I moved to Chicago from Seattle in late February.
Prior to accepting a job with Chicago Public Media, I had never been to the Midwest. I knew nothing of the region, city, or the vast arts scene that make Chicago unique. In fact, the only connection I had to the city was through my love of sports. Everyone in the country knows how bad the Bears and Cubs are.
But Chicago also has a national reputation for its robust theatre scene. Conversationally, people say Chicago has the best network of regional theatres outside of New York. Even as a theatre reporter in Seattle, as I would speak with actors, writers, directors, even folks on the admin side of theatre—Chicago was regarded as a mecca for theatre and a place everyone in the industry should at least visit.
If you are new to Chicago, returning after being away for a while, or just planning to visit, here are a few things you need to know about the theatre scene.
People in this town love theatre, and it’s not just the artists. Before I officially agreed to take my current position as theatre reporter for WBEZ, I visited Chicago for a weekend primarily to look at apartments, but I also wanted to see a show. The first play I saw in Chicago was Shattered Globe’s production of Mashuq Mushtaq Deen’s Flood at Theater Wit in the Lakeview neighborhood. I had two major takeaways: I didn’t love the show, but even on a January night in Chicago, post-opening, the theatre was nearly full.
There are theatres all over the city, in various neighborhoods and communities, and people really show up. Back home in Seattle, I could name every theatre in town off the top of my head. As a theatre reporter, I would see every show in a given season. And trust me, listeners to my radio segments would often test me when they saw me out at shows. They would ask what I had seen. I was actually able to make it to every venue and see every show Seattle had onstage. Most seasons, after I made my way through theatre, I would start seeing comedy, burlesque, opera, ballet. My rule was at least two shows per week, and I often depleted the list of theatre offerings and then ventured to different genres of performance.
In Chicago, it is not possible to see every show in a given season. When people say you can see a show a night here, they mean it. There are literally hundreds of theatres in this city and even more if you include the many venues in the surrounding metropolitan area. This is the Baskin-Robbins of theatre towns: There are shows in every flavor. And that is why a show like Flood, which received its world premiere at Kansas City Rep in early 2023, not only received one of its first stagings here, but seats were filled. Artists take risks here and audiences are open to going along for the ride.
What blows my mind as a new Chicagoan is that, overall, the industry still hasn’t recovered from the pandemic. I recently learned during reporting for a story on the economy of performing arts that theatre audiences are still down 30 percent from 2019. As an newcomer to this scene, I’ve been impressed with the audiences I’ve seen even in the tiniest storefront theatres, and with over 200 theatre companies currently open in the city, it’s hard for me to understand that pre-pandemic, there were even more.
Don’t get distracted by the Broadway houses. There are four of them in the city. For contrast, Seattle only had one. The touring Broadway shows are usually good, but we already know that. These are typically big-budget musicals that have already had success in New York, that will tour the country and may be the best thing on offer in many locations. But not in Chicago. To be fair, Chicago does get shows like Death Becomes Her, Tootsie, and Paradise Square that play here before going to Broadway. And those can be a special treat, because we get to see them first. But for shows like The Book of Mormon or Aladdin, especially if you have already seen them, I’d suggest passing. That is, unless one of your favorite’s comes to town. (I’ll be in the audience for Back to the Future the Musical.)
My point is there are so many great shows in town. You don’t need to rely on touring Broadway to see a quality show. If you want more bang for your buck and to see a show with something to say, head to the Goodman, Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakes, or take the trip down south to Court. At my last visit to each of these venues, I saw famous actors onstage and was dazzled at the quality of the productions. These are industry-leading, award-winning theatres, right here in our city.
You don’t have to go to the bigger theatres to see big names. Oscar-nominated actor Michael Shannon just did a show with A Red Orchid Theatre Company, a storefront company he’s called home for years. The venue, the Chopin, was so intimate that audience members in the front row could almost reach out and touch him. The storefront scene in Chicago took me by surprise and has become one of my favorite parts of living here. The Brightest Thing in the World, produced by non-Equity About Face Theater Company, is my favorite of all the shows I’ve seen in the city so far. The space, one of the few at the Den in Wicker Park, only had about 80 seats. The night I went was sold out, and by the end, there was not a dry eye in the crowd. It was such a beautiful and poignant production, and tickets were on a pay-what-you-will scale starting at $5.
The last thing I’ll leave you with is this: If you are into theatre, you will find something for you in Chicago. There are so many venues with so many shows, and what I mentioned above only scratches the surface. If you like experimental shows, The Infinite Wrench at the Neo-Futurists does a menu of shows on weekends that have no scripts and are based on audience suggestions. Port of Entry by Albany Park Theater Project is a fully immersive theatrical experience with no stage and no traditional audience—25 people per night are brought into a set in a former warehouse that has a 3-story mock apartment building and everyone becomes part of the story. There are so many ways to engage with theatre here. Whatever your taste, budget, or even neighborhood, you are sure to find shows that will entertain and, in true Chicago theatre fashion, challenge your thinking.
Mike Davis, a Chicago-based theatre reporter, covers the business and culture of Chicago’s theatre community.
