Brigid Duffy Gerace, Interview with Regina Hong, 2020

Brigid Duffy Gerace, Mundelein class of 1960, was interviewed by Loyola graduate student, Regina Hong. Gerace recalls that during her years as a student, she juggled classes and employment. She was no stranger to hard work. From the time she was young, Gerace held a variety of jobs from hauling coal and selling freezers to her stint as an elevator operator at Marshall Fields. During her student years, Gerace was involved in the drama department and was an actor and crew member of the Mundelein drama group, the Laetare Players. One of Gerace’s most vivid recollections of her student life at Mundelein was the “magical” marble steps of the skyscraper building which no one ever used except for at graduation. Gerace finishes the interview by recalling her post college career as a Goodman School of Drama graduate student and her years as a teacher and well-established Chicago actor.

Content Note: These collections may include language or descriptions of events that may be upsetting to some users.

2020

Brigid Duffy Gerace (née Duffy) was born in 1937 in Ireland, the oldest of four children. The family emigrated to America in 1948 when Gerace was ten years old. She attended elementary school at Saint Andrew’s. She went on to The Immaculata High School, where she fell in love with drama.  

At Mundelein, she majored in drama and was actively involved in the Laetare Players as a crew member and actor in several plays. During college, she commuted from an apartment she shared with her sisters, worked at Marshall Field’s as an elevator operator and sold freezers.

After graduating, she worked for three years as a drama teacher before commencing her graduate studies at the Goodman School of Drama (now The Theatre School at DePaul University). Gerace was a teacher in the Chicago Public Schools for thirty-five years and won the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching. She belongs to all the actors’ unions and has performed extensively in theaters such as the Steppenwolf Theatre, the Goodman Theatre, Northlight Theatre as well as TV shows such as Chicago P.D., Chicago Fire, and most recently, Christmas Movie Christmas. Gerace is currently on the Mother Jones Statue Committee, which aims to build a statue in honor of the great labor leader in downtown Chicago. She has been married to Charles Gerace for 53 years. The couple has two children, Sean and Erin, and four grandchildren.

Regina Hong is a graduate student in the Digital Humanities program at Loyola University Chicago and a Sesquicentennial Scholar at the WLA. She was raised in Singapore and lived in Japan for two years prior to moving to Chicago

Brigid Duffy Gerace
Interview with Regina Hong, August 3, 2020
Via Zoom
Time Log

0-5 minutes
Gerace’s childhood, family’s migration from Ireland to America, first impressions of New York, experiences in school when she first arrived, reminiscences on doing household chores
5-10 minutes
Support from neighbors after mother’s demise, major at Mundelein, jobs held, favorite classes at Mundelein, nuns’ support for her
10-15 minutes
Memorable instructors at Mundelein, reason for going to Mundelein, audition at Mundelein’s drama department, work at Marshall Field’s
15-20 minutes
Places in Mundelein Gerace studied at, reflections on juggling work, school and activities, types of dramas put up at Mundelein, Sister Jeanelle Bergen, process of being cast in drama plays
20-25 minutes
Play rehearsal schedules, work as a crew member, memorable moments as a Laetare Player, collaboration with Loyola students and faculty on plays
25-30 minutes
Favorite role, reason for why it was her favorite role, serving tea at events, description of food served, receiving a hundred dollars from her father
30-35 minutes
Purchasing a new coat with the money from her father, experiences working as an elevator operator at Marshall Field’s
35-40 minutes
Description of first job hauling coal, description of job selling freezers, work at Mundelein, Sisters’ support in her academics, reflections on juggling various commitments
40-45 minutes
Inspiration from watching parents, memorable experiences of her commute to Mundelein, challenging things about living off campus, popular books during her time at Mundelein
45–50 minutes
Discussion of movies and books, pastimes at Mundelein, Christmas traditions, religion at Mundelein
50–55 minutes
Description of religion at Mundelein, May Crowning ceremony, discussion of St. Andrew’s School, talk about her involvement in television, movies and theater
55–57:09 minutes
Training and teaching in acting.

Brigid Duffy Gerace 2020 Index

KEY
BDG=Brigid Duffy Gerace Interview

INDEX
Antigone, BDG 15-20
A Streetcar Named Desire, BDG 45-50
Actors’ Equity, BDG 50-55
Bergen, Jeanelle, BVM, BDG 15-20, BDG 20-25
Bishop Shields, BDG 50-55
Brando, Marlon, BDG 45-50
Catcher in the Rye, BDG 40-45, BDG 45-50, BDG 50-55
Chicago Fire, BDG 50-55
Chicago P.D., BDG 50-55
Chicago Park District, BDG 25-30
Chicago Public Schools, BDG 55:00 – 57:09
Christmas Movie, Christmas, BDG 50-55
Dante, Alighieri, BDG 5-10
DePaul University Theater School, BDG 55:00 – 57:09
Evanston, Illinois, BDG 0-5
Father Clark, BDG 50-55
Flynn, Judith, BDG 10-15
Fogarty, Mary Ann, BDG 10-15, BDG 15-20
Gannon Center, BDG 45-50
Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching, BDG 55:00 – 57:09
Goodman School of Drama, BDG 55:00 – 57:09
Goodman Theatre, BDG 55:00 – 57:09
Hallmark Movies Now, BDG 55:00 – 57:09
Immaculata High School, BDG 5-10
Ireland, BDG 0-5
King Lear, BDG 5-10
Laetare Players, BDG 20-25
Loyola University Chicago, BDG 15-20, BDG 20-25, BDG 40-45, BDG 45-50
Macy’s Department Store, BDG 30-35
Marshall Field’s Department Store, BDG 5-10, BDG 10-15, BDG 20-25, BDG 25-30, BDG 30-35, BDG 35-40
Marshall Fields Walnut Room, BDG 30-35
Mother Jones Statue Committee, BDG, Narrator Biography
Mundelein College Skyscraper Building, BDG 15-20, BDG 45-50
New York City, BDG 0-5
Northeastern University, BDG 55:00 – 57:09
Northlight Theatre, BDG, Narrator Biography
Northwestern University, BDG 55:00 – 57:09
Pettersen, George, BDG 20-25
Phelps, Katherine, BDG 10-15
Reuter, Anna, Helen, BDG 50-55
Rohter, Rose, BDG 10-15
Saint Andrew’s Parish, BDG 0-5
Saint Clement’s School, BDG 0-5
Salinger, J. D., BDG 40-45
Screen Actors’ Guild, BDG 50-55
Selma Marches, BDG 45-50
Shakespeare, William, BDG 5-10, BDG 15-20, BDG 25-30
Sister Donalda, BDG 35-40
Sister Mary Therese, BDG 10-15
Sister Philipa, BDG 5-10, BDG 10-15, BDG 15-20
Sisters of Providence, BDG 10-15
Sleeping Beauty, BDG 20-25
Smulson, Marshall, DDS, BDG 25-30
The Glass Menagerie, BDG 20-25
The New World Newspaper, BDG 5-10
The Skyscraper, BDG 15-20
Williams, Tennessee, BDG 15-20, 25-30

The materials contained on this portal are freely available for scholarship, or non-commercial research under the “fair use” provisions of US copyright law. Prior written permission is required for any use that exceeds “fair use” including publication, broadcast, for placing on another web site, or for any paid or commercial use.