Goodman Theatre’s THE NOTEBOOKS OF LEONARDO DA VINCI Opens Tonight Through March 20
Nearly 30 years after its acclaimed premiere, one of the most popular works in Goodman Theatre history opens tonight in the Owen Theatre in a major revival—and will be available to view online next month! A high-quality video stream of Manilow Resident Director Mary Zimmerman’s famed production of The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci will be available to watch from the comfort of home, recorded with multiple cameras and produced in collaboration with Christiana Tye Productions and Hatfield Post/Production.
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci appears on stage through March 20 (tickets $15 – $55) and a high-quality video of the production is available to view online in a limited streaming run (starting March 15 through April 3, tickets available now for $25); visit Goodmantheatre.org/Notebooks or call 312.443.3800. Goodman Theatre is grateful for the support of its Women’s Board (Major Production Sponsor), ITW and Mayer Brown (Corporate Sponsor Partners), Russell Reynolds Associates (Contributing Sponsor) and The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation.
Acrobatics, music and movement unite to deliver a poetic glimpse into the mind of history’s ultimate Renaissance man, Mary Zimmerman once again directs her work, featuring a cast of eight as “Leonardo”—including Adeoye, Christiana Clark, Christopher Donahue (who appeared in the original production), Kasey Foster, Cruz Gonzalez-Cadel, John Gregorio, Anthony Irons and Wai Yim. Understudies for this production include Chloe Baldwin, Sean Blake, Jack DeCesare, Lawrence Grimm, Andrea San Miguel and Will Wilhelm. The design team includes Scott Bradley (Set), T.J. Gerckens (Lighting), Co-Composers Michael Bodeen (also Sound) and Miriam Sturm—all of whom worked on the original production—and Mara Blumenfeld (Costumes).
“What Leonardo demonstrates in all his work and life—and what I think is so useful to us now more than ever—is a type of radical attentiveness. Every part of the world enchanted him. Attention to the available, natural world is so far from how most of us conduct ourselves, lost as we are within electronic simulacrums of manipulated, constructed realities. But when we stay awake—alive and present—to the miraculous all around us, our lives are infinitely enriched,” said adapter/director Mary Zimmerman. “It’s always a profound experience to return to a work after so long, and this piece is very dear to my heart, very personal. Most of my work is literary, based in ancient and often fanciful stories. My mother was an English professor, and I sometimes think all my work is due to her. But my father was a physicist, and The Notebooks belongs to him.”
Zimmerman created The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci from 5,000 of the legendary Italian scientist/philosopher’s unbound surviving pages—written between 1475 and 1519 in his signature backwards handwriting, read by using a mirror. All of the spoken text in the performance is taken from his notebooks and various treatises on topics ranging from anatomy to love, botany to painting, engineering to dreams. The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci‘s Goodman debut in 1993 in the intimate 100-seat Studio Series (at the Art Institute of Chicago) was hailed as “a beautiful, beguiling and absolutely brilliant piece of work” (Chicago Tribune) and “an indisputable masterpiece in both concept and realization” (Chicago Sun-Times). The production became a highlight of Lincoln Center’s 1994 “Serious Fun! Festival,” hailed as “the most exhilarating theater I’ve seen in years” (New York Daily News); was revived at the Goodman in 1997; and appeared in an extended run Off-Broadway and at theaters across the country.
Please note: In compliance with the City of Chicago vaccine requirement, proof of vaccination with an FDA or WHO-authorized vaccine is required for all guests. Masks are required at all times in the theater and patrons under 5 are not permitted. Learn more GoodmanTheatre.org/
ENHANCED AND ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCES
ASL-Interpreted Performance: Friday, March 11 at 8pm – A professional American Sign Language interpreter signs the action/text as played.
Touch Tour and Audio-Described Performance:
Open-Captioned Performance: Saturday, March 19 at 2pm – An LED sign presents dialogue in sync with the performance.
Visit Goodmantheatre.org/Access for more information about Goodman Theatre’s accessibility efforts.
ABOUT GOODMAN THEATRE
Chicago ’s theater since 1925, Goodman Theatre is a not-for-profit arts and community organization in the heart of the Loop, distinguished by the excellence and scope of its artistic programming and community engagement.
Led by Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, the theater’s artistic priorities include new play development (more than 150 world or American premieres), large scale musical theater works and reimagined classics. Artists and productions have earner two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards and more than 160 Jeff Awards, among other accolades. The Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle.” Its longtime annual holiday tradition A Christmas Carol, now in its fifth decade, has created a new generation of theatergoers in Chicago. The Goodman also frequently serves as a production and program partner with national and international companies and Chicago’s Off-Loop theaters.
Using the tools of the theatrical profession, the Goodman’s Education and Engagement programs aim to develop generations of citizens who understand the cultures and stories of diverse voices. The Goodman’s Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement is the home of these programs, which are offered free of charge for Chicago youth—85% of whom come from underserved communities—schools and life-long learners.
As a cultural and community organization invested in quality, diversity and community, Goodman Theatre is committed to using the art of theater for a better Chicago. Goodman Theatre’s Action Plan for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Anti-Racism and Access (IDEAA) was born out of the belief that progress means action, which includes building on the decades-long commitment to using art, assets and resources to contribute to a more just, equitable and anti-racist society.
Goodman Theatre was founded by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth, an important figure in Chicago’s cultural renaissance in the early 1900s. The Goodman family’s legacy lives on through the continued work and dedication of Kenneth’s family, including Albert Ivar Goodman, who with his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton, contributed the necessary funds for the creation on the new Goodman center in 2000.
Today, Goodman Theatre leadership also includes the distinguished members of the Artistic Collective: Rebecca Gilman, Dael Orlandersmith, Henry Godinez, Steve Scott, Kimberly Senior, Chuck Smith, Regina Taylor and Mary Zimmerman. Jeff Hesse is Chairman of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Fran Del Boca is Women’s Board President and Craig McCaw is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.Smith, Regina Taylor and Mary Zimmerman. Jeff Hesse is Chairman of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Fran Del Boca is Women’s Board President and Craig McCaw is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.