The Steppenwolf Theatre Company Studio season will open Dec. 6 with Waving Goodbye by Jamie Pachino, running a month through Jan. 6, 2002, under the direction of Jeremy B. Cohen.

Chicago playwright Pachino's tale is about Lily Blue, who must live with the mother who abandoned her after her father dies in a mountain climbing accident.

The world premiere features performances by Alexandra Billings, Liesel Matthews, James McKay, Julia Neary and Brian Shaw. The scenic design is by Jackie and Rick Penrod, costume design by Kristine Knanishu, lighting design by Jaymi Lee Smith, and sound design and composition by Lindsay Jones.

The Dazzle, by the busy Richard Greenberg (three of his works will reach New York this season), will be the middle attraction at the Studio Theatre, running May 9-June 9, 2002. Abigail Deser directs the tale of the colorful Collyer brothers, whose high-society life is almost derailed by their obsessive behavior and the entrance of a beautiful woman. The play will run at the Roundabout Theatre Company in New York next year.

The Studio season will conclude July 25-Aug. 25, 2002, with another effort by a Windy City scribe, Jeffrey Mangrum's Wendall Greene. Actress Rondi Reed directs fellow Steppenwolfers Robert Breuler and Mariann Mayberry in this premiere. The remaining Mainstage season, previously announced, runs as follows:

• Glengarry Glen Ross, by David Mamet, Nov. 23, 2001-Jan. 27, 2002 (opening Dec. 2), directed by Amy Morton, starring Mike Nussbaum and Alan Wilder.
• Elsa Bernstein's Maria Arndt, adapted by Curt Columbus and Tina Laudau, Jan. 31-March 24, 2002 (opening Feb. 10), directed by Landau
• The Royal Family by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber, April 18 June 16, 2002 (opening April 28), directed by Frank Galati.
• Purple Heart by Bruce Norris, running July 5-Aug. 25, 2002 (opening July 14), directed by Anna Shapiro.

—By Robert Simonson