LOOK Musical Theatre

{{Short description|American musical theater company}} '''LOOK Musical Theatre''' (LOOK) was a professional musical theatre company based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The organization, governed by an elected board of directors, followed a repertory model in presenting a summer festival program of musicals and comic opera. LOOK's annual summer season of performances at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center was known as "The LOOK Festival."

The company was founded by John and Jane Everett in 1983 as a non-profit community theater called '''The Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Tulsa'''.<ref name=Urban>[http://www.urbantulsa.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A17350 "The Glamour of Evil"], ''Urban Tulsa Weekly'', June 6, 2007</ref> It changed its name to '''Light Opera Oklahoma''' in 1997 in conjunction with its transformation into a professional repertory company and expanded its repertoire to works outside the corpus of Gilbert and Sullivan's comic operas.<ref name=Urban/> Eric Gibson was named the artistic director in 2002.<ref name=Watts>Watts, James D., Jr. [http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/artsandentertainment/look-musical-theater-cancels-season-to-pay-off-debts/article_ddb1330c-1564-5500-9d98-9b2792610b2d.html "LOOK Musical Theater cancels season to pay off debts"], ''Tulsa World'', August 9, 2015.</ref> The company rebranded itself again in 2012 under its present name.

LOOK drew its orchestral forces from the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra and often recruited its dancers from the Tulsa Ballet and Tulsa Youth Ballet. The company occasionally traveled to other cities in Oklahoma, but most productions took place at the Williams Theatre of the Tulsa Performing Arts Center in downtown Tulsa. LOOK also held evening cabarets for Valentine's Day and during the fall season.<ref name=LOOKsite>[http://looktheatre.org/about#pagefold Information from the company's official website]</ref>

Reviewing ''My Fair Lady'' in 2009, ''Urban Tulsa Weekly'' wrote, "LOOK consistently delivers fantastic performances, year after year, during the Tulsa Performing Arts Center's SummerStage Festival.... The company draws talented professional singers from all over the U.S."<ref>Wall, Holly. [http://www.urbantulsa.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A27352 "Refining Moment"], ''Urban Tulsa Weekly'', June 17, 2009</ref>

The company shut down operations in 2015 after accumulating debts.<ref name=Watts/>

==Performance history== [[File:Trial by Jury Usher.jpg|right|thumb|''Trial by Jury'' was the company's first production]] [[File:Savoyard-Page24 (clean).jpg|thumb|''The Gondoliers'' was its last production]] From its founding in 1983, when its first production was ''Trial by Jury'', to 1996, the company produced a single Gilbert and Sullivan opera each year, except in 1987, when it instead presented two musicals: ''Man of La Mancha'' and ''Side by Side by Sondheim''.<ref name=Watts/> Some of the early productions were directed by John Reed, a former principal comedian with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. In 1997, it began to expand its repertory, presenting ''Little Mary Sunshine'' as well as ''Princess Ida''. After this, each season included a Savoy opera together with a mix of operettas and musicals, generally totaling three productions, presented in repertory, except that from 2011 to 2013, the company did not present any Gilbert and Sullivan pieces. Its seasons, after 1998, included the following shows:<ref name=LOOKsite/>

* 1998 ''The Mikado'', ''The New Moon'', ''Pineapple Poll'', ''Trial by Jury'' * 1999 ''The Student Prince'', ''The Pirates of Penzance'', ''Ernest in Love'', ''Pineapple Poll'', & ''Cox & Box'' * 2000 ''The Desert Song'', ''H.M.S. Pinafore'', ''The Yeomen of the Guard'' * 2001 ''The Mikado'', ''My Fair Lady'', ''Naughty Marietta'' * 2002 ''Iolanthe'', ''The Merry Widow'', ''I Do! I Do!'', ''Master Class'' * 2003 ''The Pirates of Penzance'', ''Die Fledermaus'' (as ''Revenge of the Bat''), ''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'' * 2004 ''H.M.S. Pinafore'', ''The Threepenny Opera'', ''Guys & Dolls'', Jazz concert * 2005 ''The Mikado'', ''Too Many Sopranos'', ''Fiddler on the Roof'', ''La Périchole'' * 2006 ''South Pacific'', ''The Sorcerer'', ''El barberillo de Lavapiés'' (''The Little Barber of Lavapies'') * 2007 ''The Music Man'', ''Sweeney Todd'', ''Naughty Marietta'', ''Trial by Jury'' * 2008 ''Into the Woods'', ''The Pirates of Penzance'', ''Candide'', ''Oh, Coward!'' * 2009 ''My Fair Lady'', ''The Gondoliers'', ''A Little Night Music'' * 2010 ''Kiss Me, Kate'', ''The Boy Friend'', ''Patience'' * 2011 ''Evita'', ''Trouble in Tahiti'', ''The Light in the Piazza'' * 2012 ''Gypsy'', ''Avenue Q'', ''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'' * 2013 ''Hello, Dolly!'', ''Side by Side by Sondheim'', ''The Drowsy Chaperone'' * 2014 ''Sweeney Todd'', ''The Gondoliers''

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [http://tulsahistory.org/learn/past-exhibits/look-musical-theatre-celebrating-three-decades Tulsa Historical Society profile] (2013)

Category:Musical groups established in 1983 Category:Culture of Tulsa, Oklahoma Category:Gilbert and Sullivan performing groups Category:Economy of Tulsa, Oklahoma Category:Tourist attractions in Tulsa, Oklahoma