Steppenwolf Theatre Company opens Traffic series with an 
evening of music and storytelling 
with David Cale, David Clement, 
and Steppenwolf ensemble member Jim True-Frost
 

Chicago—Steppenwolf Theatre Company opens its 2002-03 Traffic series with a unique
evening of musical interpretation and storytelling by OBIE Award-winning solo performer
and lyricist David Cale with guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg, acclaimed New York singer/songwriter
David Clement, and Steppenwolf ensemble member Jim True-Frost on Monday, October 21, 2002. 
The production will be held on the Steppenwolf Theatre Company Mainstage, 1650 N. Halsted,
at 7:30 p.m.

“As in the past, Traffic continues to present an unusual blend of one-night-only theatrical and 
musical performances,” says Tim Evans, producer of Traffic.  "By having new and familiar 
artists create unique performance experiences, we allow them to explore and challenge the
boundaries of their artistic capabilities.  And Steppenwolf challenges itself with new artistic 
material and new relations with great artists and audiences.”

This evening will bring together lyricist and monologist David Cale, performing with composer 
and musician Jonathan Kreisberg, singer/songwriter David Clement, accompanied by Erin Hall
(cello) and Rob Bailey (guitar), and folk musician/guitarist Jim True-Frost.

David Cale is the author and performer of six solo shows, including the OBIE Award-winning
Lillian, Somebody Else’s House, Deep In A Dream Of You, The Nature of Things, Smooch
Music, The Redthroats, Traffic with Cale, Clement, and True-Frost add one and the duet show
Betwixt with actress Cara Seymour.  His work has received five productions at the Goodman
Studio Theatre and numerous productions throughout the country.  His solo performance Welcome
to America was filmed for HBO’s Bette Midler’s Mondo Beyondo.  A book of his monologues, 
The Redthroats, has been published by Vintage Books.  His writing has appeared in The New 
York Times and Harper’s.  Lillian was recorded for NPR’s This American Life.   David wrote
and narrated the text for the dance Chickens, performed by Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak
Dance Project.  As a lyricist for The Jazz Passengers, his songs have been recorded by 
Deborah Harry, Richard Butler, Freedy Johnston, John Kelly, Syd Straw, Jimmy Scott, and
performed in concert by Elvis Costello.  As an actor, David has appeared on Broadway in Present
Laughter and Off-Broadway in Curtains, for which he received an ensemble OBIE Award.  He has
appeared in the films Radio Days, Men Don’t Leave, A Prince in the Projects, Illuminata, Pollock 
and The Slaughter Rule.  David is currently working with composer Jonathan Kreisberg on a 
new show commissioned by the Goodman Theatre.

David Clement is currently working on his third CD, Tentative Push for a Cynical Faith.  Billboard
singled out David as an “artist to watch” after the release of his first CD, Be More Like Me.  He also
won a Gay and Lesbian American Music Award (GLAMA) for best new artist.  His second CD, 
originally titled Hard Candy, produced by Jeffrey Lesser (Joni Mitchell, Lou Reed), has yet to be
released by Universal Music.  He has performed on the WB’s Dawson’s Creek and Jack & Jill.  
David attended New Trier High School, but dropped out before graduating.  He earned a BA from 
Simon’s Rock of Bard and dabbled in graduate school at the University of New Hampshire and
the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Jim True-Frost, a Steppenwolf ensemble member, appeared at Steppenwolf in David Copperfield, 
The Playboy of the Western World, The Curse of the Starving Class, The Homecoming, and Killers. 
His Steppenwolf directing credits include The Mesmerist and The Ghost in the Machine on the
Mainstage. Other Chicago productions include Road and The Iceman Cometh.  In New York, he 
was seen in Steppenwolf’s Broadway productions of Buried Child and The Grapes of Wrath, and
the Roundabout Theatre’s production of Philadelphia, Here I Come!  He also appeared in 
Steppenwolf’s production of Side Man in Ireland.  He is currently filming Off the Map with Joan Allen 
and he can be seen in the feature films Affliction, Singles, The Hudsucker Proxy and Far Harbor.  
Jim recently earned his diploma from Syracuse University.

Chicago Public Radio continues its media sponsorship and on-air support of the Traffic series
with re-broadcasts of selected performances from previous seasons.  The Traffic broadcasts 
on Chicago Public Radio (91.5 FM) can be heard on select Sunday evenings at 9:00 p.m.

Steppenwolf Theatre is located near all forms of public transportation and is wheelchair
accessible.  Assistive listening devices are available for every performance.  Street and lot
parking are available.

The ticket price is $20 (or $16 if purchased before October 18, 2002).  Box office hours are
11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. every day and 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on days with evening
performances.  The box office number is (312) 335-1650.  Tickets can also be ordered
online at www.steppenwolf.org.  

In conjunction with Adobo Grill, Steppenwolf is offering a Dinner + Traffic package which
includes dinner before the performance and a ticket to the show for $44 ($40 if purchased
before October 18, 2002).  Dinner includes a glass of wine or beer, salad, entrée, dessert,
and complimentary valet parking at Adobo Grill, located at 1610 N. Wells St.  The Dinner +
Traffic package is only available through the box office at (312) 335-1650.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company's Traffic series brings together artists of all disciplines and
casts them as storytellers in one-night-only presentations on the Steppenwolf stage.  Traffic
provides an intimate and unique intersection of language, lyrics, poetry and music, creating 
a fresh perspective on expressing the American story.

Committed to the principle of ensemble performance through the collaboration of a company
of actors, directors and designers, Steppenwolf Theater Company’s mission is to advance
the vitality and diversity of American theater by nurturing artists, encouraging repeatable
creative relationships, and contributing new works to the national canon.  The company,
formed in 1976 by a collective of actors, is dedicated to perpetuating an ethic of mutual respect 
and the development of artists through on-going group work.  Steppenwolf has grown into an
internationally renowned company of thirty-four artists whose talents include acting, directing,
playwriting, filmmaking, and textual adaptation.