Theater Profile

The construction of The Goodman Theatre in Chicago Illinois began in November of 1922because of a hefty contribution to the Art Institute of Chicago of $250,000 from William and Erna Goodman for the theatre to be built in honor of their son Kenneth Sawyer Goodman who died of influenza in 1918 at the age of 35. The doors of the Goodman Theatre opened on October 20, 1925 and as a dedication ceremony three of Kenneth Sawyer’s plays were presented. After the opening of the theatre, the Goodman school of drama increased its good reputation over the next 27 years and graduated many famous and gifted theater artists such as Karl Malden, Sam Wanamaker, Geraldine Page, Shelley Berman, Harvey Korman, Jose Quintero, Linda Hunt, and Joe Mantegna. The Goodman Theatre has received numerous awards, the most prestigious of which is winning the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theater in 1992 and being named the Best Regional Theater in the United States by Time magazine in 2003. In the last decade alone they have won 11 Tony Awards, 12 Drama Desk Awards, 25 Jeff Awards and over 30 honors for theater excellence. The Goodman Theatre produces a wide range of works from classic to contemporary. Their wide variety of theater artists gives them a collective of different visions and viewpoints which seems to be one of their main emphases. The Goodman Theatre follows three basic guidelines for success; quality, diversity, and community which seems to have worked given their credentials.

Goodman offers internships for anyone pursuing a job in theater and offers positions in Casting, Costumes, Development, Education & Community Engagement, Literary Management & Dramaturgy, Marketing/PR/Publicity, Production Management, Scenery/Props, Sound, Stage Management and Video Production. Their internships offer opportunity for a very wide variety of interests in theater and related fields. I chose to write about Goodman because of the many education programs that they offer for free. These programs include the Student Subscription Series, Cindy Bandle Young Critics, CONTEXT, General Theater Studies, and Teacher Intensives. The Student Subscription Series helps students learn more about theater both in and outside of the classroom. Students attend matinee performances in which teachers supplement training workshops. Also students receive scripts and study guides for all the shows they attend and get to meet the cast members. The Cindy Bandle Young Critics program offers press passes to all the Goodman productions as well as one on one time with a professional journalist. They write reviews and get to interview directors and cast members after the shows. The CONTEXT program offers a public debate and discussion about theater. General Theater Studies is a program for 14 to 19 year old students to help them realize their own potential as well as learn about theater while focusing on critical thinking, and storytelling in a six week summer course. Finally the Teacher Intensives program shows teachers how to use theater and art to help teach everything in their curriculum from math, to science, to history.

Overall the Goodman Theatre appealed to me because of their admiration to make their theater the main cultural force in Chicago and to diversify their community as well as coordinating theatrical events with people all around the world. Goodman realizes the importance of theater in communities and is constantly trying to expand their horizons while teaching others the joy of theater. "I believe we—like the undeniably global city we live in—must spread our wings to become a truly international cultural force...to challenge, inspire and delight communities across the world the same way we do Chicago audiences." -Robert Falls, Goodman Theatre Artistic Director. Goodman is the biggest and oldest not for profit theatre in Chicago and continues to make strides towards innovation.