Jackie Taylor News

Black Ensemble Theater Founder and Executive Director Jackie Taylor announces the 6th year of Soul of a Powerful Woman, a performance to help raise funds for the Black Ensemble Theater to support its mission of eradicating racism through the theater arts. Co-created by Jackie Taylor, and Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, Soul of a Powerful Woman has become a premier annual event having raised more than $300,000 to support Black Ensemble Theater programs.

Black Ensemble Theater Founder and Executive Director Jackie Taylor announces the 6th year of Soul of a Powerful Woman, a performance to help raise funds for the Black Ensemble Theater to support its mission of eradicating racism through the theater arts.  Co-created by Jackie Taylor, and Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, Soul of a Powerful Woman has become a premier annual event having raised more than $300,000 to support Black Ensemble Theater programs.  

USITT, the association for performing arts and entertainment professionals, broke its all-time attendance records last week during the 59th Annual Conference & Stage Expo held in the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville, Ky.

USITT's 59th Annual Conference & Stage Expo will bring more than 5,000 members of the technical production and live entertainment industry and plenty of action to the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville, March 20-23, 2019.

Black Ensemble Theater's Founder and CEO Jackie Taylor announces the 43rdSeason of Excellence: Legends and Lessons. The 2019 Season includes tributes to the renowned Gospel great Mahalia Jackson, legendary singer and actress Lena Horne, funk legends from James Brown to The Parliaments, and the legendary Motown artist, American icon and musical genius Stevie Wonder. The season culminates with the return of audience favorite The Other Cinderella. All performances will be held at the Black Ensemble Theater Cultural Center, 4450 N. Clark Street in Chicago. 

Black Ensemble Theater and Northeastern Illinois University announce a partnership for Black Ensemble Theater's Jackie Taylor's Anti-Racism Drama Series and Residency Program.  The series will include the staging of three one-act plays produced by the nationally renowned Black Ensemble Theater that speak to different aspects of racism. All performances will take place at Northeastern Illinois University locations, January 2019 - March 2019.

Jackie Taylor, Founder & CEO of the Black Ensemble Theater will be the recipient of the Sarah Siddons Society 2018 Leading Lady Award. Actress, producer and renowned playwright, Jackie Taylor has grown BET from a small arts organization into a vibrant nationally and internally recognized arts institution.

The Jeff Awards celebrated their 50th anniversary on Monday, October 22,2018 during a spirited and nostalgic ceremony at Drury Lane Oakbrook.

The Jeff Awards will celebrate its 50th anniversary by presenting four Special Awards to theatres thriving after more than 50 years at the 50th Annual Equity Jeff Awards on Monday, October 22 at Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace, IL.  These four award-winning theatres laid their Chicago foundations in drama, comedy, and musical theatre more than half a century ago and have endured to this day. The 2018 recipients are Goodman Theatre (1925), Drury Lane Productions (1949), Court Theatre (1955), and The Second City (1959). Collectively, they have received more than 1,400 nominations and 350 awards, dating back to the first ceremony.

Black Ensemble Theater is adding two additional weeks to the run of Rick Stone the Blues Man written and directed by Black Ensemble Theater Founder and CEO Jackie Taylor. Rick Stone the Blues Man will be performed at the Black Ensemble Theater Cultural Center, 4450 N. Clark Street in Chicago, now through September 9, 2018.

Black Ensemble Theater continues its 2018 Season (Movers and Shakers) with Rick Stone the Blues Man written and directed by Black Ensemble Theater Founder and CEO Jackie Taylor. Rick Stone the Blues Man will be performed at the Black Ensemble Theater Cultural Center, 4450 N. Clark Street in Chicago, July 14 - August 26, 2018. 

Steppenwolf Theatre Company's 2017/18 Multicultural Fellows are proud to present Crafting a Cohort, a free event that aims to unite people of color and members of the queer community (POC/Queer Folx) in various levels of theatre career tracks by providing a space for discussion and connection.

The Black Ensemble Theater and The DuSable Museum of African American History announce The Jackie Taylor Drama Series, presented for nine performances, April 7-22, 2018, at The DuSable Museum of African American History, 740 E. 56th Place, Chicago, in the Illinois Black Legislators Auditorium.

Black Ensemble Theater's Founder and CEO Jackie Taylor announces the 2018 Season featuring tributes to legendary artists Chuck Berry and Patti LaBelle, as well as the Blues (highlighting the music of some of the greatest Blues artists from Muddy Waters to B.B. King), Hip Hop music, and the Women of Soul. Performances will be held at the Black Ensemble Theater Cultural Center, 4450 N. Clark Street in Chicago.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) and Project1VOICE (P1V) in association with The Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library (Rose Library) at Emory University and Theater Emory are proud to announce a screening for the #LegacyLeaders video of Douglas Turner Ward in Atlanta.

Through the struggles, trials and tribulations of those who fought and fight against oppression and racism, The Black Renaissance is a musical and historical depiction of the African American experience in a racist America that will uplift, inspire and motivate all of us to create a world where racism cannot exist.

The Ensemble Theatre joins the Theatre Communications Group (TCG) Legacy Leaders of Color Video Project with a screening, Monday, October 23, 2017, 6:00 p.m. 3535 Main Street, Houston, TX 77002.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) and Project1VOICE (P1V) have announced a screening series tour for the #LegacyLeaders video of Douglas Turner Ward coming to three cities this fall.

Black Ensemble Theater continues the 2017 Season (The Dance Theater Season) with the World Premiere of Living The Black Renaissance (More Than a Moment in History), written and directed by Black Ensemble Theater Founder and CEO Jackie Taylor.

On Monday, September 25, the Chicago theater community will come together to fight racism in a special event co-produced by Black Ensemble Theater and Steppenwolf Theatre Company.