Black Ensemble Theatre to Stage World Premiere of Chaz & Roger Ebert Play This Fall

Black Ensemble Theater Founder and CEO Jackie Taylor announces the World Premiere of The Black White Love Play written and directed by Jackie Taylor and written in collaboration with Chaz Ebert. The Black White Love Play (The Story of Chaz and Roger Ebert) will be performed at the Black Ensemble Theater Cultural Center, 4450 N. Clark Street in Chicago, September 19 - November 1, 2015. The official press opening is scheduled for Sunday, September 27, 2015 at 3:00PM. The play is written in collaboration with Chaz Ebert.

The Black White Love Play is the story of Chaz and Roger Ebert, detailing their life together through their courtship, marriage and Roger's Ebert untimely death in 2015. The production features outstanding music, exhilarating dance and a ten piece orchestra. This play was partially funded by a bequest from the trust of Roger Ebert.

Founded in 1976, by the phenomenal producer, playwright and actress Jackie Taylor, Black Ensemble Theater is the only African American theater located in the culturally, racially and ethnically diverse north side Uptown community. Through its Five Play Season of Excellence, The Black Ensemble Theater dazzles audiences locally, nationally and internationally with outstanding original musicals that are entertaining, educational and uplifting. The Black Ensemble Theater has produced more than 100 productions and employed over 5,000 artists.

On November 18, 2011, The Black Ensemble Theater Cultural Center opened and is able to accommodate larger-scale productions, bigger audiences and a wider range of educational programming. The new facility includes amenities such as a 299-seat main stage theater (double the capacity of the original venue); 14 offices, classroom space, rehearsal hall, dance studio, scene shop, costume shop, and wardrobe rooms; seven dressing rooms; rehearsal room for musicians; front lobby space with concession areas; and an indoor parking garage. The completion of a 150-seat theater, which will serve as an experimental stage for the work of the Black Playwright Initiative (BPI), is expected in to begin construction by General Contractor Norcon Inc. in 2015.