How Did I Get To Edgewater? by Marssie Mencotti

Marssie Mencotti

I was raised in the Irving Park and Portage Park neighborhoods of Chicago and my knowledge of other neighborhoods was very limited. Frankly, I had no idea where the Edgewater neighborhood was located. Anything east of California Avenue and north of Irving Park Road was uncharted territory.

Here I’ll skip ahead many years to my living in northwest Pennsylvania. In 1985, my daughter and I returned to Chicago. After high school, she was spending the summer in Pennsylvania while I was attending Second City improv classes, teaching improv at Ruth Page School, and working full-time in Chicago radio writing/producing/voicing commercials and in new business marketing.

After our often-hilarious improv classes, a group of us gathered at the bar on Wells Street across from Second City for a beverage and continued to dissect our humor. One of my fellow actors said that a woman he worked with was looking for someone to sublet a large apartment in Edgewater. The catch was the woman needed someone to sign the lease who had a secure income and job references. All faces turned to me, the “responsible” older actor. The rent was high but affordable because I would only be paying half, and the other two “housemates” would split the rest. The building was right on Sheridan and had indoor parking included. 

The minute my friends and I stepped inside, we loved it. There was so much space! The balcony looked over the lake. It was older, mid-century modern, a bit dated, but huge. We were able to come and go anonymously and each of us had enough room for our things, our food, clothing, rehearsal space, and two cats. It was an ideal place for commuting downtown to theatres and to improv venues in the Old Town area.

I lived on that shoreline crust of Chicago for years without ever going any deeper than Broadway and rarely using the services it afforded because life was very busy and about to get complicated. I auditioned for “Tony and Tina’s Wedding” at Piper’s Alley in Old Town and was cast as the mother of the bride. So, I was now working full-time in radio and doing six or more shows a week. I was also auditioning and recording commercials as a voiceover during the week or open evenings. This went on for nearly three years until I decided that I wanted to branch out and do other theatre work that perhaps was more challenging.

I am first and foremost an actor, voiceover actor, and writer. But what has that to do with Edgewater? Everything. In the years that followed my leaving “Tony and Tina’s Wedding,” I auditioned at Red Twist and City Lit Theatres, both Edgewater favorites. I also worked at the Apollo, The Raven, Steppenwolf, Lifeline, and in many other theatres in nearby neighborhoods.

However, my roles at City Lit and Red Twist are the most memorable and lasting. I was nominated several times for non-Equity Jeff Awards, both individual and ensemble. I am a proud SAG member but not Equity. Those theatres valued my acting talent as much as I valued their artistry and missions. They provided vibrant new work alongside established plays that enriched us all. My proximity to downtown and the rest of the city also made auditioning for commercials both on and off camera easy and fast.

In 1998, I was hired as an Artist in Residence at Columbia College Chicago in their Radio Department. The next semester I submitted my CV and resume for a tenured position. Eventually, I was tenured, completed an master’s degree in creative writing at Northwestern and designed the Voiceover Minor curriculum which now has the most students of any minor area of study at Columbia. All my outside creative endeavors were within a few miles of my Edgewater home.  

With a change in jobs came a re-allocation of time, and a change of lifestyle. An old friend came to join me in the penthouse. He suggested we buy a condo. We put a down payment on a condo on Sheridan near Thorndale. Neither of us wanted to leave Edgewater.

While living on our beautiful lakefront, I completed a book of historical fiction entitled, Pro Patria:  The Story of an American Who Fought for Italy in World War I. I used my uncle’s first-person diary as a primary source, and it was released as a book on Amazon in 2018, the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI.

A few years later, during the COVID pandemic, we felt safe in our lakefront condo. We went out rarely to shop a few blocks away and donated to Go Fund Me pages to support local businesses in our neighborhood. We performed in online theatrical efforts. Edgewater, I think, weathered the lockdown very well and provided vaccines, testing and boosters in several locations.

A local friend of mine said he got his books from the Edgewater Library. I was immediately envious. I called my daughter who is the director of an immense library in Tigard, Oregon, and asked her more about online borrowing. Now I love getting email notifications that the books I want to read are ready for me to pick up. I get there as quickly as possible and it’s a thrill that always satisfies.

The availability of theatre, shopping, restaurants, public transportation, the Armory for many activities, the farmer’s markets, dental services, small food venues for delicious carry-out, the CTA Red Line and busses, the trash-to-treasure stores, Aldi’s and Whole Foods, banking, the library, and pharmacies, restaurants, pet services, and more, means we have almost everything we need within walking distance. Edgewater to me is an understated name for everything all at once at the most beautiful edge of the water.

I was in a show recently at City Lit that closed in April (2024). I did some staged readings in May and June, and I hope to audition for more theatre as opportunities appear, especially at Red Twist and City Lit. My partner and I record online auditions in our makeshift home studio and can easily get downtown from Edgewater for other opportunities. We have professional representation with Big Mouth Talent.

How did I get to Edgewater? I arrived unintentionally and unwittingly to discover a beautiful, diverse, accessible and complete neighborhood where an actor like me can avail themselves of high-quality opportunities nearby and all over the city quite easily. It’s been a perfect place for 33 years.

Copyright © 2024, Marssie Mencotti