December in Chicago theater is mostly holiday shows, and that’s fine: some of them are very good. But the month also has a few serious plays finishing their runs and some musicals that have nothing to do with Christmas. Here is what is worth your evenings, starting with the five that define the month, plus … Read more
November is when Chicago theater runs two seasons at once. The fall openings are still finding their audiences, the holiday shows start arriving before Thanksgiving, and the Loop trades its fall tours for family fare. Here is what is worth your evenings this month, starting with the five that define it. The five that define … Read more
Explore Chicago theaters, from downtown stages to neighborhood companies and regional venues, with links to venue guides and practical resources.
Goodman Theatre Chicago guide: downtown location, Albert and Owen seating, and practical tips for planning your visit.
Steppenwolf Theatre Chicago guide: Lincoln Park location, seating, performance spaces and practical tips for planning your visit.
How long do Broadway musicals and plays last? Explore typical running times, intermissions and real comparisons from ChicagoCritic’s theater reviews.
Hot Tix is still the first place most of us check when we want cheap Chicago theatre tickets. It’s run by the League of Chicago Theatres, and it puts on a few themed promotions each year. Half-Price Holidays is set for Dec. 3–14, 2026, with details to be posted at hottix.org. This guide covers Hot … Read more
Chicago has been a playwright’s city for a century, and many of the best plays written here are also about the city itself: its newsrooms and courtrooms, South Side apartments and North Side storefronts, cabs, bleachers and junk shops. This guide collects the essential plays set in Chicago. For each one we explain why the … Read more
Only a handful of musicals actually take place in Chicago, and they make an unusually varied group: a vaudeville about murderesses, a greaser musical that started in a Lincoln Avenue trolley barn, a Rodgers and Hart show about a nightclub heel, a holiday story about Christmas trees crossing Lake Michigan, and newer shows about the … Read more
Chicago is the rare Broadway musical that carries our city’s name and earned it. Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly grew out of sensational Chicago murder cases that began in 1924 and captivated the city’s newspapers and courts, cases covered by a young Chicago Tribune reporter who turned what she saw into a stage satire. When … Read more