Chicago's famed Goodman Theatre has announced its four productions for the 1999-2000 mainstage season, the final season in the company's current location, before they move to a new home in the North Loop in fall 2000.
The season will include an adaptation of Homer's classic epic, "The Odyssey," written and directed by Mary Zimmerman (Sept. 17 - Oct. 30, opening Sept. 27), the world premiere of Rebecca Gilman's Boy Meets Girl (March 3 - April 8, 2000), Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun (April 21 - May 27, 2000), and Luis Valdez' Zoot Suit (June 18 - July 22, 2000)
Last year, Zimmerman won the prestigious MacArthur fellowship, more commonly known as the "genius grant." The prize carried a $240,000 prize with no stipulations as to how the recipient is to spend the money. Recent projects by Zimmerman include Midsummer Night's Dream at Boston's Huntington Theatre, Eleven Rooms of Proust, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, S/M, Arabian Nights and Mirrors of the Invisible World. Her work is characterized by stylized movement and athletic choreography. Zimmerman is a member of Chicago's Lookingglass Theatre, an artistic associate of the Goodman, and she teaches at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in the Arts at Northwestern University.
In Boy Meets Girl, a man and a woman go out on a blind date. Things are going fine until he turns out to be the kind of guy "who won't take no for answer." Michael Maggio (All the Rage and Black Snow) directs.
Forty years ago, A Raisin in the Sun made Broadway history as the first play written by a black woman to make it to The Great White Way. Set in Chicago in the 1950's Raisin tells of Lena Younger and her struggle to give her family a better life by using her late husband's insurance money to move her family into a nicer home...in a white neighborhood. The production will be directed by Chuck Smith. Based on an actual trial of a young Chicano gang arrested for a suspected murder, the musical Zoot Suit mixes mambo, swing and traditional Latin songs to create the atmosphere of Chicano life in 1943. Henry Godinez will direct.
In addition to these four shows, the Goodman will present their annual production of A Christmas Carol and three studio productions (TBA). For ticket information, call (312) 443-3800.
-- By Sean McGrath
