(Chicago, IL) Calixto Bieito, the "outrageous … oft-acclaimed but highly controversial Spanish director" (Chicago Tribune), has started rehearsals for Camino Real, Tennessee Williams' sensual carnival of desire and desperation, at the Goodman Theatre.
Hailed as a "cosmic fantasy… as eloquent and rhythmic as a piece of music" (The New York Times) in its original Broadway production, Camino Real is among the more overtly poetic plays from a writer famous for his psychological realism.
For his first original American production, Bieito collaborates with an internationally acclaimed creative team, including longtime artistic partners Catalan playwright and co-adapter Marc Rosich and German set designer Rebecca Ringst, as well as Chicago-based costume designer Ana Kuzmanic, lighting designer James F. Ingalls, sound designer Richard Woodbury and music director Andra Velis Simon.
The ensemble cast of 13 includes David Darlow (Major Barbara at Remy Bumppo Theatre Company) as Jacques Casanova; Matt DeCaro (Spinning Into Butter) as Gutman; Tony Award nominee André De Shields (The Full Monty on Broadway) as Baron De Charlus; Marilyn Dodds Frank (The Clean House) as Marguerite Gautier; Carolyn Ann Hoerdemann (Scorched at Silk Road Rising) as The Gypsy; Antwayn Hopper (Hair on Broadway) as Kilroy; Travis A. Knight (The Taming of the Shrew at American Players Theatre) as The Survivor/ Abdullah; Monica Lopez (The Cook) as Esmeralda; Michael Medeiros (Violet at Playwrights Horizons) as The Dreamer; Mark L. Montgomery (Stage Kiss) as Lord Byron; Jonno Roberts (King Lear) as Lobo; Barbara E. Robertson (The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?) as Rosita; and Jacqueline Williams (The Trinity River Plays) as La Madrecita De Los Perdidos.
Camino Real runs March 3 — April 8, 2012 (Opening Night is March 12) in the Goodman's Albert Theatre. Tickets ($25 — $79; subject to change) can be purchased at GoodmanTheatre.org by phone at 312.443.3800 or at the box office (170 North Dearborn). The Goodman Theatre Women's Board is the Major Production Sponsor of Camino Real. The National Endowment for the Arts is a Sponsor Partner. Katherine A. Abelson and Robert J. Cornell are the Education and Community Engagement Programming Sponsor.
Goodman Theatre Artistic Director Robert Falls' first encounter with Bieito's work was his 2004 staging of Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio forBerlin's Komische Oper. "I found that production to be both fascinating and profoundly disturbing; Calixto's investigation of the dark subtext that lay beneath the 'classical' exterior of the piece displayed a courage and sophistication that was, to me, profound and unsettling. Soon after the performance I met with him, and was immediately impressed by his warmth, intelligence and infectious passion for his work. I am thrilled to welcome him to Chicago in a production that promises to be a very special, entirely unique theatergoing experience."
