MASKED MAGIC

Citadel Theatre’s 11th annual gala fundraiser features a masquerade ball at a thrilling new location.

Each year, the creative team behind Lake Forest’s Citadel Theatre produces professional stage productions designed to educate and delight North Shore audiences. Presenting a full range of comedy, drama, contemporary, and classical selections, each Citadel season features four to five shows, plus educational programs and theatre camps for children, all while offering benefits to military families, under-resourced residents, and nonprofits.

To bridge the gap between ticket sales and the bottom line, Citadel’s summer gala not only celebrates its supporters, but brings in needed funding. This year’s 11th annual gala on July 12 kicks everything up a notch with a spectacular new location—the stunning Sanfilippo Estate in Barrington.

Ticket holders will begin the evening with a tour of the estate’s “Place de la Musique” collection of restored antique mechanical music machines, nickelodeons and orchestrions—the largest such collection in the world. Following this, hors d’oeuvres, a live auction, and dinner will be served in the 1890-built Eden Palais Carousel Pavilion, home to the world’s most complete European salon carousel (merry-go-round), plus street and tower clocks, steam engines and other functional mechanical antiques.

“We are very excited about this year’s event,” says Jennifer McGregor, 2025 Gala honoree. “The Sanfilippo Estate is the perfect, theatrical venue for our gala. We have an aspirational goal of raising over $400,000, which will allow Citadel to continue its work—on stage and in our education programs—this season and as we plan ahead.”

Founded in 2002, by artistic director Scott Phelps and managing director Ellen Phelps, Citadel Theatre enters its 23rd year this fall. Subscriptions for the 2025-2026 “Naughty & Nice” season, are now on sale. The four mainstage shows include Misery, based on the novel by Stephen King, written by William Goldman and directed by Scott Westerman; the comedy Miracle on South Division Street, written by Tom Dudzick and directed by Scott Shallenbarger; the drama Admissions, written by Joshua Harmon and directed by Beth Wolf; and Ruthless! The Musical, written by Joel Paley and directed by Christina Ramirez.

Also coming this summer are outdoor performances of Citadel’s Theatre for Young Audience’s family-friendly, The Queens Museum, an original musical by Mark Adamczyk, directed by Ben Ballmer. The show will run July 17 to 20 on the grounds of Lake Forest Open Lands.

To purchase tickets, sponsor, or donate to the 11th Annual Citadel Gala, visit easy-ware-forms.com/citadeltheatre/ gala. For more information about Citadel’s summer youth programming, visit citadeltheatre.org/summer-camp and to subscribe to the 2025-26 mainstage season visit easy-ware-forms.com/citadeltheatre/subscription.