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 Semaj H., 4th Grade, Henderson
That's Weird, Grandma
Once upon a time there was a farm and a gate and there was not any animals in the gate so the farmer came out the house and there was three animals sitting and the animals was a pig and a horse and a sheep. And they was all eating food the pig was eating corn and the horse was eating hay and the sheep did not have nothing to eat. And the sheep got sad because the farmer did not have nothing to eat for him. The end.
By Prado K., 4th Grade, Field School
That's Weird, Grandma
In this picture there is a factory with a car sales outside it. Outside there was trucks and vans and all the kinds of cars. But nobody came cause the cats cost too much. The factory was poor. Outside it was like a boat with a flag on it. Also there poles on the ground to separate the cars.
Pt. 2
After that the manager james told all the workers they were going to shut down. When it was time to go home and sleep until the next day but the workers didn’t. next all the workers changed the prices to lower numbers like $100.00 cause the numbers were 1, 000.00. The next day a lot more people came. Then the people who came told more people and more people.
Pt. 3
After that the manager told all the workers that they weren’t going to close no more that made all the workers and everybody happy. The end.
By Chan N., 4th Grade, Field School
True Stories
Songs
That's Weird, Grandma
My dad gave me some keys to get me in the house. And it made me proud of myself and I feel like a responsible person. I never lost my key cause I keep them in my room. And my keys are for the front door and the other key is for to get in the house. And that’s the end of my story.
By Rael W., 3rd Grade, New Sullivan
That's Weird, Grandma
I remember when my Uncle Dunked on Mr. Blager. My Uncle Vincent and my cousin mr Blager were playing basketball and my uncle dunked on him. We had a bet that my Uncle could dunk on him so he had to take us out for dinner.
By by Skylar K, Julia L, Kaitlin M, Ceasar JP, 1st Grade, Unknown
That's Weird, Grandma
Dragon: (pirate) black tail, striped green and black, wears glasses.
Fince the king: Bald
Setting: a science lab computers, potions, three form glasses.
The king was in the lab working on experiments when the king was working on the computer. The dragon was sneaking around the lab. Fince was making a dragon and he pushed the stop button and Dragon came to life. The dragon blew blue fire on the books. All the books are burning! The shelves burned when the book burned too. Fince jumped up and said, “You Dragon! How dare you say that?” Then the dragon blew fire at everything in the science lab, and the science lab blew up and it cost him a million dollars. Fince gets really mad and throws his cape at the Dragon. The Dragon is going to pay for the lab. The king was still upset.
The End.
By Starr B., 4th Grade, Reavis School
That's Weird, Grandma
The funny man was in the bed he came out and bumped his head his mom came in and said what are you doing the funny man said I bumped my head. Then the funny man said get out of my house and he pushed her and she bumped her head and the funny man was laughed and said by by mommy I love you said the funny man mommy.
By Oshenna C., Lea R., 4th Grade, Dewey School
That's Weird, Grandma
Celebration of Authors
COA 2008
One there was a family of four penguins. They weren’t ordinary winter penguins they were summer penguins. They had two kids named Geoff and Tim. The mom and dad penguin wanted to get married, so they went back in time to become human so they could become husband and wife. The kids wanted that too and supported their parents. So Mr. and Mrs. Penguin passed out invitations around town. They went to buy potatoes to make potato salad for the wedding reception. But the kids couldn’t make it to the wedding on time because they were penguins and couldn’t work the time machine.
By Del S., 5th Grade, Loyola Park After School Program
That's Weird, Grandma
N: Fartacine can help. It stops your unexpected farts. It’s very effective. But since it holds in all your farts for two whole days it creates a massive stink bomb fart. Don’t take it if you have kidney or bladder problems, and don’t take it if you are sick. Also don’t take it with any liquid or solid.
B: Hi I’m Bob I took fartacine for 1 week and this is what I looks like before. (farting noises). And now I didn’t fart for two days and here is what the massive fart sounded like (huge loud fart). Hope your not at a business meeting when the huge fart comes.
By Jaward M., 4th Grade, Field School
Letters
Songs
That's Weird, Grandma
Dear Raheel,
I remember when I went to Lincolnwood mall on our bikes that was the best day as far as I remember! Oh! I just remember that your friends were with us too. I hope we go again one day because it was fun. It was so fun I am doing good how is highschool? It’s 20 years!!! From now I have a lambergini how are you and your kids? How many kids do you even have by the way? What are their names? I am the president of the u.s.a. I rule! Man!
By Brandon M., Little Village
Dialogues
That's Weird, Grandma
Characters
Bingo (likes to drive and eat pizza)
Lingo (smelly)
Setting: mars
B: (Eating Pizza)
L: Can I have some (Sad)
B: (said no) because you smell.
L: But I’m really hungry.
B: Not until you take a bath. (Mad)
L: Never (disappointed)
B: Then no pizza (crossing arms)
L: Can I borrow your car (crossing arms)
L: Can I borrow your car (excited)
B: Yes. (Mad)
L: (When Lingo came back with pizza.)
B: Where is my car.
L: I had a car accident. And it is in the dump. Finally Lingo had a pizza.
