The 2022 Student Matinee Series
The Auditorium Theatre announces its 2022 Student Matinee Series, featuring three diverse shows for students in grades K-12: the inspiring and uplifting concert, Too Hot to Handel: The Jazz-Gospel Messiah; an energetic folkloric dance performance by Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández; and a presentation by one of the best dance companies in the world — Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
“I am greatly looking forward to welcoming students back to our historic venue in 2022,” says Auditorium Theatre CEO Rich Regan. “Many of these young people are experiencing the power of a live performance for the first time — and we are hopeful that for many this will spark a life-long love of the performing arts.”
The Auditorium Theatre's number one priority is keeping our audiences safe. Current COVID-19 safety protocols will be in effect at each matinee performance. All participating educators and students must adhere to these safety protocols.
Each Student Matinee is open to groups of 10 or more students in grades K-12. Student Matinees are an hour long, with performers framing their presentations specifically towards young people, guiding students through what they are seeing on stage.
Classrooms participating in ArtsXChange, the Auditorium Theatre’s professional development program that helps classroom teachers integrate dance, theatre, music, and visual arts into their everyday curriculum, attend each Student Matinee show at no cost to them through generous support from the Polk Bros. Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, The Elizabeth Morse Charitable Trust, and CIBC. Approximately 20 classrooms from across the city participate in the ArtsXChange program each year.
Student Matinee Sponsors
THE ROBERT THOMAS BOBINS FOUNDATION and DENISE LITTLEFIELD SOBEL
EVENT INFORMATION
To secure a spot in one or more of the Auditorium Theatre’s Student Matinee Series performances, visit AuditoriumTheatre.org, call 312.341.2300, or contact sales@auditoriumtheatre.org.
The Auditorium Theatre's number one priority is keeping our audiences safe. Current COVID-19 safety protocols will be in effect at each matinee performance. All participating educators and students must adhere to these safety protocols.
TOO HOT TO HANDEL: THE JAZZ-GOSPEL MESSIAH
Friday, January 14, 2022 | 11AM | $10
Students will be inspired when they come to this “exuberant, jazz-gospel makeover” (Chicago Tribune) of Handel’s classic Messiah. For 17 years, Too Hot has brought Chicagoans together every Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend to celebrate King’s vision of “Beloved Community.” This uplifting performance features hundreds of musicians filling the Auditorium’s historic stage with a chamber orchestra, jazz combo, a huge choir, and three gifted soloists: Alfreda Burke, Karen-Marie Richardson, and Rodrick Dixon. “Too Hot to Handel: The Jazz-Gospel Messiah is your grandmother's choral classic sliced, diced, spiced, swirled, swung, amplified, and totally reinvented” (Chicago Reader.)
BALLET FOLKLÓRICO DE MÉXICO DE AMALIA HERNÁNDEZ
Monday, February 14, 2022 | 11AM | $12
Students will enjoy one of the most famous and celebrated companies in the world bringing culture, music, dance, and costumes of Mexico to Chicago! With “whirling, kaleidoscopic splendor” (Boston Globe), the Auditorium Theatre’s Visiting Resident Company journeys from the ancient Aztec era to modern day through dances inspired by rituals, revolutions, and festivals. Featuring the renowned choreography of company founder Amalia Hernández, who “brought a brilliant visual and theatrical sense to her dances” (The New York Times) and live music provided by the Ballet Folklórico de México ensemble.
ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER
Friday, March 4, 2022 | 11AM | $12
“Watching Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater can change your life. If that sounds like a slogan, it’s truth in advertising” (The New York Times). Students can see the company that for over 60 years has been “doing what few major dance organizations do: It is keeping pace with the times, and the conversation” (The Washington Post). The ground-breaking, forward-thinking company returns to Chicago as an Auditorium Theatre Visiting Resident Company.
ABOUT THE AUDITORIUM THEATRE
The Auditorium Theatre, located at 50 E Ida B Wells Dr at Roosevelt University in Chicago, is an Illinois not-for-profit organization committed to presenting the finest in international, cultural, community, and educational programming to all of Chicago and beyond as The Theatre for the People. The organization also is committed to the continued restoration and preservation of this National Historic Landmark that originally opened in 1889.
The Auditorium Theatre 2021-2022 Season is made possible in part with support from The Florian Fund, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Illinois Arts Council Agency. The Auditorium’s official hotel partner is the Palmer House Hilton.
For a complete listing of events at the Auditorium Theatre, please visit AuditoriumTheatre.org.
Student matinee photos courtesy of the Auditorium Theatre. Ballet Folklórico de México photo courtesy of the company.