Emmy Award-Winner Sean Hayes To Appear At Goodman Theatre's 2019 Education Luncheon

Goodman Theatre, now in its 95th season, announces the "Legacy & Promise" Education and Engagement luncheon on Wednesday, February 5 featuring Emmy Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated actor Sean Hayes. Hayes joins the Goodman's Walter Director of Education and Engagement Willa J. Taylor and more for this 5th annual event, which celebrates the theater's programs for youth, schools and lifelong learners. Proceeds from the event support these programs, all of which are offered completely FREE of charge to participants and are 100% funded by individual contributions. Event leadership includes Joan Clifford, Immediate Past Chair and Benefit Events Leadership Chair; Patricia Cox, Education and Engagement Trustee Leadership Chair; Kathleen Cowie, Goodman Theatre Trustee and Education and Engagement Committee Chair; and Teri Brown and Lorrayne Weiss, Women's Board Education and Engagement Co-chairs. The event takes place at The Palmer House (17 E. Monroe) at 12noon (registration opens at 11:30am). Tickets start at $250; call 312.443.3811 ext. 220. Proceeds benefit Education and Engagement at the Goodman. Media interested in attending/covering should call 312.443.5151.

Emmy-award winning actor and producer Sean Hayes is best known for his role as Jack McFarland on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace, for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award and four SAG Awards, along with six Golden Globe nominations. He is also known for his work on Broadway, including An Act of God and Promises, Promises, for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical. Hayes is the co-founder of Hazy Mills Productions, the television production company behind several hit shows such as Hot in Cleveland, Grimm, Hollywood Game Night and History of Comedy. Upcoming projects include the Netflix series Q-Force and the feature film, Lazy Susan.

"Legacy & Promise"-a great story lives forever! For decades, the Goodman has used the art of theater to develop generations of storytellers. At the 5th annual Education and Engagement Luncheon, the Goodman looks towards the future and how, through FREE programs for youth, schools and lifelong learners, the theater continues the narrative.

As a not-for-profit arts and community organization, Goodman Theatre makes Chicago a better place for youth, schools and civic partners through FREE programs that are intrinsically linked to the plays on stage. Programs use the tools of the theatrical profession to help develop generations of citizens who understand the cultures and stories of diverse voices. Using the arts in service of a wider vision of social change is the Goodman's guiding principle; offering depth of experience and opportunities for under resourced communities is an extension of the theater's vision and investment in quality, diversity and community. Under the leadership of Walter Director of Education and Engagement Willa J. Taylor, Goodman Theatre's Education and Engagement team includes Associate Director of Education Quenna Barrett, Adrian Azevedo (Education and Engagement Associate); Liam Collier (Education and Engagement Assistant); Anna Gelman (Manager, School-Based Programs); and Sam Mauceri (School Matinee Series Assistant). The Goodman's Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement expanded the theater's ability to touch the lives of Chicagoland (with 85% of youth participants coming from underserved communities) since its 2016 opening.

ABOUT Goodman Theatre

Chicago's theater since 1925, Goodman Theatre is a not-for-profit arts and community organization in the heart of the Loop, distinguished by the excellence and scope of its artistic programming and community engagement. Led by Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, the theater's artistic priorities include new play development (more than 150 world or American premieres), large scale musical theater works and reimagined classics. Artists and productions have earned two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards and more than 160 Jeff Awards, among other accolades. The Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson's "American Century Cycle." Its longtime annual holiday tradition A Christmas Carol, now in its fourth decade, has created a new generation of theatergoers in Chicago. The Goodman also frequently serves as a production and program partner with national and international companies and Chicago's Off-Loop theaters.

As a cultural and community organization invested in quality, diversity and community, Goodman Theatre is committed to using the art of theater for a better Chicago. Using the tools of the theatrical profession, the Goodman's Education and Engagement programs aim to develop generations of citizens who understand the cultures and stories of diverse voices. The Goodman's Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement is the home of these programs, which are offered free of charge for Chicago youth-85% of whom come from underserved communities-schools and life-long learners.

Goodman Theatre was founded by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth, an important figure in Chicago's cultural renaissance in the early 1900s. The Goodman family's legacy lives on through the continued work and dedication of Kenneth's family, including Albert Ivar Goodman, who with his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton, contributed the necessary funds for the creation of the new Goodman center in 2000.

Today, Goodman Theatre leadership also includes the distinguished members of the Artistic Collective: Brian Dennehy, Rebecca Gilman, Henry Godinez, Dael Orlandersmith, Steve Scott, Kimberly Senior, Chuck Smith, Regina Taylor, Henry Wishcamper and Mary Zimmerman. David W. Fox, Jr. is Chairman of Goodman Theatre's Board of Trustees, Denise Stefan Ginascol is Women's Board President and Megan McCarthy Hayes is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.