Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago will pause programming for a year and lay off more than half its staff — Page 2

And it hasn't helped Porchlight that their "Broadway in Your Backyard" parks shows have been cancelled for the first two weeks due to the hazardous air warnings in Chicago.

As for Lookingglass, it probably hasn't helped them that their number one cheerleader at the Sun-Times lost her job before the pandemic because of statements she made about Blacks and gays. She didn't lose her job at the PBS station in town, but her reviews don't get the notice that they did at the S-T. (She did give a mixed review to the current show, "Lucy and Charlie," but it probably didn't fit her aesthetic requirements. At least she didn't pan it like she did the "Oklahoma!" revival.) It also didn't help them that they started their season with a remount of a show from Congo Square Theatre, our pre-eminent Black company, that was never intended for a general audience and asked that white audience members leave the theater for 10 to 15 minutes at one point near the end of the piece for a portion that was solely for Black audience members. This is not to discuss possible racism, but I would think that the heavily Gold Coast/North Shore subscribers at Lookingglass were not too happy about this action.

I think these companies are trying to do more than putting on cash grab shows year after year like the Muny or Tuachan. But I have to disagree I thought Mark Taper had a pretty well rounded season. Looking glass? Not so much. There was nothing there to spake interest. Steppenwolf has celebs and well know playwrights, Chicago Shakes has been adding a few pre-NYC shows. Not sure what Lookingglass’ angle is.

I do feel like - since our industry is for the most part pretty diverse and understanding - that maybe the seasons since opening back up have been pretty heavy handed and maybe people just want a fun night out and not a show where you have to leave the show at the end while other audience members see the rest of the show (I didn’t see it but that is such an odd programming choice)

"But Lookingglass HAS given audiences good nights out, and presented shows that people would want to see--"

No. They haven't.

Villette wasn't risky, it was stupid. It starred no ensemble members and no Chicago stalwarts. It's a great, complicated novel that doesn't lend itself to adaptation and simply doesn't have the recognition that their usual adaptations have. Frankenstein, Treasure Island, Moby Dick, Ethan Fromme, 20,000 Leagues... all the Mary Zimmerman work. There was nothing to compel anyone to see and was a hard sell out the gate... and unfortunately it was very pretty but pretty dreadful.

And you mention the "audience they've cultivated" but unfortunately I believe they ostracized their audiences with a good portion of their programing in the years leading up to the pandemic. Plantation! and Acts of God were both underdeveloped, critical, word of mouth and box office disasters. Frankenstein and Her Honor, Jane Byrne were admirable but ultimately not particularly interesting and they were neither critical nor box office successes.

Despite it's unpopularity, they actually brought back Her Honor, Jane Byrne. Again, an admirable play but neither "on brand" for Lookingglass nor particularly well received by the paper of record. While I liked the play and thought it some some important things, it's political points were aimed squarely at the white liberals that make up the audience that Lookingglass had cultivated.

Lucy and Charlie is TERRIFIC but (again) not aimed at the audience Lookingglass has "cultivated" and SHOULD NOT have been programed in their summer slot. It does have great word of mouth but word of mouth is mostly a locals only phenomenon and locals are being tourists elsewhere. Right now there are tourists in the city and they usually run a family appropriate show with circus elements or a very recognizable title... because they're located in prime tourist territory. The show is VERY adult and not at ALL appropriate for families. So... they've programmed a terrific September show that's a hard sell in June and July.

I LOVE Lookingglass. I'll be devastated if they don't survive... but they did this to themselves.

Yes, "What to Send Up" was a hit for Congo Square, but it was done in two locations on the South and West Sides that are heavily Black and where the audience the play was written for was located. The playwright came right out and said that the show was not for white people but was designed to give solace and comfort to Black audiences. It seemed a little too performative for Lookingglass to book it in their Magnificent Mile space, but they were a company that started out as lily white (the way Mary Zimmerman cast "The Arabian Nights" would not be allowed today), like their fellow Performance Studies majors at Northwestern. They did not have an ensemble member of color until J. Nicole Brooks came aboard in 2007--and with the exception of Lucas Hnath's "Death Tax" she has appeared in, written or directed the company's "Black" shows (including the Jane Byrne show, which was less about Byrne and more about her infamous "move" into Cabrini-Green). Of course, there are so many companies out there started by white kids that went to the same college that have added people of color to the company in the last decade or so.