EASTLAND: A NEW MUSICAL

June 6 – August 19, 2012

Written by Ensemble Member Andrew White
Music by Ben Sussman and Artistic Associate Andre Pluess
Directed by Amanda Dehnert

Moored on the Chicago River between Clark St and LaSalle, The Eastland begins boarding and thousands of Western Electric employees and their families climb the ramp, excited for their annual company outing. Overflowing with passengers about to depart, the boat leans port – and doesn’t lean back. Within minutes, cries fill the air, families are torn apart and unexpected heroes emerge to rescue dozens of Chicagoans from a watery end.

Artistic Director Andrew White (Of One Blood, 1984) resurrects the ghosts of America’s forgotten tragedy in this Lookingglass Original musical, with music by Artistic Associate Andre Pluess and Ben Sussman, the team behind the score of Lookingglass Alice, 1984, Metamorphoses, Hard Times, and The Secret in the Wings, as well as the acclaimed Winesburg, Ohio. Directed by Amanda Dehnert (Peter Pan: A Play).

Inspired in part by Jay Bonansinga’s The Sinking of the Eastland: America’s Forgotten Tragedy

Eastland is the recipient of the Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award

Featuring

Featuring Ensemble Members Lawrence E. DiStasi, Christine Mary Dunford, and Doug Hara; with Jeanne T. Arrigo, Derek Hasenstab, Erik Hellman, Malcolm Ruhl, Michael Barrow Smith, Scott Stangland, Tiffany Topol, Claire Wellin, and Monica West.

Lookingglass Artists

Lookingglass is an ensemble based company, with a dedicated group of artists composing its roster of Ensemble Members, Artistic Associates, and Teaching Artists.