Inspired by the life and work of Chicago house music legend Frankie Knuckles, the genre-fusing duo behind UNIVERSES have partnered to present a reading of In the Beginning There was House, a new work originally commissioned by the Goodman Theatre. UNIVERSES was founded by Steven Sapp and Mildred Ruiz-Sapp to create moving, challenging, and entertaining works for the stage. Sapp and Ruiz-Sapp will be in residence throughout the 2023-24 Northwestern University academic year as part of the newly established Astere E. Claeyssens Artist-in-Residence program. In addition to teaching and mentoring students, they will be developing In the Beginning There was House with Obie-Award winning director Chay Yew. Universes is a national Ensemble Theater Company of multi-disciplined writers and performers of color who fuse theater, poetry, dance, jazz, hip hop, politics, down-home blues, and Spanish boleros to create moving, challenging, and entertaining works for the stage. The group breaks the traditional theatrical bounds to create its own brand of theater. Founded in The Bronx, New York, in 1995, the members of UNIVERSES came together in the urban poetry and music scene of the late 1990s, quickly moving through the "downtown" performance scene to build a home for themselves in American Theatre. In its 28 years, UNIVERSES has performed at venues throughout the United States and toured extensively worldwide.