Displaying items by tag: CIRCUS QUIXOTE

Chicago’s Tony-Award winning Lookingglass Theatre Company is proud to share its current 2025 season including two mainstage productions, Circus Quixote, January 30 – March 30, and Iraq, But Funny, May 29 – July 20; a wide variety of Circus Quixote accessibility, education and community events including juggling workshops, a Latine Night and talkbacks in collaboration with Teatro Vista and Instituto Cervantes; performances by Lookingglass Theatre’s Young Ensemble: The Portrait of Madame X, March 2 - 4: a dream inspired unGALA on March 20 and coming this summer, the latest edition of Sunset 1919 on July 27 and Summergglass Camps, August 4 – 15. Details are included below and may also be found at LookingglassTheatre.org.

The 2025 season includes the following programs, performances and special events:

Lookingglass Theatre Company presents

Circus Quixote

January 30 - March 30

Based on Miguel de Cervantes’ “Don Quijote of La Mancha”

Adapted and Directed by Kerry and David Catlin

Circus by Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi

Produced in Association with Actors Gymnasium Circus School & Theatre Company

Featuring Michel Rodríguez Cintra, Micah Figueroa, Julian Hester, Laura Murillo Hart, Andrea San Miguel, Ayana Strutz and Eduardo Martinez

Previews: Thursday, Jan. 30 - Saturday, Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 2 at 1:30 p.m. and Wednesday, Feb 5 - Friday, Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m.

Press Opening: Saturday, Feb. 8 at 6 p.m.

Performance schedule for February 9 - March 30: Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7 p.m., Thursdays at 1:30 and 7 p.m., Fridays at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 1:30 and 7 p.m. and Sundays at 1:30 p.m.

Joan and Paul Theatre at Water Tower Water Works, 163 E Pearson St. at Michigan Ave.

Tickets are $35 - $80

LookingglassTheatre.org

For more than 400 years, Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quijote of La Mancha has inspired readers and cultures across the globe. Lookingglass’ production, first incubated at The Actors Gymnasium, brings this literary classic to life anew in 2025. Somewhere in La Mancha there lived a man who read so many books about chivalry that his brains dried up. In this world premiere, Lookingglass transports audiences tiltingly and acrobatically into the dreamy madness of Don Quixote and his impossible folly-filled quest to bring good-deed doing back into the world … whether the world wants it or not.  

Circus Quixote Accessible Programming

Accessibility Performances:.

• Mask Required Performance: Friday, Feb, 21 at 7 p.m.
• Open Caption Performance: Wednesday, March 5 at 7 p.m.
• Audio Described/Touch Tour Performance: Saturday, March 8 at 1:30 p.m.
• Masked Required Performance: Wednesday, March 12 at 7 p.m.
• Sensory Friendly/Relaxed Performance: Sunday, March 16 at 1:30 p.m.

An accessible entrance to Lookingglass is located at Pearson Street directly to the west of the main entrance at 163 E. Pearson Street using the wooden double doors.

Patrons may access The Joan and Paul Theatre at Lookingglass using the elevator or ramp located in the newly renovated lobby. Lookingglass offers accessible seating for all performances on the ground floor and balcony. These seats are accessible for all patrons who use a wheelchair, a scooter, walkers, other mobility aids or cannot use stairs. Lookingglass also has a variety of aisle seating options available.

Assistive listening devices are available for every mainstage performance at the box office free of charge. Attendees may pick up the device at the box office upon arrival.

Sensory Bags are available for every mainstage performance at the box office free of charge. Attendees may pick up the bags at the box office upon arrival.

Large print programs are available in electronic form at the box office.

If assistance booking is needed, please call 312.337.0665 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

More information on these performances atLookingglassTheatre.org/Accessibility.

Circus Quixote Education and Community Programming

NEW

A LookinggClass: Juggling 101

Wednesdays, Feb. 12 – Feb. 26 and Sundays, Feb. 23 and March 9 at 6 p.m. 

Recommended for ages 8 years old and older

Tickets: $15

LookingglassTheatre.org/event/juggling-101-a-lookingclass/

This season, go behind the scenes of every Lookingglass show with workshops and classes designed to spark curiosity. During Circus Quixote, join Lookingglass and The Actors Gymnasium before select performances for a juggling lesson that will lift audiences’ spirits and get them ready to show off new party tricks.

Teen Takeover

Saturday, Feb. 15 at 1:30 p.m.

RSVP here to reserve your  $5 ticket

Theatre loving, Chicago area teens are invited for pre-show pizza and Circus Quixote artist chat before heading into the theatre for the performance. Tickets are LIMITED.

Reflect Panel Discussion Series in partnership with Teatro Vista

“Chasing the Dream: Reclaiming Cultural Narratives”

Sunday, Feb. 16 at 1:30 p.m.

Free with Circus Quixote ticket, following the show

The REFLECT Panel Discussion Series draws on a theme or social issue inherent in the current production and gives space to speak on them and with each other.

Lookingglass Ensemble Member and Teatro Vista Producing Artistic Director Wendy Mateo and Teatro Vista Managing Director Cruz Gonzalez-Cadel examine Cervantes’ text as a tool for cultural colonialism and speak about their personal intersections as Latinas with “Don Quixote.” Lookingglass Ensemble Member and Creative Producer Kareem Bandealy hosts/moderates.

REFLECT takes place following the Sunday matinees and is held, after a short break, in the Joan & Paul Theatre.

Latine Night

Friday, Feb. 28 at 5:30 p.m.

Free with Circus Quixote ticket

Latine culture is the world. And the world is here in our Chicago.

The fiesta begins at 5:30 p.m. with a pre-show mixer featuring full bar service and a vast curation of Latine Music spun by a surprise guest DJ. The evening continues with the main event – the night’s performance of Circus Quixote. and concludes with a tri-lingual (Spanish, Portuguese, English) post-show discussion featuring the cast and hosted by Lookingglass Artistic Associate J. Salomé Martinez, Lookingglass Assistant Director of Development Carlos García León and Circus Quixote Dramaturg Gabriela Furtado Coutinho.

Reflect Panel Discussion Series in partnership with Instituto Cervantes 

Dawn of Quixote: Iberia Pre & Post Reconquista

Sunday, March 9 at 1:30 p.m.

Free with Circus Quixote  ticket, following the show

The REFLECT Panel Discussion Series draws on a theme or social issue inherent in our current production and gives us a space to speak on them and with each other.

Teresa Hernando Rojo (Gestora Cultural at Instituto Cervantes) and public media personality Narimon Safavi engage in a fascinating discussion on Iberia pre- and post- Reconquista and the diverse cultural influences that would have been a part of Cervantes’ Spain. Lookingglass Ensemble Member and Creative Producer Kareem Bandealy hosts/moderates.

REFLECT takes place following the Sunday matinees and is held, after a short break, in the Joan & Paul Theatre.

Young Ensemble Returns with The Portrait of Madame X

Lookingglass Young Ensemble

The Portrait of Madame X

Written by Ensemble Member Phil Smith based on an adaptation of Alexander Pushkin’s “The Queen of Spades” by Tommy Rapley and Dennis Watkins

Directed by Ensemble Members Louise Lamson and Phil Smith 

Sunday, March 2 at 7:30 p.m.

Monday, March 3 at 7 p.m.

Tuesday, March 4 at 7 p.m.

Tickets: $35 (General Admission) and $10 (students)

LookingglassTheatre.org/young-ensemble/

Who is really holding the cards at Madame X’s high stakes Gaming Parlor? Find out as the one and only Lookingglass Young Ensemble unspools their feverish take of Alexander Pushkin’s unrivaled tale of gambling and the supernatural, “The Queen of Spades.” 

Now in its 26th year, The Lookingglass Young Ensemble is a group of Chicago-area young adults, ages 13-18, committed to building their theater skills, lifting their voices and developing their creativity through collaborative creation. The 2024/25 Young Ensemble is composed of 16 teens from all over Chicago.  

“There’s always something new I can learn and I have a very different understanding of what theatre meant,” said Young Ensemble Member Natasha Friedman. “Lookingglass is a place where everyone wants to learn and are so ready to put their whole selves in the process and that’s an important tool for growing your craft.” 

The annual Young Ensemble production weaves together language, visual spectacle, music and the unique talents and contributions of the ensemble. Inclusive, rigorous, playful and endlessly creative, the Young Ensemble builds not only better artists, but better collaborators, thinkers, and leaders.

unGALA: DREAM

Thursday, Mar. 20 at 5:30 p.m.

The Casino Club, 195 E. Delaware Place, Chicago, IL

Tickets: $750 (Sponsorships begin at $2500)

LookingglassTheatre.org/event/ungala-dream/

Join Lookingglass for an unforgettable experience that takes guests on a dream-like journey through the first night of spring—featuring an epic pajama party.

This year’s unGALA invites all to join the Lookingglass Board of Directors, Ensemble, Artistic Associates and guest artists for an evening that pushes boundaries and defies expectations—celebrating creativity, artistic innovation and the shared experience of dreaming beyond the ordinary.

WORLD PREMIERE

Iraq, But Funny

May 29 – July 20

Written by Atra Asdou

Directed Dalia Ashurina

Joan and Paul Theatre at Water Tower Water Works, 163 E. Pearson St. at Michigan Ave.

Tickets: $30 - $80

LookingglassTheatre.org/event/iraq-but-funny/

A raucous satire about five generations of Assyrian women reclaiming their stories, as narrated by a British guy. Making its world premiere at Lookingglass Theatre, Ensemble Member Atra Asdou’s original dark comedy jauntily marches through the Ottoman Empire to modern-day U.S.A. exploring history, family and dysfunction.

Sunset 1919

Sunday, July 27 at 7 p.m.

Eugene Williams Memorial Marker

125 Fort Dearborn Drive, Chicago 60615

1/4 mile north of 31st Street Beach

Free

LookingglassTheatre.org/event/sunset-1919-2024/

Sunset 1919 is an annual community art ritual performed in honor of Eugene Williams, a Black teenager who was killed for crossing an imaginary racial line on the waves of Mishigami (from Ojibwa “Great Water”). Sunset 1919 was first curated and coordinated in 2020 by Ensemble Member and Creative Producer Kareem Bandealy and Ensemble Member and Mellon Playwright in Residence J. Nicole Brooks and it offers a communal moment to acknowledge our Indigenous roots and for Black artists to merge movement, music and word in a free, spirit-guided ritual.

Youth Ensemble Summergglass Camps

August 4 - 8 and August 11 - 15

Lookingglass Theatre, 163 E. Pearson St. at Michigan Ave.

Enrollment: $450

Early bird enrollment begins Monday, Feb. 3

LookingglassTheatre.org/summergglass-camp-2025/

Through drama and creative play, the experienced teaching artists of Summergglass will focus camp days to explore creative problem solving, collaboration, story structure, speaking directly to the audience and all the inventive visual storytelling that makes Lookingglass so special.

Mornings are spent working with teaching artists to learn many of the same theatre techniques and skills used to create Lookingglass shows. During the afternoons, campers will work on their drama skills as they create and adapt original stories to share on the final day of camp. 

Paper Magic:  Shadow Puppet Camp

August 4 – 8 from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Ages: 6 – 10

Lights. Paper. Magic! Create epic adventures with shadow puppets as campers design, build and bring puppets to life using storytelling traditions from around the world.  

Through creative drama and movement games, this camp explores folk tales from around the world, inventing original heroes and villains and building magical stories to share! Learn the fundamentals of Lookingglass playmaking techniques, explore design and story structure and go to the park each day for lunch. By the end of the session, friends and family are invited to join campers on a magical adventure into, and out of, the shadows.

Mysterious City: Chicago Scavenger Hunt Camp

August 11 – 15 from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. 

Ages 8 – 14

The Mysterious City Society needs your help! Together, campers will build a summer adventure demanding all of their creativity and daring-do. The mission: report to the historic Lookingglass Water Tower theatre for a scavenger hunt camp that will take campers through the Lookingglass, beyond the pumping station pipes and back in time through the pop culture, music and movements and milestones of Chicago’s not-so-distant past. Young adventurers will learn the fundamentals of Lookingglass playmaking techniques, explore the structure of scavenger hunts and choose “your own adventure” stories, search for clues on walking field trips and work with Lookingglass teaching artists to create an original scavenger hunt play to share with family and friends.

ABOUT LOOKINGGLASS THEATRE COMPANY

Founded in 1988 by graduates of Northwestern University, Lookingglass Theatre Company is a nationwide leader in the creation and presentation of new, cutting-edge theatrical works and in sharing its ensemble-based theatrical techniques with Chicago-area students and teachers through Education and Community Programs. Guided by an artistic vision centered on the core values of collaboration, transformation and invention, Lookingglass seeks to capture audiences’ imaginations leaving them changed, charged and empowered.

Recipient of the 2011 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, Lookingglass has built a national reputation for artistic excellence and ensemble-based theatrical innovation. Notable world premieres include Mary Zimmerman’s Tony Award-winning Metamorphoses and The Odyssey, J. Nicole Brooks' Her Honor Jane Byrne, David Schwimmer’s adaptation of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle and Studs Terkel’s Race: How Blacks and Whites Think and Feel about the American Obsession, Matthew C. Yee's Lucy and Charlie's Honeymoon and David Catlin’s circus tribute to Lewis Carroll, Lookingglass Alice​​, which was captured by HMS Media and reached 1.6 million PBS viewers.Looking Alice is now available to more than four million students worldwide through Digital Theatre+. Work created by Lookingglass artists has been produced in Australia, Europe and dozens of cities throughout the United States.

After pausing its operations last year to reorganize and create a new business model, Chicago's Tony-Award winning Lookingglass Theatre Company is proud to announce two new Board members as it prepares to reopen January 30, 2025: founding ensemble member, actor and director David Schwimmer and Chicago employment and healthcare attorney James (Jimmy) Oh. Lookingglass' Board of Directors is now composed of 25 business, civic and arts leaders charged with advancing the mission of this ensemble-based company founded in 1988. Located inside the historic Water Tower Water Works building, 163 E. Pearson St. at Michigan Ave., Lookingglass will present two world premieres this season: Circus Quixote, Jan. 30 – March 30, 2025, and Iraq, But Funny, May 29 – July 20, 2025, plus Young Ensemble performances and special events in neighborhoods throughout Chicago. A renovated lobby, bar and café also reopens Thursday, Jan. 30, with its menu and programming to be announced in the coming months. The full list of Board members and 2024/2025 season details may be found at LookingglassTheatre.org. 

"We are thrilled to welcome Jimmy and David to our Board of Directors, as we continue to strengthen Lookingglass' leadership at this pivotal moment for the Company," said Board Chair Richard Chapman. "David and Jimmy bring a passion for the performing arts and unique skill sets and networks that will help advance our vital mission—to redefine the limits of theatrical experience and to make theatre exhilarating, inspirational and accessible to all."

Jamey Lundblad (formerly with the City of Chicago's Cultural Affairs department) joined Lookingglass as managing director this fall, and ensemble member and multi-hyphenate artist Kasey Foster was named artistic director earlier this year. Additionally, this past spring, the Company welcomed four new members into its ensemble: Atra Asdou, Wendy Mateo, Ericka Ratcliff and Matthew C. Yee.

"Lookingglass has been my artistic home for more than three decades, and I have worked hard to sustain it, but this is my first time serving on the Board," said David Schwimmer. "I'm incredibly excited to partner with our dedicated Board of Directors, talented Ensemble and hardworking Staff to bolster an organization that means so much to me, and to Chicago."

"My passion for theatre is personal. All four of our sons performed in children's theatre, three earned theatre degrees—and now they're working in the arts," said Jimmy Oh. "So, I'm thrilled to be directly involved in and supporting the creative industries through my Board service at Lookingglass, one of the best regional theatres in the U.S."

ABOUT DAVID SCHWIMMER

David Schwimmer's many television and film acting credits include the hit comedy series "Friends," for which he received his first Emmy Award nomination, "American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson" for which he received a second Emmy nomination, "Band of Brothers," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Madagascar 1, 2 &; 3," "Feed the Beast," "Six Days Seven Nights," "Apt Pupil," "The Pallbearer," "Duane Hopwood," "The Iceman," "The Laundromat" and "Little Death." Schwimmer executive produced and starred as the lead in the Sky TV/Peacock original sitcom "Intelligence" and in "Extrapolations" for Apple TV+. 

He will next be seen in Disney's anthology series "Goosebumps," based on R.L. Stine's bestselling Scholastic series.

Schwimmer has directed over twenty plays, including his adaptations of Studs Terkel's RACE and Upton Sinclair's The Jungle for Lookingglass and Laura Eason's Sex with Strangers for the Second Stage Theatre. Other stage credits outside of Lookingglass include Detroit at Playwrights Horizons, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial on Broadway and the premiere of Neil LaBute's Some Girls in the West End, London.

Schwimmer's television and film directing includes ten episodes of "Friends," the HBO series "Little Britain USA," "Growing Up Fisher" for NBC, the feature films "Since You've Been Gone," "Run Fat Boy Run" and the independent drama "Trust" starring Clive Owen, Catherine Keener and Viola Davis. He also produced the film "LOVE" directed by Alexander Zeldin for the BBC based on his play produced at the National Theatre in London.

ABOUT JAMES (JIMMY) OH

Jimmy Oh is an employment and healthcare attorney based in Chicago, with a passion for theatre. At Epstein Becker Green, Oh's work traverses all three of the firm's core practices: employment, labor and workforce management (ELWM); health care and life sciences (HCLS) and litigation and business disputes. He  has tried cases in federal courts around the country on both employment and healthcare-related issues. 

Oh is a member of Epstein Becker Green's ELWM Steering Committee, health employment and labor (HEAL®) strategic industry group (which consists of members of both the ELWM and HCLS practices) and litigation and business disputes practice. He also holds leadership roles on the firm's Diversity and Professional Development Committee and serves on the Executive Committee of the firm's Minority Attorney Forum.

In addition, he has published numerous articles and made presentations on a variety of topics. He is a graduate of Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and Northwestern University.

ABOUT THE 2024/2025 SEASON

WORLD PREMIERE 

Circus Quixote

January 30 – March 30, 2025

Joan and Paul Theatre at Water Tower Water Works, 163 E. Pearson St. at Michigan Ave. 

Based on Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote of La Mancha

Written and Directed by Kerry and David Catlin

Circus by Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi

Produced in Association with Actors Gymnasium

Somewhere in La Mancha there lived a man who read so many books that his brains dried up...Saddle up with Lookingglass as they go tiltingly, acrobatically into the dreamy madness of Don Quixote and his impossible folly-filled quest to bring good-deed doing back into the world— whether the world wants it or not!

Circus Quixote production sponsors include Greg Thompson & Greg Cameron and Marla Mendelson, M.D. & Stephen Wolf. 

WORLD PREMIERE 

Iraq, But Funny 

May 29 – July 20, 2025 

Joan and Paul Theatre at Water Tower Water Works, 163 E. Pearson St. at Michigan Ave. 

Written by Atra Asdou 

Directed Dalia Ashurina 

A raucous satire about five generations of Assyrian women reclaiming their stories, as narrated by a British guy. Making its world premiere at Lookingglass Theatre, Ensemble Member Atra Asdou's original dark comedy jauntily marches through the Ottoman Empire to modern-day U.S.A. exploring history, family and dysfunction. 

2024/2025 season sponsors are Joan & Paul Rubschlager, Shirley Ryan Ability Lab, HMS Media, Waldorf Astoria Chicago and the City of Chicago. 

Lookingglass Young Ensemble 

March 2025 

The Lookingglass Young Ensemble (YE) is a group of Chicago-area young adults, ages 13-18 years old, committed to building their theater skills, lifting their voices and developing theircreativity through collaborative creation. Three months of rehearsal and ensemble-building amongst this incredible group of artists will culminate in three public performances. 

Lookingglass Outdoors 

Summer 2025 

Lookingglass takes their art outside the historic Water Tower Water Works and into the neighborhoods through special events like Sunset 1919, educational opportunities like summer camp and recurring programs that tour around town. This summer, Lookingglass continues its ambitious video project to bring Chicago together despite the lines that divide us, 50 Wards: A Civic Mosaic. The series currently has 10 wards available for viewing at LookingglassTheatre.org. 

ABOUT LOOKINGGLASS THEATRE COMPANY

Founded in 1988 by graduates of Northwestern University, Lookingglass Theatre Company is a nationwide leader in the creation and presentation of new, cutting-edge theatrical works and in sharing its ensemble-based theatrical techniques with Chicago-area students and teachers through Education and Community Programs. Guided by an artistic vision centered on the core values of collaboration, transformation and invention, Lookingglass seeks to capture audiences' imaginations leaving them changed, charged and empowered. Recipient of the 2011 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, Lookingglass has built a national reputation for artistic excellence and ensemble-based theatrical innovation. Notable world premieres include Mary Zimmerman's Tony Award-winning Metamorphoses and The Odyssey, J. Nicole Brooks' Her Honor Jane Byrne, David Schwimmer's adaptation of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle and Studs Terkel's Race: How Blacks and Whites Think and Feel about the American Obsession, Matthew C. Yee's Lucy and Charlie's Honeymoon and David Catlin's circus tribute to Lewis Carroll, Lookingglass Alice, which was captured by HMS Media and reached 1.6 million PBS viewers. Lookingglass Alice is now available to more than four million students worldwide through Digital Theatre+. Work created by Lookingglass artists has been produced in Australia, Europe and dozens of cities throughout the United States.