Tickets are sale now for Lookingglass Theatre's limited engagement of KOWALSKI, Gregg Ostrin's acclaimed new play imagining the pivotal first meeting between Tennessee Williams and Marlon Brando. Emmy and Golden Globe Award nominee Johnny Galecki returns to the city where he began his acting career to portray Tennessee Williams in the production, directed by Colin Hanlon, running September 15 – October 25, 2026, at Lookingglass Theatre Company, 163 E. Pearson St. at Michigan Avenue in Chicago, with a press opening on Saturday, September 19, 2026, at 6pm.
KOWALSKI will be a part of the 26/27 Lookingglass Membership and Subscription Series to be announced on July 16. Single tickets range from $37 to $97, with a limited number of premium seats also available. Tickets will be available for purchase at lookingglasstheatre.org and 312.337.0665
Set over one pivotal evening in Provincetown in 1947, KOWALSKI imagines the first meeting between Tennessee Williams and a young Marlon Brando as Williams searches for the actor who would redefine the role of Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire. Blending historical events with theatrical imagination, the play explores ambition, artistry and the creative collaboration behind one of the most influential works in American theater.
A Chicago theater veteran who began performing on local stages as a child, Galecki returns home for this limited engagement after an acclaimed career spanning television, film and Broadway.
Preview performances are Tuesday, September 15 through Thursday, September 17 at 7 p.m., and Friday, September 18 at 7:30 p.m. Opening night is Saturday, September 19 at 6 p.m.
Following opening, regular performances are Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7 p.m.; Fridays at 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; and Sundays at 2 p.m., with additional 6:30 p.m. performances on September 27, October 18 and October 25. Wednesday performances are at 7 p.m., with 2 p.m. matinees offered on September 30 and October 7.
Accessible performances include an Open Caption performance on Thursday, October 1 at 7 p.m., and an Audio Description performance on Saturday, October 10 at 2 p.m.
Galecki shares, “The planets aligned. Gregg’s writing, Colin’s vision, and the feeling that, after seven years of quietly observing life, I finally had something new to bring back to the work. Add to that the privilege of portraying one of my artistic heroes, and it became impossible to say no.”
“I was immediately drawn to Gregg Ostrin’s smart, funny and deeply human exploration of Tennessee Williams at a transformative moment in his life and career,” said director Colin Hanlon. “The play captures the excitement, uncertainty and artistic risk that accompany the creation of great art, while also revealing the complicated people behind the legends.”
Playwright Gregg Ostrin added, “At its heart, KOWALSKI is about the collision of extraordinary talents and the lasting impact those encounters can have on art and culture. Tennessee Williams and Marlon Brando helped redefine American theater, and it has been thrilling to see audiences connect with this story.”
Additional casting and creative team members will be announced at a later date.
Kolwaski arrives in Chicago following a critically acclaimed New York premiere, with reviewers praising both Gregg Ostrin's script and its exploration of one of the defining moments in American theater. Digital Journal called the production "a must-see," while TheaterMania described it as "a playful and highly watchable tribute to both Williams and Brando." The New York Sun hailed the play as "a canny and absorbing study of the momentous meeting between Tennessee Williams and Marlon Brando," and TheaterScene praised it as "an intelligent entertainment, joyously steeped in history."
JOHNNY GALECKI (Tennessee Williams) is an acclaimed actor best known for starring as Leonard Hofstadter on the award-winning CBS comedy The Big Bang Theory, earning Emmy, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. He first gained widespread recognition as David Healy on Roseanne and has appeared in numerous film and television projects 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 production of The Little Dog Laughed, for which he received a Theatre World Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut, as well as The Drawer Boy, Pot Mom, The Member of the Wedding and Galileo.
GREGG OSTRIN (Playwright) is a Los Angeles-based playwright whose recent works include A Very Streaming Christmas, The Spy Who Went Into Rehab, The Soul of Motown, Truffles and Rank & File. His newest work, The Beverly Hills Hotel Peace Talks, recently premiered as part of Coachella Valley Repertory’s Origins series.
COLIN HANLON (Director) is a director, actor, writer and producer whose recent directing credits include Broken Snow, I Love You Because and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. His Broadway performing credits include Falsettos, Rent, Wicked and In Transit.
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, teachers and organizations 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, Heidi Stillman’s Cascabel, created in collaboration with renowned Chef Rick Bayless, David Catlin’s Moby Dick and 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.