Goodman Theatre

The Goodman was founded in 1925 as a tribute to the Chicago playwright Kenneth Sawyer Goodman,{{Cite web |last=Nunn |first=Jerry |title=The Goodman commemorated 100 years with a glamorous gala - Nunn's Theater Habit |url=https://chicago.gopride.com/entertainment/column/index.cfm/col/3442 |access-date=2025-06-24 |website=GoPride Chicago (ChicagoPride.com) |language=EN}} who died in the Great Influenza Pandemic in 1918. The theater was funded by Goodman's parents, Mr. and Mrs. William O. Goodman, who donated $250,000 to the Art Institute of Chicago to establish a professional repertory company and a school of drama at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.{{cite journal |title=Goodman Memorial Theatre |journal=Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago |date=November 1944 |volume=38 |issue=6 |page=101 |jstor=4112503 }} The first theater was designed by architect Howard Van Doren Shaw (in the location now occupied by the museum's Modern Wing), although its design was severely hampered by location restrictions resulting in poor acoustics and lack of space for scenery and effects.

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. Two nights later the theater presented its first public performance, John Galsworthy's The Forest. In 1969 under artistic director, John Reich, it finally became a fully professional company.{{cite book |title=Bigger, brighter, louder: 150 years of Chicago theater as seen by Chicago Tribune critics |last=Jones |first=Chris |author-link=Chris Jones (drama critic)| publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0226059266 |pages=189 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tax6AAAAQBAJ&q=Bigger,+brighter,+louder+:+150+years+of+Chicago+theater+as+seen+by+Chicago+Tribune+critics}}

In 1978, the drama school became part of DePaul University.

In 2000, the company moved into its new facility at 170 North Dearborn in Chicago's theater district. The {{convert|171,000|sqft|m2}} project was designed by KPMB Architects, DLK Architecture Inc., and architects associated with the McClier Corporation. It has two fully modern auditoriums, named the Albert and the Owen, after two members of the Goodman family who continue to be major donors. In August 2000, associate artistic director Michael Maggio died and the company established the Michael Maggio Emerging Designer Award in his honor; it is bestowed alongside the Michael Merritt Award for Excellence in Design and Collaboration.{{cite news| title=Esteemed Chicago Director Michael Maggio Dead at 49| url=https://www.playbill.com/article/esteemed-chicago-director-michael-maggio-dead-at-49-com-91395| date=August 21, 2000| last=Jones| first=Kenneth| journal=Playbill| access-date=August 14, 2020}}{{cite web| url=https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michael-Merritt-Design-Awards/48437224345?v=info| title=Michael Merritt Design Awards| website=Facebook}}

In 1992, the theatre company received the Regional Theatre Tony Award, joining Steppenwolf Theatre as Chicago-based recipients of the award. Four other Chicago-based companies, Victory Gardens Theater (in 2001), Chicago Shakespeare Theater (in 2008), Lookingglass Theatre Company (in 2011), and Court Theatre (Chicago) (in 2022) have also received the award, making Chicago the most recognized city in the country by this prestigious live theater award. The Goodman has also won many Joseph Jefferson awards.

Notable{{how|date=October 2024|title=How are these productions notable? We need secondary sourcing to show that.}} productions at Goodman Theatre include:

Inherit the Wind (2024, directed by Henry Godinez),{{cite web|title=Inherit the Wind |url=https://www.goodmantheatre.org/press-rooms/inherit-the-wind/|website=Goodman Theatre}}

The Nacirema Society (2023, directed by Lili-Anne Brown),{{cite web|title=The Nacirema Society |url=https://www.goodmantheatre.org/press-rooms/the-nacirema-society/|website=Goodman Theatre}}

Lucha Teotl (2023, written and directed by Christopher Llewyn Ramirez and Jeff Colangelo),{{cite web|title=Lucha Teotl |url=https://www.goodmantheatre.org/press-rooms/lucha-teotl/|website=Goodman Theatre}}

Highway Patrol (2024, directed by Mike Donahue),{{cite web|title=Highway Patrol |url=https://www.goodmantheatre.org/press-rooms/highway-patrol-2/|website=Goodman Theatre}}

The Matchbox Magic Flute (2024, directed by Mary Zimmerman),{{cite web|title=The Matchbox Magic Flute |url=https://www.goodmantheatre.org/press-rooms/magic-flute/|website=Goodman Theatre}}

The Penelopiad (2024, directed by Susan V. Booth),{{cite web|title=The Penelopiad |url=https://www.goodmantheatre.org/press-rooms/the-penelopiad/|website=Goodman Theatre}}

Joe Turner's Come and Gone (2024, directed by Chuck Smith),{{cite web|title=Joe Turner's Come and Gone |url=https://www.goodmantheatre.org/press-rooms/joe-turners-come-and-gone/|website=Goodman Theatre}}

English (2024, directed by Hamid Dehghani),{{cite web|title=English |url=https://www.goodmantheatre.org/press-rooms/english/|website=Goodman Theatre}} and

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (2024, directed by Rob Ashford).{{cite web|title=Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil |url=https://www.goodmantheatre.org/press-rooms/midnight-in-the-garden-of-good-and-evil/|website=Goodman Theatre}}

• Goodman School of Drama

{{reflist}}

• Appler, Gilbert Keith. "Chicago’s Goodman Theatre: Plays and Cultural Work in an Institutional Theatre." PhD dissertation, University of Illinois-Urbana. 1994
• Medgyesy, Laura Louise. "Chicago's Goodman Theatre: the transition from a division of the Art Institute to an independent regional theatre." PhD dissertation, American University. 1981
• Teague, Anna Dean. "Thomas Wood Stevens' Contributions to American Art Theatre With Emphasis on the Kenneth Sawyer Goodman Memorial Theatre, 1922-1930," PhD dissertation, The Louisiana State University, 1973.

{{commons category|Goodman Theatre}}

• [http://www.goodmantheatre.org Official website]
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• [http://mms.newberry.org/xml/xml_files/Goodman.xml Kenneth Sawyer Goodman Papers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180606015815/https://mms.newberry.org/xml/xml_files/Goodman.xml |date=2018-06-06 }} and [http://mms.newberry.org/xml/xml_files/GoodmanFamily.xml Goodman Family Papers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924122101/https://mms.newberry.org/xml/xml_files/GoodmanFamily.xml |date=2021-09-24 }} at The Newberry Library

{{Chicago Theatre District}}

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{{TonyAward RegionalTheatre 1976-2000}}

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Category:Theatre companies in Chicago

Category:Theatres in Chicago

Category:Regional theatre in the United States

Category:Central Chicago

Category:League of Resident Theatres

Category:Tony Award winners

Category:1925 establishments in Illinois

Category:Theatres completed in 1925

Category:Cultural institutions and organizations in Chicago