ABOUT SIDESHOW

"Theatre for the Curious"

 

After 15 years and more than 30 productions, the ensemble and board of directors of Sideshow Theatre Company has voted to dissolve the company and draw our chapter in Chicago theatre to a close. Following the turnover of our artistic and administrative staff, a core governing ensemble has spent the past six months considering various structures that would allow Sideshow to continue sustainably. Ultimately, the cancellations of our 2022 Gala and planned production of Pro-Am, the necessary departure from the venue where we have performed for a decade, and the diverging lives and careers of the artists in the company all made this the only responsible decision.

 

Before voting to dissolve, Sideshow ensured that all artists who had been contracted for Pro-Am were paid their full stipends as though the show had moved forward, and we will be donating our remaining funds evenly amongst seven other non-profits in whose work we believe deeply. Those organizations are listed below, and we encourage anyone reading  to support them as well.

 

 

A storefront company closing its doors is a regrettably common occurrence in 2023, but though Sideshow will not continue as an entity, we know that our community of artists will continue to be a part of the necessary re-imagining and rebuilding of the American theatre currently underway. We thank and celebrate all of the collaborators, audience members, funders, and supporters who made our work possible since 2007. Stay curious, and here’s to a bold new future for theatre everywhere.

 

This website will be maintained through at least the end of 2023 as an accessible archive of our work.

 

 

MISSION

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 audience together as adventurers in a communal experience of exploration.

 

Over its 15-year history, Sideshow is proud to have distinguished itself as a vital member of the Chicago theatre community. Sideshow was awarded the 2016 Broadway In Chicago Emerging Theatre Award by the League of Chicago Theatres. Sideshow is a multiple Jeff Award-winning theatre and has been listed on the “Best of” lists in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2018 by the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Reader, Time Out ChicagoChicago Sun-Times and Windy City Times.

 

Sideshow is also the producer of Chicago League of Lady Arm Wrestlers (CLLAW), a wildly popular fundraiser held in benefit of Sideshow Theatre Company and other local community organizations. 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.

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PRODUCTION HISTORY

ABOUT US

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS

ENSEMBLE

ARTISTIC ASSOCIATES

PRODUCTION HISTORY

 

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WHAT'S ON

Content (c) 2023 Sideshow Theatre Company

Adelina Feldman-Schultz

Arti Ishak

Walt McGough

Karie Miller

Tina Muñoz Pandya

Shariba Rivers

 

Greg Geffrard

Hanna Kime

Megan A. McGuane

Krystal Ortiz

Gabrielle Randle-Bent

Netta Walker

Patrick Agada

Mallory Raven-Ellen Backstrom

J. Nicole Brooks

Sydney Charles

Melissa F. DuPrey

Brynne Frauenhoffer

David Lawrence Hamilton

Ann James

Sarah Price

Kathleen Akerley

Sam Boeck

Olivia Canaday

Gina M. Di Salvo

Micah Figueroa

Jyreika Guest

Noël Huntzinger

Nina O'Keefe

Ellen Willett

Interim President

Interim Secretary

Board Member

Karen S. Walters

Geoff Bridges

Karie Miller