Myrna Salazar Archives - Chicago Reader

A group of six artists from Kokandy Productions's Sweeney Todd are pictured on the red carpet at the Non-Equity Jeffs. They are holding their awards. There are three men on the left, a woman in the center, and two men on the right.

The return of “theater prom”

by Kerry Reid March 30, 2023August 16, 2023

The Non-Equity Jeff Awards, affectionately known as “theater prom,” came roaring back after a four-year hiatus at the Park West on Monday, March 27. And it’s safe to say the program, directed by Adrian Abel Azevedo, was a lovefest through and through. The awards show (coming on the heels of the packed opening of the […]

Latinx man with dark hair, wearing a blue golf shirt, stands in front of a colorful mural.

Ghost Light

Jorge Valdivia takes the reins at Chicago Latino Theater Alliance

by Kerry Reid November 18, 2022November 18, 2022

The death of Myrna Salazar, cofounder and executive director of the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA), in August, a month before the fifth annual Destinos: Chicago International Latino Theater Festival kicked off, was a huge blow to the performing arts community, including Jorge Valdivia, who worked closely with Salazar and CLATA in his role as […]

Two Latinx women sit on the rug in a living room. A blue couch is behind them. Marc (Melissa DuPrey) sits behind Cynthia (Lisandra Tena), who seems to be in emotional distress. Marc has her hands on Cynthia's back.

Theater Review

Stranger things

by Emily McClanathan September 26, 2022September 27, 2022

What if the person you love—the one you want to spend the rest of your life with—were to confess a secret so bizarre, so disturbing, that it makes you question whether you know them at all? How do you truly accept every part of a person when you can’t begin to understand one of their […]

Arts & Culture

Remembering Myrna Salazar 1947-2022

by Kerry Reid August 12, 2022August 13, 2022

Next month, the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance will present the fifth annual Destinos Chicago International Theater Festival. But it will be bittersweet; the woman most responsible for making the festival a reality, CLATA cofounder and executive director Myrna Salazar, won’t be there to see it. Salazar died on Wednesday, August 3, two weeks after celebrating […]

A large group of people gather in front of a flag that echoes the flag of the city of Chicago, emblazoned on top with "Quienes Somos—¡Aqui Estamos!," and on the bottom with "Chicago Latino Arts and Culture Summit."

Ghost Light

Latino arts organizations tell funders: ‘Here we are’

by Kerry Reid June 2, 2022June 2, 2022

Back in 1996, the late playwright August Wilson delivered an address at the annual conference for Theatre Communications Group, the national service organization for theaters in the U.S. Entitled “The Ground on Which I Stand,” Wilson’s speech (later released as a book) took aim at racism and Eurocentrism in American theater, particularly when it comes […]