This fall, passers-by will get a peek behind Theatre in the Round's brick walls without ever stepping inside.

California artist John Pugh is creating a trompe-l'œil mural, giving the illusion that pieces of the community theater's wall are being pulled back — letting people on Cedar Avenue near Minneapolis' Seven Corners area see happenings inside.

Pugh is working on three walls, but the biggest mural will be on the south wall, where it will look like workers are pushing a giant blue sphere right through the theater's brick wall.

That mural represents a "literal theatre-in-the-round," said executive director Steven Antenucci. Another mural will seem to expose part of the stage and a dressing room.

Pugh is expected to begin the mural in Minneapolis sometime in the spring. The more than $400,000 project is expected to be completed this fall.