Lookingglass Theatre Company's 22nd season continues with Artistic Director David Catlin's soaring adaptation and World Premiere of Icarus. The Lookingglass original runs December 5, 2009- January 24, 2010 at Lookingglass Theatre Company, located inside Chicago's historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson. Commissioned by the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, Catlin tells this captivating story using myth, scientific theory, visual metaphor, song, and gravity-defying choreography. We all dream of flying; Lookingglass' 52nd World Premiere explores the psychological desire to take to the air, the need of a father to have his child succeed, and the dizzying despair of falling.
Director David Catlin comments, "This Greek myth has endured throughout centuries because it connects with basic human thoughts and emotions. Storytelling and defying gravity have been recurring themes throughout Lookingglass' history and this is a great example of our integration of physical and literary work."
Produced in association with The Actors Gymnasium, Icarus reunites some of the collaborators from David Catlin's smash-hit Lookingglass Alice, including choreographer Sylvia Hernandez DiStasi, actors Larry DiStasi, Lauren Hirte, Lindsey Whiting, Anthony Fleming III and Adeoye. Like Lookingglass Alice, Icarus uses physicality and imagery to create the story.
The cast includes Adeoye (Aegeus/Minotaur), Ensemble Member Larry DiStasi (Daedalus), Artistic Associate Anthony Fleming III (Minos/Theseus), Artistic Associate Lauren Hirte (Aetra/Andgrogeus), Nicole Shalhoub (Naucrate/Medea), and Lindsey Whiting (Icarus/Pasiphae).
Designers include Artistic Associates Alison Siple (costume and properties) and Rick Sims (sound designer) with Jaymi Lee Smith (lighting), Jill Norris (assistant lighting designer). The choreographer is Artistic Associate Sylvia Hernandez DiStasi.
The Actors Gymnasium Circus and Performing Arts School was founded in 1995 by Lookingglass Ensemble Member Larry DiStasi, circus-veteran Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi, Chicago actor Carlyle Coash, and theater writer Anthony Adler. The Actors Gymnasium is an organization dedicated to bringing a new physicality to the American theater and to the lives of its students. The Gym pursues its goal by offering a wide range of classes for adults and children, by creating original, daring works of physical theatre, and by maintaining a residency program that brings in distinguished physical artists from around the world. The Actors Gymnasium has also developed a body of work by co-producing shows with companies like the Lookingglass Theatre. Lookingglass affiliation credits include The Baron in the Trees, La Luna Muda, Hard Times, and Lookingglass Alice.
Tickets are available online, www.lookingglasstheatre.org; by phone, 312-337-0665; or at the Lookingglass Theatre box office, located inside Chicago's historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson.