Black Ensemble Theater Company Records

The Black Ensemble Theater was founded in 1976 by Jackie Taylor, an award-winning playwright, actress, producer and director. Since its founding, the Black Ensemble has worked under a mission to “eradicate racism and its damaging effects upon our society through the utilization of theater arts” by producing original musicals and offering a variety of educational outreach programs. Black Ensemble grew from a small community arts organization to an internationally recognized arts institution. On November 18, 2011, the Black Ensemble Theater opened the doors to its first permanent home in Chicago’s diverse Uptown neighborhood, and where as of 2021, it continues to offer programming.

Each theater season, Black Ensemble has presented a series of original productions intended to be entertaining, educational and uplifting. Some of its most popular productions have been The Jackie Wilson Story and The Other Cinderella. Among the theater’s musicals that have toured, The Jackie Wilson Story had a four-week, sold-out run in 2003 at the famed Apollo Theater in New York.

Since 2004, many of Black Ensemble’s unique scripts have been developed by members of the Black Playwrights Initiative. The BPI is one of the many successful outreach programs that Black Ensemble has launched. Others include Strengthening the School Through Theater Arts, Plays with a Purpose and Theater for Special Women and Men. The programs, as described on their website, have been developed to “focus on low-income, underserved communities fostering more effective teaching and learning among our youth, their parents, their teachers and the communities in which they live.”