Goodman Theatre Celebrate's 10th Season In New Complex

When the curtain rises on this evening's opening night performance of Candide, Goodman Theatre launches its 10th season in the heart of Chicago's Theatre District established by Mayor Richard M. Daley. More than two million patrons have experienced 127 productions and presentations from an aesthetic and culturally diverse group of artists and companies-including nearly 30 world premieres, of which 25 were new-work commissions-and programs over the past decade.

The two-theater Goodman complex, under the leadership of Artistic Director Robert Falls ("Chicago's most essential director," Chicago Tribune) and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, has served 21,500 students through Education and Community Engagement programs; employed 3,000 artists and theater professionals; hosted 25 visiting companies; produced 10 Playwright and International Festivals (made possible only through the addition of the 400-seat flexible Owen Bruner Theatre); and earned a Pulitzer Prize, for Lynn Nottage's Ruined in 2009. The celebratory season marks the Goodman's 85th as Chicago's oldest and largest not-for-profit producing theater, and opens with the Leonard Bernstein musical Candide, directed and newly adapted by Manilow Resident Director Mary Zimmerman (through October 31).

"We are extremely proud of and grateful for what we have accomplished since moving into this beautiful venue for live theater," said Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer. "Ten years ago, we welcomed Chicago audiences into a thrilling new era in the Goodman's long history of artistic excellence and visionary programming. What we have achieved since then could not have been possible without the leadership and generosity of Mayor Richard M. Daley, Albert Ivar Goodman, Edith Marie Appleton, the Board of Trustees, our artists, staff and our wonderful, loyal patrons. We salute our past and look ahead to a bright future in the heart of this great city."