Because he is beloved: Chicago artists form a supporting cast in Will Schutz's battle with cancer

January 28, 1:58 AMChicago Theatre Review ExaminerCatey Sullivan

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Above, center and below: Will Schutz   The Because Will Schutz is Beloved fund-raiser for Will Schutz is slated for Feb. 8 at Sofo Bar, 4923 N. Foster. There will be a cash bar (Will gets a cut), plentiful shots (Will gets 100 percent of the price of each one) as well as raffle prizes, a silent auction and food. Want to help pr make a donation? E-mail Jan Blixt at janblixt@aol.com

Ask one person about the impact Will Schutz made in theatrosphere over the past two decades and more than 50 people will answer. Never mind that (as Atlanta-based artist and Schutz friend Kerry Higgs notes) theater is one of the most “cutthroat” fields known to humankind. Schutz elicits a response that’s both overwhelming and consistent: The guy’s a mensch. And oh yeah, one of the most talented fellows Chicago’s Off-Loop theatrosphere has seen in decades.

Diagnosed Dec. 30 with cancer, Schutz, 47, is now embroiled in the toughest role of his life. His friends, competitors and colleagues are not about to let him fly solo. Schutz may be wholly lacking in insurance, but he is surrounded by a supporting ensemble of that singularly muscular, uncompromising grit that defines Chicago theater.

“The things people are doing for me,– it moves me to tears,” says Schultz during a conversation squeezed in between chemo treatments and physical therapy . “I mean, I’ve always tried to be nice, easy to work with, and that. But what I’m getting back now – it’s overwhelming. It amazes me. I love the Chicago theater community. “

The feeling is mutual.

“Will,” says Defiant Theatre Co-Founder Nick Offerman, “is the sort of unsung hero that makes the Chicago theater community the most robust font of talent in the nation.”

An ensemble player 

“All you need to do is mention his name to somebody that has come in contact with him and the conversation you were having takes a brief turn to acknowledge something great about Will Schutz,” adds Hypocrites company member Steve Wilson, “You sure can't say that about everyone,” he concludes.

This month, the unofficial but wide-spread Will Schutz Fan Club is putting its collective money where its mouth is. Like so many of Chicago’s most passionate, dedicated and consistently employed actors, Schutz has no health insurance. So while he was enduring multiple surgeries and a lengthy hospital stay from Dec. 30 to Jan. 19, his friends mobilized with all the single-minded efficiency and intensity you’d expect from a theater community that’s more tight-knit than many a biological family.

Jan. 23, Hydrate hosted a Will Schutz Lovefest to raise money for the actor. Feb. 8, a capacity crowd is expected when Because Will Schutz is Beloved kicks off at 8 p.m. at Sofo Bar, 4923  N. Clark.. Buy a shot during the evening, and most of the price goes to Schutz. He’ll also get a cut of the evening’s cash bar. Raffles, a silent auction, and “the best h’ors d’oeuvres in the world” will also figure in the evening, says Crew of Patches Artistic Director Jan Blixt.

.“Will makes you want to give because that’s what he’d do,” says actor Justine Turner, who worked with Schutz and Blixt in a Crew of Patches production.

Shredding the Envelope

Blindfaith Theatre Artistic Director Nick Minas recalls the kind of audition that put Schutz on the map artistically and quickly endeared him to directors throughout the city. “He created an entire comic world around him. By the time he was done with his single paragraph, I felt like I had sat through the entire first act of a comedy,” Minas says, “He more than pushes the envelope...he takes the envelope, tears into tiny pieces, pours Worcestershire sauce on it and eats it bit by bit in the most hilarious way imaginable.”

These days, Schutz is relying on his (in)famous sense of humor to deal with life off-stage. His bills are in the five figures and climbing exponentially with every one of the 22 radiation treatments his doctors have ordered. Piling on to that are chemotherapy treatments, physical therapy, and – at the insistence of his oncologist - sessions with both a psychiatrist and a psychologist.

“I think my attitude’s pretty good, but I know the depression is coming. It just hasn’t hit me yet,” Schutz says. “I think I had maybe 30-second cry at one point. I had little flashes of anger. Some self pity. But mostly, I kind of jumped right to acceptance. Like OK, I have this. Now let’s kick its ass.”

Talk to Schutz’s colleagues and they’ll say he’s been kicking ass since he came to Chicago in 1989. With a newly minted MFA from the Professional Actor Training Program at Ohio University, Schutz arrived with the kind of audacious, optimistic bravery that defines the way he approaches his craft. “I really didn’t have a plan,” Schutz recalls. “ My strategy was to get a job temping so I could support myself. And then once I had that, start auditioning for stuff. ”

Never the ingenue

By the mid-1990s, directors who wanted Schutz in a show knew it was best to call up to a year in advance. From the good Dr. Watson at City Lit Theatre to the evil Dr. Xylene at the late, great Defiant Theatre, Schutz established himself as one of the working class heroes of off-Loop theater. He cut a swath across the city, working at the Body Politic, Chicago Actors Ensemble, City Lit, Defiant, Remy Bumppo, the Side Project, Next, Signal Ensemble, Crew of Patches, Blind Faith, the Hypocrites – creating indelible characters everywhere he went.

“I’m not built as an ingénue,” he says, “That’s fine. Villains, oddballs - they’re much more interesting. I mean, it’s fun trying to figure it out: What’s going on with these guys that they’re acting so evil?”

Among Schutz’s Greatest Hits of Oddball Wonders: the nefarious Herr Xylene of Defiant Theatre’s “Action Movie” series. Defiant disbanded a few years back, but left a legacy or riotous memories. “Action Movie” was flat-out brilliant, a sprawling, balls-to-the-wall send-up of action movie tropes. Schutz was at its twisted heart. To play Xylene, he shaved his head cue-ball smooth, donned a pair of mad scientist goggle glasses and brawled from a wheelchair.

“Will is a comedic poet onstage,” adds actor and former Defiant company member Joe Foust, “(He has) a facility for playing with language that’s unequalled.”

"There were other people who may have been the face or heart of Defiant but Will was its life-force,” says Lisa Rothschiller, former Artistic Director for the company.

Day-job blues  

When Defiant disbanded, Schutz didn’t miss a beat. He worked continually, supplementing his vocation with daytime temp work. Ironically, his day job was often with insurance corporations. It was work he found hard to stomach.

“I’d get calls from like widows who were crying because the company wasn’t sending their checks. Most places, I’d pretty quickly get to the point where I’d realize how the corporation I was working for was abusing the public. Morally, ethically, it got to me. I’d wake up at 3 a.m. in a sweat. So what I’d do was. I’d work as long as I possibly could, squirreling away as much money as I could. Then I’d quit, and go as long as possible without temping at all.”

Panel discussion

Schutz managed this way for years - working and saving in sprints until he had “five figures” in savings and then quitting to focus wholly on theater. “I wouldn’t go out much. Didn’t see a lot of movies. But that was fine. Theater is what I love, and that’s what I did,” he said. And that’s what he was doing at Remy Bumppo, when Schutz came down what he assumed  was a version of the nasty cold the entire cast of “Figaro” had been battling. He powered through. But when cast member Mary Beth Fischer told him he looked yellow, he figured he better get a check-up. At worst, Schutz figured he had Hepatitis A, probably from eating contaminated food. He was taken a bit aback when his test results came in – or rather, didn’t. He was negative for Hep A. But, doctors told him, his “liver panel was elevated.”

Precisely what that elevated liver panel signified wasn’t clear yet. Schutz made an appointment for more tests. But in classic Schutzian fashion, his immediate concern wasn’t his liver. It was City Lit’s production of “Scoundrel Time.” He was two rehearsals into the two-person piece directed by Terry McCabe. He loved the piece – it gave him the chance to play a whopping 32 different characters .(“I couldn’t sleep one night. So I counted them all up,” he explains.) But as much as he loved “Scoundrel”, he hated the possibility of leaving McCabe in a bind further down the road.

“I called him and said, well, there’s something going on with my liver. I’m not sure what, but I think I should drop out before we go any further with this.”That tough choice was all too quickly eclipsed by a brutal barrage of health issues. During his nearly three-week hospital stay, Schutz recalls, he underwent ‘four or five” surgeries.

Following the passion

Ironically for a man without insurance, Schutz’s father is a surgeon, his mother a nurse. His parents, he says, had very different reactions to his career choice. “My mother was supportive. My father essentially called me a bum. He just didn’t get it. There are members of my family who have since told me, ‘You know what? You’re the only one of us who really followed their passion.’ ” Schutz says.

“Obviously, I haven’t gotten rich or famous. That was never my goal,” he adds. “But that’s OK. I’m happy. A certain amount of notoriety would have been nice, but since this – this – event – has happened, I think I have all the notoriety I want.”
As for the financial woes that compound his physical challenges, Schutz retains the combination of brashness and optimism that fuel his long, superlative-ridden stage career.

“Look, it’s not like Obama is going to fix the healthcare crisis in America tomorrow,” says Schutz. “So I’m hoping they’ll treat me as a charity case. If I have to declare bankruptcy, I will,” he says. Whatever the case, his friends are unwavering in their support.
"Will is the most giving and generous actor anyone could hope to work with,” says Remy Bumppo co-founder and former Defiant company member Linda Gillum. “(He) would never want to put anyone out or ask for help. That is why it is so touching to see so many people reaching out to help. The overwhelming amount of support is very telling in how much Will affects the theatre community."