexperienced listeners, everyone can appreciate it.”
What do you love most about Peter and the Wolf?
Well...I’m a broken record: the humor! There are funny bits musically and the text actually has a lot of places where I think people will laugh. The other thing I love about it is different people coming together as one. While the overriding intention of this piece was to perform it for young people or inexperienced listeners, everyone can appreciate it. While it seems like a teaching tool to introduce children to the different instruments, it’s accessible to anybody without being condescending or simplistic. Even if you are more experienced as a listener, it’s wonderful to hear the different voices in the orchestra individually. What I’m looking forward to the most is just how much everyone is going to enjoy it!
Have you ever performed this piece before?
I haven’t, but it’s been on my list of pieces I always wanted to perform! When Greg contacted me a few years ago about performing “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” I was thrilled because that was number one on my list. Peter and the Wolf was number 2! The third, being from Illinois, I’ve always wanted to be able to do “Lincoln Portrait,” by Aaron Copland.
“I’m aware of how I am another voice in the orchestra.”
How do you approach learning a piece where you’re narrating with an orchestra?
First, I take out the text separately and learn it just as the text. I do the same type of analysis that I do, particularly if I’m working with Shakespeare. I do a lot of work with the sound of the words, how the words are connected with alliteration or assonance, and if there’s any repetition. So the structure of the text is what I start with, and then as much as possible I can be off book. Though, I will have the score with me because always with the energy of being with other people, your memory gives you lots of unexpected blips. For this, I’m so aware of how I’m another voice in the orchestra. I’m also listening to a recording so that I learn the music as well as possible.
“There’s much more of a sense to help keep the whole thing going.”
What are the biggest differences between performing in a theatrical production vs. narrating with an orchestra?
The main difference is that you cannot improvise with the orchestra. In a live stage production, you can wind up getting a sense to try something different live that you never did in rehearsal. Part of the joy of stage performance is in the moment you might come up with something that deepens what you’ve done before. This isn’t a way you will deepen your performance with an orchestra. As much as you’re part of an ensemble on the theater stage, there’s much more of a sense that you’re still there as an individual, and that is so much lessened when being a part of an orchestra. There are just so many other parts and parts within the parts, so there is much more of a sense of helping to keep the whole thing going. This isn’t a priority in the same way in live theater. In the orchestra you have such a responsibility not to mess up somebody else’s performance!