Chef Rick Bayless to return in Lookingglass Theatre's "Cascabel"

“Cascabel” director-adapter Heidi Stillman (left) and chef Rick Bayless.

Amidst a Frontera Grill spread of churros and chocolate, empanadas with scrambled egss and green chili sauce, and muffins made of roasted butternut squash and cinnamon, master chef Rick Bayless and adapter-director Heidi Stillman announced the remount of “Cascabel,” Lookingglass Theatre’s hit 2012 production that Bayless describes as “theater about a dinner, full of daring and desire” rather than plain old “dinner theater.”

The show, a co-production of Lookingglass, Frontera Grill and Silverguy Entertainment, will be presented in the Goodman’s Owen Bruner Theatre space at 170 N. Dearborn, and will have a limited four-week engagement, running July 30-Aug. 24. Many from the show’s original cast, including Bayless (who plays the cook who tries to reignite the life force in a beautiful, heartbroken woman), will be reunited. Co-creator and circus performer Tony Hernandez (now in the Broadway production of “Pippin”), will be replaced.

“Working with three teams of theater, circus and food specialists was such a magical experience for me,” said Bayless. “And we were all surprised that we could even make it work the first time around. Now we want to massage the storytelling and integrate the menu even more into the narrative, though the specifics of all this will come to light in the Lookkingglass way — in the rehearsal studio. We hope our audiences will include those who couldn’t get a ticket last time around, those who want to see the show again, and the many tourists who come to Chicago in the summertime.”

Set designer Brian Sidney Bembridge will recreate his Mexican courtyard set full of refectory tables in the slightly larger Owen Theatre (about 185 seats compared to Lookingglass’ 150). The magical realism-style love story will again unfold through the use of breathtaking circus acts, flamenco dancing, guitar playing, comedy and a multi-course gourmet Mexican feast.

Flamenco dancer Chiara Mangiameli from cast of “Cascabel.”

Season subscriptions and tickets to “Cascabel” are available online, www.lookingglasstheatre.org; by phone, (312) 337-0665 or at the Lookingglass Theatre box office, located inside Chicago’s historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson. Tickets to “Cascabel” (not part of the subscription series), will be available for 2013-2014 Lookingglass subscribers beginning Oct. 29. Any remaining tickets will be available for sale to the public on Nov. 19.

Performances will be Tuesdays through Sundays. The lobby opens at 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, and at 5 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets for preview performances (July 30 – Aug. 1) start at $200. Regular run tickets on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays are $250, and premium seating tickets are $300. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays during the regular run tickets are $300 and premium seating tickets are $350. Each ticket includes hors d’oeuvres, a three course dinner, and non-alcoholic beverages. Prices will go up, based on demand, when they are released to the public for sale. Information on wine pairings, food allergies and dietary restrictions is available at lookingglasstheatre.org/cascabel. The show will not be part of the Lookingglass subscription series.