Theatre News Wire

Lookingglass Theatre proudly announces its 25th Anniversary Season, kicking off with the return of Metamorphoses written and directed by Ensemble Member Mary Zimmerman, coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the Broadway run. The season continues with the Chicago premiere of the Tony award-nominated Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, a 2010 Pulitzer Prize finalist, written by Rajiv Joseph and directed by Heidi Stillman. Ensemble Member Christine Mary Dunford will direct the world premiere of her adaptation of the bestselling novel Still Alice. In the final show of Lookingglass' 25th Season, David Schwimmer will direct the world premiere of Big Lake Big City by Keith Huff, the award-winning playwright of the Broadway cop drama A Steady Rain.

Artistic Director Andrew White comments, "It's both thrilling and apt that in our 25th Anniversary Season we're serving up a quintessential Lookingglass feast for our audiences and artists. This season will be both breathtaking and groundbreaking: you've got this great Lookingglass classic, which captured the nation's imagination ten years ago and will do so again this time around; one of the best new plays, fresh from Broadway, by one of the fiercest, most daring voices of our generation; and two brand-spanking new original world premieres that have the depth and wit that our audiences crave and have come to expect from Lookingglass. We're proud to celebrate this milestone year with a season that represents the range of the Company's vision so fully."

The Lookingglass 25th season is:
 
Metamorphoses
Based on the myths of Ovid
Written and directed by Ensemble Member Mary Zimmerman
Begins September 19, 2012
Coinciding with the 10th Anniversary of the Broadway run

Ten years ago Lookingglass debuted Metamorphoses, a play of such grace and beauty that the memory of it still lingers in the minds of audiences today. The critically-acclaimed, record-breaking Chicago engagement led to a Broadway production that garnered Mary Zimmerman the 2002 Tony Award for Best Director and catapulted Lookingglass onto the national stage.

In the simple beauty of a rippling pool of water, Ensemble Member Mary Zimmerman conjures Ovid's myths into gorgeous imagery, provocative moments and breathtaking storytelling. Metamorphoses' long-anticipated Chicago revival will feature a number of Lookingglass Ensemble Members and original cast members.

In February 2013, Lookingglass Theatre's production of Metamorphoses, will transfer to The Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. This will mark Zimmerman's first return to D.C. since her smash hit productions of The Arabian Nights and Candide.

Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
Written by Rajiv Joseph
Directed by Ensemble Member Heidi Stillman
Begins January 30, 2013

The New York Times called this ferocious Tony Award-nominated dark comedy "a savagely funny and visionary new work of American Theatre." Two US Marines and an Iraqi translator are thrust into a world of greed, mystery and betrayal after an encounter with a now-deceased but still very pissed-off tiger. The streets of war-torn Baghdad are filled with ghosts, riddles and wry humor in Rajiv Joseph's groundbreaking play that explores the power and perils of human nature.

Still Alice
Adapted and Directed by Ensemble Member Christine Mary Dunford
Based on the New York Times Bestselling novel by Lisa Genova
Begins April 10, 2013

Professor Alice Howland is at the peak of her career studying the human brain when her own mind begins to falter. Fiercely independent, she battles to preserve her way of life and remain true to herself and her family, even as confusion clouds her thinking and her memory begins to fail. Ensemble Member Christine Mary Dunford's world premiere adaptation of this award-winning novel is at the same time heartbreaking and hopeful.

Big Lake Big City
Written by Keith Huff
Directed by Ensemble member David Schwimmer
Begins June 19, 2013

Detective Bass can't catch a break: his boss is a hard-ass, his partner's a knucklehead, his wife's a cheat, and now he has to chase down a perp who has a screwdriver in his head. An eclectic set of shady characters-crooked coroners, a TV-personality doctor, a femme fatale, and one extraordinarily valuable sculpture-run roughshod through a hilarious maze of double-crosses and double-identities. 2011 Writers Guild Award-winner Keith Huff lampoons the Windy City with a menacing smirk and tongue in cheek in this gritty modern noir directed by David Schwimmer.


Subscriptions are on sale for the 2012-2013 Season. Performances will be held at Lookingglass Theatre Company, located inside Chicago's historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson.

Current subscribers who renew before April 15 may do so for the reduced rate of $118-$220. Subscriptions for the 2012-2013 Season are $126-$234 for four plays.

Subscription benefits include access to the best seats in the house, pre-sale opportunities and savings before single tickets go on sale to the general public, special perks at more than a dozen exclusive of restaurant partners, unlimited ticket exchanges, discounted parking at the nearby John Hancock Center and Olympia Centre Garage (161 E. Chicago Ave.), reduced tuition for Lookingglass' renowned classes and summer camps, and courtesy performance date reminders. For season subscription and ticket information, call the Lookingglass Theatre box office at (312) 337-0665 or visit lookingglasstheatre.org.