Collaboraction Theatre Company does what it does best - bring people together to cultivate empathy, dialogue, and action - at its annual Utopian Ball, Saturday, November 11, at Venue One in West Town.
More than 200 of the company’s lead supporters came together to celebrate Collaboraction’s 27th anniversary. The event raised $200,000 while showcasing how Collaboraction uses theater, performance and digital media to incite social change. Guests were also given an exclusive sneak-peek at Collaboraction’s exciting new future.
Collaboraction Board President Darlene Jackson, aka DJ Lady D, “The First Lady of Chicago House Music,” at Collaboraction’s annual Utopian Ball gala, November 11 at Venue One. Credit: Ronnie Boykin Jr.
Chicago actor/activist Melissa DuPrey was the evening’s emcee and DJ GQ, aka Javid Music Party, spun the tunes. Collaboraction Board President Darlene Jackson, aka DJ Lady D, “The First Lady of Chicago House Music,” spoke from her heart about the company’s social justice work. Utopian Ball Co-Chairs, Board Member Linda Karn and Founding Company Member Sandra Delgado, likewise shared deeply personal testimonials about their work with Collaboraction.
Utopian Ball Co-Chairs (from left) Linda Karn and Sandra Delgado, with the evening’s emcee, Melissa DuPrey. Credit: Ronnie Boykin Jr.
GQ, aka Javid Music Party, spun the tunes at Collaboraction’s Utopian Ball. Credit: Ronnie Boykin Jr.
Company Members G. Riley Mills and Willie “Prince Roc” Round were honored with Collaboraction’s 2023 Artists Award. Mills' and Round’s most recent project with the company was co-adapting the newly unearthed 1955 Emmett Till trial transcript into the docudrama play Trial in the Delta: The Lost Story of Emmett Till, filmed for a NBC5/Collaboraction televised co-production, and subsequently performed live, on stage, with two successful runs at the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center.
Cheers rang out when Collaboraction Artistic Director Anthony Moseley and Managing Director Carla Stillwell announced they had just received texts from NBC5 executives confirming The Lost Story of Emmett Till: Then and Now had just won its second Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement, Documentary, at the Midwest Regional Emmy Awards that same night.
Michelle Castady Orlando, Principal and Owner, Ethos Event Collective, accepted Collaboraction’s 2023 Ourhaus Award, given annually to a top Collaboraction donor or business partner. Ethos Event Collective has helped design the Utopian Ball for the past three years, and their live event expertise is a major reason Collaboraction’s is widely regarded as one of the city’s slickest annual theater fundraisers.
Cheers rang out at Collaboraction’s Utopian Ball when Collaboraction Artistic Director Anthony Moseley (left) and Managing Director Carla Stillwell announced they had just received texts from NBC5 executives confirming The Lost Story of Emmett Till: Then and Now had just won its second Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement, Documentary, at the Midwest Regional Emmy Awards that same night. Credit: Ronnie Boykin Jr.
Collaboraction Company Member Dana Anderson, co-director, Trial in the Delta: The Murder of Emmett Till, introducing Collaboraction’s 2023 Artists Award winners, G. Riley Mills and Willie “Prince Roc” Round, co-adaptors, Trial in the Delta, at the Utopian Ball. Credit: Ronnie Boykin Jr.
G. Riley Mills (left), who shared Collaboraction’s 2023 Artists Award with his Trial in the Delta co-adaptor Willie “Prince Roc” Round, with 2023 Ourhaus Award winner Michelle Castady Orlando, Principal and Owner, Ethos Event Collective, at Collaboraction’s Utopian Ball. Credit: Ronnie Boykin Jr.
Collaboraction proudly displayed their Emmy Awards for The Lost Story of Emmett Till: Then and Now at the company’s 2023 Utopian Ball. Photo: Toby Everhart
Michelle Castady Orlando, Principal and Owner, Ethos Event Collective, accepted Collaboraction’s 2023 Ourhaus Award at the Utopian Ball. Credit: Ronnie Boykin Jr.
Get your tickets to Collaboractions’s next live event, The Sandra Delgado Experience, part of the company’s House of Belonging live event series, Friday, December 8 at 8 p.m. at the Epiphany Center for the Arts, 201 S. Ashland Ave. in Chicago, at epiphanychi.com. General admission seats are $35. Front section VIP table seating packages range from $90-$240.
Collaboractivists, members of the company’s community who give monthly contributions to support its work as an agent of social change, get early entry to a pre-show gathering in Epiphany Hall starting at 7 p.m.
Not a Collaboractivist? Sign up for Collaboraction’s membership program for as little as $1 a month to take advantage of this special member perk.
And stay tuned for official announcements on the exciting news already shared exclusively with guests at Collaboraction’s 2023 Utopian Ball.
To learn more about Collaboraction, visit collaboraction.org, tune into Collaboraction Radio, live, every Saturday at 4 p.m. on WCPT AM 820, Chicago's Progressive Talk, subscribe to the Collaboraction Radio podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, or follow Collaboraction on Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Twitter.
Collaboraction Company Member Sandra Delgado offered a sneak peek of Collaboraction’s next House of Belonging live event, the Sandra Delgado Experience, December 8 at Epiphany Center for the Arts, at the 2023 Utopian Ball. Credit: Ronnie Boykin Jr.
(from left) Utopian Ball Co-Chair Sandra Delgado, legendary Chicago artist Kerry James Marshall, and Collaboraction Board Member Cheryl Lynn Bruce at the Utopian Ball. Credit: Ronnie Boykin Jr.
LeeAnn Trotter (left), NBC5 entertainment reporter, and music producer Jun Mhoon, at Collaboraction’s Utopian Ball. Credit: Ronnie Boykin Jr.
More than 200 of Collaboraction's lead supporters came together to celebrate the company's 27th anniversary at its 2023 Utopian Ball. The event raised $200,000 while showcasing how Collaboraction uses theater, performance and digital media to incite social change. Credit: Toby Everhart
Collaboraction Artistic Director Anthony Moseley (left) and Board President Darlene Jackson, aka DJ Lady D, “The First Lady of Chicago House Music,” clued in guests with an exclusive sneak-peek at Collaboraction’s exciting new future at Collaboraction’s Utopian Ball. Credit: Ronnie Boykin Jr.
Collaboraction Managing Director Carla Stillwell (right) with Melissa DuPrey, emcee of Collaboraction’s Utopian Ball. Credit: Ronnie Boykin Jr.
Collaboraction Company Member J. Nicole Brooks (left) with celebrity hair stylist AJ Johnson at Collaboraction’s Utopian Ball. Credit: Ronnie Boykin Jr.
Collaboraction Board Member Dr. Marcus Robinson at Collaboraction’s Utopian Ball. Credit: Ronnie Boykin Jr.
Collaboraction Associate Producer Zachary Crewse (left) and Company Member Loretta “Firekeeper” Hawkins at the Utopian Ball. Credit: Ronnie Boykin Jr.
Collaboraction Artistic Director Anthony Moseley (left) and Managing Director Carla Stillwell at Collaboraction’s 2023 Utopian Ball. Credit: Ronnie Boykin Jr.
Collaboraction: Changing the map and removing barriers in the theater industry
Collaboraction is a 27-year-old, ethno-diverse company that uses theater and performance to incite social change on Chicago’s most critical issues. Collaboraction produces live and digital performances, anti-racism workshops, and youth programs that incite change and grow equity in Chicago.
Collaboraction’s work includes Trial in the Delta: The Murder of Emmett Till, SKETCHBOOK, PEACEBOOK, Moonset Sunrise, The Light Youth Ensemble, Crime Scene, Forgotten Future and Gender Breakdown.
Last June, Collaboraction debuted a new platform to gather Chicagoans and people worldwide around the company’s digital campfire, Collaboraction Radio, a live radio show, every Saturday from 4 to 5 p.m. CT on WCPT 820 FM, Chicago’s Progressive Talk. Each week, co-hosts Anthony Moseley and Carla Stillwell, and contributor Dr. Marcus Robinson, lead a fast-paced hour of conversation, comedy, storytelling, spoken word, digital theater, with live guests and in-studio performances by Chicago artists.
In addition to live performances, radio, community building and video production, Collaboraction centers and presents its work in Chicago neighborhoods historically overlooked like Englewood, Austin and Lawndale. In 2022, Collaboraction was one of the first theaters in the U.S. to be certified by On Our Team, a national trade organization advocating for pay equity and transparency in the live theater industry.
Under the leadership of Artistic Director Anthony Moseley and Managing Director Carla Stillwell, Collaboraction has also been honored for innovation and inclusivity with the Foster Innovation Award from Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, the Multi-Racial Unity Award from the First Unitarian Church-Chicago, a Stand For the Arts Award from Comcast and OvationTV, and an Otto Award from New York’s Castillo Theatre.
Most recently, Collaboraction’s co-production with NBC Chicago of The Lost Story of Emmett Till: Trial in the Delta won its second Chicago/Midwest Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement, and two Silver Anvil Award Honorable Mentions from the American Bar Association.
Collaboraction is supported by The Chicago Community Trust, the National Endowment for the Arts, Illinois Humanities, Paul M. Angell Foundation, Marc and Jeanne Malnati Family Foundation, Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation, the Bayless Family Foundation, Spreading Hearts, AV Chicago, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.
To learn more, visit collaboraction.org.
