We are Chicago's home for new musicals.

In operation since 2011, Underscore Theatre Company is a not-for-profit performing arts organization in Chicago, IL. Our mission is to explore stories of power and resonance through a musical lens, to foster the development of new musicals, and to bolster Chicago’s role as a national leader in new musical theatre.

Underscore Theatre Company recognizes its accountability to the systems that have failed our communities of Black, Indigenous and People of Color. We are grateful for the work of those behind the “We See You, White American Theatre” vision for laying the groundwork of what a more equitable industry can be and are committed to being a part of the change. We align with their principles and are holding ourselves accountable to anti-racism practices as a part of our current strategic planning process supporting the development of new musical theater. 

Land Acknowledgement: Chicago is the traditional homeland of over a dozen different tribes including the Council of Three Fires: the Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawotami nations, as well as the Miami, Ho-Chunk, Fox, and the Illinois Confederacy of the Peoria and Kaskaskia nations. In 1830 Congress forcibly stripped these tribes of their land by passing the Indian Removal Act which led to relocation, poverty, and starvation.