Angel in the Lookingglass
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Schwimmer was unavailable for comment at press time, and John Morris, president of the company’s board of directors, would not confirm the story. But Morris admits that $2 million is “the magical figure” needed to fund a space, and Schwimmer, he says, “has a history of helping the company,” which celebrates its tenth anniversary this fall. Morris also says the board’s facilities committee will hold “several meetings…over the next several months,” coinciding with Schwimmer’s run in The Idiot. Lookingglass, he says, could either buy a space or negotiate a long-term lease; the company would like a space that can be reconfigured easily, like Steppenwolf’s studio theater.
Morris is also keen on the empty gymnasium above the Athenaeum Theatre, at Southport and Wellington. The Athenaeum complex already houses the company’s classrooms, rehearsal hall, and administrative offices, as well as a variety of nonprofit arts groups. But Fred Solari, general manager of the Athenaeum, says the gymnasium is still used by Saint Alphonsus, the Catholic grade school next door. To take over the gym Lookingglass would probably have to build the school a new one, and the city would insist that it add more parking to the area. A third option is the long-delayed Chicago Center for the Performing Arts at Chicago and Halsted, which Morris is personally involved with as an architect. Producers Tony Tomaska and Joyce Sloane have been looking for new investment capital in recent months, and Schwimmer’s bulging wallet could be just the ticket.
Only a handful of companies have tried to operate south of the Loop. Blue Rider Theatre holds its own at 18th and Halsted, but the now-defunct Interplay Theatre abandoned Pilsen after many years, moving to Pipers Alley in search of larger audiences. Dickler plans to lease the theater six months out of the year; the rest of the time it will host shows produced internally, funded in part by an annual grant of $100,000 from Chernin’s.
