Displaying items by tag: Kowalski

Rising star Jacob Moskovitz ("Elle") has joined the cast of Kowalski as Marlon Brando, alongside previously announced Chicago theater veteran Johnny Galecki ("The Big Bang Theory," "The Little Dog Laughed") as Tennessee Williams. The celebrated new play by Gregg Ostrin, directed by Colin Hanlon, will come to Chicago's Lookingglass Theatre Company at the historic Water Tower Water Works, 163 E Pearson St. at Michigan Ave. in Chicago, playing September 15-October 25, 2026.

Additional casting will be announced soon.

Tickets are available at lookingglasstheatre.org and 312.337.0665. Kowalski is a part of the 26/27 Lookingglass Membership and Subscription Series. Single tickets range from $37 to $97, with a limited number of premium seats also available.

Set over one pivotal evening in 1947 Provincetown, Kowalski imagines the electrifying first meeting between Tennessee Williams and a young Marlon Brando, just as Williams searches for the actor who would forever change the destiny of A Streetcar Named Desire. Blending fact, memory, and theatrical imagination, the play offers a fascinating glimpse into the creative forces behind one of the most influential works in American theater. Kowaslki explores the intersection of ambition, artistry, desire, and the creation of theatrical history.

JACOB MOSKOVITZ (Marlon Brando) is a rising talent delivering versatile and engaging performances across film and television. Most recently, he starred in the highly anticipated Legally Blonde prequel series ELLE from Amazon and Hello Sunshine, which has already been renewed for a second season.

Moskovitz recently completed production on the Fernando Meirelles-directed Netflix feature Here Comes the Flood, appearing alongside Robert Pattinson, Denzel Washington, and Daisy Edgar-Jones. Earlier this year, Jacob also starred in Seth Meyers' produced feature Brian, which premiered to strong reviews at SXSW. He can currently be seen in the independent feature The Floaters, which was released July 10, 2026. Additional film credits include the A24 feature Y2K, directed and written by Kyle Mooney and Evan Winter, as well as Isle Child, directed and written by Thomas Percy Kim. On television, Jacob's credits include "Chicago P.D." (NBC), "The Good Fight" (Paramount+), Magnum P.I.  (NBC), and "FBI: International" (CBS).

JOHNNY GALECKI (Tennessee Williams) is an acclaimed actor best known for his starring role as 'Leonard Hofstadeter' on the award-winning CBS comedy "The Big Bang Theory," for which he earned Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG award nominations. He first gained widespread recognition as 'David Healy' on the groundbreaking sitcom "Roseanne" and has appeared in numerous film and television projects throughout his career including Hancock, Vanilla Sky, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Suicide Kings, In Time and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. His stage credits include the Tony Award-nominated Broadway play The Little Dog Laughed for which he received a Theater World Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut, The Drawer Boy, Pot Mom, The Member of the Wedding and Galileo.

GREGG OSTRIN (Playwright) A native of Los Angeles, his most recent plays include A Very Streaming Christmas and The Spy Who Went Into Rehab (Pacific Resident Theatre, Venice, California), The Soul of Motown (Stage West Theater, Calgary), Truffles (Secret Door Theater, New York City) and Rank & File (Hudson Theater, Los Angeles). His play The Beverly Hills Hotel Peace Talks just had its premiere staged reading at The Coachella Valley Rep in Palm Springs, California for its Origins series. It will be opening there in May 2025. He dedicates this play to his former mentor, the late George Furth.

COLIN HANLON (Director) is an actor, writer, director, and producer living in New York City. He most recently directed Broken Snow (with Tony Danza, Tom Cavanagh and Michael Longfellow). He also directed I Love You Because-a queer retelling in NYC, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and co-directed It's Only a Play at George Street Playhouse. He's the co-producer & star of Submissions Only. He's also an adjunct professor at NYU New Studio, LIU, Stella Adler, and Cap 21. He teaches auditioning and self-tape technique at his private studio. Still a working actor as he's been on "Modern Family," "Difficult People," "The Sinner," "The Good Fight" and currently "Uncoupled" on Showtime. Broadway: Falsettos, Rent, Wicked (First National Tour) and In Transit. Off-Broadway: NYC premiere of Dot by Colman Domingo (Vineyard Theater, dir. Susan Stroman), A.R. Gurney's last play Final Follies dir. David Saint (Cherry Lane) and I Love You Because (original cast).

About Lookingglass Theatre Company

Founded in 1988 by graduates of Northwestern University, Lookingglass Theatre Company is a nationwide leader in the creation and presentation of new, cutting-edge theatrical works and in sharing its ensemble-based theatrical techniques with Chicago-area students and teachers through Education and Community Programs. Guided by an artistic vision centered on the core values of collaboration, transformation and invention, Lookingglass seeks to capture audiences' imaginations leaving them changed, charged and empowered. Recipient of the 2011 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, Lookingglass has built a national reputation for artistic excellence and ensemble-based theatrical innovation. Notable world premieres include Mary Zimmerman's Tony Award-winning Metamorphoses and The Odyssey, J. Nicole Brooks' Her Honor Jane Byrne, David Schwimmer's adaptation of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle and Studs Terkel's Race: How Blacks and Whites Think and Feel about the American Obsession, Matthew C. Yee's Lucy and Charlie's Honeymoon and David Catlin's circus tribute to Lewis Carroll, Lookingglass Alice, which was captured by HMS Media and reached 1.6 million PBS viewers. Looking Alice is now available to more than four million students worldwide through Digital Theatre+. Work created by Lookingglass artists has been produced in Australia, Europe and dozens of cities throughout the United States.

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MadKap Production’s A Streetcar Named Desire at Skokie Theatre offers a raw, riveting interpretation of Tennessee Williams’ masterpiece, immersing the audience in a world where beauty and brutality constantly collide. The production captures the oppressive heat and emotional volatility of New Orleans as Blanche DuBois arrives at her sister Stella’s modest home, clinging desperately to fading illusions while the truth she’s outrun begins to close in. Her fragile elegance crashes against the brute force of Stanley Kowalski, and the tension between them builds with an inevitability that’s both mesmerizing and terrifying. 

It’s a tension rooted not only in the room but in Blanche’s entire history. The story of a woman who stayed home to care for her parents as they died, then struggled to hold onto their home and land as medical expenses mounted and eventually forced her out into the world with “sixty‑one cents” in her purse, rings true today more than ever.

The intimacy of Skokie Theatre amplifies every emotional tremor, turning the cramped apartment setting into a pressure cooker where secrets, desires, and power struggles simmer just beneath the surface. Wonderfully directed by Wayne Mell, the staging leans into the play’s psychological depth, allowing the actors to explore the vulnerability, longing, and explosive conflict that define these characters. What emerges is a haunting, deeply felt production that honors Williams’ poetic language while making the story feel immediate and painfully human. A Streetcar Named Desire at Skokie Theatre is a resonant, beautifully acted experience that stays with you long after the final moment.

The cast delivers a richly textured, emotionally charged performance, anchored by Hailey Hance’s luminous and deeply vulnerable portrayal of Blanche DuBois. Hance navigates Blanche’s unraveling with remarkable nuance, shifting effortlessly between brittle charm, aching fragility, and flashes of desperate bravado. Elyna Mellen offers a beautifully steady counterpoint as Stella Kowalski, grounding the production with warmth and quiet strength as she’s pulled between the two people she loves most. Nathaniel Kohlmeier brings a fierce, narcissistic and unsettling magnetism to Stanley Kowalski, capturing both his brute force and the dangerous charisma that fuels every confrontation. Denis Vorobyev’s Mitch adds a welcome softness to the storm, his gentle sincerity and emotional honesty making his scenes with Blanche especially resonant.

The supporting ensemble brings texture and pulse to life in Elysian Fields, each performer adding a distinct spark to the world surrounding the Kowalskis. AJ Carchi and Wyatt DeLair charge their scenes with crisp, kinetic energy, while Neil Figuracion anchors his moments with a quiet, compelling weight. Kimmy Higginbotham and Dee Dee Logan offer nuanced, emotionally attuned work that enriches the production’s blend of tenderness, tension, and volatility. Together, the ensemble shapes a world that feels immediate and deeply human - a living, breathing testament to the enduring force of Williams’ drama.

Ultimately, MadKap’s A Streetcar Named Desire at Skokie Theatre stands as a vivid, emotionally resonant interpretation of Williams’ classic - one that feels both faithful to the text and urgently alive. The production’s intimate scale, paired with a cast willing to dig deep into the play’s bruised hearts and volatile tensions, creates an experience that lingers long after the final scene.

A Streetcar Named Desire runs through April 26th, and it’s a compelling, beautifully crafted revival well worth experiencing before the run comes to a close.

Highly Recommended.

For tickets and/or more show information, click here.

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