It’s a sure bet that anyone who streams, watches television or goes to movies has seen a performance by Judy Greer.
A reliably versatile actress, Greer’s career spans 25 years and countless television and film credits. She’s a blend of character actress/leading lady in work ranging from the Marvel Universe (“Ant-Man”) to the “Halloween” franchise to rom-coms (“27 Dresses,” anyone?) to guest spots and leading roles in dozens of television shows including “Arrested Development.”
But now the always busy Greer is, at least for the summer, going back to her roots in live theater.
After graduating in 1997 from The Theatre School at DePaul University, Greer performed in Court Theatre’s staging of Moliere’s “School for Wives,” but then quickly found herself in Los Angeles where she decided to “ride the wave” of film and television. In the ensuing years, she did very little theater work.
Last on stage in 2012 when she made her Broadway debut in Theresa Rebeck’s comedy “Dead Accounts,” she now returns in Steppenwolf Theatre’s production of “Another Marriage,” a new play by ensemble member Kate Arrington.
“I’m not exaggerating when I say this is a dream come true,” Greer, 47, says with a laugh. “I’ve been dying to be on the Steppenwolf stage since I was at the Theatre School.”
Directed by Steppenwolf co-founder Terry Kinney, “Another Marriage” is the story of Sunny (Greer) and Nick (Ian Barford) and a marriage that is redefined after several life-altering events. Nicole Scimeca portrays their teenage daughter Jo, who serves as the play’s ringmaster, a scene-setting narrator. Caroline Neff co-stars as Macassidy, Nick’s love interest.
Greer made a connection with Arrington while both were filming the upcoming movie “Eric Larue.” Written by Chicago playwright Brett Neveu, who adapted his drama of the same name about a mother (Greer) whose son has shot and killed three of his classmates, the movie features many Chicago actors and is the directing debut of Arrington’s husband, actor Michael Shannon.
“Judy was the lead and I realized watching her that this woman has so much going on,” Arrington recalled. “You see actors you adore in films but it’s a very different thing to be on stage, and it doesn’t always translate. Watching her now, I think live theater is definitely her medium.”
Kinney admits he had no faith that the in-demand Greer would actually be available but was delighted when she signed on.
“She has all the warmth and all of the emotion, but she also is naturally so funny, and the humor helps us enormously,” Kinney says, adding, “She’s as natural an actress as I’ve ever seen on stage.”
“Another Marriage” is Arrington’s playwriting debut. It has been an emotional road to travel as the play is based “a little bit” on something that happened between her parents.
Arrington had long dabbled in writing. But when her vibrant mother Jean Arrington was diagnosed with multiple system atrophy (MSA), a rare, fast-moving disease that damages nerve cells in the brain that control body functions, she realized she wanted her mother to see the play and needed to get it done.
“My parents were divorced but dad took it upon himself to move to Brooklyn and to care for my mother,” Arrington says, her voice breaking. “It became this very beautiful moment at the end of their relationship.”
Greer says she was immediately taken with the story and the character of Sunny.
“I think it’s a really honest and beautiful story about the dissolution of a marriage and finding another relationship with this person,” Greer says. “These characters find a new way to love each other, and I think it’s a really hopeful story, heartbreaking at times for sure, but hopeful about how relationships, if you allow them, have the ability to evolve over a lifetime instead of being one thing forever.”
“Another Marriage” was scheduled at Steppenwolf in 2019 but the pandemic halted the staging.
Jean Arrington, an English professor, also had been writing, in this case, a book — “From Factories to Palaces: Architect Charles B.J. Snyder and the New York City Progressive-Era Public Schools” — a 15-year passion project about the innovative architect who designed many New York City public schools. She passed away in 2022 prior to its publication. (The book was completed with the editing help of Snyder’s great-granddaughter Cynthia Skeffington LaValle and published posthumously by Fordham University Press.)
“It was a story that my mother deeply felt needed to be told, and I think that was something I was struggling with as I wrote the play,” Arrington says. “This idea that aspects of women’s lives especially mothers are often truncated on some level. I was inspired by this sadness that I had that this was going to be an unfinished part of my mom’s life.”
Greer admits returning to live theater does take some adjustment; it’s a challenge to switch her mindset.
“It’s a very different experience. But I love working closely with actors and directors and that’s something you don’t often get to do in film and television. It was something I had to adjust to when I left the Theatre School for Los Angeles.”
Greer grew up near Detroit, studied ballet and was drawn to acting in high school. A friend told her about “this amazing theater program” at DePaul. Like so many graduates of The Theatre School, it offered Greer a solid foundation from which to build her career.
She has played her share of supporting roles and has become known for swooping in and making the most of her hilarious scenes in guest spots on sitcoms such as “Arrested Development” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”
Most recently she was seen in Hulu’s very funny sitcom “Reboot” (tragically not renewed), with Rene Zellweger in the addictive crime drama “The Thing About Pam” and as G. Gordon Liddy’s wife in HBO’s drama “White House Plumbers.”
Greer is the lead in “Eric Larue” but she says she still sees every role as simply part of an ensemble.
“Being a supporting actor for 25 years, I have a hard time thinking of myself as the lead,” she says. “I know that it takes a village.”
Greer credits her training in Chicago as the in road to her success.
“I think being a Chicago actor is honestly what helped me achieve so much success in Hollywood. I think Chicago actors get a lot of respect. There’s a real sense of art that I see in the acting done here, and it’s a thrill to be part of it.”
