ArtsPass Exclusive: Goodman Theatre presents August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
“The more music you got in the world, the fuller it is.”
Open to UChicago Students Only
Wednesday, April 22, 2026 from 6 pm to 10:15pm.
Bus Departs from the Logan Center at 5:15 pm
Goodman Theatre - 170 N Dearborn St, Chicago, IL 60601
ArtsPass Exclusive Discounted Price: $8 plus $2 ticketing fee– Seating is limited – Use Link above to purchase tickets.
Co-presented by LGBTQ Student Life, The Center for Identity + Inclusion, and the Logan Center for the Arts
Join us and University students from across Chicago for a UChicago ArtsPass exclusive performance of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, featuring a pre-performance dinner and conversation on Wednesday, April 22 as part of our Spring ArtsPass Exclusives program.
Ma Rainey’s band is waiting. It’s 1927 Chicago, and “The Mother of the Blues” takes her time getting ready to record. Tensions and temperatures rise as the musicians recount tales of rage, joy, betrayal and faith in astonishing stories and a heart-stopping climax. Chicago legends Chuck Smith and Harry J. Lennix reunite for the play that smashed box office records in its 1997 Goodman premiere for this major revival of “a genuine American masterpiece” (Chicago Reader).
Before the show, join College and Graduate students from across Chicago for a pizza dinner and conversation with a featured cast member as part of the Goodman’s “College Night” - yes graduate students are also welcome.
Language: English
Running Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes including 1 intermission
Schedule:
5:15 pm - Bus Departs Logan Center, 915 East 60th Street
6:00 pm - Dinner and Conversation in the Goodman Theatre
7:15 pm - Conversation ends
7:30 pm - Show begins
10 pm - End of show and Bus Returns to Logan Center [Show is 2hrs 30mins with intermission]
Bus will depart after show to return students to campus by 10:30pm
To learn more about the UChicago ArtsPass program, visit http://artspass.uchicago.edu/
To learn more about LGBTQ Student Life, visit https://inclusion.uchicago.edu/
A program of the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, the UChicago ArtsPass is supported by a generous gift from Anne Van Wart and Michael A. Keable, AB’88, MBA’96. Additional support is provided by the Robert M. Rudolph Arts Endowment, the University of Chicago Women’s Board, the College, Michael Barin, AB’04, Bharath Dwarakanath Nath, AB’00, and Kara Braciale, AB’98 and the generosity of other alumni, friends, and partnering cultural institutions.