Goodman Theatre

Goodman Theatre

The Goodman Theatre is a theater in Chicago's Loop, and part of Chicago theatre. It is Chicago's oldest, currently active nonprofit organization. The theatre occupies the site of landmark Harris and Selwyn Theaters property. [cite web | url=http://www.goodmantheatre.org/About/History/Index.aspx | title=A Brief History of the Goodman Theatre | publisher=The Goodman Theatre | date=2008 | accessdate=2007-05-13]

The Goodman was founded in 1925 as a tribute to the Chicago playwright Kenneth Sawyer Goodman, who died of influenza in 1918. The theater was funded by Goodman's parents, Mr. and Mrs. William O. Goodman, who donated US$250,000 to the Art Institute of Chicago to establish a professional repertory company and a school of drama at the Institute. The theater was designed by the architect Howard Van Doren Shaw, although its design was severely hampered by location restrictions resulting in a lack of space for scenery and effects and poor acoustics.

The opening ceremony on October 20, 1925, featured three of Kenneth Sawyer Goodman's plays: "Back of the Yards", "The Green Scarf", and "The Game of Chess". The theater presented its first public performance on October 22, 1925, with John Galsworthy's "The Forest".

In 1992, the theatre won the Regional Theatre Tony Award, joining the ranks of the three other Chicago theatres, Steppenwolf Theatre, Victory Gardens Theatre, and Chicago Shakespeare Theater. In 2000, the company moved into its new building at 170 N. Dearborn in Chicago's theater district. It has two fully modern auditoriums, named the Albert and the Owen, after two further members of the Goodman family who continue to be major donors.

With the production of "Radio Golf" in 2007, the Goodman became the first theater to mount a production of each of the ten plays in August Wilson's "Pittsburgh" cycle.

The theater also puts on an annual presentation of A Christmas Carol with their thirtieth production of the classic in 2007.

References

External links

* [http://www.goodman-theatre.org Goodman Theatre official website]
*


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