WE’RE BACK! AND WE’RE BRINGING 11 NOMINATIONS WITH US!
After a long hiatus, ETA Creative Arts Foundation is thrilled to return to the Black Theater Alliance Awards (BTAA) with 11 nominations! 🏆✨
This moment is more than a celebration of nominations. It is a celebration of legacy, resilience, artistic excellence, and the enduring power of Black theater.
We are incredibly proud of our cast, creative team, production staff, and everyone who has contributed to this remarkable journey. Your talent, dedication, and passion have helped bring ETA back into this celebrated space of recognition.
Eleven nominations. One historic legacy. A future filled with possibility.
We are proud to be back, and we are ready to celebrate! 🖤❤️🎭
Congratulations to all the nominees!
ETA was nominated for 11 BTAAs across the entire 2025/ 2026 season.
BEST ACTRESS - PLAY
Michelle Renee Bester - A Lot to Unpack
BEST ACTOR - PLAY
Byronn Glenn Willis - Mop and Bucket Blues
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - PLAY
Destin Warner - A Lot to Unpack
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - PLAY
Deborah A. Ross - For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow is Enuf
Madison Savannah - For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow is Enuf
Teena Marie - For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow is Enuf - WON
BEST DIRECTION OF A PLAY
Donn Carl Harper - For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow is Enuf
BEST WRITING OF A PLAY
Rueben D. Echoles - A Lot to Unpack
BEST ENSEMBLE - MUSICAL OR PLAY
BEST SCENIC DESIGN
Carma Newman - Mop & Bucket Blues
Levi Wilkins - For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow is Enuf
CONGRATULATIONS TEENA MARIE ON YOUR BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS WIN!
HONORING OUR LEGACY. CELEBRATING OUR RETURN.
Before the Black Theater Alliance Awards became a platform for celebrating Black theatrical excellence, there was a vision to bring Black theater artists together, recognize their contributions, and strengthen Chicago’s Black theater community. One of the people who helped turn that vision into reality was Abena Joan Brown, the pioneering co-founder of ETA Creative Arts Foundation.
In 1977, Abena Joan Brown, Okoro Harold Johnson, Useni Perkins, and Pemon Rami founded the Black Theatre Alliance in Chicago. Their goal was to build a stronger network for Black theater by providing community support, resources, and greater visibility for Black artists and theater organizations.
Brown’s role in this movement reflected the same vision that guided her work at ETA: Black artists deserved spaces where they could develop their talents, tell their own stories, and receive recognition for their contributions to American theater.
The original Alliance later changed its name to the African American Arts Alliance in 1990. A new African American Arts Alliance was incorporated in 1997 by Jackie Taylor, Joan Gray, Chuck Smith, and Ron O.J. Parson, among others, expanding the organization’s reach across the arts. And the BTAAs were established in 1995 by Vincent Williams.
Abena’s legacy is foundational to the original Black Theatre Alliance and the movement to organize, support, and elevate Black theater in Chicago. Her work helped establish the community-building tradition within which Black theatrical achievement could be celebrated
Today, ETA proudly carries that legacy forward. Our return with 11 nominations represents more than recognition; it represents the resilience of a historic institution, the dedication of our artists, and the enduring power of Black theater.
We honor those who paved the way. We celebrate those creating today. And we remain committed to the generations who will carry our stories forward.
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