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 Bryelle, Super 7 Girls Program at Willa Cather Elementary School
One day it was a worker name Jerry and Merry. Working on Christmas. And Jerry did not want to work on Christmas. He worked really hard he thought he was leaving at 1:00 but they said he was staying all the way to 6:00 and Merry was happy because they said he was leaving at 1:00. Jerry work really hard scrubbing floors. Merry was scrubbing floors too, after Merry left Jerry ask can he leave too then. The said no, he stop doing what he was supposed to do soon it was 6:00 he did not want to leave but he had to. Because work was over. The end. After Merry left he went home and open his presents. The End.
By Sydnie, 3rd Grade, Poe Classical School
One day there was a man named Skulley but his family called him Skull. Skulley loved karate. He felt like he could fight anybody, even Bruce Lee. Skulley also loved codes and secret messages. Even though Skulley only knew one, and that was 1645VXO. The End.
By Alex and Victoria, Kinzie Elementary School
Dialogues
Characters: Wolf named Buddy. Tiger named Stripe
Setting: North Pole/Christmas
S: Hi! (waving at Buddy)
B: Hi (waving to Stripe)
B: What are we doing today?
S: Let’s go to the North Pole?
B: OK (Agreeing with Stripe)
B: I can’t believe we are at the NORTH POLE! (surprised)
S: OH MY GOSH it’s a reindeer!
D: Hi!
D: I have to go bye! (Leaving)
B: NO!! (Jumpin on Dosher)
S: Oh no!
B: Ahhh!!! (falling off of Dasher)
S: I got you! (catching Buddy)
The End.
By Mkai, 3rd Grade, Poe Classical School
Dear God, can we have superpowers? It will be so cool. We can have superheroes fighting off criminals faster than police. If we can have superhero families, we can fight off multiple criminals at once. We can have super cool hero names that people will remember and we can return lost things to citizens. We will be so popular that will make for us. If we have powers the world be a better place without criminals. The End.
By Leslie, 5th Grade, Dixon Elementary School
There was once a man who was covered in fire. His eyes blood red his hair looked like cooled magma. The fire king said “Whad do you wanne Bethany” Bethany responded “Please come back home, your family misses you.” The fire king screamed “how am I suppose to come home if I burn every thing I touch” and the he accidentally burned Bethany. The Fire King said “oh no what have I done.” The End.
By Makayla , 2nd Grade, Carter School Of Excellence
Once upon a time there was this crazy hair stylest who cut hair off of people’s hair in her hair as a wig. Then she try to kill the people then she easts the flesh of the people Because she is a werewolf. then the person Becomes a zombie and go eat the other people and they Become zombies too. Then they expire, turn into dust, and creep people out. Then all of them expire. Then it spread all over the world. The End.
By Naomi D, 4th Grade, Columbia Explorer's Academy
Once upon a time there was a boy named Jonny. He loved to play baseball. One day he got in trouble for wasting all the money on a baseball game. One day his mother called him down and said “Jonny.” He said “Yes.” She said “Go to the candy store and buy one of those big hearts that are made out of a pig.” Jonny hated eating that. His mom gave him the money. Jonny went to the candy store. When he looked out the window, he saw a baseball game. Jonny told the lady “Never mind.” So Jonny went to eh baseball game and wasted all of his money on it. Jonny thought: “Oh, no. The candy. Mom is going to be mad.” Jonny said that he could just tell her he got robbed. While Jonny was walking home, he saw a dead big. He told himself that he could just take out he the heart from the pig. So he did that. When he went home, he gave the heart to his mom. HE ran upstairs and went on his computer. He heard a voice say: “Jonny, give me back my heart.” He said: “Who is that?” Then, it said it again: “Jonny, give me back my heart.” His mother called him down for dinner. He didn’t want to eat. When Jonny went down to get orange juice, he saw everyone eating the heart. He was sick to his stomach. He went back upstairs and got ready to go to bed. In the middle of the night, he heard:
“Jonny, give me back my heart, I’m three blocks away from your house.”
“Jonny, give me back my heart, I’m two blocks away from your house.”
“Jonny, give me back my heart, I’m one block away from your house, I want my heart back.”
Jonny was really scared.
“Jonny, I’m on your house steps.”
“Jonny, I opened the door and now I’m walking up the stairs.”
“Jonny, I’m by your room door. I want my heart back.”
“Jonny, I’m by your bed, I have to tell you something…........
OINK….I want my heart back!”
To be continued.
By Sebi M, 4th Grade, Peirce International School
Once o upon a time there was a Monster that was named nothing! The Monster was scary as a dementor but as sad as are rock. Since the monstor was so scary he had no friends! But on day the Monstor went on a walk and all of sudden he heard “crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch!” So the Monster turned around to run back to his cave but when he turned around he saw a Ghol so scary it did not have any friends too! Because the Ghol was as scary as a zombie! So the Monster asked the ghol if they wanted to be friends and the ghol said yes. So they played Ghol/Monster/Tag together! And they were friends forever! The End.
By Devante,, Dewey School of Excellence
Monster under the bed: (to Bob) Hey Bob I have been under your bed for a while and nobody knows that I’m under your bed besides u and I want to go out to the real world Iwant to be free and stop being under the bed all the time I’m going to try to get something to eat and not get caught by your mom or dad brb……………………………………..I’m back so it took so long well bob it was nice knowing u but before I got I will sing a song see u again it been a long day without myfriend and I will tell u all about when I see u again. The End.
By Keashaunda, Chalmers School of Excellence
Once upon a blood there was a young 1700 year old girl named Suzen. She went to a high school called Blood Bites. She went there for about 500 thousand years and she met a human. He wasn’t just human he was goth. She never saw a human like that before in her Ghoulie life. She went fly her ghoul friend and then she showed her who he was and Fifi said that a human. She said yeah I know ghoul and Fifi said you have to tell everyone to bite him and Suzen said “No! I like humans. I will bite him myself when I want and she flew behind him and said Hi I’m Suzen. What’s your name. He said Rotney and she said you’re new aren’t you Rotney says yeah first day. Suzen says well would you like to go to the park later. Rotney says Col what time. 8:05 and Rotney says I’m only 17 I have curfew. Suzen and Suzen brings a drink that was red and she told him to drink it and he fell asleep and she took some the blood in the cup and kiss his neck with the blood and sinked her teeth in his neck and took his blood and Rotney woke up in the bed pale white. The End.
