The road to the Harris Theater began in the 1980s, when the performing arts were feverishly alive in Chicago. Dozens of new music, dance, and theater companies emerged while stalwart organizations experienced exciting growth. What the city lacked, however, was adequate space for its mid-size companies — those that had outgrown the storefront venues but whose work and audiences were not suited to the city’s larger houses.
In 1990, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation released a 157-page study titled “The Arts in Chicago.” The research confirmed what the artistic community already knew all too well: The city desperately needed a venue that would accommodate its flourishing performing arts companies and audiences.
With strong support from the Chicago Community Trust and many other foundations, an advisory council formed and commissioned three further studies, hoping they would illuminate a plan for a new theater. The council surveyed artists, administrators, technicians, and citizens to determine what an ideal space would look like. The council’s goal was always to envision the best product for these companies’ existing needs.
By 1993, the council had incorporated as Music and Dance Theater Chicago (MADTC), with 12 local companies slated to perform in residence at the eventual space: Ballet Chicago, Chicago Opera Theater, Chicago Sinfonietta, Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, The Joffrey Ballet, Lyric Opera Center for American Artists, Mexican Fine Arts Museum, Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago, Music of the Baroque, Old Town School of Folk Music, and Performing Arts Chicago.
Flash forward to Nov. 8, 2003, when the Harris Theater for Music and Dance opened as the first multi-use performance venue built in downtown Chicago since 1929 with a spectacular performance featuring the diverse group of performing arts companies who now called it home. In the last 20 years, our list of Resident Companies has grown to 30. Still, our core strategy of serving Chicago’s small and midsized arts companies remains the same: providing an affordable, subsidized downtown venue for Resident Companies to grow their capacity and audiences, enhancing the capabilities of Resident Companies through expert functional support in production, marketing, box office operations, and front-of-house management provided at no cost, and providing high-quality and relevant professional development resources to our Resident Company community.
Keeping Resident Company Input Central
What does it take to ensure that the Harris Theater remains focused on our purpose of supporting Resident Companies more than 20 years after our opening performance?
We remain responsive to the needs of our Resident Companies through representation and feedback. We reserve two permanent seats on our Board of Trustees for a Resident Company Executive Director and a Resident Company Board Chair. We also stay attuned to our Resident Companies through the Committee on Resident Companies, a quarterly meeting of Resident Company leadership, Harris Theater staff, and Trustees where we exchange ideas, share resources, and solicit feedback.
Resident Company input has been central to our design of other programs and projects, including a recent Audio System Upgrade generously funded by the Grainger Foundation, Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and Chicago Department of Planning and Development. Resident Company production staff were consulted throughout the planning process to ensure that the upgrades perfectly suited their needs.
“The quality-of-life difference with the new equipment is incredible. Having your home venue make investments and improvements that can only improve your own work is an incredible feeling. But being included in the process, feeling like our voice and work, and the impact this upgrade would have on it are heard and considered is truly heartwarming,” said Harrison Pearse Burke, Director of Production for Resident Company Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.
Evolving to Meet Evolving Needs
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we found new ways of supporting our Resident Companies through the challenges of this unprecedented event. We focused our Learning Labs — professional development opportunities organized by the Harris Theater team that Resident Company staff attend for free — on vital and timely topics like accessing pandemic aid resources, adapting programming for virtual platforms, and safe practices when returning to perform on the Harris Theater stage.
Further, we established the Harris Theater Creative Future Fund in response to the challenges of the pandemic to provide critical support for our Resident Companies. The fund built out technology that enabled us to present virtual programs and provided substantial direct and in-kind support to resident companies. During the 2020-2021 season alone, the Creative Future Fund provided 85 days of underwritten rehearsal space at no cost to local artists and $239,600 in waived rental fees and production grants to Resident Companies.
In 2023, to kick off our 20th Anniversary Season, we produced Harris Fest: Music + Dance in the Park, transforming Millennium Park into a joyful all-day celebration of Chicago’s vibrant arts ecosystem. More than 15,000 visitors experienced the magic of watching more than 400 musicians and dancers from 19 Resident Companies and 9 Community Partners present 27 separate performances. The day was a success for all involved and a terrific way for Resident Companies to grow their audiences.
A Model for 2025 and Beyond
We have kept the lessons learned during the pandemic and continue to support our Resident Companies through the challenges of the post-pandemic era, for example, by focusing on Learning Labs on hot-button topics like patron retention, marketing, foundation giving, and providing access to tools to help Resident Companies understand their audiences and predict ticket demand. We believe that our program helps ensure these companies’ longevity in an ever-shifting arts environment. Above all, we hope that our Resident Company Program can serve as a model for arts ecosystem sustainability in the Midwest and beyond.
Harris Theater 2024-25 Season Resident Companies
*Denotes Founding Resident Company
Chicago High School for the Arts
Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras
Fulcrum Point New Music Project
Mandala South Asian Performing Arts
Roosevelt University’s CCPA Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Academy for the Arts
The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago*
How to Help
You can support the Harris Theater and its Resident Companies by donating to the Harris Theater Creative Future Fund.
Donations to this fund provide meaningful support to Resident Companies and local independent artists. This fun also supports the HT Virtual Stage platform, virtual arts education programming, and essential physical upgrades to venues.
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