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 Philip R., Tony S., David S., Gage Park Words@Play Program
Poems
An Essentialism Poem
By Philip R.
10 years old I went to paintball
shooting with my cousins and uncle.
10, I went paint ball shooting.
10, paintball shooting.
An Essentialism Poem
By Tony S.
At 8 years old I was
hit in the head with radio
8, I was hit with radio
Hit with radio.
An Essentialism Poem
By David S.
My first words were French and
now I’m learning French from Mom.
First words French. Now learning French.
First words French.
By Ulises F. , 4th Grade, Columbia Explorers Academy
That's Weird, Grandma
Once upon a time there was a bunch of spies. What they do is help people like helping by knowing who stole their car. They also help by being together with the cop, fbi, army and the swat team if there’s war or trouble. They will always wear black if they are on missions. people even drive them places. They won’t never quit getting they guy who made a lot of trouble that is my kind of story.
By Sarah S., 4th Grade, Columbia Explorers Academy
Podcasts
There is a man climbing and wearing a working helmet. The man is downtown. He is climbing a big wood to cut the cable wire from Bigfoot because he didn’t pay his cable. The man’s name is the cable guy. The cable guy gots different tools. Bigfoot kept on complaining because he gots his cable cut off. Bigfoot gets mad and tells the cable guy to put on the cable back on. But the cable guy says you got to pay the cable first. So Bigfoot pays his cable. Bigfoot is happy that his cable is back on. Bigfoot stopped complaining now. Intil next time.
Listen to the podcast episode adapted from this story!
By Salina T., Stockton Elementary
Podcasts
There were a million people in China Town in China. They were in a rush. An Emperor named Naruko lived in a jacked up apartment. He decided that he is going to jump on people’s roofs and steal everything and the deed to their houses. He owned everyone. At night he went to a house with about 10,000 people in it. It looked small but he didn’t care. So he went down the chimney. He saw fire. He burned his butt. He didn’t care as long as he has the deed to everyone house in China. He went to each room and took everything. Even someone’s retaner. The house was haunted. Ghosts were haunting him for the rest of his life. The house with a branch on it was haunting Emperor Naruko for ever.
Listen to the podcast episode adapted from this story!
By Breanna S., Tiana R., Gabriel T., Joseph P., Justin D., Cristofer B., and Randall W., New Sullivan School
Podcasts
Once there was a cat named Lisa. She was in the backyard coloring and minding her own business. She was a cat that was smart and had glasses. She found something on the ground… a snake named Max, and the snake said, “Hold on, I know you. I saw you every week coloring.” He asked, “Can I help you color?” Then Lisa saw her other friend Breanna, who asked, “Hey Lisa, who is that snake?!” The snake said, “Hello, I’m Max.” Lisa did something fun like hide and seek so that Breanna and Max will become friends. The End.
Listen to the podcast episode adapted from this story!
By Jasmine M., 4th Grade, Columbia Explorer's
True Stories
That's Weird, Grandma
One day, well yesterday My bro, sis, cusion and me. I’ll tell you the ages so you could know its really scary My cusion is14 my bro is 6 my sis is 4 and I am 9. Well it all started when we were watching scary video clips. We watched one about the first movie of the ring. Later on my mom went down to check the elictrisity we were upstairs by ourselves. We started to hear scary noises from scary movies. First we heard ahhhhh from the grudge. Then mmmm from the ring Then boom (stomp on floor). We got so scared I started to cry then my sis did. My cusion and bro weren’t so scared we heard a lauf just like mom’s. Then we heard booms coming closer and all of a sudden we saw someone pass through our door crack. My cusion looked know one was there she closed the door more. My mom came up and it all stopped. We asked here if she did it she said NO!
P.S. If you don’t belive me still pray forme!!!!!
By Samantha M. , AG Bell Program
True Stories
That's Weird, Grandma
Because I am deaf I can turn off my hearing aid when my brother screams.
By Timie, Loyola Park
Superheroes
That's Weird, Grandma
My superhero name is: Dancing with the stars girl
My superpowers are: to dance until people drop. And also I can communicate will stars, and also connect
My weakness is: to dance to slow jazz, and classic music. It makes me drop dead!
My sidekick is: The stars and gang.
I live in: Dancing with the star corporation/or tower
My enemy is: Jazz Moon
My super costume is: black arm shirt with stars, and a black and yellow pants.
Once upon a time lived a girl named Dancing with the stars girl. She loved to dance. She hated class /and Jazz music. One day Jazz Moon came to destroy Dancing, so Dancing with the stars started Dancing, until Jazz Moon fainted.
By Jovita F., Columbia Explorer's
True Stories
That's Weird, Grandma
I remember when I was in kindagrdan I had a crush on a boy but I didn’t now his name so I wanted to now him but one time it was circle time and he sat right next to me and I got so shy and nerves and then I put my hand down wear his hand was and he put his hand back waer he had it and his hand was touching mine and I got shy and my teacher touht I was rasing my hand. She called my name and I didn’t now what to say and every-body saw that I was holding his hand and I had to go back to desk and all the kids was lafing at me. The End
So I didn’t wan’t to go to that school ever agin.
By Maribel C., Davis Sheild
Arguments
That's Weird, Grandma
PRO:
1) I think that’s a good idea so in one house you can live and in the other you could put all your cool stuff.
2) You could sleep in one house and then another day in the other.
CON:
1) You need to pay double money for light, gas and water
2) Some other people could enter your house and you won’t even notice.
