THE AUDITORIUM THEATRE
OF ROOSEVELT UNIVERSITY
 Is a gorgeous historic landmark. 

But get this; when you go see the newest theatre sensation FUERZA BRUTA: Look Up ,  which is already taking Chicago by storm, you won’t be sitting in the seats!

Let me explain.  When you first walk into the lounge area of the theatre, before the show starts, you know you are in for something special! Pumping beats and  club music fills the beautiful mosaic tiled halls, the ceiling is dimly lit, accented by colored lights,  bartenders are mixing up drinks and the smell of  delicious empanadas (by 5411, the BEST empanadas in Chicago ) wafts thru the air.

There is a buzz in the air! This is NOT your normal theatre lobby experience. As showtime approaches, the nearly 900 theatre-goers are escorted into the theatre, past the seats, and up onto the stage. For the next 75 minutes, you experience an alternate universe, filled with flying performers, engaging dream sequences, and a multidimensional slip-n-slide swimming pool raises and lowers  over your head.

This is like NOTHING you have ever seen or experienced! You are part of the show. Right on the stage, interacting with performers and other people at the show. This is a non-stop collision of  dynamic music, visceral emotion and kinetic aerial imagery that resembles nothing less than a fantastic mash-up between aerial theatre and a late-night dance party rave.

No matter how short or how tall you are, everyone has a good viewing spot of the action  and will quite possibly experience something different. A loud speaker’s broadcast tells us to be attentive to the directions of how to move, where and when.

Then the black  t-shirted STAFF begins. They direct us like a commercial jet on an airport runway. With their elbows bent and stiff fingered palms in the air, they signal us to fit inside the white line of tape on the floor. As each individual moves closer to the next, breaking down the barrier of personal space –  you can choose where you wish to stand and by whom. You can choose to be right in the thick of things or stand back further and observe. You decide how you wish to experience the show.

Huge scaffolding with performers on it create performance art while the infectious music plays and you feel the audience all getting into the beats. As the scaffolding moves thru the crowd you are directed to move this way and that.

 

All of a sudden, the performers start tearing apart their stage piece by piece and jump down into the crowd to mingle, dance and play. 

Next we look up! There is a clear pool dangling  35 feet overhead filled with performers sliding thru the water. The pool  eventually drops to eye level and touches your head. You can actually “touch” the performers thru the clear material. It is mind-blowing. The guy next to me is shooting pictures with his  phone and tweeting them and posting them to Facebook.  CAMERAS  ARE  ALLOWED, and encouraged, just no flash photography.

For a little over an hour, the performance drags us back and forth between the earth and the sky. All the while, the pace of the show continues to increase. The characters on earth gain courage from the joy taking place in the sky and they dance and dance and dance until the lead character nearly breaks free from his tie. Then the performers climb from the moving walkway up a staircase and through a door that reveals nothing, also known as a place to leap into.

Fuerza Bruta combines the dramatic theatrical experience of classical theater while at the same time challenges the limits of communication by using sound and movement to tell a loosely thematic story to the audience. We explore the possibility of expressing deep and thoughtful ideas in new ways. And by freeing the ways in which we can communicate, we are able to speak to extremely diverse groups of people.

“After amazing success with Fuerza Bruta in London, Buenos Aires, New York (where the show is entering it’s third year) and Taipei, we are thrilled to bring this very special show to Chicago!”  says  Fernando Moya,  one of the Argentine producers of the show.

“We have been trying to get this show here for over 5 years, since we first saw De La Guarda , the first sensational piece created by Diqui James. Broadway in Chicago is extremely happy to finally bring this awesome show to the glorious theatre,” explained Lou Raizin, President of Broadway in Chicago.

Breaking free from the confines of spoken language and theatrical convention, Fuerza Bruta: Look Up is an event where worlds collide and reality takes a back seat. It’s theatre; it’s art; and you are part of it!

This is one of those, you have to see it to believe it shows.  AMAZING!

FYI – in New York City, Fuerza Bruta hosts a monthly  Boys Night , where the show is taken over by an all male cast!  Broadway in Chicago has hinted, something similar will be offered in Chicago, as well. 

See more  Fuerza Bruta online  at YouTube, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter

GET  YOUR  TICKETS  FOR  FUERZA BRUTA  CHICAGO

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