Lookingglass Lunch Show, courtesy Lookingglass Theatre Company
A pair of NIU School of Theatre and Dance alumni will be interviewed by CBS’ The Late Show host Stephen Colbert, as part of Lookingglass Theatre’s Lunch Show, Friday, June 16.
J. Nicole Brooks, ensemble member and Mellon Foundation Playwright in Residence at Lookingglass and Matthew C. Yee, artistic associate at Lookingglass, both received their Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in acting at NIU.
The Lunch Show is a celebration of 35 years of the theater and will feature Colbert’s conversations with Brooks and Yee and other Lookingglass artists including Atra Asdou, Anthony Fleming III, and Louise Lamson, and special guest David Schwimmer, a founding member of Lookingglass.
Yee’s new musical “Lucy and Charlie’s Honeymoon” made its world premiere at Lookingglass and runs through July 16. It’s already getting excellent reviews. He recently made his Broadway debut in “Almost Famous The Musical.”
J. Nicole Brooks, courtesy Lookingglass Theatre Company
“Chicago theater consistently cranks out the most original, gutsy, groundbreaking, hilarious, subversive, eclectic, brazen and relevant work in the country,” Schwimmer told lookingglasstheatre.org “And Lookingglass proves to be as bold as ever as it lands its current, delightful and provocative hit show, ‘Lucy and Charlie’s Honeymoon.’”
“Like the City’s Pumping Station that is its home, Lookingglass pumps out all this great work onstage in the heart of Chicago that everyone should go and see,” Colbert said. “And they send artists and teachers to communities all over the city to inspire them to create magic in their schools and neighborhoods. So, the company really is this public resource. And, like any civic asset, it needs investment and support to keep it functioning, delivering the goods, and keeping our body politic healthy…and well-hydrated.”
Brooks is an actor, writer, director, and educator based in Chicago. Other artistic affiliations include artistic membership at Collaboration and Sideshow Theatre Company. As a playwright, Brooks has created original and adapted works including “Black Diamond: The Years the Locusts Have Eaten,” “Fedra Queen of Haiti,” “HeLa,” “Black Moon Lilith,” “1919,” and the award–winning “Her Honor Jane Byrne.” Brooks has also served as director and associate director mounting successful theatre productions of “Mr. Rickey Calls A Meeting,” “Thaddeus & Slocum A Vaudeville Adventure,” and “Sex With Strangers.”
Matthew C. Yee, photo courtesy Lookingglass Theatre Company
In addition to writing and composing “Lucy and Charlie’s Honeymoon,” Yee’s Chicago theatre credits include “Cambodian Rock Band” (Victory Gardens); Vietgone (Writers Theatre); “Treasure Island” (Lookingglass Theatre); “The Wheel” (Steppenwolf Theatre). He performed in the Broadway production of “Almost Famous The Musical” (Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre). TV credits include “Chicago Fire,” “Chicago Justice,” “61st Street,” and “Empire.” His adaptation of “RUR” ran at the NIU School of Theatre and Dance in February 2022.
A limited number of tickets for the luncheon remain, with prices starting at $350. The event begins at 11:30 a.m., Friday, June 16 at 167 Green, located on the 17th floor of 167 N. Green Street in the Fulton Market District.
