Chase Park Wins Award of Excellence at Annual Illinois Theatre Association Conference
Release Date: 10/01/07
The Chicago Park District’s Chase Park Theater, 4701 N. Ashland Ave., received the Award of Excellence in the Community Theater Division at the annual conference of the Illinois Theatre Association (ITA) last month in Champaign.
Chase Park Theater has served Chicago for more than 30 years by creating classic theater that transcends barriers and connects to the wider community in the diverse Uptown neighborhood. It provides drama instruction and affordable, fully staged productions in an accessible venue.
Karen Fort, the director of Chase Park Theater since 1998, accepted the award and said, “We are committed to the exploration of creative expression with our neighbors. We are also dedicated to the development and growth of actors, designers and technicians and to providing a forum for those with more experience to share their knowledge and talent.”
Chase Park Theater was selected due to its exemplification of this year’s ITA theme: "Connecting Between Divisions." The theater program brings together a group of children and adults with various acting experience through its class offerings. These same children, teenagers, and seniors from the neighborhood then have the opportunity to take what they learned to the stage by participating in a production.
Fort recently started a children's theater division at Chase Park that targets teenagers and gives them the opportunity to perform main stage productions. In addition to working with the community, Fort includes professional talent in all productions. Companies in residence have included Plasticene and Tri-Arts. Chase Park Theater has helped boost individual careers and spawn new theater companies such as Signal Theatre and Revolution Theatre.
This fall, Chase Park Theater presents the Shakespearean comedy The Taming of the Shrew, Nov. 9 - Dec. 15. Performances are select Saturdays and Sundays at 7:30 p.m. at the Chase Park Theater, 4701 N. Ashland Ave. Tickets are $8 for adults, and $5 kids, students, seniors, and groups. Call the box office for more information at 312-742-4701 or visit www.chaseparktheater.org.
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- Contact Phone: 312 742 7529