“20,000 Leagues Under The Seas”

[rating=4] I grew up on the works of author Jules Verne. In my youth, he was considered a science fiction specialist with stories such as “Journey To The Center Of The Earth” and “20,000 Leagues Under The Seas”. These were also made into movies that I found captivating. Could these works be made into plays? If any theater company could handle doing so, it would have to be Lookingglass, that creative company with the true “black box” venue in the old Water Tower Works, and now, under David Kersnar’s eye, they have done so. Kersnar along with Althos Low has done a new adaptation that has been done as a play and under his direction with the use of  a solid creative team brings this glorious story to Michigan Avenue for the summer. FYI- this is a World Premiere!

I am going to begin with the creative team as this is a very visual production. The set by Todd Rosenthal is absolutely amazing, allowing us to see the Nautilus from different angles and almost feel that we are aboard this journey into the history of our hero, Captain Nemo (Kareem Bandealy shows his true grit in this role). The costumes ( Sully Ratke) are realistic. The lighting ( Christine Binder) is designed to make you feel the storms and the action as is the sound (Rick Sims, who also wrote the music). The rigging ( designed by Isaac Schoepp) gives you the ship feeling and with the circus choreography ( Sylvia Hernandez-DiStatsi does her brilliant stuff again) we see some amazing stunts by the cast. Lookingglass is known for its circus type daring stunts, making every audience member watch closely. In this production, we also have the puppetry (Blair Thomas, Tom Lee and Chris Wooten) that allows us to see and feel the monsters of the sea. Even the audience  up in the balcony feels as if they are under the water as fish swim by! The props (Amanda Herrmann) are amazingly realistic and Max Fabian’s fight choreography spectacular.

The story is pretty much the same. A sea monster is spotted and noted scientist Professor Aronnax ( deftly handled by Kasey Foster ) along with her aide Brigette ( Lanise Antoine Shelley) set out with other explorers to investigate. Professor Aronnax is thought to be a man and when she is found out there are some changes. They are on this journey when they are kidnapped and held by the mysterious Captain Nemo ( Bandealy, at his best). They are placed aboard the submarine Nautilus, which is the most advanced of vessels ever seen.

During their journey they confront squids, other sea creatures, storms and monsters. Our journey also is a time trip as we see Nemo as a young man as well as the present telling us the story through a cast of players who take on several roles: Walter Briggs, Thomas J. Cox, Joe Dempsey ( who is known himself as a fight choreographer), Micah Figueroa ( a solid gymnast), Edwin Lee Gibson and Glenn-Dale Obrero. While only a total of nine performers, the action in this production feels as if there are twenty or more. It is the story that holds us to our seats and this cast of players keeps us contained in the beauty of the tale.

Today’s performance , a part of the extension of the production was what they call “Family Days“, an interesting way for a theater to do a show. Each child, upon entering the Lookingglass Theatre located at  821 N. Michigan ( entrance on Pearson) is handed a sheet that is called SQUID, but in reality is 20,000 leagues BINGO. Each box is a question that will be answered by the play itself or on the lobby walls ( articles about the theater and its previous productions). During intermission, snacks ( a cup of “goldfish” are offered to the children as they seek more clues, and after the show they can take a photo with one of the charcaters. By the way, get five in a row correct, win a prize! Makes for a fund day at the theater! There are two of these left- July 26th and August 9th!

“20,000 Leagues Under The Seas” will continue thru August 26th with performances as follows:

Tuesdays  7:30 p.m. 7/31 and 8/14 ONLY)

Wednesdays  7:30 p.m.

Thursdays  2 p.m. (7/26, 8/9 and 8/23 ONLY)

7:30 p.m.

Fridays  7:30 p.m.

Saturdays  2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Sundays  2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Running time is 2 1/2 hours and there is one intermission.

Tickets range from$45- $80 and are available at the box office, by calling 312-337-0665 or online at http://www.lookingglasstheatre.org Family days  $40 each use code FAM40

Parking (discounted) is available on Chicago Avenue at Olympia Garage ( the second garage East of Michigan Avenue)- bring your ticket to the theater for validation.

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “20,000 Leagues Under The Seas”.