PORTAGE PARK — Tickets for the Filament Theatre Ensemble's twist on the classic fairy tale “Pinocchio” are now on sale, officials said.
The much-loved fairytale centers on Pinocchio, a wooden puppet, carved by Geppetto, who dreams of becoming a real boy, while struggling with honesty. The Filament Theatre Ensemble reimagines the tale as a "folk musical" designed to appeal to the whole family.
Adapted by Tyler Beattie, the production feature six actors playing "a menagerie of instruments" and takes audience members age 4 and older on a trip from the "wood shop through the land of toys and into the belly of a whale and home again on a journey to learn what it is to be real," theater officials said.
Directed by Scott Ferguson and based on Carlo Collodi's novel, the production will start Jan. 22 and run through March 6 with performances at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays and at noon and 3 p.m. Sundays.
Tickets are $14 for children and $20 for adults. However, tickets to the preview performances at 8 p.m. Jan. 22, 7 p.m. Jan. 23 as well as at noon and 3 p.m. Jan. 24 are $5-$10, officials said.
The formerly itinerant ensemble moved to Portage Park in 2013 and transformed the former furniture warehouse at 4041 N. Milwaukee Ave. into a performance venue.
The group hopes the theater will become a community hub in the Six Corners Shopping District, a desire shared by Ald. John Arena (45th), who has been working to turn the long-struggling area around Milwaukee Avenue, Cicero Avenue and Irving Park Boulevard into an arts and entertainment district.
For more information, go to filamenttheatre.org or at 773-270-1660.
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