generic Actor Hollis Resnik, glittering star of many Chicago stages and musicals, is dead at 66
She was, for decades, a reigning diva of the Chicago theater, a rich-voiced star of musicals with a singular presence, a crackling sene of humor, and a larger-than-life persona, on and off the stage. In the latter part of her career, Hollis Resnik imbued her famously uninhibited work with a particular pathos and a clear, ringing sympathy for the great female characters of the musical theater who come to fall on harder times. Her work in “Follies,” “Les Miserables” and “Sunset Boulevard” is unlikely soon to be forgotten.
Resnik died Sunday night from heart failure at Swedish Covenant Hospital at the age of 66. Her death was announced by Rev. Jim Heneghan, a family friend and spokesperson.
In theory, Resnik had announced her retirement. But, in fact, she continued to work at Chicago’s numerous theaters, as she had for decades. Longtime subscribers at such venues as Chicago Shakespeare Theater, the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, Porchlight Music Theatre, Court Theatre and the Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace have seen her star in countless productions. Her career was long enough to reach back to the Candlelight Theatre in Summit, when she appeared in a series of ingénue roles.
“She was a perfectionist,” said BJ Jones, the artistic director of the Northlight Theatre. “Her great work came at a cost to her.”
Terry James, executive director of the Marriott Theatre, said “I am gutted and devastated by the passing of one of the great talents. All of us have lost a dear friend and Chicago has lost a theater legend.”
Resnik’s many credits included Eva Peron in “Evita” at the Candlelight (1985); Audrey in “Little Shop of Horrors” at Candlelight (1986); Edith Piaf in “Piaf” at Interplay (1992); Charlotte in “A Little Night Music” at the Ravinia Festival (2002); Aldonza in “Man of La Mancha” at Court (2005); Edith Beale in “Grey Gardens” at Northlight; Carlotta in Gary Griffin’s famed production “Follies” at Chicago Shakespeare (2011) and an especially memorable Fräulein Schneider in Katie Spelman’s 2018 production of “Cabaret” at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora. She won a dozen Joseph Jefferson Awards and a plethora of other honors. She was twice divorced and found a close family in the Chicago theater.
“Resnik’s ‘I’m Still Here’ is no blast of existential defiance,” wrote the Tribune of Resnik’s widely acclaimed work in “Follies” in 2011 on Navy Pier “Rather, Resnik feels the underlying heartbeat of the song, leans into its bouncy refrain and bats back most of its inherent lyrical challenges, as if the crises of which the character sings were mere inconveniences. It is an unconventional but wholly thrilling and complex rendition. And it makes sense that Carlotta, the alumna who actually had the career, is the only one whose glamour has turned into armor that protects.”
Resnik’s national tours included “Sister Act” and years of work on “Les Miserables,” including a triumphant six-month run at the Auditorium Theatre in that role in 1989. That said, she rarely made large salaries and also appeared in children’s theater, including a full-on performance as the Wicked Witch in a daytime production of “The Wizard of Oz” at Chicago Shakespeare Theater in 2019, mostly for kids who had no idea whom they were getting to see work for them.
Originally from the Cleveland area and born in 1955, Resnik arrived in Chicago at the age of 23, got her Equity card doing “Bye Bye Birdie” for Bill Pullinsi at Candlelight, and made a life in the professional theater here.
“That’s more than 40 years ago,” she told the Tribune in 2019, talking about how her retirement did not appear to be all that retiring. “Not that I want to sound like I am complaining because I have met the most wonderful people and been able to do the most wonderful things.”
“Hollis was a terrific performer and actor,’ said Pullinsi. “Her performance in ‘Nine’ at Candlelight was intoxicating. She was already ready, always prepared. On or off stage, she was wonderful.”
“I can hear her beautiful voice in my head,” said Eileen LaCario, the vice president of Broadway in Chicago and a former Candlelight staffer, on Monday. “We have lost a Chicago star who gave us so much and who dazzled us throughout her life.”
Plans for a memorial service are pending.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
