As Goodman Theatre begins its second century, it continues a longstanding tradition of mentorship and new beginnings through its directing fellowship program.
Through the Michael Maggio and Northwestern Directing Fellowships, emerging artists contribute to all aspects of theater-making, from assisting with productions to supporting readings, festivals and community engagement events.
This month, outgoing 2025/2026 Fellows Lo Williams (Maggio) and Michael Cotey (Northwestern) welcomed incoming 2026/2027 Fellows Lorenzo Rush (Maggio) and Christopher Michael Richardson (Northwestern) for a conversation about artistry, community and what they hope to discover during their year at The Goodman.
Lo: What do you hope to learn during your time here?
Lorenzo: I’m hoping to learn how to produce on a higher level. I’ve had opportunities to produce in a lot of non-Equity and smaller spaces, but The Goodman has a different magnitude of resources—and it’s an institution that has been around for more than 100 years. I’m excited to learn about that history, the connections and resources available here, and what becomes possible at this level.
Christopher: My answer isn’t too dissimilar. I’ve had relationships with institutions like The Goodman before—as an actor, director, cultural consultant or producing partner—but I’ve never actually lived inside one. I’m excited to make my home at The Goodman as an artist for the next year and discover what it means to embed myself in the fabric of the institution.
Michael: Are there any particular departments you’re most curious to learn from?
Christopher: I’m very curious about production: what it takes to meet the needs of the moment and realize the adventurous creativity we bring into our spaces. I hope the production departments are ready for me, because I’m ready to come into the shops, see the lights being hung and focused, and really get to know our technical artists.
Lorenzo: Christopher totally took my answer—but that’s okay! As an actor and director, I’m also excited to learn more about the technical side of the work. But I’m equally curious about community engagement. How do we engage the community in what we do? How do we cultivate a culture that includes and involves the community in the work we make?
Lastly, I’m also curious about funding, because none of this happens without it. How do you ask for it? How do you build those relationships and raise money successfully and consistently? A lot of institutions I’ve worked with have been afraid to talk about money, but we need money to do what we do. I want to learn how that part works.
Lo: How do you see your artistry evolving through this fellowship?
Lorenzo: I see myself challenging the kinds of work I normally do. I’m excited to dig into the literary aspect and read plays outside of what I would normally gravitate toward—to expand and push myself beyond what I’m comfortable with. I’ve primarily lived in musical theater or work viewed through an African American lens. I’m excited to push my own envelope and get comfortable outside of what I already know. I’m also excited to be in an atmosphere specifically designed for learning. This fellowship is an invitation to ask questions, challenge yourself, be vulnerable and make mistakes. In the real world, you often learn through trial and error. Here, the institution is saying, “We’re invested in you. Ask questions. We want that.” I’ve never had that kind of opportunity outside of a collegiate space.
Christopher: Information is power—especially right now. I want to learn what it means to produce at The Goodman’s level, make decisions about the art you put on stage and consider how that art engages the community. I think my artistry will evolve in response to the stimulus of meeting artists who are deeply entrenched in work different from my own. I’ll be learning and absorbing, but I’ll also be discovering where I fit: Here’s a pocket for me. Here’s an opportunity to bring my expertise and years of experience to this institution, the field and its audiences. The Goodman has been around for more than 100 years. I don’t have that kind of age—I’m very young! I’m sure there are ways of working that have kept the institution going for a century that might help keep me going for a little while, too.
Lo: What stories and themes are you most passionate about exploring right now?
Christopher: My work often centers on existing stories and the ways we return to them. Nostalgia is such an interesting emotion because it can help us go deeper into ourselves and ask difficult questions. If Little Bo Peep is asking a question about existence, we might connect to it differently than if it came from someone we had never encountered before. I’m interested in revisiting familiar stories and seeing how audiences respond when those stories surprise them or deepen their understanding. John Proctor Is the Villain, for example, offers a new take on The Crucible. I’m excited by that kind of work. I’m also passionate about connectivity. Theater provides this unique arena for presence and authenticity: We sit next to one another and experience something that compels a response. I’m interested in work that brings people together, helps us see and understand one another, and puts us in conversation.
Lorenzo: I’m interested in stories that help us heal and challenge us to grow. I want to find stories that challenge current narratives—about Black men, politics, African American culture and the world, period—with the goal of becoming better on the other side. I want my art to heal. I want it to be a balm for somebody: to plant a seed, water a seed or reap the harvest of a seed that has already been planted and watered. That’s what I gravitate toward. I also want to help bring different audiences into the same space. A particular production might first bring in Latinx audiences, LGBTQ+ audiences or another community that hasn’t felt invited before. But then those people become curious about the next show—and eventually, you see every type of face and every type of person experiencing one story together. For me, that’s the goal.
Lo: How do you hope to leave a mark on the fellowship and the institution?
Lorenzo: I’m going to carve my name into one of the walls! In all honesty, I hope people remember me as someone who took full advantage of every aspect of the fellowship and left no stone unturned. I want to soak up everything I can and take that knowledge with me—not let the opportunity simply end when the fellowship ends. I hope people can look back and say, “He maximized that opportunity. He made connections. He challenged himself. He took what he learned and soared with it.” Maybe this becomes the moment that changes my perspective, opens another door or catapults me to another level.
Christopher: I’m nosy. Let’s begin! I bring a lot of questions and honest curiosity to the work. I hope those questions encourage someone to consider something differently or bring a perspective into the room that is unique to me. Maybe a question—or simply a different vantage point—changes something. I also bring the embodied experience of being an actor: what it feels like to be in a 10-out-of-12 or to reach the third week of a run and not know how you’re going to go on. I hope that experience can provoke a different response in how decisions are made and how things happen.
Lo: Is there a particular community you’re interested in serving or uplifting through the fellowship?
Christopher: I’m going to complicate that question, because I’m not just one thing. I’m a proud Black queer man, so those communities will always come into the room with me. I’ve also been thinking a lot about access: what it takes for someone to get somewhere, reach their seat and fully inhabit a space. And I’m a lifelong educator, so I’m always thinking about the opportunities we’re creating for the next generation. The pipeline is a major issue in American theater. We saw many people elevated into new positions in 2020—which was wonderful for their careers—but it also left a vacuum, particularly in technical fields. I’m curious about how we connect educational opportunities with vocational opportunities. How do we help undergraduate and graduate students move into sustainable careers in ways that ultimately benefit the entire industry?
For me, it’s about gaining as much knowledge as I can and then passing it down—opening the door for the person behind me. I want people to understand that The Goodman, or the ability to produce and work at this level, isn’t unreachable. It requires hard work, intentionality and time, but it doesn’t have to be a mysterious, impossible journey. I want to demystify that process. Whether it’s a director, actor, technician, designer or someone who walks in off the street, sees a show and thinks, “I want to work up there one day,” I want to be able to say, “This is how you do it.” That knowledge wasn’t always available to me. I want to help the people who don’t know how to get there yet.
Michael: What’s one thing we should know about you outside of your life in the theater?
Lorenzo: I’m a dad. My kids are 10 and 2, and they’re my everything. They’re the reason I get up in the morning and work as hard as I do.
Christopher: I like to make things with my hands as another creative outlet. I’ve started picking up embroidery, which I never expected. I didn’t think I would become a fiber artist, but I’m interested in finding ways to let out that creative passion that don’t involve belting the eleven-o’clock number eight times a week. I’m also a music nerd—but I’m sure everyone will learn that soon enough.
Lo: Is there anything in particular you’re looking forward to during the coming year?
Lorenzo:I’m looking forward to enjoying what I love, meeting new people and working with like-minded individuals who pursue excellence. I’m excited to see what having these resources does to my creative mindset. I’ve spent so much time on stage, directing and writing. Now I’m excited to work administratively within the arts and learn how the producing side operates, because that work is just as important. I want to ShamWow this theater—to soak up as much as I possibly can—and walk out with a treasure chest of knowledge from every department and every corner of the building. I’m excited to stretch myself as an artist, arts professional and administrator.
I’m excited about two things. First, after spending three years in an academic space and stepping away from much of my professional work, I’m excited to return to the field and enrich my artistic community in a different way—for an entire year at The Goodman. Second, I’m excited to be in my own episode of How It’s Made. I’m interested in the making of the self, but also the making of things inside an institution. There are a lot of gears that can be turned, shined and polished through the presence of one individual inside the machine. I’m excited to help realize this particular season—and to consider how we might become even more inclusive and collaborative in the seasons to come.
As Lorenzo and Christopher begin their fellowships, both arrive eager not simply to observe how The Goodman works, but to become part of it—asking questions, building relationships and carrying what they learn back to the artists and communities they hope to serve. We look forward to seeing what they discover, and what The Goodman discovers through them.
About the Incoming Fellows
Lorenzo Rush Jr. is a Chicago-born actor, director, singer and voiceover artist who has worked on Chicagoland stages for more than 15 years, including Court Theatre, Marriott Theatre, Porchlight Music Theatre, Paramount Theatre and Drury Lane Theatre. A Jeff Award recipient and Black Theatre Alliance Award winner, his television credits include Chicago P.D., Empire and Fargo. He previously served as assistant director of The Nacirema Society at The Goodman.
Christopher Michael Richardson is a director, actor and educator from Richmond, Virginia, and a member of Northwestern University’s 2026 MFA Directing class. His directing credits include How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Winnie-the-Pooh, Everybody and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. As an actor, he has appeared in A Strange Loop at the Barbican and in productions at the Kennedy Center, Signature Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company and Ford’s Theatre.
About the Outgoing Fellows
Lo Williams is a Chicago-based storyteller whose work reimagines, reshapes and reclaims representation for the global majority. Working across directing, producing, playwriting and performance, she specializes in hip-hop theater, new work and the development of Black theatrical premieres. Directing credits include Rich B*tch and Shakespeare and the Language that Altered a World. A Howard University graduate, she is an alumna of the National Theater Institute and Lin-Manuel Miranda Family Fellowship. Her Goodman Theatre credits include Revolution(s), The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Iceboy!. Next up after The Goodman: Williams will direct Everybody at Wittenberg University and be the Associate Director of Mud Row at Remy Bumppo.
Michael Cotey is a Chicago-based director and producer whose work uses theater to connect artists, young people and communities around urgent social issues. He is the creator and Joaquin Oliver Artistic Producer of ENOUGH! Plays to End Gun Violence, recipient of the 2024 TYA/USA Community Impact Award, and director of Manuel Oliver’s GUAC, seen at The Public Theater, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Center Theatre Group and 1st Stage. A 2025/2026 Obama Foundation USA Leader, his Goodman Theatre credits include assisting on Ashland Avenue, A Christmas Carol and An Enemy of the People, and producing on Theater of the Mind. Next up after The Goodman: Cotey will direct GUAC as The People’s Theatre’s inaugural production in their new Washington Heights venue.
