Join Collaboraction Theatre Company at its 19th annual gala, The Utopian Ball, Saturday, November 14 at 7 p.m. CST and support Collaboraction's unique mission to incite change and social justice in Chicago through theater and community engagement.
Tickets to the virtual gala are $25-250. Tickets $125 and above come with a one-year membership to Collaboraction's streaming platform The Together Network and a “We Still Dream” T-shirt or tote. Purchase tickets at collaboraction.org. Email info@collaboraction.org for host or sponsorship opportunities.
Here’s what to expect at Collaboraction’s 19th annual Utopian Ball:
Claire Simon (left) and Sandra Delgado
Collaboraction’s Utopian Ball is chaired by Claire Simon of Simon Casting and hosted by Chicago actor, playwright and Collaboraction company member Sandra Delgado.
Collaboraction Artistic Director Anthony Moseley (left) and Executive Director Dr. Marcus Robinson pumping up the crowd at last year's Utopian Ball.
The party starts with an Opening Ritual live stream to unite everyone’s hearts, minds and souls virtually.
Janice L. Feinberg (left) and Teh'Ray Hale Jr. aka Phenom
Awards! Philanthropist and social impact investor Janice L. Feinberg will receive the 2020 Ourhaus Award for her work championing Collaboraction. The company will also celebrate its Director of Creative Community Cultivation Teh’Ray Hale Jr. aka PHENOM with the 2020 Artist Award for his creative work, voice and vision.
Mark Kelly, Commissioner, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events
In addition to giving two awards, Collaboraction will get two major awards that night. Mark Kelly, Commissioner, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, will bestow the city’s 2020 Foster Innovation Award for excellence in theater, and the First Unitarian Church of Chicago Racial Justice Taskforce will crown Collaboraction with its Multiracial Unity Award.
Darling Shear in Back To Me, one of 10 short world premiere videos that are part of Collaboraction's 2020 Peacebook Festival.
Collaboraction will screen excerpts from its current Peacebook virtual video shorts festival to foreground the incredible work created this fall by Chicago artists from the city’s south and west sides working toward social change while under quarantine.
If you miss dancing, put on your dancing shoes because Collaboraction’s Utopian Ball will fill that “before times” void with a live DJ and dance party.
Bid on this original work by Chicago artist Wesley Kilmer, 36x36 oil on canvas, one of many works of visual art up for auction at The Utopian Ball. Collaboraction will split all proceeds with artists 50/50.
Meanwhile, guests can slip out and click over to shop the gala’s Silent Auction and Virtual Art Gallery. The auction features several incredible packages including a gorgeous grand piano, fine wine and a getaway weekend. The Virtual Art Gallery is a way to support some of Chicago's renowned visual artists, including Wesley Kimler, Elsa Munoz, Marcos Raya, and Edra Soto, and Collaboraction at the same time. Be the highest bidder on their original works of art and Collaboraction will split the proceeds 50/50 with the artists.
Actually, why wait? The Utopian Ball Silent Auction and Virtual Art Gallery is already live. Shop all the items and place your bids at accelevents.com/e/TheUtopianBall to support Chicago’s theater for social change. (Highest bidders will be notified of their wins soon after the event.)
While The Utopian Ball certainly deserves its reputation as the most lit Chicago theater gala every fall, this year, it is with sadness and gratitude that Collaboraction will take a few moments to celebrate the lives of three members of the Collaboraction family:
Sam Porretta was a beloved Collaboraction company member and his influence on Collaboraction's work and visual language shaped the company’s work and approach to art.
Paul Klein, an emeritus Collaboraction board member and recipient of the 2016 Ourhaus Award, uplifted the company when it was young and continued to champion Collaboraction's growth and the development of hundreds of Chicago artists.
Jeff Asperger was an emeritus Collaboraction Board Member and was a powerful influence on the company's trajectory and growth in the last few years as a champion of social change.
“We are so grateful to have shared time and space with Sam, Paul and Jeff,” said Anthony Moseley, Artistic Director, Collaboraction. “Each of them, in their own unique way, absolutely personified the very definition of Utopian – ardent social reformers, visionaries and idealists all.”
The 19th annual Utopian Ball culminates Collaboraction’s current month-long “We Still Dream” virtual programming campaign, which kicked off on October 17 with the world premiere of the company’s 5th annual Peacebook Festival (full playlist) followed by additional screenings, artist-hosted Crucial Conversations, twice monthly Becoming: Overcoming White Supremacy virtual meet-ups and youth programming showcases, all on Collaboraction’s new Together Virtual Network.
Event sponsors are AV Chicago, ESP Presents, the Marc and Jeanne Malnati Family Foundation and the Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation.
Watch Matthew LaChapelle, creator and star of The Dance...Never Give Up, in the video trailer for Collaboraction's 2020 Peacebook Festival.
About Collaboraction
Collaboraction, Chicago’s theater for social change, collaborates with a diverse community of Chicagoans, artists and community activists to create original theatrical experiences that cultivate dialogue and action around the city’s most critical social issues. Since the company’s founding in 1996, Collaboraction has pushed artistic boundaries working with more than 3,000 artists to bring more than 60 productions and events to more than 150,000 audience members.
Collaboraction is producing its 24th season titled “Transcendence” virtually in lieu of live shows at Kennedy-King College in Englewood. In response to Covid-19, Collaboraction launched the digital platform the Together Network and created recurring programming Crucial Connections, The Prodigy’s Workshop and Becoming: Unlearning White Supremacy and Creating a Path to Active Anti-Racism. The company has introduced a new $5 monthly subscription that allows unlimited access to all of its digital programming.
Collaboraction hopes to present the postponed world premiere of Red Island by Anthony Moseley and Carla Stillwell about racism in the United States of America in spring 2021.
Collaboraction has been acknowledged for innovation and inclusivity by using theater as a tool for social change with numerous awards including, most recently, a 2020 Foster Innovation Award from Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), the 2020 Multi-Racial Unity Award from the First Unitarian Church - Chicago, a 2018 Stand For the Arts Award from Comcast, and an Otto Award from New York’s Castillo Theatre.
Collaboraction is supported by The Chicago Community Trust, The Joyce Foundation, The Field Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Wicker Park & Bucktown SSA #33 Chamber of Commerce, and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. This project is partially supported by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events with funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
Collaboraction is led by Artistic Director Anthony Moseley, Executive Director Dr. Marcus Robinson, a company of 20 talented Chicago theater artists, and a dedicated staff and board of directors.
For more, visit collaboraction.org, follow the company on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube, or call the Collaboraction box office, (312) 226-9633.