OnStage The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window May/June 2016 The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window features • Lorraine Hansberry: Young, Gifted and Black • Between Despair and Joy: The Singularity of Lorraine Hansberry on Broadway in 1964 • The Lorraine Hansberry Celebration • Village Intellect Revealed • A Conversation with Director Anne Kauffman The Production • Why The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window? • The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window • Artist Profiles The Theater • A Brief History of Goodman Theatre • Ticket Information, Parking, Restaurants and More • • Public Events Leadership and Support • Civic Committee • Leadership • Support At the Goodman • Essential Goodman: The 2016/2017 Season
Broadway production of her newest play, The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window. Sidney Brustein opened on Broadway in October of 1964 to decent reviews, but the lack of “smash hit” status hurt the production at the box office. Through the vigilant support of Hansberry’s colleagues and admirers, the play eventually lasted 101 performances. On January 12, 1965, three months into the play’s run, Hansberry succumbed to her illness at the age of 34. That evening’s performance of Sidney Brustein was canceled due to word of Hansberry’s passing, and the play’s fate remained in limbo until it was ultimately decided the production would close without resuming performances. At her funeral, attended by over 600 people in a small brick-walled church, Robeson spoke, Nina Simone sang, a letter was read from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and a quiet Malcolm X sat in the back pew. Posthumously, Nemiroff published a new edition of Sidney Brustein, an edition of Hansberry’s unfinished play Les Blancs (written as a response to Jean Genet’s Les Negres) and a collection of Hansberry’s writings, speeches and diary entries entitled To Be Young, Gifted and Black, which was produced both as a play and a book in 1969. Today her work is promoted by the Lorraine Hansberry Literary Trust, and her complete papers are on display to the public at the Schomburg Center for Research in black Culture in Harlem. Entering a New Era: Welcome to Goodman Theatre’s New Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement! Opening in May, “the Alice” is the next phase in the Goodman’s 30-year commitment to educating Chicago youth and promoting lifelong learning for audiences of all ages. Named for the late Goodman Trustee Alice Rapoport and accessible via the Goodman’s second floor lobby, the Alice becomes our
Donnell and Jeanne Schwarz Jeffrey P. Senkpiel Ms. Jennifer Sharer David and Kimberly Shaw Lawrence A. Sherman Celina and Paul Sima Charles Simanek Geraldine C. Simmons Carol and Phil Smith David and Stacey Smith Edward and Eileen Soderstrom Mary Soleiman Karla St. Louis Patricia Ms. Helena Stancikas Nancy M. Stankus Steve and Jarilyn Stavropoulos Jeff Stoller Jane B. Stone Gail Struve Rosilynn Sutton Cynthia R. Swanson Tabis and Stacie Pierce Leonard and Roberta Tenner Ellen and John Thomas Ms. Pamela Tilbrook Philip and Sandra Tobin F. Joseph Tomecek Blanca Torres-Olave Jerome R. Vainisi Paul D. Waas
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