CHICAGO (WLS) — Jeff Perry is back at Steppenwolf, the world-acclaimed theater he co-founded with his friends Gary Sinise and Terry Kinney 50 years ago.
ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch.
Perry currently stars in a big hit with the dark comedy The Dance of Death. The Highland Park native says he always wants an encore on his home stage.
The show is a newer version of August Strindberg’s The Dance of Death. Jeff Perry and Kathryn Erbe play a couple whose marriage has become a war zone—with a comedic twist.
“This is a domestic mess of great complication, depth and silliness and gravity. This is challenging—let’s do this,” Perry said. “My 70-year-old brain, I’m like, ‘Come on Jeff, come on, you did this when you were 30!’ I think I can do this forever. I love it that much, and this is the way I feel,” he added.
When asked if Steppenwolf could have happened anywhere else but Chicago, Perry responded, “We went into a Chicago where there’s no particular fame or fortune. If you got $10 more, much less $10,000 or $100,000 for that film and TV offer—I just thank God it wasn’t an option in Chicago.”
Perry’s wife, a casting agent, helped get him cast in the TV series Scandal as a scheming scoundrel with no moral compass.
“She thought, ‘Oh my husband, I think he could play some Washington contemporary version of a monster,'” he explained.
When asked why people should come see the show, Perry said, “You guys, we’ve got a double doctorate in domestic mess. You want to see us fling ourselves at this one—come check it out, you’ll get a kick!”
