TimeLine Theatre Company has revealed the complete cast for this fall’s Chicago-set world premiere Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars by Sandra Delgado, directed by TimeLine Associate Artist Kimberly Senior, the first production of TimeLine Theatre's milestone 29th season.
Delgado’s captivating new family drama will feature its author, one of the city’s most celebrated “triple-threat” theater artists who was also the creator and star of the legendary smash hit La Havana Madrid. Delgado will play the role of Clara, a single mom in the “sandwich generation,” simultaneously caring for her aging father and tween daughter, who is suddenly faced with the prospect of deportation.
Sandra Delgado (right) plays Clara and Charlotte Arias is Clara’s daughter, Stella, in TimeLine Theatre’s world premiere of Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars. Delgado, also the playwright, plays a single mom in Chicago suddenly faced with the prospect of deportation. TimeLine Associate Artist Kimberly Senior directs. Credit: Joe Mazza / brave lux, inc.
Delgado’s fellow cast members are Charín Álvarez (Vega/Chava, she/her), Ramón Camín (Papi, he him), Brian King (David, he/him), and Donovan Marquis Diaz (Ruben, he/they/any), with Charlotte Arias (she/her) and Simona Gueglio-Saccone (she/her) alternating as Stella, Clara’s tween daughter.
TimeLine Theatre’s world premiere drama Hundred and Hundreds of Stars features (from left) Sandra Delgado (Clara, also the playwright), Charín Álvarez (Vega/Chava), Charlotte Arias (Stella), Ramón Camín (Papi), Simona Gueglio-Saccone (Stella, alternating), Brian King (David) and Donovan Marquis Diaz (Ruben).
Performances of Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars will be hosted by Lookingglass Theatre Company in the historic Water Tower Water Works, 163 E. Pearson Street at Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago, while TimeLine continues construction of its new home in Uptown. Previews start October 8. Press opening is Wednesday, October 15 at 7 p.m. Performances run through November 9.
Meet the moment of TimeLine’s 2025-26 season and save as much as 25 percent off regular tickets to Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars with a 2025-26 TimeLine FlexPass. Four options, on sale now from $134 to $278, assure the best seats and offer impressive flexibility throughout TimeLine’s three-play season: Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars; the Chicago premiere of Eureka Day, January 13 - February 22, 2026, presented at Broadway In Chicago's Broadway Playhouse, and An Enemy of the People, the inaugural production at TimeLine's new home in Uptown, debuting in May 2026.
Single tickets for Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars are on sale now. For more information and to purchase a TimeLine FlexPass or single tickets, call the TimeLine Box Office at (773) 281-8463 x6 or visit timelinetheatre.com.
(left) Chicago "triple threat" theater artist Sandra Delgado wrote and will perform in TimeLine Theatre's world premiere of Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars. (right) Delgado (left) plays Clara and Charlotte Arias plays her daughter, Stella, in Delgado's timely new drama about a single mom in Chicago suddenly faced with the prospect of deportation. Arias alternates in the role of Stella with Simona Gueglio-Saccone. Credit: Joe Mazza / brave lux, inc.
Motherhood, marijuana and the multiverse: Shining light on American identity
Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars blends grounded family drama with otherworldly wonder for a moving and provocative exploration of our country’s most fundamental values, while echoing stories pulled from today’s news of families being torn apart.
Like millions of Americans, Clara is doing her best to hold everything together—working hard, raising her tween daughter Stella, caring for an aging father, and supporting her under-employed ex-husband. But when she applies for U.S. citizenship ahead of a mother-daughter trip to Paris, her application is unexpectedly flagged, exposing minor infractions in her past and threatening the only home she’s ever known.
“After the election, I thought this play I’ve been working on for years is suddenly of the moment. Someone has to produce it,” said Delgado. “People aren’t often forced into action beyond watching the news, until it becomes personal. So this is a very personal family tale, not unlike those playing out more and more, every day in Chicago and around the U.S.”
Delgado added, “the play also explores the multiverse, or the possibility of an infinite number of parallel universes, and astral projection, the ability of a person’s spirit to travel to distant places. These bring layers of magic and hope to an otherwise daunting tale of a mother at risk of losing her daughter and being sent to a country she has never known.”
“I can’t think of a more timely topic than this play about a mother being pulled away from her daughter, forced from the only home she has ever really known,” said Artistic Director PJ Powers. “Sandra’s script is moving, provocative, funny, and deeply emotional, putting a human face on the headlines surrounding us today.”
Powers continued: “Set in 2015, this play is also a testament to TimeLine’s mission of connecting past with present, underscoring that a broken immigration system is not new, yet its resonance with where we are today in 2025 couldn’t be more apparent. We are deeply honored to launch this transformative year for TimeLine by welcoming back our longtime colleague, director Kimberly Senior, and premiering Sandra’s must-see new work.”
(left) Chicago "triple threat" theater artist Sandra Delgado wrote and will perform in TimeLine Theatre's world premiere of Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars. (right) Delgado (left) plays Clara and Charlotte Arias plays her daughter, Stella, here holding handmade tin stars referenced in Delgado's newest work, a grounded family drama mixed with otherworldly wonder. Arias alternates in the role of Stella with Simona Gueglio-Saccone. Credit: Joe Mazza / brave lux, inc.
The full production team for Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars includes Sandra Delgado (Playwright, she/her), Kimberly Senior (Director, she/her), Regina García (Scenic Designer, she/her), Mieka van der Ploeg (Costume Designer, she/they), Christine A. Binder (Lighting Designer, she/her), Willow James (Sound Designer, he/him), Nicolas Bartleson (Properties Designer, he/him), Eme Ospina-López (Projections Designer, they/él), Raquel Torre (Choreographer, she/her/ella), Yasmin Zacaria Mikhaiel (Dramaturg, she/they), Dina Spoerl (Dramaturgical Display Designer, she/her), Natalie Friedman (Assistant Director, she/her), Nora Brooks and Lindsay Mummert (she/her) (Co-Assistant Scenic Designers), Megan Pirtle (Assistant Costume Designer, she/her), Ellie Fey (Assistant Lighting Designer, she/her), Anna Rogelio Joaquin (Assistant Dramaturg, she/her), Isabel Patt (Stage Manager, they/them), Kate Nagorski (Assistant Stage Manager, she/her), and Maddie Curtin (Young Performer Supervisor, she/her).
Originally commissioned by the Chicago Park District’s Theatre on the Lake In the Works project, in partnership with Chicago Dramatists, previous development of Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars included stagings as part of Goodman Theatre’s New Stages Festival in 2018 and Northeastern Illinois University’s thINKtank Series, co-produced in partnership with Teatro Vista, in 2024.
Sandra Delgado (front) plays Clara and Charlotte Arias is Clara’s tween daughter, Stella, in TimeLine Theatre’s world premiere of Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars. Arias alternates in the role of Stella with Simona Gueglio-Saccone. Credit: Joe Mazza / brave lux, inc.
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
Previews are Wednesday, October 8 through Friday, October 10 at 8 p.m., Saturday, October 11 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Sunday, October 12 at 4 p.m., and Tuesday, October 14 at 7 p.m. Press Opening and Opening Night is Wednesday, October 15 at 7 p.m. Regular performances continue through November 9: Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7 p.m.; Fridays at 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; and Sundays at 2 p.m.
BUYING TICKETS
Single tickets to Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars are on sale now, priced $40–$95. For tickets and information, visit timelinetheatre.com or call the TimeLine Box Office at (773) 281-8463 x6.
Preview tickets are $40 - $60. Single tickets to regular performances are $62 - $95. Prices vary based on performance date and seat location. Student discount is 35% off regular price with valid ID. TimeLine is also a member of TCG’s Blue Star Theatre Program and is offering $30 tickets to U.S. military personnel, veterans, first responders, and their spouses and family.
All listed prices are inclusive of fees.
Ticket buyers ages 18-35 may join TimeLine’s free MyLine program to obtain access to discounted tickets, special events and more. Discounted rates for groups of 10 or more are also available. Visit timelinetheatre.com/discounts for more about available discounts.
LOCATION/TRANSPORTATION/PARKING
TimeLine’s production of Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars is hosted by Lookingglass Theatre Company in the historic Water Tower Water Works, 163 E. Pearson Street on the southeast corner of Michigan Avenue, just south of Water Tower Place.
Pre-paid discounted parking and validated parking is available the day of the performance at three convenient parking options located less than a block from the theater: 875 N. Michigan Avenue, Water Tower Place and The Olympia Center Self Park. Let the Box Office know upon arrival, and staff will provide validation. Or, try the parking app SpotHero.
Lookingglass is convenieniently located a short walk from the CTA Red Line stop at Chicago Avenue and State Street. For Purple and Brown line riders, a quick ride east on the #66 (Chicago) bus will take you right to the theater. The #146 (Inner Drive/Michigan Express), #151 (Sheridan), and #147 (Outer Drive Express) buses also stop on Michigan Avenue, directly in front of Lookingglass Theatre.
Visit timelinetheatre.com/venues/lookingglass-theatre for additional information, including driving directions and nearby dining recommendations.
DISCUSSIONS
Post-Show Discussions: A brief, informal post-show discussion hosted by a TimeLine Company Member and featuring the dramaturg and members of the production team after the 7 p.m. performances on Wednesday, October 22; Thursday, October 30; and Thursday, November 6.
Pre-Show Discussions: Starting one hour before the performance, 25-minute introductory conversations will be hosted by a TimeLine Company Member and the dramaturg before the Sunday, October 19, 2 p.m. matinee.
Company Member Discussion: A post-show discussion with the collaborative team of artists who choose TimeLine’s programming and guide the company’s mission on Sunday, October 26 at 2 p.m.
Sunday Scholars Panel Discussion: A one-hour panel discussion featuring experts on the themes and issues of the play alongside a member of the production team in a moderated discussion, following the performance on Sunday, November 2 at 2 p.m.
All discussions are free and open to the public.
ACCESSIBILITY
Captioned Performances: Open-captioned performances with a text display of words and sounds heard during performances are Saturday, November 1 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Audio-Described Performance: On Saturday, November 8 at 2 p.m., the performance will feature narration about visual elements of the production around the dialogue, available for individual patrons via headphones.
An accessible entrance to Lookingglass is located directly to the west of the main entrance at 163 E. Pearson St. using the wooden double doors. Lookingglass offers accessible seating for all performances on the ground floor and balcony for all patrons who use a wheelchair, scooter, walker, other mobility aid, or cannot use stairs. Lookingglass also has a variety of aisle seating options available. Please contact TimeLine Theatre’s Box Office for more information at (773) 281-8463 x6.
Charlotte Arias plays Stella, a Chicago tween looking forward to a trip to France with her mother, in TimeLine Theatre’s world premiere of Sandra Delgado’s Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars. Arias alternates in the role of Stella with Simona Gueglio-Saccone. Credit: Joe Mazza / brave lux, inc.
BIOGRAPHIES - PLAYWRIGHT AND DIRECTOR
Sandra Delgado (Playwright, HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF STARS) is a Colombian-Chicagoan writer, performer and producer. Hailed as “her own brand of triple threat” (Newcity), she writes plays inspired by underknown Chicago histories centering Latine lives. She is best known as the creator and star of La Havana Madrid, her smash hit play with music, originally produced by Teatro Vista with runs at Steppenwolf and Goodman theatres, in a co-production with Collaboraction at both The Den and at Pritzker Pavilion as part of Millennium Park’s 20th Anniversary Celebration, as well as productions at South Coast Repertory and New Village Arts. Delgado is also a respected veteran of the stage, with a career spanning more than two decades. In addition to her work at artistic homes Collaboraction and Teatro Vista, as an actress, she has been seen on stages across Chicago and the country including Goodman, Northlight, Lookingglass, Victory Gardens, and About Face. Highlights include the titular role in La Havana Madrid, La Ruta at Steppenwolf, and starring off-Broadway as Jocasta in the Public Theatre’s production of Oedipus el Rey. Her NALAC award-winning spiritual-cabaret-meets-dance party, The Sandra Delgado Experience, has played all over Chicago and at the Public Theatre’s iconic Joe’s Pub. Delgado was recently awarded the inaugural Platform Award from the Walder Foundation, named a Hall of Famer in Newcity's Players of Chicago Theatre, awarded a United States Artists Fellowship, and serves on the board of the Chicago Public Library. She is also an Illinois Arts Council Fellow in Literature, a recipient of the 3Arts Award, the Joyce Award, the Theater Communications Group (TCG) Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowship in the Extraordinary Potential Category, a three-time Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events grantee, a 3Arts 3AP Project Grantee, and received the 2017 Latina Professional of the Year Award from the Chicago Latino Network. Delgado is one of the 20 women of Chicago arts and culture honored in Kerry James Marshall's mural “Rushmore” on the facade of the Chicago Cultural Center and her audio play, if you belong to me as I belong to you, is streaming on Audible as part of a collaboration with the Oscar-nominated film, Women Talking. She is currently developing The Boys and the Nuns, a new musical inspired by the true-life alliance between LGBTQ activists and Catholic Sisters in 1980s Chicago; LIVE.LOVE.NOW., a solo show exploring death, life and love; and Crying Hispanic Woman, a book of essays about motherhood, being the daughter of immigrants and a life in the performing arts. Catch Delgado this fall on TV in a recurring role on Power Book IV: Force on Starz. For more information, visit sandradelgado.net or @yosoysandradelgado on Instagram.
Kimberly Senior (Director, HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF STARS) returns to TimeLine Theatre Company, where she is an Associate Artist. Senior began working with TimeLine in 2008, where she directed Inana, My Name is Asher Lev, All My Sons, and Dolly West's Kitchen. She has collaborated with Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars playwright Sandra Delgado on multiple projects going back to 1997. Senior is a freelance director whose award-winning work has been seen in 15 states in more than 200 productions. She directed the Broadway production of the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-nominated Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar. She directed the HBO special Chris Gethard: Career Suicide and her work in audio has ranged from Marvel’s The Wastelanders to C13’s Ghostwriter. Senior is a member of the Goodman Theatre’s Artistic Collective and has taught at a number of universities. Her first book, What Would a Person Do? is available on Amazon. She is a proud union member of SDC and even prouder mother of Noah (18) and Delaney (16). For more information, visit kimberlysenior.net.
SAVE WITH A TIMELINE THEATRE 2025-26 FLEXPASS
TimeLine’s 29th season opens with the world premiere of Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars, followed by two more exciting productions:
- The Chicago premiere of Eureka Day, Jonathan Spector’s sharply funny new satire of progressivism, parenting, and public health—winner of the 2025 Tony Award® for Best Revival of a Play—will be presented at Broadway In Chicago’s Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place, 175 E. Chestnut St., on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile. Lili-Anne Brown directs TimeLine’s new production of Spector’s Broadway hit, hailed by The New York Times as “the perfect play for our age of disagreement.” Deadline called it a “shiny, insightful and damn funny little gem.” Performances are January 13 - February 22, 2026.
- TimeLine’s season will culminate in May 2026 with the long-awaited inaugural production at its new theatre, currently under construction at 5035 N. Broadway in Uptown: the Chicago premiere of An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen, a new version by Amy Herzog, directed by TimeLine Company Member Ron OJ Parson. This fresh, award-winning new take on Ibsen’s historic masterwork—the talk of Broadway last season—brings a 144-year-old literary classic forward to today, speaking directly to our times about what it means when citizens stand up to power. Entertainment Weekly called it “eerily prescient,” and Deadline called it “smart, sharp and relevant.”
TimeLine is offering four FlexPass subscription options, on sale now from $134 to $278, that save 25 percent off regular tickets, assure the best seats and enjoy impressive flexibility. For more information, call the TimeLine Box Office at (773) 281-8463 x6 or visit timelinetheatre.com.
Remember The Past. Embrace the Future. Meet the Moment.
Screen TimeLine Theatre's 2025-26 season sizzle video.
ABOUT TIMELINE THEATRE COMPANY
TimeLine Theatre Company, recipient of the prestigious 2016 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions, was founded in April 1997 with a mission to present stories inspired by history that connect with today's social and political issues. As it launches its milestone 29th season, TimeLine has presented 95 productions, including 15 world premieres and 43 Chicago premieres, and launched the Living History Education Program and TimeLine South summer arts program, which bring the company's mission to life for students in Chicago Public Schools and beyond. Recipient of the Alford- Axelson Award for Nonprofit Managerial Excellence and the Richard Goodman Strategic Planning Award from the Association for Strategic Planning, TimeLine has received 62 Jeff Awards, including an award for Outstanding Production 11 times.
The company departed its longtime home on Wellington Avenue in August 2024 and moved into new administrative offices at 5539 N. Broadway, Ste. B, a few blocks north of the site of its future new home, located at 5035 N. Broadway in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. Construction is ongoing on that site, where plans feature an intimate black box theater seating up to 250 audience members, expanded area for the immersive lobby experiences that are a TimeLine hallmark, new opportunities for education and engagement, room to allow audience members to arrive early and stay late for theatergoing experiences that extend far beyond the stage, and more.
TimeLine is led by Artistic Director PJ Powers, Executive Director Mica Cole, and Board President Thaddeus J. Malik. TimeLine Company members are Tyla Abercrumbie, Will Allan, Nick Bowling, Janet Ulrich Brooks, Behzad Dabu, Charles Andrew Gardner, Lara Goetsch, Juliet Hart, Anish Jethmalani, Mildred Marie Langford, Mechelle Moe, David Parkes, Ron OJ Parson, PJ Powers, Maren Robinson, and Helen Young.
Major corporate, government and foundation donors providing season support via TimeLine’s Annual Fund include Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation; Bayless Family Foundation; Bulley & Andrews, LLC; Carol Oppenheim and Jerome Lamet Charitable Fund; Crown Family Philanthropies; Joseph & Bessie Feinberg Foundation; Laughing Acres Family Foundation; Lloyd A. Fry Foundation; Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; Polk Bros. Foundation; and The Shubert Foundation. TimeLine also acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.
For more information, visit timelinetheatre.com or Facebook or Instagram (@TimeLineTheatre on all platforms).