Ensemble member and Producing Artistic Director Phil Smith on the 2008 - 2009 season
From The Lookingglass Alice 2008 Issue of ArtAntica
Mentioned in this entry: Philip R Smith, Heidi Stillman, David Schwimmer and Mary Zimmerman
The twenty first season of Lookingglass begins this fall.
This is a true “moment” for any company and I certainly humbly appreciate the good fortune from which we have benefited to celebrate that landmark. It has been over two decades since the outrageously naïve decision to embark on this journey together, and we are all the richer for it. (Some of us are admittedly “poorer”, but not in soul…)
But together we have stayed. Why? After many gloomy days, after some absolute pans from the critics, after kids, therapy, weddings, deaths, fame, fortune, poverty, disagreements, general existential angst, days, weeks, months, years, why have we stayed together?
The MISSION.
If we did one thing right in those preposterously long early (and late) meetings of our genesis, it was to create a mission that ACTIVATED us and yet was UNACHEIVABLE. This collection of words, sentences, paragraphs, IDEAS, has kept us consistently reaching beyond where we presently stand - and to have a blast while doing it. That reach is infectious in its ticklishness. I believe it has kept us and our audience together reaching for more. The mission has truly been the force of momentum that has resisted any undesired gravitational pull and kept us hurtling though the realm of theatrical impossibility….
Next year, our 21st, we continue this impossible journey with three, count’em three, EPIC stories from the worlds fountain of literature. The Brothers Karamozov, Our Town, and The Arabian Nights. Not a bad slate, eh? These are bound to please in ways known and UNKNOWN.
Notably, the grand endeavor of next season will be truly complimented by an enormous company artist turnout – certainly the largest since our move to the castle on Michigan Ave.
This is a must see season if there ever was one.
The Launch: Multi-Jeff Award winning (and just fabulous person) Heidi Stillman will be helming the beast that is Dostoyevsky’s Brothers K.
The Heart: Tony-Award-winning director Anna Shapiro in league with Chicago ace director Jessica Thebus will be heading up an all company cast of Our Town (featuring our own David Lawrence Schwimmer strutting the boards for the first time in 11 years!)
The Culmination: The long awaited return of that story of stories, Mary Zimmermans’s master-MASTER piece, The Arabian Nights.
It is a very ambitious season – and why not! We are 21 years old. If not now, when? This is a moment or rather a collection of priceless moments that we hope to share with you (before they are gone!)
Looking forward to seeing you.
Phil Smith (Ivan in the Brothers Karamozov)
Producing Artistic Director
Lookingglass Theatre Company
Twenty One Years
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