Broadway In Chicago Emerging Theatre Award Presented by League of Chicago Theatres

We are excited to announce the return of the Broadway In Chicago Emerging Theatre Award, presented by the League of Chicago Theatres at our Annual Spotlight Gala.

This award was created in 2007 to encourage, support, and promote young theatres in Chicago that have demonstrated great ability, promise, artistic excellence, and fiscal responsibility in business practices.

A nominating committee comprised of Chicago theatre professionals will review the applications and select the finalists. The awardee will be selected from this group of finalists by a majority vote of League of Chicago Theatre’s members to receive this award at the League’s Annual Spotlight Gala and $5000.

If you have any questions about this award, please email our Director of Programming, Tony Bondoc at programming@chicagoplays.com.

To apply, please fill out the Broadway In Chicago Emerging Theatre Award Application Form Below.

Applicant Requirements:

Applying company must be a member of the League of Chicago Theatres in good standing.
Company cannot be a previous recipient of the Emerging Theatre Award.
Company must have been in existence for at least 3 years and no more than 10 years.
Company must have produced a minimum of 3 past productions in the last 3 years.
Company must demonstrate artistic excellence and fiscal responsibility in business practices.

Applications are due by Thursday, July 3, 2025 at 12:00pm CST.

Broadway In Chicago Emerging Theatre Award - Nomination Form

Section 1: Company Information

Organization name:(Required)

Year of incorporation:(Required)

Website

Number of full-time employees

Number of part-time employees

Total operating budget for most recent fiscal year (just the full number here):

Number of productions produced to date:

Section 2: Narrative Questions

1. Tell us about your organization. Some suggestions include: why your organization was created? What is your organizational structure? What are your organizational values? What are some current challenges you are facing as an organization? (Please limit your answer to 3500 characters or less).(Required)

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2. Tell us about how your organization has grown in the last couple of years (please limit your answer to 2250 characters or less).(Required)

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3. Tell us about your organization’s artistic and programmatic plans for the future (please limit your answer to 2250 characters or less(Required)

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4. Tell us about ways that your organization engages in community partnerships, education programs and/or outreach activities (please limit your answer to 2250 characters or less).(Required)

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5. Tell us about your organization’s current work to advance equity, diversity, and inclusion (please limit your answer to 2250 characters or less).(Required)

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6. Tell us how your organization would use this grant and why this is important to your organization at this current moment, please be as specific as possible (please limit your answer to 2250 characters or less).(Required)

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Section 3: Materials To Include With Your Application

1. List of production history and any awards received. Please include that list here:(Required)

2. List of foundation, corporate, and governmental supporters for the most recently completed fiscal year, including the contribution amounts. Please include that list here:(Required)

3. Full operating budgets for your last two complete fiscal years (including net income), and a current balance sheet (This should be submitted in a separate file along with your application (Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, or Adobe PDF).

Max. file size: 49 MB.

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Final Reminders

• Grant application submission deadline: July 3, 2025 at 12:00pm CST
• The award will be presented at the League of Chicago Theatres Annual Spotlight Gala
• If you have any questions or concerns, contact programming@chicagoplays.com or call 312-554-9805