In 1976, Jackie Taylor had offers for an acting career on either coast. Instead, she dedicated herself to Chicago and a little project she had going. In 1971, she had written a musical called The Other Cinderella, and with students from her acting workshop in Cabrini Green, she was looking to produce it. With a small loan, the production opened in the back room of a Rush Street bar and quickly turned into something quite successful.
The Black Ensemble Theater (BET) quickly moved into a theater on Wells Street but nearly closed in 1977 due to financial woes partly caused by having no one to keep the books full time. Taylor closed the space, developed a one-woman show and raised enough to keep BET going. Taylor felt this was essential: part of the reason she founded the company was to employ the vastly underutilized Black talent pool in Chicago. And she succeeded. From almost the beginning, BET has been a frequent nominee in the Equity wing of the Joseph Jefferson Awards. By the 1990s, Black Ensemble Theater was producing a four-play season of at least two plays by Black playwrights, one classic (Happy Days by Samuel Beckett and A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams were especially lauded), and a "bluesical:" a jukebox musical biography of a Black entertainer. One of the most successful, Muddy Waters: Hoochie Coochie Man, ran 16 months and went on the road. Other bluesicals have portrayed Sammy Davis Jr., Otis Redding, Ethel Waters, and Nat "King" Cole.
BET's mission statement reads: "To eradicate racism and its damaging effects on our society through the utilization of theater arts and community engagement." To this end, in addition to its regular season, BET runs the Black Playwright Initiative, which serves as an incubator for Black plays and a pipeline for works for Black Ensemble Theater. Continuing Jackie Taylor's commitment to education, Strengthening the School Through Theater Arts and Plays With a Purpose partner with local schools to teach life and educational skills. Today, Black Ensemble Theater has a permanent home at 4450 N. Clark Street, where they are currently building a new, 150-seat theater. The latest version of The Other Cinderella will debut in December 2026, 50 years after it first bowed. For more on Black Ensemble Theater, or other theater collections, reach out to the Special Collections Division at Harold Washington Library Center.
Add a comment to: 50 Years of Black Ensemble Theater