Sideshow Theatre to Honor Arts & Business Council of Chicago and Chay Yew with 2017 Impact Awards

Sideshow Theatre Company has announced the Arts & Business Council of Chicago and Chay Yew as the inaugural recipients of its annual Sideshow Impact Awards.

The Sideshow Impact Award for Community Enrichment honors the Arts & Business Council of Chicago for the organization's significant contributions towards the advancement of the local arts community and the larger Chicago community as a whole through education, resources and programming.

"The Arts & Business Council has been instrumental in Sideshow's development over the past ten years," comments Sideshow Executive Director Stephanie Weddell. "Sideshow is a stronger organization due to programs like Business Volunteers for the Arts and On BOARD. In our first year of presenting this award, it was an easy decision to honor The Arts & Business Council. We are thrilled to recognize such an important organization in Chicago."

The Sideshow Impact Award for Bold and Inclusive Artistic Leadership honors Chay Yew, Artistic Director of Victory Gardens Theater since 2011, for his commitment to using his and his organizations resources to reflect the whole of Chicago, in all its complexities and facets, on a fully inclusive stage, and for his mentorship of other Chicago companies and artistic leaders with a similar vision.

"Chay Yew became an audience member, supporter and mentor of Sideshow almost immediately after moving to Chicago," comments Sideshow Artistic Director Jonathan L. Green. "In 2012, he opened Victory Gardens' doors to us as we became a resident company there, and since then he has been fearless in pushing us to expand our resources and do our best, most challenging work thus far. In our tenth season, it seems only fitting to honor an incredible artistic and community leader who has helped us reach where we are now."

The Arts & Business Council and Chay Yew will be honored at Sideshow Theatre Company's 10th Anniversary Gala on Saturday, June 17.

About the Recipients:

The Arts & Business Council has been in existence for 31 years serving the Chicago-area arts community with passion, innovation and determination. The mission of the Arts & Business Council of Chicago (A&BC) is to strengthen non-profit arts organizations by bringing resources and expertise to the sector through:

• Consulting provided by highly qualified business professionals

• Training in all aspects of management and board functions

• Research in leading and emerging issues

• Relationships that bridge the arts community and businesses

Chay Yew joined Victory Gardens Theater in July 2011 as its first new artistic director in 34 years. Victory Gardens is dedicated to artistic excellence while creating a vital, contemporary American Theater that is accessible and relevant to all people. Victory Gardens Theater is a leader in developing and producing new work and cultivating an inclusive theater community. Victory Gardens' core strengths are nurturing and producing dynamic and inspiring new plays, reflecting the diversity of our city's and nation's culture through engaging diverse communities, and in partnership with Chicago Public Schools, bringing art and culture to our city's active student population.

It is the mission of Sideshow Theatre Company to mine The Collective Unconscious of the world we live in with limitless curiosity, drawing inspiration from the familiar stories, memories and images we all share to spark new conversation and bring our audiences together as adventurers in a communal experience of exploration.

From its first production, 2008's Dante Dies!! (and then things get weird) to its Jeff Award-winning productions of Roland Schimmelpfennig's Idomeneus (named one of the best plays of 2012 by Time Out Chicago and the Chicago Sun-Times) and Elizabeth Meriwether's runaway robotic hit Heddatron at Steppenwolf Theatre, to the recent re-mount of its smash hit Stupid F##king Bird, Sideshow has consistently produced engaging, transcendent works across Chicago. Sideshow continues its multi-year residency at Victory Gardens in the historic Biograph Theater in the 2016/17 season.

Sideshow also produces the Chicago League of Lady Arm Wrestlers (CLLAW), a wildly popular interactive fundraising event that benefits Sideshow Theatre Company and other local charities. CLLAW has been featured in local and national press, including The Washington Post, Reuters, Penthouse Magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times and on WGN Morning News, ABC 7's Windy City Live and CBS 2. For more information about CLLAW, visit cllaw.org.

For additional information on Sideshow Theatre Company, visit sideshowtheatre.org.

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