-Elmhurst University -The University of Notre Dame -The Chicago Housing Authority -Miss Illinois Pageant -Operation PUSH -Indiana State University -Beasley Elementary -Starcom Media -Phalanx Family Services -St. Mary’s College - Lincolnshire Academy of Dance -The Dance Gallery Chicago - Quadel Consulting -Trinity United Church of Christ - Pui Tak Elementary -Southside YMCA - Bright Future Jobs -School Choice Illinois -Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago -Chicago Public Schools -Service for Peace International -Wheaton College -Chicago Public Schools -Hampton University -The Village of Matteson, IL. -St. Damien’s Parish -Willow Creek Leadership Conference -The Chicago Housing Voucher Choice Program - Wyatt Family Life Center -Northwest Institute for Contemporary Learning -Village of Hazel Crest, IL. -New Life Celebration Christian Academy -Crete, IL. School District -Full Gospel Christian Assemblies International -Selah Conference -Karitos Conference -The Cambridge School Chicago -Bronzeville’s First Bed and Breakfast -The Chicago Church of Christ -Upward Bound, University of Chicago -National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials -Beam Suntory -City of Clarkesville, TN. -Northern Illinois University
Ted Williams III is the founder of the 3rd Dimension Performance Group,a company established to create and present quality entertainment that is thought provoking, artistically dynamic, and socially relevant. In the years since its inception, 3D has toured extensively, providing live productions, and performing arts services for a diverse group of clients. 3D has provided performers to enhance events such as fashion shows, private parties, theatre showcases, CD release concerts and charity drives, to name a few. 3D has also provided dancers for various clients such as the Ms. Illinois Pageant, The Lincolnshire Academy of Dance, and the University of Notre Dame. After providing entertainment for various events, the group found a niche in producing Murder Mystery Dinner Theater. This led to an on-going relationship with Bronzeville’s First Bed and Breakfast and a 2-year touring engagement with a major hotel in Bloomington, IL. For 3 years the company produced the South Loop Hotel’s Motown Mystery Dinner Theater Show which featured Christine Houston, creator of the hit television show “227”.
In the fall of 2002 TORN: The Musical, an original work, premiered in Chicago and enjoyed a two-year run. This production, the first full-length musical to be produced by 3D, combined various forms of contemporary music, theater, and dance, and touched the hearts of countless audiences. It enjoyed both local success and a tour that included the city of South Bend, IN, the University of Michigan-Flint, Indiana State University, and St. Mary’s College. TORN has also performed for numerous conference and church audiences since its inception.
In the fall of 2003 3rd Dimension began a four-year partnership with the Chicago Housing Choice Voucher Program (CHAC) providing theatrical scenes to reinforce information presented through their relocation program. The 3rd Dimension staff worked with CHAC to equip its clients with the skills necessary for successful private market living. This production was featured in both NAHRO (The National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials) national conference (Des Moines 2005) and Quadel Consulting’s regional housing conference (Baltimore 2005). The effectiveness of this program led to the development of a similar training program for the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA). For 6 years, 3rd Dimension conducted theater-based quality of life training sessions as a part of CHA’s Plan for Transformation, the largest reconstruction of public housing in the nation’s history. In addition to this, in 2008, 3D formed a partnership with School Choice Illinois and Task-Force Prevention and Community Services. 3D designed and performed theater-based interactive workshops for an 11-county educational tour on education, poverty, and HIV prevention for the faith-based community in the state of Illinois.
3D’s newest production, 1619: The Journey of a People, is a dynamic theatrical exploration of the 400-year journey of African Americans. Since the Illinois Arts Council-funded world premiere in August of 2019, the production has been performed throughout Chicago and at various locations including Elmhurst College, Wheaton College, Hampton University, Galesburg, IL, East St. Louis, IL and Clarkesville, TN. Upcoming engagements include Northern Illinois University, the University of Wyoming, and the City of Evanston, IL. It has been featured on WTTW’s Chicago Tonight, Fox32 Chicago, WCIU’s The Jam, V103’s Chicago Speaks with Darryl Dennard, WVON’s Real Talk Real People with Chatdaddy, and in the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Defender, Hyde Park Herald, Daily Herald, and Bronzeville Life publications. During the month of February 2020,1619 performed for multiple sold-out audiences at the Greenhouse Theater and Kennedy-King Theater. Additionally, 1619 has a host of community partnerships through sponsors like the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, US Census, Phalanx Family Services, and Howard Brown Health Center. Patron groups have included Apostolic Faith Church, Christ Universal Temple, Lawndale Community Church, Lilydale Baptist Church, Phillip Murray Language Academy, Youth Connection Charter School, PUSH Excel, and the Roseland Neighborhood Community Organization, among others. After the COVID-19 pandemic shut down live theater, 1619 expanded its audience by thousands through a series of virtual performances in partnership with Chicago’s House of Hope, the DuSable Museum, and WBEZ-NPR radio. The production was nominated for the 2020 August Wilson Award for the Best Writing of a Musical by the Black Theater Alliance Awards and the 1619 Cast Album was produced through support from the Illinois Arts Council.
Today, 3rd Dimension offers live and media-based performance services in addition to workshops in dance and theatre, and school programs geared towards students of all ages. Clients have included myriad churches, schools, and civic organizations. 3D has also directed and staffed multiple summer camps and after-school programs for students from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds. 3D has most recently created and facilitated a civic-based theater curriculum focused on teaching the US Constitution for children and the content in the original 1619: The Journey of a People production. Schools include Beasley Elementary, Wells Elementary, Medgar Evers Academy, Metcalfe, Dunne, Julian HS, and PUSH Excel.