Tickets are On Sale for CELEBRATION OF AUTHORS 2026 on June 27!
CELEBRATION OF AUTHORS 2026!
SATURDAY, JUNE 27 from 12:30PM – 3:30PM CDT
At The NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MEXICAN ART
Sponsored by WINTRUST BANK & FORWARD SPACE
It’s both our annual gala AND a family-friendly, interactive festival!
Buy Tickets Now!
Silent Auction! Games! Food + Drinks! Open Bar for adult guests! 360 Photo Booth! And of course, LIVE performances of stories written by our students for the 2025/26 School Year!
Attire: Fancy Schmancy where you can come Fancy – dressed to the nines in your best attire. Or you can come Schmancy – with a silly hat or funny outfit that expresses YOU!
You can bid on our amazing Silent Auction Prizes at the event, or remotely from anywhere! Silent Auction items include: A Trip to Mexico with Vidanta Resorts, A Sailing Excursion, An At-Home Dungeons & Dragons Session, Dining Packages, Sports Tickets, Theatre Tickets, and MORE! Stay tuned for a preview and get those bids ready!
This is the most affordable & most FUN Gala in town!
Tickets include food, drinks, a show, and activities for all ages!
EARLY BIRD Adult Tickets (available through 5/31)—$50
EARLY BIRD Youth Tickets, ages 4 to 15 (available through 5/31)—$35
Adult Regular Tickets —$75
Youth Regular Tickets, ages 4 to 15 —$50
Children 3 years of age and under can attend for FREE
Because PlayMakers’ students rock, they typically go on to do exciting things. Every year, we use our banquet to honor a special alum. This year’s Annual Storyteller of the Year Award goes to Isabella Wilhemy Sanchez. Isabella is a special effects make up designer, and former PlayMakers Laboratory student!!!
Isabella Wilhelmy Sanchez has been in the performing arts ever since she was a student at Play Makers Laboratory. She graduated as a theater major from Lincoln Park High School and has been working in the Chicago Indie film scene working on shorts like The Crossing 2020, Perfectly Sane 2025, Wild Party 2025 and I Only Sleep When The Room Is Pitch Black 2025. Isabella has worked under Chicago based makeup artist Anthony Kosar learning more of the makeup profession and learning skills like laying beards and applying prosthetics to create characters/monsters. Isabella’s passion for story telling was nurtured by the teaching artists at PML and is thrilled to join us at the Celebration of Authors gala to share more of her journey, and to celebrate creatives of all ages in Chicago.
Buy Tickets Now!
Can’t attend our party? We’ll miss you! Consider donating to support arts education in Chicago. Thank you!
Additional Information:
This event is a fundraiser to support PML’s outstanding creative writing programming in partnership with Chicago Public Schools. 100% of the tickets proceeds will support PML classes! For 29 years PlayMakers Laboratory has served Chicago Public School students by providing a creative writing residency program aimed primarily at elementary schools. Our company of over 60 teaching artists utilizes creative drama and storytelling to promote literacy and self esteem during our in-school residencies and park district programming. Each year, our programs serve more than 4,000 young people across Chicago. In our 6 week writing residencies, a whopping 88% of students improve writing scores by at least one level over the course of our residencies. Plus, 100% of classroom teachers report that our program supports their student’s writing and improves confidence and self-esteem.
Celebration of Authors is sponsored in part by
Wintrust Bank
Forward Space
PlayMakers Laboratory is sponsored in part by
The Chicago Community Trust,
Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events,
The Crown Family Philanthropies,
The Field Foundation,
The Illinois Arts Council
The Mardi Gras Fund,
The Paul M. Angell Foundation,
The Polk Bros Foundation,
The Siragusa Family Foundation,
And generous Individuals like you!
The National Museum of Mexican Art has a ramp and is accessible to wheelchairs, both manual and electric. PML staff are not able to assist patrons transferring to or from a wheelchair, theatre seat or vehicle. Service animals are permitted. At this time there is not a planned usage of audio descriptions, Open Captioning, or for ASL interpreters to be in attendance. For any additional accessibility information or requests, please email admin@playmakerslab.org.
By Carlos J, Columbia Explorer's Academy
Saya: I wonder if monsters are real (scared)
Carlom: No they aren’t. (more scared
Tena: They are real. They eat your hands. (trying to scare you)
Saya: What happened to your mom and dad? (different way)
Tena: Let’s check. (scared)
Carlom: I wonder what happened to them. (worried)
Saya: I’m going to leave. (scared)
Carlom: Me too. (scared)
Door: Knock! Knock!
Everyone: OHHHHHHHHH!! (really scared)
Everyone: (all faint)
It was their dog
THE END
By Jonathan S, Avondale-Logandale
Setting: a lab in the dinosaurs’ time
Characters: a boy and a group of kids, guys
Boy: Hey, we should go to a lab.
Group: How are we going to get [to] a lab?
Boy: We could print out a map, and I can ask my dad to drive us.
Group: Cool. So let’s get started.
Boy: Dad, we need you to drive us to a lab far away.
Dad: Ok son give me the map so I know where it is.
Group: how much longer.
Dad: We’re close now.
Boy: How get we get here look a dino a t.rex. I want to catch it.
Group: No! We’re going.
Boy: How did we get back home.
The End Or is it!
By Precious A, Learn Campbell Academy
Once upon a time there was a lady who was famous. She dance, played off movies. One day she went to a stage in practice some dance movies. Somebody said she sucked but she was not worrying about it in kept dancing at the end everybody cheered. In he said booo for a long time in made fun of her. She did not listen to the negative things but the good things.
By Daniel P, Avondale-Logandale
There was once a football named Rick. He liked to play football. Then a mutant laser turned him into a man and he was happy with it. Then he learned how to talk and goes to super hero school. The End or is it?
By Jaylin, Ainslie, Clara, Kate, Bradley and Demetrius, Lincolnwood Elementary
A girl who is named Emma and who always wears blue didn’t like the idea of a mad scientist Dr. Big Brain. His head was so big, whenever he would do karate he would knock the person next to him over. It was always Emma. One day Dr. Big Brain came to the beach and looked at brown water and thought it was chocolate, but it wasn’t. He decided if he covered the people at the beach with water, if it dried they would be stuck and he could take over the world. Emma was walking around and saw Dr. Big Brain with all his technology trying to figure out what the water was and asked him what he was doing. Then she tried to rip up his plans and dunked them in the water. And all the plans turned to chocolate! She says “Good guacamole! This water IS chocolate! That is good chocolate!” Dr. Big Brain runs home crying and never returns to the beach again. A horse with the body of a horse and the head of a monkey says “That was close. He was my nemesis forever.”
By Mae O, Kai C, Ben W, Molly Jo K, Rashele O, Linda L, Jahnese A, 3rd Grade, Lincolnwood Elementary
There was once a fat eagle named Franklin. Franklin was running away from a giant mouse who was trying to eat him. They were in a junkyard filled with gold. One of the eagles from Franklin’s group gets lost in the mouse’s mouth. Fortunately, the mouse burped, and the eagle flew out. Franklin goes back to save his friend while the rest of the group flies away. Franklin distracts the mouse by dancing the Irish jig, so his friend can get away. The mouse does the jig too! But then they start fighting again about who dances the best. The smallest eagle says “You’re both great dancers! Now let’s get out of here!” But he secretly tells Franklin that he is really the best. Finally, a giant spaceship falls on the mouse. The eagles get into the spaceship and go to Mars.
By Gianna M, Loyola Park After School Program
Hi my name is Christanthamom. I am a huge twilight fan. My favorite characters are Bella and Edward. I read all 4 books and saw the movie at the 9:45 show it was the best movie ever. I love vampires. I was a vampire for Halloween for 5 years in a row and won best costume. Every year but I happen to be a quarter vampire on my dad’s side. But this year I will be Bella and my brother will be Edward but I’m not going to kiss him ew no no no! My favorite sport is vampire baseball and I love Diet blood and pizza!
By Darrin J, Chalmers Elementary
Once upon a time there was a goat that eat everything. I twas one thing he can’t eat. It was a metal pole. So he did but he choke. He spit it out and that is the end.
By Ariana M, Chalmers Elementary
My mom was buying me new clothes and at the register there was a zombie. The zombie was eating all the money. My mom she beat the zombie down with her purse. (Hitting with purse) Bop! Bop! Bop! Bop! My mom had a brick in her purse. There was blood everywhere and his brain. Then she and my auntie beat him down. Then my uncle gave a one hitter quitter. Then a lady popped up and said. “I’ve been trying to get that guy out of my store this whole time.” And she gave 15 outfits for free. The End.
By Carrie T, Learn Campbell Academy
Once upon a time it was a girl name Araya. It was a good girl and smart but all the others was not so they did not like her so one day Araya mom said go make some friends then Araya said but I do not have any friends so her mom said just act like them and you will make friends. So the next day she come to school she was acting bad like, have a bad boyfriend, writing on the walls, and calling the teacher bad name like cray-cray. So then Super Woman come and the school and take Araya, to the Cook County, and guess what she said I am going to be myself.
