PerformInk Returns in Online Version

PerformInk is back! The trade publication, which ceased production in 2011, has emerged from the ashes as an online publication and can be found at perform.ink.

The publication began as a quarterly newsletter in 1987 in the back of the Act I Bookstore, PerformInk flourished under the leadership of publisher Carrie Kaufman into a bi-weekly publication that was distributed throughout the city. Offering audition and job boards, advice, news, and reviews, PerformInk was a vital piece of the Chicago entertainment landscape, particularly for the theater industry. In 2009, PerformInk switched to an all-online format, and in November 2011 published its last update.

Through an arrangement with Kaufman, management and producing agency Lotus Theatricals will publish a new, digital-only version of PerformInk, complete with archives of articles dating back to the paper's inception.

Lotus's president Jason Epperson said, "Now is the perfect time to revive what was once such a vital resource to Chicago performers, designers, directors, and technicians. Since we lost PerformInk, there has been no central hub for auditions, jobs, show listings and the like. The League of Chicago Theaters does a fantastic job serving its members and the theater community, but we're going beyond that and including film, television, cabaret, dance, concerts, and the like in a one-stop resource for not only entertainment practitioners but the public at large. We'll be offering reviews, think-pieces, opinion, and news that is hyper-local, relevant, and free."

Epperson is engaging members of the industry to create most of the content for the site. "We have enough outside opinions, I want the public to hear the voices of the people who create the work," he said.

Kaufman, publisher of PerformInk for 20 years, said: "I'm so happy that Jason is resurrecting PerformInk. The Chicago theater community continues to be as vibrant as ever, and deserves the attention Jason will lavish upon it."

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