STELLA! MEET TENNESSEE

Once Tennessee met Brando, American
theater would never be the same

Before Marlon Brando bellowed “STELLA!” into theatrical immortality, he was a hungry 23-year-old actor who had yet to become Marlon Brando. And before A Streetcar Named Desire became one of the defining American plays of the 20th century, Tennessee Williams needed to find his Stanley Kowalski.

That tantalizing bit of theatrical history is the jumping-off point for Gregg Ostrin’s Kowalski, arriving at Chicago’s Lookingglass Theatre Company September 15 through October 25. Set during one pivotal evening in Provincetown in 1947, the play imagines the first meeting between Williams and the young Brando—two formidable talents who were about to make theatrical history, although neither could possibly have known quite how much history they were about to make.

Johnny Galecki (Randall Slavin)

And Lookingglass has landed a particularly intriguing Tennessee: Johnny Galecki, returning to the Chicago theater scene where he began performing as a child. Yes, The Big Bang Theory made Galecki a television star, but theatergoers may remember that he also received a Theatre World Award for his Broadway debut in The Little Dog Laughed. After seven years away from acting, the prospect of playing Williams apparently proved irresistible.

“The planets aligned,” Galecki says. “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.”

Jacob Moskovitz (Sela Shiloni)

Now we know who gets to face him across the room. Newly announced Jacob Moskovitz, star of the recently released Legally Blonde prequel series Elle, will play Brando. Moskovitz may not yet have the instant name recognition of his co-star—which is rather delicious casting when you consider that he’s playing Brando before Brando had it, either.

Ostrin doesn’t attempt a documentary reconstruction of that famous encounter. Kowalski blends fact, memory and theatrical imagination to explore what happens when ambition, desire and artistry converge—and when the right actor walks through the door at precisely the right moment. Director Colin Hanlon describes the play as an exploration of “the excitement, uncertainty and artistic risk that accompany the creation of great art,” while also revealing the decidedly human beings behind two imposing legends.

Johnny Galecki and Jacob Moskovitz (Emil Cohen)

There is also something wonderfully circular about Galecki making this particular return at Lookingglass. He left Chicago for a career that eventually made him a household name; Williams was waiting for the actor who would make Stanley Kowalski one. And Moskovitz arrives as the rising young performer charged with embodying a rising young performer on the brink of becoming an icon.

Kowalski comes to Chicago following its New York premiere, where the play received strong notices. But this new pairing makes the Lookingglass engagement more than simply a transfer.

One established star is returning to the stage. Another young actor is playing a man just before he became one. Something tells me this could get interesting.

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Kowalski
Lookingglass Theatre Company
Water Tower Water Works, 163 E. Pearson St. in Chicago
previews begin September 15, 2026
opens September 19, 2026
ends on October 25, 2026
90 minutes, no intermission
tickets $37–$97
for tickets, call 312.337.0665 or visit Lookingglass Theatre Company

for more shows, visit Theatre in Chicago

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