A Quote by William Petersen

Theater in Chicago will always be my first love. — © William Petersen
Theater in Chicago will always be my first love.
Theater in Chicago will always be my first love. It started careers for me and about 50 of my friends. We all love coming back. As soon as the TV show is over, I'll be back in Chicago, doing live theater.
I've never seen a theater community to rival that of Chicago. Neither New York nor L.A. has the raw talent or integrity that Chicago theater has, and I think it's because Chicago doesn't have Broadway or the film and TV business to distract it.
I've always wanted to do theater in Chicago. Chicago is a big theater town-and, in some ways, I think this city is savvier and smarter than New York. Sometimes, I think it's a little too chic to go to theater in New York these days.
You know I'm a Chicago kid, and Chicago will always have a big piece of my heart. But with Milwaukee - for me it was just love at first sight. As soon as I got here, I was like, Wow, this is the place for me.
When I first got out of school, I went on a children's theater tour, and I went around the country a little bit that fall, and it was the first time I went to Chicago. We spend a couple of days in Chicago, and I was really struck viscerally by the city.
Chicago theater vs. New York theater. There's just nothing to say about it really. If you've seen Chicago theater, you know that the work is true to what is there on the page. It's not trying to present itself with some sort of flashy, concept-based thing. It's about the work, and it's about the acting you're about to watch. So acting-based theater feels like it was born there to me.
Chicago actors and Chicago theater is some of the most authentic stuff that you will ever encounter, and I'm so proud to have come up from that. It's where I cut my teeth and where I found my passion for this work.
I find theater terrifying. There are no do-overs, you know? It's all happening live. You need to be in it 100 percent at any given moment, and the audience is right there. I'm really intimidated by theater, but it is my first true love. I love theater. I love that anxiety.
I went to Northwestern in Chicago, in Evanston, and then I ended up trickling down in Chicago theater. I did a bunch of plays, but I was non-equity. For a lot of people, non-equity means you're not yet professional. But for me, if you're in a mainstream theater, you're doing something real.
Growing up in Chicago, I was a theater nerd. That might be very cool on the East Coast, but in Chicago, it's really the athletes that come in No. 1 on the cool scale. Maybe musicians after that. Community theater? That's way down the list, my friend.
I love Chicago, but in a lot of ways it's a disappointment. You can work there for years and years, and because you're in Chicago, you don't get the recognition. It has some of the best theater in the country, but when they shoot a movie there, they bring in all their actors.
I think about Chicago as being a very actor-centered theater town, and people aren't in it to get to the next level, like movies and television. We're there for the love of the theater. So I think it fit right into my particular skill set, which is I love performing live.
I want to do 'Chicago P.D.' for as long as it's on the air. I love the show; I love the Dick Wolf family. I think he's created something genius with the crossovers and having everyone on these shows inhabit the same universe as far as 'Chicago Med' and 'Chicago Fire' and 'Chicago P.D.'
I love working in television and film, but it's completely different. The theater will always be my home. So I would love to be a lady who gets to work in all of the mediums and who calls the theater her home.
Theater will always be my first love. The time and dedication that goes into the rehearsal process with the cast and crew is something that TV/Movie acting does not offer.
I originally wanted to stay in Chicago as long as I could. I love Chicago. I don't love L.A. I don't want to leave Chicago.
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