Carmela misses her papi, because papi’s missing some of his papers.
Chicago Children’s Theatre presents Carmela Full of Wishes, a moving ode to family – and dreamers – adapted from the contemporary children’s book by Newbury Award-winners Matt de la Peña and Christian Robinson, the same Newbery Medal and Caldecott Honor winning team behind Last Stop on Market Street.
Carmela Full of Wishes, a Chicago Children’s Theatre world premiere in 2022, returns to tell a warm, timely, and ultimately hopeful story about a sweet young Latina girl living in a big city who dreams of her dad getting his papers fixed so he can finally come home.
More relevant than ever, Carmela is the first of four of “greatest childhood hits” Chicago Children’s Theatre is reviving for its 21st birthday season. Full of touching, funny fantasies, the play portrays a little girl’s big city migrant community as a vibrant world of hope and possibility. The Chicago Tribune called it “a heartwarming tale of an exuberant Latina girl that celebrates family, community and hope — perfect themes for young audiences.”
Chicago Children’s Theatre opens its 2026-27 season in October with a revival of its 2022 world premiere, Carmela Full of Wishes. This production, about a young Latina girl who dreams of her papi getting his papers fixed so he can come home, is directed by Sonya Madrigal in her CCT directorial debut. The cast features (bottom, from left) Isadora Coco Gonzalez as Carmela, Jose M. Cervantes (Louie in FX’s The Bear) as Miguel, Claudia Quesada as Mami and Eduardo Curley-Carillo as Papi.
Public performances are October 25-November 15: Saturday and Sunday at 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Press openings are Sunday, October 26 at 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Run time is approximately one hour. Carmela Full of Dreams is recommended for ages 6 and up. Schedule exceptions: Show time Saturday, October 25 is 9:30 a.m. only; show times Sunday, November 8 are 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Single tickets are $42 and go on sale on August 24 at chicagochildrenstheatre.org. Book early, as many shows will sell out. For group discounts, schools, playgroups, birthday parties and scouting groups are encouraged to call CCT Guest Services at (312) 374-8835 or email boxoffice@chicagochildrenstheatre.org.
School groups in particular are encouraged to inquire about Chicago Children’s Theatre’s in-class R.O.A.R. Residencies connected to the world of Carmela Full of Wishes. CCT’s R.O.A.R. (Residencies of Arts and Resilience) program, rooted in trauma-informed activities and conversations, provides opportunities for students to authentically reflect on challenging or stressful situations, gain the tools for sharing with others, self care and self agency in those moments, and promote coping mechanisms, social-emotional expression and resilience. CCT’s R.O.A.R. program was developed in partnership with the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Center for Childhood Resilience. To inquire, email CCT Director Education Catherine Councell at cc@chicagochildrenstheatre.org.
"Carmela Full of Wishes" by Matt de la Peña. Illustrations by Christian Robinson.
Chicago Children’s Theatre is a “no shushing” theater. It’s located at 100 S. Racine Ave., at Monroe, in the heart of Chicago's West Loop, minutes from I-90 and I-290, downtown and Ashland Avenue. Free, onsite parking is available on the south side of the building. Free street parking can be found on weekends, or try the Impark parking lot, 1301 W. Madison St.
Finally, if you agree Chicago is the greatest theater city in the world, and that Chicago families deserve an equally great professional children’s theater, purchase a subscription to Chicago Children’s Theatre’s 2026-27 season, on sale now at chicagochildrenstheatre.org. Three more joy-inducing productions follow Carmela Full of Wishes: The Beatrix Potter Holiday Party, Manual Cinema’s Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About a Terrible Monster, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show. Packages start at only $35.70 per show. Or, create your own mix-and-match subscription plan to match your child’s age and interests.
Access performances for Carmela Full of Wishes
Sensory Friendly
Saturday, November 7 at 9:30 a.m.
Audio Description and Touch Tour
Sunday, November 8 at 2 p.m.
*To request Audio Description and Touch Tour services, tickets must be purchased three weeks before the performance.
ASL and Open Captions
*To request ASL and/or Open Captions services, tickets must be purchased three weeks before the performance you are planning to attend.
For more information, visit chicagochildrenstheatre.org/access_performances or email access@chicagochildrenstheatre.org.
Carmela Full of Wishes: A contemporary Latine story of hope, family and community
Production photos from Chicago Children’s Theatre 2022 world premiere of Carmela Full of Wishes. Credit: Charles Osgood
Finally, today’s the day, Carmela’s birthday, but Carmela’s first wish has already come true–she’s finally old enough to join her big brother, Miguel, to run family errands. On their way to the laundromat, Carmela rides her scooter past fields of “flores de cempazuchitl,” but she stops short when she spies one lonely dandelion growing in the broken pavement. Before she blows its white fluff away, Miguel asks, “did you even make a wish?” Carmela wonders…should she make a wish for Mami, who works long hours in a downtown hotel trying to put food on the table? Or Papi, a migrant worker who is currently…absent.
Chicago Children’s Theatre’s stage adaptation of Carmela Full of Dreams exemplifies how the company has brought contemporary children’s literature by Black and Brown authors to the stage the past 20 years, and platformed new, professional theater for young audiences set modern-day and in-the-moment.
“This past year, in our residency work in CPS classrooms, we’ve seen first-hand young children deeply traumatized because of neighbors and family members impacted by federal immigration enforcement activities in Chicago,” said Jacqueline Russell, Artistic Director, Chicago Children’s Theatre. “When we were coming out of the pandemic in 2022 and premiered Carmela Full of Wishes, Carmela’s story already registered with our community. But this past year, with what many have witnessed in our city, Carmela’s story resonates with kids far more today than we might wish, while still offering hope and finding encouragement in each other and in the most unexpected places.”
Carmela Full of Wishes was adapted for the stage by Alvaro Saar Rios. Sonya Madrigal (she/her), choreographer for CCT’s 2025 bilingual English/Spanish world premiere Go Dog Go! • Ve Perro ¡Ve! and last season’s Goodnight Moon, steps up to make her CCT directorial debut with Carmela.
The cast features Isadora Coco Gonzalez (she/her) as Carmela. Gonzalez, a recent graduate of Northwestern, is another veteran of CCT’s immersive staging of Goodnight Moon, coming off her show stopping performances in multiple roles including Baby Bear, Mouse and others.
In a major screen-to-stage casting coup, Jose M. Cervantes will make his CCT debut as Miguel, Carmela’s older brother. Cervantes just completed his fifth and final season in FX’s smash hit The Bear as Louie, “the line cook in the White Sox hat.” He is a Chicago native and graduate of the University of Illinois-Chicago. @josemcervantes24
Claudia Quesada (she/her) also makes her CCT debut as Mami. A veteran of professional stages all over the city, Quesada was a stand-out performer in Teatro Vista’s The Dream King, Somewhere Over the Border and La Havana Madrid. claudiaquesada1
Rounding out the cast is Eduardo Curley-Carillo (he/him) as Papi. Curley-Carillo played Frog in A Year with Frog and Toad at CCT in 2024, and is a veteran performer at top Chicago theaters including Goodman, A Red Orchid, Writers, Steep Theatre, Remy Bumppo, and The Hypocrites.
The Carmela production team (at press time) includes Regina Garcia (scenic designer, she/her), Lonnae Hickman (props designer, she/her) Stephanie Diaz (she/her) and Wendy Madrigal (she/her, co-puppet designers); Jazmin Aurora Medina (costume designer, she/her) Conchita Avitia (lighting designer, she/her); Satya Chávez (composer, co-sound designer, they/she/he) Stef Senior (co-sound designer, associate composer, she/they); Harper Crewse (stage manager, any) and Anastar Alvarez (assistant stage manager, they/them). Understudies are Octavio Montes de Oca (Miguel), Marco Antonio Perez (Papi, he/him) and Karla Serrato (Mami).
For full information, visit chicagochildrenstheatre.org, follow the company on Instagram and Facebook, and subscribe to its YouTube channel, CCTv: Virtual Theatre and Learning from Chicago Children’s Theatre.
About Chicago Children’s Theatre
“The Chicago theater scene is legendarily vibrant, so naturally a number of companies tailor productions to younger audiences. The cream of the crop is Chicago Children’s Theatre.” – Chicago Tribune
CCT was founded in 2005 with a big idea: Chicago is the greatest theater city in the world, and it deserves a great children’s theater. Now celebrating its 21st anniversary in 2026-27, Chicago Children’s Theatre has matured into the city’s largest professional theater devoted exclusively to children and young families.
Led by Artistic Director Jacqueline Russell and Co-Founder Todd Leland, Chicago Children’s Theatre has served over one million community members and built a national reputation for new work, producing 24 world premieres including Carmela Full of Wishes, Milo Imagines the World, Last Stop on Market Street, Go Dog Go! • Ve Perro ¡Ve!, Leo Lionni's Frederick, The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963, and Jackie and Me.
Chicago Children’s Theatre has built a national reputation by creating original, high quality children’s theater that showcases the city’s top professional theater artists, on stage and behind the scenes. In 2017, CCT was the first theater for young audiences to win a National Theatre Award from the American Theatre Wing, creators of the Tony Awards. In 2019, the company won the National TYA Artistic Innovation Award from Theatre for Young Audiences/USA.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show returns to Chicago Children's Theatre April 11-June 13, 2027. Photo courtesy Chicago Children's Theatre
In 2017, Chicago Children’s Theatre opened its forever home at 100 S. Racine St. in Chicago’s West Loop community after 11 years of itinerancy. Formerly the 12th District Chicago Police Station, the building is now a LEED Gold-certified, mixed-use performing arts, education and community engagement facility. For children, parents, caregivers, teachers and artists, CCT is a welcoming community hub, centrally located in the city, with free, onsite parking. It’s also a convenient destination each year for more than 20,000 CPS students who enjoy field trips to experience live theater thanks to free and reduced-price tickets. In tandem with its live productions, Chicago Children’s Theatre offers Access services for patrons with disabilities including ASL interpretation, open captioning, touch tours and sensory friendly performances.
In addition to live shows, Chicago Children’s Theatre offers a full roster of performing arts education programs for ages 0 to 14 year-round at its West Loop home and Menomonee Club’s Drucker Center in Lincoln Park. Visit chicagochildrenstheatre.org/family-programs for information on classes, workshops, winter, spring break and “school’s out” camps, and summer camps, along with live theater experiences, classes and camps for children with autism and other special needs via CCT’s Red Kite Project.
Chicago Children’s Theatre is supported by Goldman Sachs Gives, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, The Ralla Klepak Foundation for Education in the Performing Arts, Polk Bros Foundation, The MacArthur Fund for Culture, Equity and the Arts, Bayless Family Foundation, Mark Edelman Theater Fund, The Shubert Foundation, Camp Out for Kids, Crown Family Philanthropies, PwC, Rivers Gives, US Bank, Thomabravo, Multiple Inc., Theater League Kansas City, Illinois Arts Council Agency and the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE).
To learn more, visit chicagochildrenstheatre.org, follow the company on Instagram and Facebook.