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 Nanette, Tonece, Zaria, Suman, Michelle and Michelle, 3rd Grade, New Field
That's Weird, Grandma
There was a person named Juliet. They were at her wedding –her son was there and her fiancé Joe. She was singing and butterflies were around her. She was happy. The robbers came and took everyone away except her and the butterflies. She felt real sad. She had felt happy after the wedding. The robbers told Joe that if he wins a bicycle competition he will be let go and free. Juliet’s cousin Jock was also in the competition and she went to watch. Jock saw her and she saw Joe and felt happy. Joe won the race. The robber let him go and Juliet and Joe lived happy and the butterflies live by her.
By Taeona C. , 5th Grade, Paderewski
Dialogues
Characters: Sally, Mike, Miranda, John, Author
Setting: Gym Room
Sally: Hi (meet Miranda at the Prom)
Miranda: How are you
Sally: fine
Miranda: So who is your prom date tonight
Sally: Mike
Miranda: who is Mike
Sally: a guy I met at the store.
Miranda: wow (surprised)
Sally: He’s so hansom
Miranda: He sounds so familar
Sally: he was at dominic’s
Miranda: is his last name Smith
Sally: yes, why
Miranda: (gasp)
Sally: What?
Miranda: you are going to Prom with my brother.
Miranda: oh! I’m so happy for you.
Mike: hey babe.
Sally: hey sugar
Miranda: oh here comes my prom date
Sally: who is this?
Miranda: this is John
Author: Every body danced
By Dionta S., 4th Grade, Kohn
True Stories
Holidays
Winter Holidays
That's Weird, Grandma
When I throw a snowball at my brother and he hit me with one and I fall and I got back up and throw one again at him. And we had a war we had a snowball war not a real war we had a kid war in the backyard and we was running around the back and he hid behind a tree and I kept running around then he hit me with a snowball so I did not run around I picked up a snowball. And I throw it at him and I picked up another snowball and I throw it at my other brother and he tried to hit me I moved and it hit my brother in we team up against my big brother and we lose against them they beat us cause they was throwing them too hard but we was dodge and he hit me and I hit him in the face.
By David H. , 5th Grade, Avondale
Holidays
Winter Holidays
That's Weird, Grandma
Santa was hungry on his way to Taco Bell but he didn’t have any presents so he got everyone a taco for Christmas. Santa was so happy he got everyone 10 bonus tacos and when the kids woke up they ate there tacos and they saved some for later and they saved money about $50.00. The End
By Jaime C. , 4th Grade, Paderewksi
That's Weird, Grandma
Ricky was traveling at the ocean and was climbing untile there was a bear Ricky was runing. He survived then he meet Rachel she said come this way if you what to die I mean to survive. Then she took them to the bear and you will find blood when you travel.
By Nathaniel V., 5th Grade, Avondale
Arguments
That's Weird, Grandma
I believe that instead of walking all day here and there you get tired right so we should have our own little teliportions button and my reason for that is lets say if your running late for your job or a mission and you don’t have a car you can use the up and gone all you have to do is put your finger on the scanner and it will scan were you need to go in a blink of an eye your gone and I am for real just blink your eye and your gone so now you can be right on time to go to a special mission or your job so all you have to do is just get ready brush your teeth find the up and gone wait where is it I left it here somewhere oh here it is then scan it and flash your gone it’s that easy.
By Herbert P., 5th Grade, Avondale
That's Weird, Grandma
One day Doggy man was on a mission in possible. His mission was to go catch Solid man craking the earth. So Doggy Man had trouble swimming he felt mad because dogs can’t swim. So he use telekinesis to use a boat. He got to solid man on time and Doggy man got Solid man by barking and Solid man went to jail. Doggy man felt good to do his job and he went to Hawaii for another mission in possible.
By Gwen, Antonesha, David, Edward, Kourtney, Tangela, 4th Grade, Kohn
Holidays
Thanksgiving
That's Weird, Grandma
Once upon a time there was a girl named Ashley Sarah who loved turkey! She
wanted her friends to come over but they were too busy, so they couldn’t make it.
So she had to eat the turkey by herself. But she knew she couldn’t eat the whole
turkey because she was on a diet. She brought a big ole plate and ate the turkey
anyway and she got fat. She finally ate all of the turkey and she loved it. Finally
her friends came at the wrong moment. All the friends go out to eat and Ashley
Sarah’s grandpa calls to say that he can’t come over because he wants to go to
a meeting. She says “Don’t worry about it, the turkey is all gone.” And she took
a nap. But the meeting got canceled and they all want to the restaurant together
with old people and ate turkey! The End
By Mia T., 3rd Grade, New Sullivan
Songs
That's Weird, Grandma
It was a famous donut on a plane. The donut was famous because kids saw him sing and dance. They said “Can you please do it again because I thought I dreamt it. You’re not a singer, you’re a donut!” He said Ï am a singer, you be quiet and listen to me” and he sings. He sings anything. The kids said “No, you get off the airplane”. He said “No, because don’t ya’ll want me to sing for ya’ll?” Then the kids say “You better get out of here before I call the pilot”. They tell the pilot and the pilot tells the donut to leave because he was messing with the kids. They throw the donut out the window and say “You better not come back here again”.
By Randall W., 3rd Grade, New Sullivan
Songs
That's Weird, Grandma
A dancing donut call Konot. Konot like dancing. He invnt new move that wasn’t real he dancin a move call Hot-air-balloon. He was hot in the air he pop like a balloon so cool and awesome people said he fell and break to peace people ate him. The End.
