Editorial: Take a bow, Criss Henderson of Chicago Shakespeare

The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune
·2 min read

When Chicago Shakespeare Theater left the Gold Coast for Navy Pier in 1999, many people predicted that its audience would not follow: Too many annoying tourists there, it was said, and too biting a wind during the winter.

In fact, the move was a spectacular success, not just for the theater, which now has a $20 million annual budget, but for Navy Pier, which gained both an anchor tenant that was busy when its tourist boats were frozen closed, and a good measure of cultural credibility.

Once Chicago Shakespeare was on board, the pier could reasonably assert that it was now far more than sightseeing cruises, carnival rides and fudge. Much of the development that followed, including a new hotel, would not otherwise have occurred. And, in time, Chicago Shakespeare was able to raise some $35 million to build yet another massive and notably flexible new theater, The Yard, enhancing not just the art on its stages but the skyline of Chicago. And it was achieved using the guts of the failed concert venue known as Skyline Stage.

Executive Director Criss Henderson, the man more responsible than anyone else for that transition, exits Chicago Shakespeare this month. The city owes him a debt of gratitude not just for his work creating spiffy new artistic buildings to elevate Navy Pier and its surroundings, but for his relentless focus over his 33-year tenure on bringing international artistic work to Chicago.

Thanks mostly to Henderson, Chicagoans of all stripes have been able to experience visiting artists from Dublin, Moscow, Paris, Johannesburg and many other cities. Whether the institutions have been from London or Belarus, United Arab Emirates or South Korea, these companies have afforded us a window into what’s been on the minds of creative artists from all over the world. Much rhetoric is spoken about Chicago being a global city; this kind of artistic exchange, and it has been two ways at this theater, is crucial to the credibility of such an assertion.

Henderson says he is staying in Chicago and hoping to remain involved in presenting internationally focused cultural events. We hope so. His work on Navy Pier not only introduced this city to scores of influential creative professionals from across the globe, it has ennobled all of us right here in town.

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