Tiffany Topol, Jess Godwin, Johanna McKenzie Miller and Bri Sudia, Shining Lives: A Musical
2014 | 2015 Annual Report
Intensely Entertaining
Mission & History 2014| 2015 Annual Report
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“Northlight always provides plays that make you laugh, make you cry, make you feel and most importantly – make you think!” - Northlight patron
mission Northlight Theatre aspires to promote change of perspective and encourage compassion by exploring the depth of our humanity across a bold spectrum of theatrical experiences. We seek to entertain, enlighten, and electrify our audiences through contemporary dramas, intimate musicals and refreshed classics. We are fearless in our commitment to champion new work and to provide a nurturing and creative home for our artists. We are relentless in our pursuit of excellence through our productions, our business practices, our outreach, and our education. Northlight Theatre reflects our community to the world and the world to our community.
history Northlight Theatre has mounted more than 200 productions, including over 40 world premieres throughout the past 40 years. It has grown into the fourth largest nonprofit theatre in the Chicago area with nearly 6,000 subscribers, serving audiences totaling more than 50,000 each year. Northlight is an award-winning theatre (six Edgerton Foundation for New American Plays awards and 194 nominations and 32 awards from Chicago’s Joseph Jefferson Committee) with an excellent local and national reputation. With dynamic leadership from Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Tim Evans, Northlight’s $3 million operating budget supports five mainstage productions each season, workshops and readings of new works, outreach to our greater community, and a
Cora Vander Broek, Keith Neagle, Greg Matthew Anderson, Joe Dempsey and Joey deBettencourt, The Mousetrap
2014| 2015 Annual Report
comprehensive arts education program.
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Artistic & executive statements 2014| 2015 Annual Report
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Our 40th Anniversary Season was a landmark one for so many reasons. Chiefly, though, we must celebrate the art, the purpose for which Northlight was founded. We are so proud of our 40 years and for the work that we have created. I consider this season to be a hallmark of our mission and our reach for excellence. From our two world premieres to our refreshed classic, this season has achieved a standard of quality and a deep connection with our audience. However, I believe the breadth of our work is what sets us apart. Fresh work from Broadway or freshly created from our own imaginations, Northlight focuses on producing work that connects with our loyal audiences year after year. The steady size of our subscribership and the increasing numbers of our single ticket buyers testify to the relationships we have nurtured over the four decades we have been in conversation with them. This season has been a glimpse not of our past, but a joyous gaze at the horizon of our future.
BJ Jones Artistic Director
“All of the shows I have seen at Northlight Theatre were terrific. My wife and I agree that the actors, content and production are amazing. Thank you!�- Northlight patron
Turning 40 is a significant milestone in any field, but it is especially significant in the world of American Theater. It means that a theater has gained the respect of its audiences, artists and critics; that a theater has been bold enough to create a record of artistic accomplishment in the crowded and changing landscape of entertainment choices; that a theater has proven itself through the quality of its work; and that a theater has understood the importance of fiscal integrity. As I reflect on Northlight Theatre’s 40 Anniversary Season, I am so proud that Northlight can claim all of these accomplishments as well as successfully creating and producing new plays and musicals for the American theater. We can agree that this truly extraordinary season will be recorded in history as one of Northlight’s best. th
We enjoyed two show extensions, with The Mousetrap and Outside Mullingar. And the world premiere of Bruce Graham’s White Guy on the Bus doubled its ticket sales goal and was one of the most talked about shows of the season. Because the production included provocative content and explored sensitive issues, Northlight committed to hosting audience talk-backs following each performance. Nearly 4,000 patrons attended a post-show discussion during the five-week run, a true testament to the riveting and timely content of this world premiere. We concluded the season with the world premiere of Shining Lives: A Musical, a touching piece that told the story of four courageous women in the 1920s who changed the future of workers’ rights.
2014 | 2015 Board of Trustees Thomas D. Stringer Chairman Dan Peterson President Rahul Roy Vice President Bob Silverman Secretary Eileen Frank Treasurer Michael R. Callahan* Timothy J. Evans Executive Director Freddi Greenberg Michael Guerra BJ Jones Artistic Director Susan Karol* Susie McMonagle Jagriti Ruparel Evelyn Salk* Robert S. Silver Craig M. Smith, AIA Jill Soderberg Timothy P. Sullivan* Alan Zunamon
Timothy J. Evans Executive Director
Michael Pauken ex officio Norman Rosen ex officio
*Past President/Chairperson
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I would like to thank each member of the Northlight Theatre family for making our first four decades incredibly memorable. Our continued success would simply not be possible without our dedicated audiences, artists and loyal family of supporters. You are all an integral part of our history and we sincerely thank you for being part of our future.
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40th Anniversary Season Highlights 2014| 2015 Annual Report
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Linda Kimbrough and Lusia Strus, The Commons of Pensacola
Exploring the Depth of Our Humanity The 40th Anniversary Season is a perfect example of Northlight Theatre’s strengths – choosing a diverse array of productions and being courageous enough to include two world premieres in this momentous season.
Entertaining our Audiences Of the audience members surveyed this season, 99% of respondents would recommend Northlight to a friend. Our refreshed classic, The Mousetrap, became the third highest selling production in our history and we also enjoyed two extensions with White Guy on the Bus and Outside Mullingar.
Fearless In Our Commitment to Champion New Work Northlight has consistently been lauded for its commitment to new play development. This season, we proudly launched two world premieres developed through the Interplay Reading Series. The provocative White Guy on the Bus challenged our audiences and Shining Lives: A Musical was praised as “a story of courage and determination in the face of profound betrayal” by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Launching New Initiatives to Support Our Mission Northlight continued its benefit concert model, which launched during the 2012 – 2013 season as an alternative to the traditional gala model. To celebrate the 40th Anniversary Season, Jason Robert Brown, composer, lyricist, director and performer, wowed audiences during a private event on December 11, 2014. Jason is best known for his dazzling scores to several of the most renowned musicals of his generation, including the recently revived The Last Five Years, which world premiered at Northlight in 2001.
Relentless In Our Pursuit of Excellence Through Education and Outreach This season, Northlight served more than 2,900 students in grades K – 12 in Skokie, Evanston, Chicago and the surrounding areas. Northlight was also awarded three Creative Schools Fund grants to expand our residency programs in Chicago Public Schools. The Creative Schools Fund is a grant-making partnership between Ingenuity and the CPS Department of Arts Education to support the expansion of arts partnerships.
Commitment to Engaging our Community Northlight’s mission and artistic selections are based on creating lively and engaging conversations with our audiences. Through a mixture of live programming, supplemental materials, and online resources, we strive to make the theatre-going experience one that extends beyond the final curtain. This season, we were able to collaborate with several new partnering organizations including the Evanston History Center, Connections for the Homeless and The James B. Moran Center.
Reflecting Our Community to the World Throughout a series of readings and workshops, Northlight Theatre remained committed to developing the world premiere Shining Lives: A Musical. This moving piece concluded our 40th anniversary season and told a piece of history that needed to be shared with local audiences. Shining Lives: A Musical told the story of the “Radium Girls,” young women in the 1920s and 1930s who painted the faces of luminous watches and clocks, unknowingly becoming some of the early victims of radium poisoning. Their courage and perseverance changed the future of workers’ rights.
“Shining Lives: A Musical was a beautiful, haunting story that grabbed my heart and never let go.” - Northlight patron
2014| 2015 Annual Report
Johanna McKenzie Miller, Bri Sudia, Jess Godwin, Matt Mueller and Tiffany Topol, Shining Lives: A Musical
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education programming
Education Department Amanda Dunne Acevedo, Director of Education Sindy Castro, Education Associate/Performing Arts Camp Director
Northlight Education Programs Northlight approaches all aspects of our education programming with a spirit of collaboration to encourage students’ artistic growth through self-expression and unbridled creativity.
2014|2015 SEASON: BY THE NUMBERS 2 Northlight Education Staff 23 Teaching Artists 30 Schools 7 Student Matinees 87 Classrooms More than 2,900 students in grades K-12 reached! Students attend matinees of mainstage productions at little cost supplemented with in-school workshops, study guides, and post-show discussions. To enhance the student matinee experience, the (optional) 9:00 am pre-show Artist Engagement workshop connects students directly to the professional artists involved in the production. This residency program focuses on theatre skills. Students will explore the fundamentals of acting through a curriculum that emphasizes collaboration and play. Students will adapt a familiar narrative into a new story that they will perform for peers, administrators, family and friends. This theatre for social change residency asks students to address issues impacting their community. Speak Up! is a long-term active personal, artistic and academic investigation that brings current events into the classroom and fosters social responsibility. Through the process of creating an original performance addressing topical issues, students use their voices to engage their peers in building positive change in their community.
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This residency is designed to integrate core curriculum with advanced theatre arts topics. A Northlight Teaching Artist will visit a classroom to conduct a more in-depth training experience with advanced theatre topics such as stage combat, playwriting, musical theatre, improv, theatre design and more!
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Our nine weeks of camp combine professional theatre training with timeless summer camp traditions and culminates in a public end-of-session showcase performed for family and friends.
2014 | 2015 Education Highlight: William P Gray Elementary School This year, Northlight was awarded three Creative Schools Fund grants to expand our residency programs in Chicago Public Schools (CPS). The Creative Schools Fund is a grant-making partnership between Ingenuity and the CPS Department of Arts Education to support the expansion of arts partnerships. Gray Elementary, in Chicago’s Portage Park neighborhood, has certified music and visual arts teachers but lacks theatre and dance programming. Teaching Artist Stephanie Niro partnered with Gray’s Visual Arts Teacher, Alison Kovacs, to work with five classrooms of 4th graders. Alison wanted to create a program in which Northlight would bring expertise about foundational theatre skills, ensemble building, and collaboration, which she would combine with arts-integrated, multidisciplinary components such as prop-making, costume sketches, show poster designs, and set designs. Together, Stephanie and Alison developed a comprehensive project in which the students created their own adaptation of The Snow Queen, with each class acting out one of five chapters that would be combined into one large 4th grade play. On the day of the final presentation, nearly 200 hundred family members and administrators attended to watch the students’ performance. On the last day of the program, students completed assessments to identify which aspects of the residency would leave a lasting impact. A few of the comments are included below.
“My favorite part is when I was acting with my friends.” “My biggest success was being confident and participating.” “My greatest accomplishment was when I felt proud memorizing my part.” “Theater is about acting, having fun, and putting on a show for other people to enjoy.”
Addison Trail High School (Addison) Arlyn Day School (Winnetka) Carmel Catholic High School (Mundelein) Chicago Youth Development Institute High School (CPS) Chicago Math and Science Academy (CPS) DeWitt Clinton Elementary School (CPS) Evanston Township High School (Evanston) Fairview South School (Skokie) Glenbrook South High School (Glenview) Guerin College Preparatory High School (Chicago) Hinsdale South High School (Darien) Jacob Beidler Elementary School (CPS) Jacqueline B Vaughn Occupational High School (CPS) John Middleton Elementary School (Skokie)
Libertyville High School (Libertyville) Lincoln Junior High School (Skokie) Loyola Academy (Wilmette) Maine East High School (Park Ridge) Nichols Middle School (Evanston) Old Orchard Junior High School (Skokie) Oliver McCracken Middle School (Skokie) Orrington Elementary School (Evanston) Stephen F Gale Elementary Community Academy (CPS) Stephen K Hayt Elementary (CPS) Stephen T Mather High School (CPS) Thomas Edison Elementary (Morton Grove) Vernon Hills High School (Vernon Hills) Walker Elementary School (Evanston) Washington Elementary School (Evanston) William P Gray Elementary School (CPS)
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2014|2015 Participating Schools:
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new play development
Interplay Reading Series There’s nothing quite like being in the audience as a play is performed for the first time – hearing it come to life and gaining behind-the-scenes insight from the playwright, director and the actors. Providing audiences the opportunity to witness a part of the evolutionary process from initial idea to full theatrical production is what Interplay is all about. Since its launch in 2006, more than 30 plays have been included in the Interplay program. Through an extensive creative process that includes commissioning, workshops, and hosting a series of readings, 24 of these plays have gone on to full productions at Northlight, in Chicago, and around the country, with three plays continuing to international acclaim at Ireland’s famed Galway Arts Festival. This staggering success rate demonstrates Northlight’s commitment to new work and has helped cement our reputation as an important contributor to the American theatrical canon.
2014 | 2015 Interplay Reading Funnyman by Bruce Graham April 20, 2015 The playwright of Stella & Lou, The Outgoing Tide and White Guy on the Bus takes us back to 1959 New York. Fading vaudeville comic Chick Sherman, along with his long-suffering agent, tries to revive his career with a role in a new off-Broadway play. While his grown daughter searches for answers from her absentee showbiz father, a lifetime of private and professional struggles rise to the surface, cracking the polished public persona of the world’s favorite former “funny man.” Following the reading, which featured Tim Kazurinksy and George Wendt, the playwright continued to revise the work, which will launch Northlight
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Theatre’s 2015 – 2016 season.
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Northlight’s mission and artistic selections are based on creating lively and engaging conversations with our audiences. Through a mixture of live programming, supplemental materials, and online resources, we strive to make the theatre-going experience one that extends beyond the final curtain.
community engagement
Mark L. Montgomery and Kate Fry, Outside Mullingar
Community Engagement Programs: Interplay Northlight Theatre’s reading and play development series
Backstage with BJ Behind-the-scenes discussions with Artistic Director BJ Jones
Post-show Discussions Post-play conversations with the audience, led by Northlight artists and special guests
Community Events Production-related events at local libraries and partnering
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community organizations
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14|15 Community Engagement Highlights Francis Guinan and Patrese D. McClain, White Guy on the Bus
White Guy on the Bus Synopsis: A wealthy white businessman and a struggling black single mom ride the same bus week after week. As they get to know each other, the threads that tie them together gradually unravel in a complex web of moral ambiguity, revenge and racial biases. The world premiere of Bruce Graham’s White Guy on the Bus was one of the most talked about shows of the season and doubled its ticket sales goal. Because the production included provocative content and explored sensitive issues, Northlight committed to hosting audience talk-backs following each performance. Nearly 4,000 patrons attended the post-show discussions during the five-week run, a true testament to the riveting and timely content of this world premiere.
Shining Lives: A Musical Synopsis:
Thematically, this new musical offered perspective on issues including women in the work place – past and present; labor law reform; and safe working conditions and corporate social responsibility. Northlight co-hosted events with a variety of community organizations including the Evanston History Center and the Chicago History Museum. Members of the public were invited to discuss issues raised in the play with those involved in the creative process and panelists representing Northwestern University, the Frances Willard House, Evanston History Center, Chicago History Museum and more.
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It’s 1922 and the young women of Chicago’s Radium Dial Company are living a dream- earning good wages and beaming with newly discovered independence. After years of hand painting watch dials, the so-called “harmless” radium leads to devastating results. Four courageous women upend their lives with a determination to change the future in this compelling new musical, the transcendent tale of heroic lives that glowed with promise.
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financial report: fiscal year 2015 2014| 2015 Annual Report
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Total Income: $3,108,473
contributed Income: $987,446
TOTAL expenses: $3,085,688
annual fund facts Total # of Gifts from Individuals
1,041
Households making multiple gifts
150
Largest gift
$105,000
Smallest gift
$3.75
Average gift
$520
The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation
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Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Award
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institutional donors
Northlight Theatre is deeply grateful to the following corporate, foundation, and government contributors for their generous support during the 2014 – 2015 season.
The Offield Family Foundation
Evanston Community Foundation Full Circle Foundation Modestus Bauer Foundation Melvoin Award for Playwriting National Endowment for the Arts The Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Foundation
Room & Board Sanborn Family Foundation The Harold & Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust Tom Stringer Design Partners The Farny R. Wurlitzer Foundation
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The Sullivan Family Foundation
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Mary Beth Fisher and Francis Guinan, White Guy on the Bus
9501 Skokie Boulevard | Skokie IL | 60077 northlight.org