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Audiences might be surprised at Allen in this piece, Landau said. "Some of her film characters have a reserve or elegance; this role is down and dirty," she said, describing a play filled with battle sequences, mud and musical numbers. The fact that Steppenwolf is now large enough to put on such an epic production isn't lost on Allen. She said the first day of rehearsal for "The Wheel" had more than 80 crew, actors and staff introducing themselves one-by-one. "About halfway through I started crying because I was there when it was a small, 88-seat theater in the basement of a church in Highland Park, Illinois, and there were a dozen of us," Allen said. Steppenwolf now has three theaters on its Chicago campus that seat a total of 900. The company puts on nearly 700 performances and events annually. Allen said that since she's been back in Chicago she's taken a trip to see that small theater north of the city where Steppenwolf began. "It's just very moving to me," she said. "It's an example that a few people with an idea can build something." "The Wheel" runs through Nov. 10. ___ Online: http://www.steppenwolf.org
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