Hog Butcher Radio Hour Ron Lazzeretti

When Guy Van Swearingen co-founded A Red Orchid Theater with his pal and fellow actor Michael Shannon, he couldn’t have known that 25 years later they’d still be at it, still taking on challenging and uncompromising material in that same thrillingly intimate space. There may be better known theaters in Chicago, but none more exciting to watch. And if the excitement of the theater isn’t enough, Guy always has another adrenaline pumping career to fall back on. For as long as the theater has existed, Guy has also been a Chicago firefighter. How he has managed to balance two such demanding jobs (more when you consider that at various times he’s also been a director, artistic director, film and television actor…) is a mystery. On this episode of the Hog Butcher Radio Hour, Guy talks about the youth he barely survived, the days on the street that the theater saved him from, living in his car with nothing but a cello and a box of old love letters, founding A Red Orchid, working with his friend Shannon, balancing life as an artist and a firefighter. He’s a no-bullshit guy who only calls us out for asking one “bullshit question” and offers some pointed advice on how “people need to get their heads out of their asses.” They don’t come much more Chicago than Guy Van Swearingen. He’s truly one of a kind.

There are any number of ways that you might know Dag Juhlin. Maybe you were a fan of The Slugs, the underdog, hard drinking, fist fighting band Dag co-founded with his brother, Gregg. Or maybe you know him from the innovative Poi Dog Pondering. Or his good-time party band of crack musicians, Expo 76. Or his new band, Sunshine Boys. Or his day job as one of radio legend Steve Dahl’s sidemen on his weekday radio show on WLS in Chicago. Or the daily podcast they do as well. There are any number of ways you might know Dag Juhlin and in our conversation, we talk about all of them. Plus Dag’s childhood “career” as a commercial actor, his Dad’s legendary career in the heyday of live television, his early day job stint at Sportsvision, and how it felt to get the call from his radio hero, Dahl, just in the nick of time. Also, later in the show, Sue Salvi has an unusual wish.

“We should open a bar.” Many have thought it, but Bill FitzGerald actually did it. And now 37 years later, he seems genuinely surprised at the emotional response to the news that he’s retiring and possibly selling his legendary nightclub, Fitzgeralds. In our far flung conversation, Bill talks about how it all started, how a trip to New Orleans opened his eyes to the possibilities, how he met his wife and partner in crime, Kate, years before he actually met her, and how a steady parade of musical greats have marched through Berwyn to play on a stage in a club like no other.
Also, later in the show, Sue Salvi has a beef with Amazon.

The New York Times called her "The Hidden Architect of Modern Comedy." She's nurtured the careers of the likes of Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Adam McKay, Chris Farley, Andy Richter, Cecily Strong, Aidy Bryant. The lord and master of SNL, Lorne Michael regularly looks to her for new talent. She's gone from having IO (formerly Improv Olympic) kicked out of numerous bar backroom venues (Andy Richter and his pickup truck were always on call to move sets from one place
to another) to recently building a 7-million dollar comedy mecca on Kingsbury Street in Chicago, the true home of improvisation. Charna and her old partner in crime, the late, great Del Close, believed that improv could be more than a means to an end- it could be an art form all its own. And Charna has been proving it for over 30 years. Hope you enjoy this conversation with a true force of nature, the amazing Charna Halpern. Also on the show today, a duet with the wonderful Naomi Ashley from her record Another Year Or So, "Lullaby."

Part 2 of our 2-Part discussion with Chicago actor and Chicago Fire star Christian Stolte, In this installment we talk about what a cool guy Paul Newman was to be around, what a magician producer Dick Wolf is, what it’s like to be part of an ensemble on a hit television show, and how oddly fulfilling it is to be a star, co-writer and co-creator of the The Graveyard Show (http://thegraveyardshow.com), the best little web series that no one’s ever seen. And we wash it all down with another song from Oak Park’s favorite son, Terry White.

Chris Stolte comes from St. Louis. But he’s a Chicago actor if ever there was one. Since the early nineties, he’s been a veteran of theaters like Steppenwolf, A Red Orchid, Goodman… For years, he seemed to appear in every movie that was shot in Chicago- “Road To Perdition”, “Stranger than Fiction,” “Public Enemies “…. And maybe most memorably, “Law Abiding Citizen” where he played the horrible son of a bitch who pissed off Gerard Butler. Then after two decades of somehow making it work here in Chicago, Dick Wolf rolled into town and Chicago turned out to be the perfect place to be. Stolte landed the role of Mouch on the hit series, Chicago Fire and “all of a sudden,” he’s a network television star. But don’t tell him that. He’ll give you that look. On this episode of the Hog Butcher Radio Hour, we talk to Chris about all of this and more. So much more, in fact, that this will be Part 1 of 2. And, oh yes, we close it all out with a great and somehow timely song by Oak Park’s own Terry White.