Dada Interview with Jon Steinhagen

Jon Steinhagen is a good friend of Playlab NYC. Artistic Director Kevin P. Hale first met Jon back in 1998 when Kevin helped produce a workshop of Emma & Company at North Shore Music Theatre. Kevin went on to direct the New York premiere of the Judy Freed and Jon Steinhagen musical adaptation of Edna Ferber's short stories at the Wings Theater in 2001.

Since then Jon and Kevin have collaborated a musical based on Charles G. Finney's The Circus of Dr. Lao. Last summer Playlab NYC produced a collection of some of Jon's short plays, Perfectly Natural at the Midtown International Theatre Festival. In December 2009, with Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU), we produced a twenty hour reading of The Arresting Dilemma of Mr. K, a musical written in collaboration with John Sparks.

We recently emailed Jon, who lives in the Chicago area, a little dada interview to get a some insight into man who created the Altoona Dada Society.

1.) Finish this sentence: Dada is...

Jon: Dada is Turner & Hooch.

2.) What was Anton Chekhov’s favorite color?

Jon: Blood red.

3.) What shouldn't we know about you?

Jon: My private life from February 1998 thru August 2001.

4.) Tell us who your influences are without using the letters "i" or “c”.

Jon: Wyll Eno. Neal Symon. Eyerah Gershwynn. Rynne Groff.

5.) Explain the show using only names of exercises and alcoholic beverages.

Jon: Running in place/absinthe/running in place/absinthe (repeat for 18 more cycles).

6.) If you could medal in any Olympic sport, what would it be? And if not, could you medal in a new Olympic sport that you created, and if so what would that sport be?

Jon: I always pay special attention to anything with a 4 and a 7.