Last Tuesday, a largely female crowd of more than 200 headed to the W Chicago City Center for a tulip-flecked luncheon. "Steppenwolf Salutes Women in the Arts" is a two-year-old event put on by the theater company, and this year included an Inside the Actors Studio-style interview with ensemble member Martha Plimpton.
As guests munched on grilled salmon and mini red velvet cupcakes, artistic director Martha Lavey interviewed Plimpton at the front of the ballroom.
During the 60-minute conversation—conducted with a familiarity suggesting two friends talking—Lavey asked Plimpton about her work with Steppenwolf and other highlights of her career on stage and screen. A crew from Kurtis Productions was on hand to broadcast photos and film clips onto two oversize screens that flanked the stage.
The luncheon raised $126,000 for the theater's professional leadership program.
