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Goodman Theatre
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.[1]
The Goodman was founded in 1925 as a tribute to the Chicago playwright Kenneth Sawyer Goodman, who had died of pneumonia in 1918. The theater was funded by Goodman's parents, Mr. and Mrs. William O. Goodman, who donated USD$350,000 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.
The theater struggled for many years with financial problems and resignations of directors. In 2000, the company moved into its new building at 170 N. Dearborn (just north of Randolph Street) 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.
After his death in 1999, comedian Del Close purportedly donated his skull to the Goodman Theatre for use in Hamlet productions on the condition that he should receive credit in the program as Yorick. The skull resides in the office of Goodman artistic director Robert Falls. In October 2006, it was revealed by Charna Halpern, the executrix of Del Close's will, that the skull donated to the Goodman was not actually Close's. Due to pressures from the morgue, Halpern wound up purchasing a replacement skull. The information was uncovered by the Chicago Tribune.[2]
With the production of Radio Golf in 2007, the Goodman became the first theater to mount a production of all ten plays in August Wilson's 10-play "Pittsburgh" cycle.
The theater also puts on an annual presentation of A Christmas Carol. Goodman theater put on their 30th production of this classic in the year 2007
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Cadillac Palace Theatre - Chicago Theatre - Goodman Theatre - Harris Theater - Jay Pritzker Pavilion - Joffrey Tower - LaSalle Bank Theatre - Oriental Theatre |
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