Bailiwick Repertory Theatre
The Bailiwick Repertory Theatre was a Lakeview, Chicago theater company founded in 1982 by a group led by managing directors David Zak and David Pearson. Originally envisioned as a "director's theater" focused on directors' visions of rarely-produced classic plays, it soon became known especially for its performances written by and centering on LGBTQ people, particularly gay men. [1][2] Notable productions included a 1987 production of Animal Farm that won seven Jeff Awards, the 1988 Chicago premiere of Robert Chesley's Jerker, Biello & Martin's 1999 production of Fairytales/Breathe, and the 2007 American premiere of Jerry Springer - The Opera.[3]
After a series of moves across its 26-year history, Bailiwick Repertory Theater moved out of its final venue in 2008 and was officially dissolved in the fall of 2009.[1][2]
After the Repertory's closure, many of the company's former artists got together to create a new company in order to continue Bailiwick's legacy of producing daring and risky musicals and plays.[4] This new company, called Bailiwick Chicago, launched on November 8, 2009. Bailiwick Chicago produced non-equity musicals and plays, with a special emphasis on cultural, social and sexual diversity. The new company mounted productions at various locations around Chicago until it closed for a "restructuring phase" at the end of 2015, from which it never returned.[5][2]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "Bailiwick Repertory Records". Chicago Public Library. Retrieved 2025-08-02.
- ^ a b c Reid, Kelly (2020-08-19). "The founder of Pride Films and Plays is gone. What happened? What's next?". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 2025-08-02.
- ^ Chicago's Bailiwick Repertory to Present American Premiere of Jerry Springer: The Opera in Spring 2007: Theater News on TheaterMania.com
- ^ "Bailiwick Chicago - Theatre In Chicago". www.theatreinchicago.com. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
- ^ "Bailiwick Artistic Director Lili-Anne Brown to Step Down". American Theater. Theater Communications Group. 2015-12-27. Retrieved 2025-08-02.
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