Redmoon Theater

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The Redmoon Theater is a Chicago based not-for-profit theatrical company that specializes in high profile and unique productions using both human actors and puppets. In addition, the Redmoon Theater uses masks, inventive mechanical objets, robust physical movement, live music, acrobatics and an original use of public space for its performances. With this unique visual language, Redmoon aspires to transform streets and stages into places of public celebration, capable of speaking across cultural, ethnic, and gnerational boundaries.

Redmoon has produced adaptations of classics including Melville's Moby Dick, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Redmoon Theater's most recent indoor production, The Cabinet, was based on the German silent movie "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari." Indoor productions take place in their Kinzie Street theater (Redmoon Central), Redmoon's 18,000 square foot facility since 2003.

Along with its indoor work, Redmoon Theater produces outdoor spectacles. In 2004, the original production "Sink...Sank...Sunk" was staged in Chicago's Chinatown Ping Tom Memorial Park. This outdoor event attracted an audience of more than 12,000 people over four evenings. In 2005, the spectacle "Loves Me...Loves Me Not" was staged for ten nights on the Jackson Park Lagoon. The mission of the giant outdoor spectacle is to introduce Chicago audiences to an undiscovered Chicago location via a site-specific spectacle. Past outdoor spectacles include annual Halloween shows and winter pageants, for example the 11th Annual Winter event was held at the Pulaski Field house in Chicago.

The Redmoon Theater was founded in 1989 in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago by the performance artist Blair Thomas. Jim Lasko joined the company in 1992. Lasko studied at Northwestern University with Tony award-winning director and writer Frank Galati, and now serves as the theater's artistic director. The theater is operated by a 20 member board of directors and is funded through various avenues including ticket sales and a business arm called Redmoon for Hire which provides customized party entertainment for corporate events, conventions and private parties. Corporate funding including the Boeing Corporation and Bank One also provide financial assistance. As a result, the Redmoon surpassed $1 million in revenue for the first time in 2002. It also offers classes in mask making and programs for the community, including Dramagirls and Redmoon School Participation Program.