As we celebrate our 80th anniversary during 2005-2006, The Theatre School looks back over a long and distinguished history as one of the oldest and most respected theatre training institutions in the United States. Our history is sometimes confusing. Yet the twists and turns are a testament to the passion and respect that inspired the school’s founding and to the instinct for survival and transformation that has driven the school’s eight-decade tradition of excellence training the next generations of theatre artists.

A brief version of our story is presented here, and we invite you to read much more about our history throughout this section.

The Theatre School at DePaul University was founded in 1925 as the Goodman School of Drama at the Art Institute of Chicago.

William Owen and Malvina Sawyer Goodman donated funds to the Art Institute to create a theatre, a professional Repertory company and a school of drama as a tribute to their son, Kenneth Sawyer Goodman, a victim of the influenza epidemic of 1918.

The theatre and school of drama were dedicated as The Kenneth Sawyer Goodman Memorial Theatre and School of Drama in October 1925, and the new institution began operations at the new facility located at Monroe Avenue and Columbus Drive.

Very early in its history, the school founded the Goodman Children’s Theatre, presenting the first planned season of performance for children in the United States during the 1926-27 season.

The Repertory company was initially successful, until the stock market crash of 1929 brought a serious decline in attendance. After the financial failure of the 1930-31 season, the Art Institute closed the professional Repertory company but announced that the school would continue.

Over the next 50 years, the Goodman School of Drama trained scores of successful artists (Theoni V. Aldredge, Linda Hunt, Gloria Foster, Harvey Korman, Eugene Lee, Karl Malden, Joe Mantegna, Geraldine Page and Sam Wanamaker among them) and became famous for its significant contributions to the dramatic arts in Chicago and the country.

The idea of a professional Repertory company was resurrected in the 1950s and soon an increasing number of professional productions were being presented along with the student work. Finally, in October 1969, for the first time since 1931, the Repertory produced its first full season of professional theatre on the Goodman Theatre stage. After several seasons, a study determined that it was possible for the professional theatre to support itself without the Art Institute. In July 1977, the Repertory company of the Goodman Theatre incorporated as the Chicago Theatre Group, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation separate from the Art Institute of Chicago and the Goodman School of Drama. Today the Goodman Theatre continues to build a worldwide reputation as one of the premiere not-for-profit regional theatres in the United States.

The mid-1970s were a time of great turmoil and transition for the school. In September 1975, the trustees of the Art Institute voted to phase out the Goodman School of Drama over a three-year period, citing a $200,000 deficit. No new students were admitted and the school prepared to close.

But during those next three years, faculty, staff, students, alumni and interested citizens mounted a campaign to save the school. At nearly the final moment, DePaul University agreed to give the school a new home. On July 1, 1978, the Goodman School of Drama became the ninth college of DePaul University. One observer wrote: “The future has gone from ‘curtains’ to more curtain calls. For that, applause.”

At DePaul, the Goodman School of Drama (renamed The Theatre School at DePaul University in 1985) expanded its degree programs, faculty, administration and student body and moved into the former St. Vincent’s Elementary School on North Kenmore Avenue as its primary classroom and office building. But after moving from the Goodman Theatre, The Theatre School needed a new theatre facility to call its own.

In 1988, DePaul announced the purchase of the Blackstone Theatre from the Shubert Organization, saving the historic downtown theatre from possible demolition. After seven months and extensive renovation, the theatre re-opened in February 1989. Re-named the Merle Reskin Theatre in 1992 in recognition of a major gift to the university, the theatre is now home to several Theatre School productions each season.

During 2004-2005, nearly 45,000 people attended a Theatre School performance. Many of them were schoolchildren seeing a production of the school’s Chicago Playworks for Families and Young Audiences series (formerly known as the Goodman Children’s Theatre). After 80 years of pioneering work in theatre for young audiences, Chicago Playworks is the city’s longest continuously operating children’s theatre and one of the oldest children’s theatres in the United States.

The Theatre School is proud of our history. The traditions of the Goodman School of Drama, the resiliency forged by moments of dramatic change and many decades of success have built the foundation on which we continue our pursuit to provide the best theatre training in the country.