Lookingglass Theatre

Take your family on an amazing voyage complete with magic, monsters and feats of great bravery when the Lookingglass Young Ensemble - the new youth performing troupe of Lookingglass Theatre Company Education and Community Programs - makes its debut after the holidays with Mary Zimmerman's The Odyssey.

Performances are January 21-February 18, 2007, and kick off the ensemble's inaugural season at Lookingglass' intimate Chase Studio Theatre inside Chicago's historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Avenue at Pearson.

Strap the family in for high seas adventure when the new Lookingglass Young Ensemble, a diverse group of 30 theater artists ages 8 to 18 from throughout Chicago, present Homer's epic tale.   Join Odysseus and his stalwart crew on their fantastical ten-year voyage. Marvel as they battle the Cyclops, outwit the bewitching Sirens and brave the wrath of Poseidon so that Odysseus may, at last, return home to his loved ones.

Employing elements of circus, puppetry and tumbling, this production of The Odyssey is sure to hold even the youngest theatergoers spellbound. Fittingly, Lookingglass' new youth troupe will be presenting a new, 90-minute family-friendly version of The Odyssey, a play that premiered at Lookingglass in 1990 and helped catapult Ensemble member Mary Zimmerman to national prominence.

According to Kerry Catlin, Master Teacher, Lookingglass Education and Community Programs, and director of The Odyssey, "As the young ensemble embarks on its first story-telling adventure, what better way to do it than with Mary's exciting and accessible adaptation of this ancient text." Catlin, who adapted this production from Zimmerman's original work, has been a teaching artist and director with Lookingglass' Education and Community programs for the last thirteen years.  She has also taught English and Drama at Farragut Career Academy and Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center in Chicago. She wrote and directed All the Time in the World, a circus with The Actors Gym in Evanston.  She was a founding member of Chapel Perilous Theatre Company in Chicago.

Lookingglass Young Ensemble members performing on-stage in The Odyssey include Zack Anderson (Poseidon and others), Aaron Foronda (Alcinous and others), Isabel Hannigan (Hermes, Nausicaa and others), Malcolm Harris (Eurolychus and others), Ruby Keutzer (Eurycleia, Circe and others), Hayley Lyons (Calypso and others), Alex Nishida (Odysseus), Tommie-Lee O'Brien (Telemachus), Jesse Osaro (Antinuos), Nicolette Shutty (Penelope), Elise Terrell (Athena) and Porter Truax (Zeus).

If not performing on stage, Young Ensemble members are required to work in some capacity on each show.  For The Odyssey, designers and crew members include Kerry Catlin, Director; Hilary Murray, Stage Manager; Margaret Goddard, Technical Director; Kaycee Sewchok, Costume Designer; Leah Orleans, Assistant Stage Manager and Assistant Costume Designer; Ian Gray and Sam Clendenning, Lighting Design; Bianca Baldwin, Lisbeth Estrada, Joey Johnson and Chris Quazzo, Costume and Prop Crew.

Following The Odyssey, the Young Ensemble's inaugural season at Lookingglass' Chase Studio Theatre continues with Inside/Outside, an original collaboration between Lookingglass Young Ensemble members and their peers at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center (Mar. 10-Apr 8, 2007, for middle-school and up), and Black Beauty:  the Musical, the beloved classic, told through music and dance (July 7-Aug 12, 2007, for ages 7 and up.) Three-show series including The Odyssey, Inside/Outside and Black Beauty: the Musical are $15 for students; $30 for adults.  Flex plans and group discounts are available.  Call the Lookingglass box office, (312) 337-0665, for more information.

Lookingglass Theatre Company formed its new Young Ensemble the spring of 2006, in an effort to better nurture talented young artists from throughout the Chicago community.  Selected through an open audition process, a diverse group of 30 youngsters ages 8 - 18 was chosen to receive training from leading area theater professionals in all areas of production - free of any charge.  From circus skills to stagecraft, playwriting to costume design, improvisation to directing, the group meets each week to intensively study their craft. Following their regular runs at the Chase Studio Theatre, all Young Ensemble productions also tour Chicago-area after school centers, youth clubs, libraries and recreation centers.  Audiences at Lookingglass and on tour will find their work closely mirrors the physically bold and visually lyrical aesthetic of the Lookingglass mainstage.  Moreover, this season's shows were selected to reflect and explore many of the same issues, themes and ideas that are being tackled as part of Lookingglass' adult season.

Creation of the Lookingglass Young Ensemble represents a major shift in focus for the Lookingglass Education Department, under the new guidance of Education and Community Director Jody Davidson since in August 2005.  In addition to formalizing a youth ensemble, Davidson has launched a new class format named the Lookingglass Continuum.  With its greater scope and sequence of classes, the new Lookingglass Continuum offers a more structured approach to transitioning participants from creative dramatic play, where the needs of the child are foremost, to the skills required for public performance, where success is measured more by the artist's abilities to impact an audience.

Show times for The Odyssey, which runs January 21-February 18, 2007, are Saturday and Sunday at noon and 2 pm.  Tickets are $6 for students and $12 for adults.  The Odyssey is recommended for ages 7 and up. For tickets and information, call the Lookingglass Box Office, (312) 337-0665.