PlayMakers Laboratory To Host CELEBRATION OF AUTHORS GALA 2025 At National Museum Of Mexican Art

PlayMakers Laboratory will present Celebration of Authors Gala: A Family Friendly FUN-draiser, the company's annual gala and a family-friendly, interactive festival all wrapped into one fun-filled evening on Friday, June 20, 2025 from 6:30 – 10:30 pm at the National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 W. 19th St. in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood.

The festive evening will feature food and drink (open bar for adults), games, a silent auction (also available online), a 360-photo booth and, of course, live performances of stories written by Chicago students throughout the 2024/25 school year, adapted and performed by PML company members. Attire is “Fancy Schmancy” (dressed to the nines – or something fun and silly that expresses you!) All proceeds support PML's creative writing programming in partnership with Chicago Public Schools.

PML will also present its “Storyteller of the Year Award” to PlayMaker alumni Mary Winn Heider for her work in supporting youth voices through her national platform. She is the author of over 30 books for kids, including “The Loser at the Center of the Galaxy,” “The Unicorns Who Saved Christmas” and “The Stupendous Switcheroo” Series, which she co-created with Chad Sell. Mary Winn's very first novel, “The Mortification of Fovea Munson,” was based on her time working in a real life cadaver lab, and now it's a musical. In a School Library Journal column a few years ago, Betsy Bird wrote, “In an era of information overload, Mary Winn Heider is the author who will lead us through the pandemonium into the light.” Mary Winn's books have been on state lists, appeared on Bank Street Best Books, received Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection status, been long-listed for the Edgar Award, and landed on Indies Introduce and Indie Next lists. But before all of that, Mary Winn was a company member with Playmakers Lab, where she spent a decade pretending to be a chicken, an astronaut and a princess, and sometimes, all three at once.

Chicago Awards - Live Stats

Best Musical - Top 3

1. RENT (Highland Park Players)

7.1% of votes

2. HAIRSPRAY (Uptown Music Theater of Highland Park)

7.1% of votes

3. DREAMGIRLS (The Drama Group)

6.4% of votes

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