WIN WIN For Chicago Kids: GOODMAN THEATRE RECEIVES A $100,000 GRANT FROM DISNEY TO FUND THEATER EDUCATION PROGRAM

***FIVE CHICAGOLAND PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS TO WORK WITH THE GOODMAN TO PARTICIPATE AND PRODUCE A DISNEY MUSICAL 

– AT NO COST*** 

Here at ChiIL Mama we're elated to hear that the “Disney Musicals in Schools” program is coming to the Chicago area in the capable hands of Goodman Theatre's education department, financed by a $100,000 grant from Disney! This is a great opportunity for Chicago public school children to be able to be cast in and work on funded theatrical school productions, which is a rarity in CPS elementary schools. Kudos to both Disney and Goodman on this partnership.

Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer announce that Goodman Theatre will expand its Education programming into elementary schools with a $100,000 grant from Disney to bring the “Disney Musicals in Schools” program to the Chicago area. The program is an outreach initiative developed by Disney Theatrical Productions to create sustainable theater programs in under-resourced elementary schools. The grant funds two years of programming; Goodman Theatre, under the leadership of Walter Director of Education and Engagement Willa J. Taylor, will select five area public elementary schools to participate in Spring 2018, and another five will be selected for the following year. Applications will be available in the fall; for more information, visit www.GoodmanTheatre.org or call 312.443.5581.

“We are proud to build on our longtime relationship with Disney with this wonderful new partnership that expands our Education outreach into elementary schools for the first time,” said Artistic Director Robert Falls. “Willa Taylor has done extraordinary work over the past decade to exponentially increase and deepen the Goodman’s Education and Engagement programming. Disney Musicals in Schools continues that effort, giving Chicago youth a top-tier introduction to theater.”

“Under Robert Falls’ and Roche Schulfer’s leadership, Goodman Theatre continues to be one of the country’s premier theatrical institutions, creating compelling and innovative productions. Bob’s direction brought Aida to Broadway, and later led the vision that brought the first production of The Jungle Book to the stage. I am thrilled that we can continue our partnership by supporting this education program,” said Thomas Schumacher, President & Producer, Disney Theatrical Productions. 

The selected schools will participate in a 17-week musical theater residency, led by a team of teaching artists trained by the Goodman and Disney Theatrical Productions, at no cost. Each school will receive performance rights, education support materials and guidance from the teaching artists. The program features a professional development focus, through which participating school teachers partner with Goodman teaching artists to learn how to produce, direct, choreograph and music direct, culminating in their first 30-minute Disney KIDS musical at their school. As a capstone to the experience, the Goodman will host a “Student Share Celebration,” in which each school performs one number from their show on the Goodman’s stage for an audience of students, teachers, family and community members.

“Disney Musicals in Schools’ emphasis on creating sustainable in-school programs by training teachers and parents aligns with the Goodman’s 30-year commitment to teacher praxis, and our long-term commitment to partner schools in our School Matinee Series,” said Walter Director of Education and Engagement Willa J. Taylor. “The Goodman is excited to continue our relationship with Disney, and partner in this new way.”

Using the unique world of musical theater, Disney Musicals in Schools helps to foster positive relationships between students, faculty, staff, parents and the community.  Students and teachers work in teams, developing the wide spectrum of skills needed when producing a piece of musical theater, including: critical thinking, problem solving, ensemble building, communication, self-confidence and interpersonal skills. Disney Musicals in Schools was launched in 2010 in response to Disney Theatrical Production’s concern that under-resourced public elementary schools were not afforded equitable access to the arts. After successfully offering the program in New York City schools, Disney Theatrical Productions began partnering with organizations in other communities across the United States. Disney KIDS musicals, created in partnership with Music Theater International (MTI), are 30-minute musicals designed for elementary school performers and have been adapted from the classic Disney films 101 Dalmatians, Aladdin, The Aristocats, Cinderella, The Jungle Book, The Lion King and Winnie the Pooh.

What makes the Goodman unique as Chicago’s flagship not-for-profit theater is its equal devotion to furthering the art of theater and providing service to the community. For three decades, the Goodman has been committed to three core values—quality, diversity and community—and is distinguished by its proactive investment to the productions on stage; making aesthetic and cultural diversity the fabric of the institution; and developing programs that bring Arts as Education to Chicago youth, lifelong learners and audiences. This commitment is visibly demonstrated by the new Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement at Goodman Theatre (opened Spring 2016), which has broadened and deepened the Goodman’s service to its community—efforts that evolved when Robert Falls became Artistic Director in 1986, and have exponentially expanded during the past 10 years under Taylor’s leadership. Today, the Goodman offers more than 20 Education and Engagement programs—100% of which are funded by individual contributions—offered year-round and free of charge. Eighty-five percent of the Goodman’s youth program participants come from underserved communities. Training teachers to use arts strategies in their classrooms for every subject area has always been central to the Goodman’s education efforts, demonstrated in its 30-year old flagship Education program, the School Matinee Series. For more than 20 years, the Goodman has offered a summer program designed to help Chicagoland high school students find their creative voice. PlayBuild | Youth Intensive, open to all 14- to 18-year old students in the Chicago metropolitan area, uses personal history and storytelling techniques to validate the voices of its participants and introduces them to all elements of theater creation—both on stage and behind the scenes. The 10-year-old Cindy Bandle Young Critics program helps young women develop the skills and critical literacy necessary to set them on a professional path. Of the 200+ alumni of this program, 100% have enrolled in college. Emerging programs established over the past decade—including GeNarrations, Youth Poetry Ensemble, Play ‘N 90, Musical Theater Intensive and this coming summer, a brand new program called NOURISH, in partnership with Michael Rohd and the Center for Performance and Civic Practice—add to the growing array of offerings made possible only through the state-of-the-art LEED-certified Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement. 

Disney Theatrical Productions (DTP) operates under the direction of Thomas Schumacher and is among the world’s most successful commercial theatre enterprises, bringing live entertainment events to a global annual audience of more than 19 million people in more than 50 countries.  Under the Disney Theatrical Productions banner, the group produces and licenses Broadway productions around the world, including Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Elton John & Tim Rice’s Aida, TARZAN®, Mary Poppins, a co-production with Cameron Mackintosh, The Little Mermaid, Peter and the Starcatcher, Newsies, and Aladdin. Frozen, based on the Academy Award®-winning film, will open on Broadway in 2018.  Other successful stage musical ventures have included the Olivier-nominated London hit Shakespeare in Love, stage productions of Disney’s High School Musical, Der Glöckner Von Notre Dame in Berlin, and King David in concert.  DTP has collaborated with the country’s leading regional theatres to develop new stage titles including The Jungle Book, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Freaky Friday.

Disney Theatrical Productions also delivers live shows globally through its license to Feld Entertainment, producer of Disney on Ice and Disney Live!  For over 30 years, Disney on Ice and Disney Live! have brought beloved Disney stories and characters annually to over 12 million guests in nearly 50 countries worldwide, through productions such as Marvel Universe Live! and Frozen, the most well attended and highest grossing Disney on Ice production to date.  In addition, DTP licenses musical titles for local, school and community theatre productions through Music Theatre International, including The Lion King Experience, a unique holistic arts education program wherein accredited elementary and middle schools produce condensed, age-appropriate JR. and KIDS adaptations of The Lion King.

Music Theatre International (MTI) is one of the world’s leading theatrical licensing agencies, granting theatres from around the world the rights to perform the greatest selection of musicals from Broadway and beyond. Founded in 1952 by composer Frank Loesser and orchestrator Don Walker, MTI is a driving force in advancing musical theatre as a vibrant and engaging art form.MTI works directly with the composers, lyricists, and book writers of these musicals to provide official scripts, musical materials, and dynamic theatrical resources to over 70,000 professional, community and school theatres in the US and in over 60 countries worldwide. MTI is particularly dedicated to educational theatre, and has created special collections to meet the needs of various types of performers and audiences. MTI’s Broadway Junior™ shows are 30- and 60-minute musicals for performance by elementary and middle school-aged performers, while MTI’s School Editions are musicals annotated for performance by high school students.

About Goodman Theatre 
America’s “Best Regional Theatre” (Time magazine) and “Chicago’s flagship resident stage” (Chicago Tribune), Goodman Theatre is a not-for-profit organization distinguished by the quality and scope of its artistic programming and civic engagement. Founded in 1925, the Goodman is led by Robert Falls—“Chicago’s most essential director” (Chicago Tribune), who marks 30 years as Artistic Director this season—and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, who is celebrated for his vision and leadership over nearly four decades. Dedicated to new plays, reimagined classics and large-scale musical theater works, Goodman Theatre artists and productions have earned hundreds of awards for artistic excellence, including: two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards, nearly 160 Jeff Awards and more. Over the past three decades, audiences have experienced more than 150 world or American premieres, 30 major musical productions, as well as nationally and internationally celebrated productions of classic works (including Falls’ productions of Death of a Salesman, Long Day’s Journey into Night, King Lear and The Iceman Cometh, many in collaboration with actor Brian Dennehy). In addition, the Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle.” For nearly four decades, the annual holiday tradition of A Christmas Carol has created a new generation of theatergoers. Goodman Theatre was founded by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth, an important figure in Chicago’s cultural renaissance in the early 1900s. The Goodman family’s legacy lives on through the continued work and dedication of Kenneth’s family, including Albert Ivar Goodman, who with his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton, contributed the necessary funds for the creation of the new Goodman center in 2000. Today, Goodman Theatre leadership includes the distinguished members of the Artistic Collective: Brian Dennehy, Rebecca Gilman, Henry Godinez, Dael Orlandersmith, Steve Scott, Chuck Smith, Regina Taylor, Henry Wishcamper and Mary Zimmerman. Joan E. Clifford is Chair of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Cynthia K. Scholl is Women’s Board President and Justin A. Kulovsek is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals. 

Visit the Goodman virtually at GoodmanTheatre.org—including OnStage+ for insider information—and on Twitter (@GoodmanTheatre), Facebook and Instagram

Free Cindy Bandle Young Critics” (CBYC) Program Seeks 10th & 11th Grade Girls - Apply Through 10/21

GOODMAN THEATRE’S 

“CINDY BANDLE YOUNG CRITICS PROGRAM,” 

CELEBRATES A DECADE OF CULTIVATING NEW CRITICAL VOICES

***APPLY NOW AVAILABLE FOR THE 2016/2017 SESSION UNTIL OCTOBER 21***

Goodman Theatre seeks journalistically savvy and theater curious 10^th and 11^th grade girls to apply for its “Cindy Bandle Young Critics” (CBYC) program—now in its 10^th year. Offered completely free-of-charge, CBYC is a free seven-month program designed to immerse and introduce young women to the world of theater and journalism. A joint venture between the Goodman and the Association for Women Journalists (AWJ) Chicago, the young critics attend bi-monthly Saturday workshops in the Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement, where mentors assist help them develop a critical voice and hone professional journalism skills. CBYC participants also interview Goodman artists and staff members for feature stories and attend press opening nights. The first session takes place at the Goodman on Saturday, November 5; applications are due October 21 and are available at GoodmanTheatre.org/Engage-Learn.

CBYC is named for Cindy Bandle (1955-2005), whose tenure as Goodman Theatre’s Press Director spanned two decades publicizing more than 200 productions with artists of note, including Carol Burnett, Brian Dennehy, Arthur Miller, David Mamet, August Wilson and many more. During her time at the Goodman, the theater became one of the most important and respected not-for-profit resident theaters in the country; Bandle represented multiple triumphant Goodman productions, including transfers to New York and abroad, the 1992 Tony Award for outstanding regional theater, the Goodman’s 75^th anniversary season and the campaign for the new Goodman.

Goodman Theatre offers a variety of free programming for Chicagoland learners of all ages to deepen their experience of the work on stage. Artist, educator and activist Willa J. Taylor has led the Goodman’s Education and Engagement programs since 2007 with a team of associates including Elizabeth Rice (School Programs Coordinator), Brandi Lee (Education and Engagement Associate), Anna Gelman (Curriculum and Instruction Associate) and Adrian Azevedo (Education and Engagement Assistant).

About Goodman Theatre

America’s “Best Regional Theatre” (Time magazine) and Chicago’s premier not-for-profit theater, Goodman Theatre is distinguished by the quality and scope of its artistic programming and civic engagement.

Founded in 1925, the Goodman is led by Robert Falls—“Chicago’s most essential director” (Chicago Tribune), who marks 30 years as Artistic Director this season—and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, who is celebrated for his vision and leadership over nearly four decades. Dedicated to new plays, reimagined classics and large-scale musical theater works, Goodman Theatre artists and productions have earned hundreds of awards for artistic excellence, including: two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards, nearly 160 Jeff Awards and more. Over the past three decades, audiences have experienced more than 150 world or American premieres, 30 major musical productions, as well as nationally and internationally celebrated productions of classic works (including Falls’ productions of Death of a Salesman, Long Day’s Journey into Night, King Lear and The Iceman Cometh, many in collaboration with actor Brian Dennehy). In addition, the Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle.” For nearly four decades, the annual holiday tradition of A Christmas Carol has created a new generation of theatergoers. 

The 2016 opening of the Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement (“the Alice”) launched the next phase in the Goodman’s decades-long commitment as an arts and community organization dedicated to educating Chicago youth and promoting lifelong learning. Programs are offered year-round and free of charge. Eighty-five percent of the Goodman’s youth program participants come from underserved communities.

Goodman Theatre was founded by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth, an important figure in Chicago’s cultural renaissance in the early 1900s. The Goodman family’s legacy lives on through the continued work and dedication of Kenneth’s family, including Albert Ivar Goodman, who with his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton, contributed the necessary funds for the creation of the new Goodman center in 2000.

Today, Goodman Theatre leadership includes the distinguished members of the Artistic Collective: Brian Dennehy, Rebecca Gilman, Henry Godinez, Dael Orlandersmith, Steve Scott, Chuck Smith, Regina Taylor, Henry Wishcamper and Mary Zimmerman. Joan Clifford is Chair of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Cynthia K. Scholl is Women’s Board President and Justin A. Kulovsek is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals. 

Visit the Goodman virtually at GoodmanTheatre.org—including OnStage+ for insider information—and on Twitter (@GoodmanTheatre), Facebook and Instagram.

EXTENDED: Learning Curve, The Ground-breaking Immersive Performance Now Extended Through October 15th

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

ALBANY PARK THEATER PROJECT AND THIRD RAIL PROJECTS, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH GOODMAN THEATRE,  ANNOUNCE EXTENSION FOR THE WORLD-PREMIERE PRODUCTION 

“LEARNING CURVE” 

The Ground-breaking Immersive Performance Continues Through October 15 at Ellen Gates Starr High School in Chicago

Learning Curve- - photo credit Liz Lauren.jpg

The first large-scale immersive theater production in the country created and performed by a youth ensemble, 

“Learning Curve” places audiences within the walls of 

Ellen Gates Starr High School and in the shoes of its students. 

After selling out the entire month-long run of “Learning Curve” the day tickets went on sale, Albany Park Theater Project (APTP) and Third Rail Projects, in partnership with Goodman Theatre, are extending the world-premiere immersive theater production through October 15.  Performances begin as previously announced on July 27 and continue through August 28. After a short end-of-summer break for the show’s 31 teen cast members, “Learning Curve” returns for another month-long run from September 16 through October 15. 

Tickets for the new dates are on sale NOW. Tickets for July 27 through August 28 are sold out; visit aptp.org to inquire about joining the waitlist for specific performances. Press performances take place July 31 and August 1.

Performed and devised by a cast of 31 youth artists, in collaboration with an expansive team composed of career artists from APTP and Third Rail Projects, “Learning Curve” has a maximum capacity of 40 audience members, which fosters an intimate experience in which performers interact directly with audience.

“We are humbled and invigorated to know that people feel the theater Albany Park Theater Project makes is vital to their lives and to Chicago,” said APTP Artistic Director David Feiner. “A long run like this poses unique challenges when almost every cast member is a full-time high school student. But ‘Learning Curve’ is a deeply personal show for our youth artists, and it is especially timely with Chicago’s school budget crisis, the impasse in Springfield, and the real possibility that our schools may not open in the fall. So our cast and staff collaborated to devise a performance calendar that balances ‘Learning Curve’ with school and the company’s other life commitments. It even gives them a little summer break after they rehearse 40-plus hours a week all of July and do 7 shows a week most of August. They are committed to giving as many audiences as possible the opportunity to experience ‘Learning Curve’ and the stories of Chicago’s students and teachers.”

Two years in development, “Learning Curve” utilizes the distinctive strengths of APTP and Third Rail Projects to create a stylized theatrical experience unlike any other. “Learning Curve” is performed at Ellen Gates Starr High School (3640 West Wolfram Street, Chicago).

Maria Velazquez in Learning Curve- - photo credit Liz Lauren.jpg

About “Learning Curve”

“Learning Curve” is performed by 31 youth ensemble members of Albany Park Theater Project, all of whom are also co-creators of the devised work. Ensemble members range in age from 13 to 19, and have spent from one to five years as members of the APTP company. All cast members have a connection to Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood, one of the most ethnically diverse immigrant communities in the United States. The primarily first- and second-generation immigrant youth who compose the ensemble trace their roots to countries throughout Latin America, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands and the Middle East. The cast members are: Lizbeth Acevedo, Maidenwena Alba, Jennifer Calderon, Randy Dang, Andrea Delgado, Carlos Desantiago, Gustavo Duran, Maria Duran, Luis Escamilla, Nichole Espinelli, Abraham Espino, Johnny Hamzo, Ashlie Hawkins, Atreyu Kaunert, Brandon Lorbes, Kiara Lyn Manriquez, Justin Martinez, Chelsee Nava, Alyanna Parajado, Paola Rico, Dayana Rios, Jesi Rojo, Samantha Romero, Mariana Rosas, Christina Saliba, Brisa Saucedo, Jeremy Sebastian, Alex Suarez, Yailin Tejada, Hector Velazquez, Maria Velazquez and Melony Vizcarra.

“Learning Curve” is directed by David Feiner and Jennine Willett in collaboration with Stephanie Paul, Maggie Popadiak, and Rosanna Rodríguez-Sanchéz of Albany Park Theater Project and Marissa Nielsen-Pincus, Edward Rice, and Carlton Cyrus Ward of Third Rail Projects. The production features Original Music & Sound Design by Mikhail Fiksel, Lighting Design by Lee Keenan, Costume Design by Izumi Inaba, Scenic Design by Scott C. Neale, Objects & Installation Design by Ellie Terrell. The Production Stage Manager is Monica M. Brown.

About Albany Park Theater Project

Albany Park Theater Project is a multiethnic youth ensemble creating transformational experiences that inspire people to envision and work toward a more just and beautiful world. The company is a 2016 recipient of the prestigious MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions, which recognizes exceptional nonprofit organizations who have demonstrated creativity and impact.  APTP's youth ensemble tells the real-life stories of those whose lives are not normally represented on stage, amplifying the voices both of the youth telling the stories and the individuals whose stories are being shared. Since its founding, APTP teens have created 19 original plays, performed for more than 50,000 people, and opened Albany Park’s first performing arts space. In 2016, the company’s stage play “Feast” was broadcast on WTTW, Chicago’s PBS affiliate, and viewed by more than 25,000 households. APTP has received numerous local and national awards, most notably the Midwest Light of Human Rights Award from the National Immigrant Justice Center and the Coming Up Taller Award from the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities.  Chicago Tribune and CBS 2 Chicago critic Chris Jones called their 2015 production of “Feast” “beautiful and honest” and proclaimed APTP “a world-class theater company.”  Hedy Weiss of the Chicago Sun-Times called APTP “a creative universe that simply has no equal,” and said the company’s youth ensemble “can compete with any Equity cast, and…displays a virtuosity, ease, charm, polish, humor, political bite and, above all, an emotional depth and cohesive spirit.”

About Third Rail Theater Projects

Hailed as one of the foremost companies creating site-specific, immersive and experiential dance-theater in the United States, Third Rail Projects, led by Artistic Directors Zach Morris, Tom Pearson, and Jennine Willett, is dedicated to re-envisioning ways in which audiences can engage with contemporary performance. They have made work in New York, internationally, and abroad for over 15 years, and their long-running, award-winning work, “Then She Fell,” was named as one of the Top Ten Shows of 2012 by Ben Brantley of The New York Times and acclaimed as one of the best theater experiences of 2013 by Vogue Magazine. Third Rail Projects has been the recipient of several prestigious awards, including three New York Dance and Performance (Bessie) Awards. Their productions of “Then She Fell” and “The Grand Paradise” in Brooklyn and “Sweet and Lucky” in Denver have all recently announced extensions.

About Goodman Theatre

Called America’s “Best Regional Theatre” by Time, Goodman Theatre is a major cultural, educational and economic pillar in Chicago. Founded in 1925, Goodman Theatre has garnered two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards (including “Outstanding Regional Theatre”), nearly 160 Jeff Awards and many more accolades. Under Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer’s leadership, the Goodman’s artistic priorities include new plays (150 world or American premieres in the past 30 years), reimagined classics, culturally specific work and international collaborations. Diversity and inclusion are primary cornerstones of the Goodman’s mission; over the past decade, 68% of the Goodman’s 35 world premieres were authored by women and/or playwrights of color. The Goodman’s numerous education and community engagement programs serve thousands of students, teachers, and special constituencies.

GOODMAN THEATRE OPENS ITS ALICE RAPOPORT CENTER Free Events 5/21 On

GOODMAN THEATRE OPENS ITS ALICE RAPOPORT CENTER FOR EDUCATION AND ENGAGEMENT, ANNOUNCES NEW CREATIVE COLLABORATIONS WITH PLAYWRIGHT/POET/PERFORMER DAEL ORLANDERSMITH AND MICHAEL ROHD OF THE CENTER FOR PERFORMANCE AND 

CIVIC PRACTICE

***AUDIENCES ARE INVITED TO EXPERIENCE “THE ALICE” WITH FREE EVENTS THIS WEEK,

INCLUDING A SCREENING OF A RAISIN IN THE SUN (5/19) AND AN OPEN HOUSE OF CREATIVE FUN (5/21)***

Welcome to “the Alice.” This week Goodman Theatre opens its Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement—a new addition that exponentially expands the theater’s ability to use its practice of art as education in service of positive social change in Chicago. The Goodman becomes the first theater in Chicago to establish a facility expressly dedicated to education and engagement initiatives—efforts which evolved when Robert Falls became Artistic Director in 1986, and currently serve more than 8,000 youth and lifelong learners. Falls and Board of Trustees Chair Joan Clifford, Executive Director Roche Schulfer and Walter Director of Education and Engagement Willa J. Taylor announced two ground-breaking artistic collaborations at the Alice: Pulitzer Prize finalist and Obie Award-winning playwright/performer/poet Dael Orlandersmith (Lady in Denmark in 2017; Black n Blue Boys/Broken Men in 2012 and Stoop Stories in 2009) becomes a Goodman Artistic Associate/Alice Artist in Residence, and Michael Rohd and the Center for Performance and Civic Practice (CPCP) begins a three-year residency at the Alice.

“This is an incredibly proud, game-changing moment for all of us at the Goodman Theatre,” said Artistic Director Robert Falls. “Our work in education and engagement has always begun with the art itself—as practiced on our stages and as created by hundreds of distinguished artists each season. With the Alice, we are thrilled to deepen our relationship with Dael and Michael—two artists whose belief in the transformative power of the theater and the processes used to create it will help us reach many more members of our Chicago community, and to communities nationwide.”   

The Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement is named for Alice B. Rapoport, a Goodman Trustee and chair of the theater’s Education and Community Engagement Committee, who championed the theater’s outreach efforts for more than 15 years, until her death in 2014. Rapoport’s husband, Chicago civic leader Michael A. Sachs  of the investment advisory and consulting firm TLSG, Inc., named the new Center in her honor. The Alice realizes the theater’s 30-year commitment to using its art as education—using the process of artistic creation to empower and inspire youth and lifelong learners. Working with Wheeler Kearns Architects, 10,000 square feet were transformed into classrooms, a learning lab and more. Patrons access the Alice though the Goodman’s mezzanine lobby. 

“When the current Goodman facility opened in 2000, we knew that expansion would be necessary for our youth, adult, audience and artist programs. The groundwork for the Alice was laid at that time, thanks to the strong partnership with noted Chicago developer Albert Friedman, making this expansion of the Goodman Theatre possible,” said Executive Director Roche Schulfer. “An extraordinary group of donors and supporters stepped forward to make today a reality—and I am pleased to announce that we’ve exceeded our $15 million goal, 80% of which supports expanded programming.”

Entirely funded by private contributions, the Alice features spaces named by the theater’s longtime education and engagement champions, in addition to Sachs’ gift, contributions include Trustee Roger and Julie Baskes (naming the “Baskes Rotunda”); Trustee Joan and Robert Clifford (naming the “Clifford Family Lobby”); and Trustee Kimbra and Mark Walter (naming the “Walter Family Foundation Lab,” the Director of Education and Engagement’s position and endowing PlayBuild Youth Intensive); and The Pritzker Foundation, who as the Lead Impact Investor and Digital Assets Partner, provides technological capacity in the Alice.

Starting May 19, the Goodman invites Chicago audiences to sample the newly dedicated space for classes, lectures and discussions with free activities—including family playmaking, a stage combat workshop, meet-the-artist events with Mike Nussbaum (Smokefall) and Mary Beth Fisher (Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike) and more. May 19 is “Lorraine Hansberry Day” featuring events connected to the critically acclaimed current mainstage production, Hansberry’s The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, directed by Anne Kauffman (on stage through June 5). On Friday, May 20, a youth spoken word event and open mic takes place pre-show, and Saturday, May 21’s open house begins at 9am with actitivies for all age. Visit GoodmanTheatre.org for a full schedule and reservation information. The opening weekend culminates in the black tie gala fundraiser, “Daring. Dazzling. Dynamic. A Night with Broadway’s Norm Lewis” (ABC’s Scandal, and the first African American to star in the title role of The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway), with Lewis performing a repertory of song and dance. The event takes place on Saturday, May 21 at 6:30pm at The Fairmont Chicago; tickets start at $1,000, and all proceeds benefit education and engagement initiatives. Contact GoodmanGala@GoodmanTheatre.org for tickets and more information.

About the Artists in Residence and Creative Leadership of the Alice

Dael Orlandersmith, “a poet possessed of an exciting new voice” who “has long demonstrated a theatrical intelligence, ferocious stage presence and gift for staccato language” (New York Times), is known for creating unflinching portrayals of marginalized characters desperate to create their own identities, despite overwhelming obstacles.  A Pulitzer Prize finalist and Drama Desk Award nominee (Yellowman), Orlandersmith’s most recent play, Lady in Denmark, appeared in the Goodman’s 2015 New Stages festival; previous works at the Goodman include Black n Blue Boys/Broken Men (2012/2013) and Stoop Stories (2009/2010). Her other plays The Gimmick, The Blue Album, Beauty’s Daughter (Obie Award), Bones and Horsedreams, have appeared at major theaters across the country, including the New York Theatre Workshop, Mark Taper Forum, New Dramatists, McCarter Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre and Wilma Theater. She is currently working on a play about the events in Ferguson, Missouri, for the Repertory Theatre of St Louis. She has toured extensively with the Nuyorican Poets Café (Real Live Poetry) throughout the United States, Europe and Australia. Orlandersmith attended Sundance Institute Theatre Lab for four summers and is the recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts Grant, the Helen Merrill Award for Emerging Playwrights, a Guggenheim and the 2005 PEN/Laura Pels Foundation Award for a playwright in mid-career.

The nationally acclaimed Center for Performance and Civic Practice (CPCP) will begin a three-year residency at the Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement at Goodman Theatre this summer. The CPCP, led by Michael Rohd, is a national resource supporting artists and communities working together to build civic health, equity and capacity. Through this residency, the Goodman aims to expand its own capacity for community-based engagement towards positive social change, and establish a template for other U.S. arts institutions to emulate. Civic Practice is an approach in which artists use their core skills—such as design, collaboration and expression—to help communities address needs they have identified for themselves. Together, the Goodman and CPCP seek to participate in and promote authentic, lasting solutions to Chicago’s most challenging issues.”

"I have been working with Willa and her team at Goodman for several years now. They are a passionate, dedicated of group of artists/organizers working in community contexts around Chicago and committed to issues of equity, access and social justice,” said Michael Rohd. “We at CPCP are tremendously excited at the opportunity to deepen our collaboration and explore new ways to partner with and positively impact Chicago neighborhoods and residents."

Artist, educator and activist Willa J. Taylor, Walter Director of Education and Engagement, has led the Goodman’s programs since 2007. Taylor and her team of associates—Bobby Biedrzycki (Curriculum and Instruction Associate), Elizabeth Rice (School Programs Coordinator), Brandi Lee (Education and Community Engagement Associate) and Adrian Azevedo (Education and Engagement Assistant)—will collaborate with the Goodman’s artistic and executive leadership to oversee programmatic efforts in the Alice.

Taylor began her career in arts education at Arena Stage where, under founding director Zelda Fichandler, she established the Allen Lee Hughes Fellows Program—one of the first theater-run apprenticeships designed to increase participation by people of color in professional theater. She then went to Lincoln Center Theater where she created The Urban Ensemble, a multidisciplinary project that served at-risk youth. This collaboration between Lincoln Center and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and The Public Theater was cited by President Clinton’s Council on the Arts and Humanities in its 1996 report, Coming Up Taller. At Lincoln Center, she consulted for New Victory Theatre, where she designed the arts education program for their inaugural season. Taylor also served as cultural director for Gay Games IV, where she oversaw the production of more than 200 cultural events, including the Broadway production of Sir Ian McKellen’s A Knight Out. In addition to a longtime career in the arts, Taylor served for 12 years as a Russian and Arabic linguist in the US Navy. While overseas, she oversaw productions for the United Service Organization in Greece and managed Armed Forces Radio and Television in Turkey where she created the Profiles in Black history series. Following her graduation from Kendall College’s culinary program in 2001, Taylor opened Taylor-Made Cuisine, a gourmet catering company as well as Home Café, a neighborhood bistro. In 2005, she helped open and served as the catering chef for Chicago’s EatZi’s Easygoing Gourmet, a chain of gourmet bakeries, take-out markets and restaurants based out of Dallas, Texas.

  

About the Education (including Curriculum Development) and Engagement Programs at Goodman Theatre

EDUCATION PROGRAMS

SUMMER MUSICAL THEATER INTENSIVE – A new eight-week program that provides pre-professional training for young artists wishing to pursue a musical theater career. Led by a staff of some of Chicago’s leading artists, the program culminates in a showcase of original and classic show tunes.

STUDENT SUBSCRIPTION SERIES – Established in 1986 as one of the first comprehensive arts education theater programs in the country, this unique process-oriented series currently serves 2,700 students and 70 teachers, primarily from Chicago public high schools. Teachers attend professional development workshops to learn how to use the tools of theater to differentiate instruction, build curriculum that connects the plays on stage with students’ classroom studies and activate student engagement.

CLASSROOM AS COMMUNITY – This professional peer-learning teacher development series teaches artistic practices and habits of mind to enhance teachers’ pedagogy, such as listening with understandingand empathy, thinking flexibly and communicating with clarity and precision.

DRAMATIC INTEGRATION – This interactive, hands-on course explores how educators can use artistic praxis (the what, how and why of what artists do) in the classroom.

PLAYBUILD | YOUTH INTENSIVE – A comprehensive seven-week summer workshop that empowers young people through the act of creating theater. This program currently serves a demographically diverse group of Chicagoland youth between 14 and 18 years old.

CINDY BANDLE YOUNG CRITICS PROGRAM (CBYC) – Named for the Goodman’s late press director, CBYC is designed to increase awareness of arts journalism in collaboration with the Association of Women Journalists. Mentored

by professional journalists, 25 to 30 Chicagoland young women learn the art of theater criticism and improve their writing skills by reviewing each Goodman production and interviewing theater artists.

INTERNSHIPS – The Goodman helps train the next generation of arts professionals through internships in all areas of the theater, offered in one of three annual terms.

CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

STAGE CHEMISTRY - Goodman Theatre’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) standards-based curriculum developed in partnership with Chicago’s GCE Lab School. Stage Chemistry introduces teachers and students to the math, science and technology of theatrical production.

TEACHING AUGUST WILSON - A multi-week blended learning course for teachers to develop the skills and techniques necessary to incorporate the plays of August Wilson into their high school curricula.

INTRO TO THE THEATER – Developed in partnership with Chicago Virtual Charter Academy, “Intro to the Theater” is a blended learning course designed to introduce students to the art, craft and business of theatrical production.

ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS

PLAY ‘N 90 - This interactive program encourages children ages eight to 12 and their families to build a show together in just 90 minutes.

GOODMAN YOUTH ARTS COUNCIL - A leadership development program for alumni of Goodman programs to stay involved with the theater by serving as ambassadors in their communities and schools. Council members promote young audience development events and volunteer at Goodman events, such as opening nights and benefits.

POETRY PERFORMANCE TEAM – Young alumni of Goodman programs develop and perform original solo poetry pieces.

GENARRATIONS - This personal narrative performance workshop for adults ages 55+ uses themes connected to Goodman productions to develop personal performance pieces, which participants then present to an audience.

INTERGENS - In this intergenerational summer program, participants in GeNarrations collaborate with youth in the PlayBuild program to create performance works.

CONTEXT: DISCOURSE AND DISCUSSION – A series of community conversations exploring how the themes of Goodman productions intersect with the issues making headlines today. 

About Wheeler Kearns Architects and Chris-AnnMarie Spencer, Alice Architect

Wheeler Kearns Architects (WKA) is devoted to a critical pursuit and practice of architecture, believing in the search for spaces which define a full, rich, and dignified life. Kept purposefully small, WKA endeavors to focus attention on every detail throughout a project, no matter how small. Relying on the participatory atmosphere of a studio, WKA’s process involves clients, engineers, consultants, and contractors in the development of structures which respond to desire, function and budget. After devoting efforts to finding the "emotional center" of a project early on, WKA collaborates to develop solutions that reinforce it. Simple, direct solutions are held in high esteem. WKA’s work ranges in scale and type—from the design of a door lever to a theater arts center for a college; from an elementary school to an indoor ice rink; from a children's museum to a painter's studio. Their work includes residences of various scales, programs, budgets for all walks of life. WKA remains committed to the optimistic pursuit of architecture in the design of buildings, interiors, landscapes, furniture, and urban design to ensure the realization of unified projects, regardless of their magnitude.

Chris-AnnMarie Spencer, Jamaican by birth, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies from the Caribbean School of Architecture at the University of Technology in 1998. Shortly after receiving her degree, her family relocated to Massachusetts and in 2001 she moved to Chicago to attend the University of Illinois at Chicago. During her studies there, Spencer spent a semester in Rome studying historical design and its application to contemporary design. During graduate school, she interned at Xavier Vendrell Studio and Worn Jerabek Architects working on single family residences and landscape projects. Before graduating in 2004 with a Master of Architecture, she was awarded several design and academic merit scholarships, a teaching assistantship position, and was nominated for the SOM and Schiff Foundation fellowships. In 2004, she was awarded the Martin Roche Fellowship for Independent Study which allowed her to travel to and continue her studies of urban and housing strategies for South African cities. Spencer has served as Project Architect for renovations of residences in Glencoe and Chicago. She recently completed an award winning project for Inspiration Kitchens and the Chicago region’s only high school for students with Learning Differences. In 2008, Spencer and her husband Grant Gibson, an architect at Garafolo Architects won third place in the White House Redux Competition. In 2012, she was recognized as a local innovator by the Chicago Urban League during their Economic Empowerment Summit. Most recently, she received the 2015 AIA Chicago Dubin Family Young Architect Award.  Currently she is Project Architect for a new Noble Charter High School and the Chicago Urban League. 

Goodman Theatre's New Education Building, The Alice Is Open!

GOODMAN THEATRE WELCOMES ITS FIRST AUDIENCES TO “THE ALICE”  WITH FREE EVENTS, MAY 19-21 ***EXPERIENCE THE NEW ALICE RAPOPORT CENTER FOR EDUCATION AND ENGAGEMENT WITH “LORRAINE HANSBERRY DAY” ON MAY 19; YOUTH SPOKEN WORD + OPEN MIC ON MAY 20 AND A MAY 21 OPEN HOUSE OF CREATIVE FUN, INCLUDING  FAMILY-FRIENDLY AND MEET-THE-ARTIST EVENTS*** Here at ChiIL Mama and ChiIL Live Shows, we're so excited about "The Alice". As a Chicago mom, theatre critic, and huge arts advocate, I'm beyond excited that these new facilities will enable The Goodman to expand their excellent educational arts programming.  The children are our future, whether you are pre/post/or non parents of the birth to 18 year old bracket, raising a new generation of creative thinkers benefits us all. Theatre loving, arts loving kids make great problem solvers and assets to society.  **Check out some of our past coverage and original photos of Goodman Education in action, right HERE.**       Build a play with your family, try your hand at stage combat, hear Chicago’s finest actors spill stage secrets—and more! Goodman Theatre proudly opens its Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement (“the Alice”) with free opportunities for audiences to sample the variety of programming offered in the theater’s newly dedicated space for classes, lectures, discussions and special performance events. May 19 is “Lorraine Hansberry Day,” with events connected to the critically acclaimed current mainstage production, Hansberry’s The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, directed by Anne Kauffman (on stage through June 5). A schedule of events appears below; reservations are recommended as space is limited: GoodmanTheatre.org/Engage-Learn or 312.443.3800. Thursday, May 19 – “Lorraine Hansberry Day” in Chicago 12 Noon | Mayor Rahm Emanuel has proclaimed May 19, 2016 “Lorraine Hansberry Day,” in honor of what would have been the Chicago native playwright’s  86th birthday. The company of The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window kicks off the special day with a reading of the mayoral proclamation—followed by birthday cake for all. 12:30pm | A conversation with artists about Hansberry’s body of work, the background and themes of the Goodman’s revival of her rarely-produced play, and her significance among American playwrights. 6pm | A screening of the 1961 film A Raisin in the Sun, starring Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Claudia McNeil and Diana Sands. Jackie Taylor, founder and executive director of the Black Ensemble Theater Company, introduces the film. Friday, May 20 7pm | Listen to the Poem: Spoken Word and Open Mic The Goodman Youth Poetry Ensemble delivers an electrifying performance featuring pieces from their past season and the work of other Chicago youth poets. Audience members are invited to share their own poetry works during an open mic session. 8pm | All tickets to this performance of The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window are $10 for students. Saturday, May 21 9am and 10:30am | Play ’N 90 Workshop (two sessions) An interactive family program in which 5-12 year-olds and their parents/guardians fashion a theatrical creation together—in only 90 minutes. 10am | Insider Access: "How Do Actors Learn All Those Darned Lines?" Meet acclaimed actor Mary Beth Fisher (star of such Goodman productions as Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike and Luna Gale) and particiate in her creative process, bringing a script from page to stage. 12 Noon | PlayBuild Workshop Realize your creative potential in this intergenerational collective workshop! Participants will create performance pieces using personal history and storytelling techniques. 2pm | Storytelling Workshop Master the art of storytelling with teaching artists from the Goodman’s GeNarrations program. In this collaborative ensemble-based workshop, participants learn the basics of writing, editing and performing personal narrative stories. 3pm | Insider Access: “Slap! Kick! Punch!” Have some energy to burn? Learn the art of stage combat, the technique used to perform physical combats without causing harm to actors, from a professional fight choreographer. 4:30pm | Insider Access: "Not Acting Our Age" A lively discussion with a handful of Chicago actors age 55+ about their esteemed bodies of work and the thrill of a life in the theater. In addition to these activities, all pre- and post-performance discussions—“PlayTalks” and “PlayBacks”—for The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window and Soups, Stews, and Casseroles: 1976 by Rebecca Gilman will take place in the Alice May 19 – 21, one hour prior to and immediately following each performance. Moderated by a Goodman artist, discussions include cast members and are free of charge for patrons. About the Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement (“the Alice”) The Goodman becomes the first Chicago theater to establish a facility dedicated to education and engagement programs when it opens the Alice—the next phase in the Goodman’s decades-long commitment to educating Chicago youth and promoting lifelong learning for audiences of all ages. Named for the late Goodman Trustee Alice Rapoport, the Alice is a 10,000 square-foot, LEED certified (upon completion), $15 million expansion effort (of which 80% supports expanded programming) that deepens the theater’s practice of using its art as education—using the process of artistic creation to empower and inspire youth and lifelong learners. The new facility includes classrooms, a hands-on STEM learning lab, rehearsal spaces and more, and will enable the Goodman to impact hundreds more Chicagoans through its myriad education and engagement programs. Patrons access the Alice though the Goodman Theatre, entering at the south end of the mezzanine lobby. The Alice is named for the late Alice Rapoport, a Goodman Trustee, chair of the theater’s Education and Community Engagement Committee and passionate advocate for the theater’s outreach efforts. Artist, educator and activist Willa J. Taylor, Walter Director of Education and Engagement, has led the Goodman’s programs since 2007. Taylor and her team of associates—Bobby Biedrzycki (Curriculum and Instruction Associate), Elizabeth Rice (School Programs Coordinator), Brandi Lee (Education and Community Engagement Associate) and Adrian Azevedo (Education and Engagement Assistant)—collaborate with the Goodman’s artistic and executive leadership to oversee programmatic efforts in the Alice. About Goodman Theatre Called America’s “Best Regional Theatre” by Time magazine, Goodman Theatre has won international recognition for its artists, productions and programs, and is a major cultural, educational and economic pillar in Chicago. Founded in 1925 by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth (an important figure in Chicago’s cultural renaissance in the early 1900s), Goodman Theatre has garnered hundreds of awards for artistic achievement and community engagement, including: two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards (including “Outstanding Regional Theatre” in 1992), nearly 160 Joseph Jefferson Awards and more. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, the Goodman’s artistic priorities include new plays (more than 150 world or American premieres in the past 30 years), reimagined classics (including Falls’ nationally and internationally celebrated productions of Death of a Salesman, Long’s Day’s Journey into Night, King Lear and The Iceman Cometh, many in collaboration with actor Brian Dennehy), culturally specific work, musical theater (26 major productions in 20 years, including 10 world premieres) and international collaborations. Diversity and inclusion have been primary cornerstones of the Goodman’s mission for 30 years; over the past decade, 68% of the Goodman’s 35 world premieres were authored by women and/or playwrights of color, and the Goodman was the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle.” Each year, the Goodman’s numerous education and community engagement programs—including the innovative Student Subscription Series, now in its 30th year—serve thousands of students, teachers, life-long learners and special constituencies. In addition, for nearly four decades the annual holiday tradition of A Christmas Carol has led to the creation of a new generation of theatergoers in Chicago. Goodman Theatre’s leadership includes the distinguished members of the Artistic Collective: Brian Dennehy, Rebecca Gilman, Henry Godinez, Steve Scott, Chuck Smith, Regina Taylor, Henry Wishcamper and Mary Zimmerman. Joan Clifford is Chair of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Swati Mehta is Women’s Board President and Gordon C.C. Liao is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals. Visit the Goodman virtually at GoodmanTheatre.org, and on Twitter (@GoodmanTheatre), Facebook and Instagram.