Sarah Siddons Society

Sarah Siddons Society http://www.sarahsiddonssociety.org/ The occasion is the presentation of the Sarah Siddons award statuette, modeled on Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse.

SirJoshua Reynolds' painting, Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse, played a crucial role in the creation of the film All about Eve. While puzzling over the mise-en-scène, the director Joseph Mankiewicz happened upon the portrait and instantly decided that it would provide the keynote of his production. He opened the story in the ballroom of the fictitious Sarah Siddons Society, in which a replica of

Reynolds's painting hangs. In the climactic party scene, the painting again takes center stage, prominently displayed between the framing figures of Bette Davis and Marilyn Monroe. It also presides over the culminating scene, in which the chastened Anne Baxter skulks past a towering reproduction of Reynolds' portrait. Seven years after the release of the film, Bette Davis posed as Sarah Siddons in a re-creation of the painting staged as part of the Pageant of the Masters. The powerful presence of Sarah Siddons in All about Eve convinced a group of theater-lovers in Chicago to found a real Sarah Siddons Society granting an actual award, also modeled on the Reynolds' painting. Beginning with Helen Hayes in 1952, the Society has awarded a statuette to the outstanding actress of each year. In 1971 Lauren Bacall received the Sarah Siddons award for her performance in Applause, the musical version of All About Eve, in which she played the role that Bette Davis had first immortalized. The following year, Bette Davis presented the Society with a statuette used in All about Eve, and in return the Society bestowed on her a special 20th Anniversary Award for her performance in the film. The Society has now been going since the middle of the 20th century, honoring the greatest actresses (and actors) of our day in the name of Sarah Siddons, who made acting a legitimate profession for women.

Today is Jessica Tandy’s Birthday! From the New York Times announcing her award on July 25, 1979-“One of the most presti...
06/07/2026

Today is Jessica Tandy’s Birthday!

From the New York Times announcing her award on July 25, 1979-

“One of the most prestigious acting awards in the nation is presented not in New York, but in Chicago, and it will go this year to Jessica Tandy for her performance in the Pulitzer Prize‐winning play by D. L. Coburn, “The Gin Game.”

Honor for Miss Tandy

Miss Tandy is the 27th winner of the Sarah Siddons Award, named for an 18th‐century English actress. First to be named Chicago Actresss of the Year by the Sarah Siddons Society was Helen Hayes, and the award has gone in recent years to such actresses as Angela Lansbury, Julie Harris, Carol ChannIng, and Lauren Bacall.

Miss Tandy, who has also won the Drama Desk and Tony Awards for her performance in “The Gin Game,” is now in London, rehearsing with her original co‐star, her husband Hume Cronyn, for the play's opening there July 31. The Cronyns are taking the play to the Soviet Union for the month of December.”

Today is the Birthday of 1974 Sarah Siddons Society Award recipient, Colleen Dewhurst. She was awarded it for the 1973 ...
06/03/2026

Today is the Birthday of 1974 Sarah Siddons Society Award recipient, Colleen Dewhurst. She was awarded it for the 1973 production of “A Moon for the Misbegotten" (costarring Jason Robards Jr. and directed by Jose Quintero), at the Academy Festival Theatre, Lake Forest. This famous summer-stock production by the seminal O'Neill director eventually played on Broadway, where it won Quintero a Tony Award for best direction.

05/05/2026

Congratulations to Sarah Siddons Award recipients, Kelli O’Hara and André De Shields on their Tony Award nominations this morning!

Happy Birthday to the 2017 Award recipient, Kate Baldwin!
05/02/2026

Happy Birthday to the 2017 Award recipient, Kate Baldwin!

It is a double Sarah Siddons Society Awardee Birthday celebration today! Eve Arden received hers in 1967 and Cloris Lea...
04/30/2026

It is a double Sarah Siddons Society Awardee Birthday celebration today! Eve Arden received hers in 1967 and Cloris Leachman in 1979.

Can't make it in person tonight? Join us for a FREE live streaming opportunity of the Swell Soirée!OUR CAST Terrence Pat...
04/30/2026

Can't make it in person tonight? Join us for a FREE live streaming opportunity of the Swell Soirée!

OUR CAST
Terrence Patrick Davis
Carla Gordon
Lynne Jordan
Beckie Menzie

Director - Carla Gordon | Music Director - Beckie Menzie

Featuring:

Devin Eichel, Northwestern University School of Communications

Margaret Higgins, Chicago College of Performing Arts, Roosevelt University

Emma Jacobson, Columbia College

Peyton Owen, The Theatre School at DePaul University

Audrey Wang, Northern Illinois University, School of Theatre and Dance

Swell Soirée Swinging 60’s | Sarah Siddons Society

Today is Celeste Holm’s Birthday, recipient of the 1968 Sarah Siddons Award for Mame at the Shubert Theatre.
04/29/2026

Today is Celeste Holm’s Birthday, recipient of the 1968 Sarah Siddons Award for Mame at the Shubert Theatre.

Happy Birthday to Patti LuPone, recipient of the 2010 Sarah Siddons Award.
04/21/2026

Happy Birthday to Patti LuPone, recipient of the 2010 Sarah Siddons Award.

Happy Birthday to Jessie Mueller, recipient of the 2015 Sarah Siddons Society Award.
04/20/2026

Happy Birthday to Jessie Mueller, recipient of the 2015 Sarah Siddons Society Award.

Happy Birthday to Kelli O’Hara, recipient of the 2024 Sarah Siddons Award!
04/16/2026

Happy Birthday to Kelli O’Hara, recipient of the 2024 Sarah Siddons Award!

Address

205 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 810
Chicago, IL
60601

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+13127262943

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