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Fans of former <I>CSI: Crime Scene Investigation</I> leading man <font color=yellow>William Petersen</font> (Gil Grissom) lined up to see him rehearse for <I>Blackbird</I> at Victory Garden Theater in Chicago, Illinois.<p>The <A class="link" HREF="http://www.csifiles.com/news/220609_01.shtml">rehearsal</a> took place on June 25, and hundreds of <I>CSI</I> fans turned out to see a few minutes of Petersen's performance. Tickets to see the entire play have sold quickly. "All my aunts and uncles are coming in from the West Coast because they are big <I>CSI</I> fans," Petersen's co-star <font color=yellow>Mattie Hawkinson</font> told the <A class="link" HREF="http://www.chicagotribune.com/">Chicago Tribune</a>. "I had to warn them about the subject matter."<p><I>Blackbird</I> is a two-person play about a man and woman who discuss the affair they had 15 years before, when he was 40 and she was 12 years old. "It reminds me of Greek theater," Hawkinson said. "The characters hash out a very long argument in a single room. And it is about desires that are a detriment to life." Petersen explained, "It is a fraught love story in a way. It is not just about what is right and what is wrong. It is very real in many ways. And this is not a topic that allows us to bury our heads in the sand."<p>"This is not a fun character to play," Petersen said. "This is not a fun character to be. It is a tough slog emotionally. It is not one of those plays that makes you want to greet the crowd afterwards and all go out for a beer. We're just trying to survive here." The role is very different than Grissom, so Petersen knows the play will be a surprise for some of the <I>CSI</I> fans in the audience. "But that brings a lot of new people into the theater," he said, "and that's a good thing."<p>The original article is from the <A class="link" HREF="http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/arts/chi-0703-blackbird-petersenjul03,0,1083385.column">Chicago Tribune</a>.<center></center>