'Nelson Algren: For Keeps and a Single Day'-Lookingglass

Lookingglass Theatre Company, in a new relationship with the Museum of Contemporary Art, presents the return of Nelson Algren: For Keeps and a Single Day. Nelson Algren, directed by Ensemble Member John Musial, featuring Ensemble Member Thomas J. Cox, runs June 4-29, 2008, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave. 

"With the MCA reaching 40 years and Lookingglass 20 years, I can think of no better way for two of Chicago's leading cultural institutions to celebrate than by partnering to present the jazz-soaked, grainy black-and-white anthem to Chicago' edgiest literary icon in Nelson Algren: For Keeps and a Single Day," says Lookingglass Artistic Director David Catlin.

"The show was originally conceived some nine years ago as a sort of trio, with the words of Nelson Algren, performed by Thom Cox, accompanied by jazz improvisers David Pavkovic & Griffin Rodriguez and illustrated by films of my own design," explains Musial. "The piece grew and changed organically through many workshops and site-specific performances, ranging from Wicker Park bars, to the Lunar Cabaret, to the rooftop of the old Cook County Theater Dept. building. In 2001 the Lookingglass production galvanized the show into the form it takes today. Later that year the show was reconceived as an hour-long television program for WTTW Channel 11's Network Chicago Presents. This summer's run at the MCA, with new musicians, represents an exciting new phase in the show's evolution."

Nelson Algren: For Keeps and a Single Day, an intimate multimedia portrait, sets Algren's backstreet poetry to the pulse of a live, on-stage jazz combo, featuring Kevin O'Donnell and Bob Lovecchio playing original music by David Pavkovic, performed against a backdrop of the city as shown through the film imagery of Ensemble member and director John Musial. Ensemble Member Thomas J. Cox reprises his role as Algren, one of Chicago's most enduring literary figures. 

The production uses selections from Algren's 'Chicago: City on the Make' and 'The Last Carousel'. 
 

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