See the multimedia coverage:
Theater in the Making
Northwestern Magazine developed an expansive multimedia story that documents the making of the University’s production of Man of La Mancha.
Over the course of six months, we followed the cast and crew of talented students and faculty to demonstrate the creativity and effort that goes into theater productions at Northwestern, which consistently ranks among the top drama programs in the country.
Northwestern Magazine
We committed more than a typical amount of time to this story in order to chronicle the entire artistic process, highlighting this one show as a representative example of the University’s wide range of talent and creativity. Our photo-driven print story pulls back the curtain to show the level of effort, skill and education that goes into Northwestern theater productions.
Video
Our mini-documentary features heartfelt interviews and selections of music from the performance, allowing audiences to experience the emotion of, and creativity behind, the show — even without having attended a performance.
Digital
We developed a digital layout with additional original content, plus interactive tools showing behind-the-scenes progressions of costumes and set designs.
Results
- 715.3K users
- 2.6K engagements
- 185.4K video views
The digital feature was the second-most popular magazine story of the year and the top story in September and October of 2025.
Qualitatively, we received feedback from readers who expressed that the documentary brought them to tears and that they couldn’t wait to attend a future Northwestern production.
Social
We cut our documentary down into a 3-minute “behind the scenes” video showcasing the MFA student designers, as well as creating a narrative image gallery for Instagram.
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Video cutdown