Mary Zimmerman: Theater of the imagination

Mary Zimmerman directs the classic musical “Guys and Dolls” in a rehearsal room at the Wallis in Beverly Hills. Her laughter at the comic goings-on is the loudest in the room.

(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Nov. 27, 2015 3:43 PM PT

Chicago-based theater director-adapter Mary Zimmerman -- a Tony Award winner and MacArthur Foundation fellow -- visits Los Angeles to oversee the transfer of her staging of the classic musical “Guys and Dolls.” Here’s a look at some of her stage work.

In 2013, Mary Zimmerman, foreground, adapted and directed Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book” at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre. Here she and costume designer Mara Blumenfeld watch actor Larry Yando try out the Shere Khan costume.

(Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)

As Mary Zimmerman’s adaptation of “The Jungle Book” is readied at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre in June 2013, music director Doug Peck, who worked to weave Indian sounds into the score, rehearses with musicians.

(Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)

During rehearsals for “Guys and Dolls” in Beverly Hills, Mary Zimmerman, center, demonstrates to Kate Hurster, left, who portrays Sarah Brown, how she’d like a dance move executed.

(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)