The Theatre School at DePaul University to be Honored by The Jeff Awards

The Joseph Jefferson Awards will honor The Theatre School at DePaul University with the 2025 Joseph Jefferson Special Award at the 51st Non-Equity Awards celebration Monday, March 24, 2025 at the Harris Theater in Chicago.

Founded in 1925 as the Goodman School of Drama, The Theatre School is the Midwest’s oldest theater conservatory and has played a defining role in shaping the careers of countless Jeff Award winners and industry leaders. Alumni and faculty have made lasting contributions to Chicago’s most renowned theater companies, including Steppenwolf Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre Company, and Chicago Shakespeare Theater, as well as helped to shape the vibrant Non-Equity theater scene that continues to thrive today. The program moved to the DePaul University Lincoln Park campus in the 1985-1986 season and subsequently purchased the Blackstone Theatre from The Shubert Organization which was renamed the Merle Reskin Theatre. In 2013, The Theatre School celebrated the formal opening and dedication of a new artistic home at 2350 N. Racine Avenue where activity and collaboration continue to thrive and audiences are welcomed to public performances, festivals, conferences, special events and more.

“Now, in its centennial year, there is no better time to recognize The Theatre School’s immeasurable impact on Chicago theater",” said John Glover, chair of the Jeff Awards. “For a century, it has trained the artists who make Chicago theater what it is: bold, collaborative, immediate, and alive.”

Throughout its history, The Theatre School has trained an extraordinary array of talented and experienced alumni who have made an indelible impact on the American theatre landscape, including: Theoni V. Aldredge, Gillian Anderson, Desmin Borges, PJ Byrne, Monique Coleman, David Dastmalchian, Glenn Davis, Melinda Dillon, Ann Dowd, Dennis Dugan, Scott Ellis, Gloria Foster, Judy Greer, Sean Gunn, Zach E. Helm, Ike Holter, Joe Keery, Harvey Korman, Kiki Layne, Karl Malden, Joe Mantegna, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Cynthia McWilliams, Lois Nettleton, Tawny Newsome, Geraldine Page, Elizabeth Perkins, José Quintero, John C. Reilly, Lee Richardson, Leonard Roberts, Michael Rooker, Sam Wanamaker, and Larry Yando, among many others.

Beyond its historical contributions, The Theatre School remains at the forefront of theater education, diversity, and artistic innovation, producing world-class talent that enriches the industry in Chicago and beyond. The school’s rigorous training is more than just technique — it embodies a way of working, a way of thinking, and a way of making theater that is unmistakably Chicago: bold, physical, deeply ensemble-driven, and rooted in the passion that has defined this city’s theatrical identity for decades. These are the values that have shaped actors, directors, playwrights, and designers who have gone on to transform the theater world both in Chicago and beyond.

With 15 undergraduate majors (Acting, Comedy Arts, Costume Design, Costume Technology, Dramaturgy/Criticism, Lighting Design, Playwriting, Projection Design, Scene Design, Sound Design, Stage Management, Theatre Arts, Theatre Management, Theatre Technology, and Wig and Makeup Design & Technology) along with a masters program in Acting, as well as certificate offerings, The Theatre School continues its storied legacy as a premiere training ground for the next generation of theatre makers and artists.

The 51st Non-Equity Awards celebration will be held Monday, March 24, 2025, at the Harris Theater in Chicago, IL, beginning at 7:00pm CST with a red carpet walk commencing at 5:30pm. The ceremony will be directed by Adrian Abel Azevedo, hosted by Frankie Leo Bennett and NK Gutiérrez, and under the musical direction of Dr. Michael McBride.