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HOTTEST TICKET THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH "Robert Falls hears the play the way I hear it in my head." —REBECCA GILMAN continued from page 70 backgrounds and then she transcends them," observes Goodman artistic director Robert Falls, who helms the current production. "For example, Boy Gets Girl seems to be about a stalker, but it's really about a single woman navigating a male-dominated world. Blue Surge, which starts out seemingly to be about sex, about a cop and a FROM TOP: The Goodman has produced seven of young prostitute, turns out to be a play about class. Her Rebecca Gilman's plays, including The Crowd You're In With and A True History of the Johnstown Flood. plays are not generally upbeat. They are dark and emotionally devastating. That's just Rebecca." Gilman, an associate professor of playwriting and screenwriting at Northwestern University, is no stranger to the Goodman; Luna Gale is the seventh of her plays the theater has staged since 1999 and her fourth outing with Falls. "He just hears my language," relates Gilman. "He hears the play the way I hear it in my head." For Falls, who was sold on Gilman after seeing her breakout show The Glory of Living, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, having the playwright in the rehearsal room is a particularly satisfying experience. "I think she's among the best, if not the best writer to be in a room with because she's practical and extremely unsentimental. She knows exactly what she wants." January 18 to February 23, 2014, Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St., 312-443-3800; goodmantheatre.org MA 72 Ah, the books of childhood. Goodnight Moon, The Cat in The Hat, Charlotte's Web. And who could forget The Little Prince? Published in 1943, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's fable of the downed aviator and the curious kid he encounters in the desert has never ceased to charm. And its seductive narrative and beguiling illustrations have inspired any number of stage adaptations. This month, David Catlin and Lookingglass Theatre Company lend their wildly inventive ways to a version written by Rick Cummings and John Scoullar. The creative force behind Lookingglass Alice (arguably the company's signature show), Catlin promises a production that combines circus skills, movement, striking visuals, beautiful costumes, and live music. And while he's convinced kids will respond to this spectacle, he's crafting a show for all ages. "Yes, The Little Prince is about a child. But it is really about the grown-up who's telling the story. It is about a man who crashes his airplane in the Sahara. He is stuck, alone, and thirsty. I think we've all felt stuck, alone, and thirsty. We've been caught up in mortgages and bills and deadlines. We've been caught up, stuck in the concrete. It wouldn't hurt to be reminded that what is essential is invisible to the eye." December 5, 2013 to February 2, 2014, Lookingglass Theatre, 821 N. Michigan Ave., 312-3370665; lookingglasstheatre.org PHOTOGRAPHY BY ERIC Y. EXIT (GOODMAN); SEAN WILLIAMS (LITTLE PRINCE ) Lookingglass Theatre Company conjures a classic tale. MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM 070-072_MA_SC_HT_Winter2014.indd 72 11/20/13 10:08 AM