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 Jason T., Morton
Songs
This “random” kid was far from it. James Price was the famous Dragon Samurai. ON his ipod he was not listening to music but his sensa. The main reason he likes the newspaper and the news so he can see what’s going on in the world. His rolex is really his object he presses to turn into Samurai. His biggest foe is the Ninja of the Night. His favorite weapon is the flaming two sided sword. He finally defeated the Night Ninja with Supernova vs Frozen Sword Blizzard. The world still can’t live in peace because the Night Ninja has a son Sub Zero. But the Samurai has a son too the Flaming Prince for generations to come. The End.
By Amarrie H., LEARN Campbell Campus
That's Weird, Grandma
Once upon a time there was a man name Joe in the library could make ice cream by looking at a book. And every time he makes ice cream he thinks about cats. So his Mom bought him a cat and 3 boxes of books. He live happy with his ice cream and his cat and for a while his cat started reading them books too. THE END.
By Kyjuan M., LEARN Campbell Campus
That's Weird, Grandma
One day while jake and Ben were going to a bus they got stopped by a weird party by the bus they were going to one person in the party asked Ben for some pie and shoved it in his face. Another person in the party asked Jake for some noodles and poured it on his clothes and they both had run in the bus and called 911 but they got kicked out the bus and the cops arrested them without letting them explain.
By Shaniya W., LEARN Campbell Campus
True Stories
One day when I came home from school, my mother was making Cinnamon Toast Rolls. Before she left she told me “Don’t touch those Cinnamon Toast Rolls!!” Then I said: “I won’t!” Then she left to go to the store. Then I thought about the toast rolls. SO I went in the kitchen and took one and they were so gggooodd!!!! So I took them all. Then I realized I ate them all so I tried to make some more, until…she walked in and caught me, so I ran upstairs and hid and she found me and I had to do the kitchen for a week. The end.
By Mateo P., Dawes
True Stories
Spanish
Una vez en Mexico estaba lloviendo mucho. Yo estaba muy aburrido y estaba en la cama sentado viendo la ventana. Después me puse a ver la tele pero no había nada divertido. Entonces, me fui a comer algo y mire por la ventana de la cocina.
Después fui afuera y todo era de color amarillo, hasta el cielo. Y ahí arriba había un arcoíris.
English translation:
Once, in Mexico it was raining a lot. I was very bored, and I was sitting in my bed looking through the window. Then I watched some TV but nothing was fun. So I went to eat something and I looked through the kitchen’s window.
Later I went outside, and everything was yellow, even the sky. And up there in the sky, there was a rainbow.
By Jakob H., Dawes
Dialogues
Characters: Aberham Linchon
Gogre Washington, Teddy Rosenfeld, Brock Oboma
Setting: past, present.
Brock: Lets go to the past in my time maghine. (exited)
Bam!!!
Brock: Hey look Theodore rosenfeld!
TR: who are you?
Brock: I’m the future president!
TR: Nice to meet you (kindly)
Brock: Do you want to come and travel back in time with me
TR: Sure! (running to time machine)
Bam!!!
TR: Amasing!
Aberham: Wow!
Brock: teddy this is Aberham.
TR: Nice to meet you (kindly)
Brock: Let’s meet Gorge Washington!
Bam!!!
Gorge: What the??? (confused)
Brock: I’m Brock Oboma this is Teddy
By Lauren H., Dewey
Superheroes
That's Weird, Grandma
When I went to the wizard world I meet aixz roars and max roars and Jatietn roars then they gave me their wizard Power then I was a wizard to then they put me and the show then aixz caught me doing soming Bad then she took my power away I Baxed hen for it Back then she gave me my power back then I was a wizard forever.
By Ashaureah R., Dewey
That's Weird, Grandma
I a Man was looking at tv a Big Box could talk he side don’t look at me I’, green, red, Bule, youllw. I will pay u 1,000 Dollars to not look at me. now we can play together we will have fun playing can we keep the peace and eat pizza.
By Reid T., Paderewski
Songs
That's Weird, Grandma
One day there was a question mark and a comma. They were fighting and they didn’t know why they were fighting so at the end they stopped and became friends. THE END.
By Lillian C., Paderewski
Holidays
Valentine's Day
Characters: Lagoona, Clea, Clowdeen Wolf, Part Normy
Boyfriend girlfriend break up.
