Steel & Roses to hit the stage April 15!

Press Release: March 7, 2005

Contact: Sean Hayden at (219) 738-9029 or shayden@icd-uswasteelco.org

Merrillville -- Scripts written by Steelworkers, performed by Steelworkers, on a stage constructed by Steelworkers and directed by a former Steelworker.

That’s Steel & Roses, presented by the Institute for Career Development and the Steelworkers on Stage project.

A collection of theatrical and musical performances and poetry readings, Steel & Roses takes to the stage April 15-17 at Hammond’s Towle Community Theater.

Steel & Roses

Playing at Hammond’s Towle Community Theater

Showtimes: 8 p.m., April 15-16; 2 p.m. April 17

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased from the Towle Theater at (219) 937-8780 or from ICD at (219) 738-9029.

Steel & Roses was borne out of the success from the 2001 release of The Heat: Steelworker Lives & Legends, a collection of poems and short stories depicting life in the steel mill. The book spawned a series of writing classes, ranging from creative writing to playwriting, from which many of the scripts for Steel & Roses are derived.

Active and retired Steelworkers from many of the steel mills bordering Lake Michigan will participate in the Steelworkers on Stage project, many of them spending hours in rehearsal or set production in addition to their fulltime jobs.

John Szostek, a former Steelworker at US Steel, will direct the production. Szostek currently is the Artistic Director at the Piccolo Theatre in Evanston, IL, but jumped at the chance to direct the Steelworkers project.

“Why? In my experience at US Steel, I felt the tragedy and comedy of men and women in real life,” Szostek said. “The environment was dangerous, the paychecks tenuous and the desire for a better life ever present.”

For Szostek and other Steelworkers, that better life came courtesy of the steel mill, and the security provided by the union and a steady paycheck.

“When the conditions are inhospitable and the future most bleak is when the essence of humanity shines,” Szostek continued. “I experienced it. I’ll never forget it. These stories need to be told.”