Beautiful building, been here for several performances. Friendly staff. Usually use SpotHero to…read morefind a decent priced parking nearby. Holds about 3,500 people I believe, so the lines for drinks etc can get very crowded. The trick for entry is to use the side entrance which has 3 security lines and moves fairly quickly.

The Chicago Theater is a beautiful landmark to see a show. The inside is inspired by French…read morearchitecture with crystal chandelier, several murals and a grand staircase. 5/5 stars for the entry process! Security and bag check moved incredibly fast and were very well-organized. We had seats on the main floor and they were surprisingly roomy, and even from the side, the view of the stage was great. This is a great venue to see a show.

We attended Trickery on Saturday 04/18/26. Aaron was adept at working with a diverse audience to…read moreinclude them and maintain control of his performance in a very intimate setting. Because it's BYOB you'll get the 20-somethings that feel they have to get loaded beforehand and then act the fool while attending (do you hear that "Neil"? No one wants the focus on you acting like it was your first experience with alcohol) but Aaron was skilled at bypassing them without causing tension or escalating bad behavior. Aaron's attitude is one of someone who has worked hard to make this little venture work, and he deserves respect and recognition for his obvious commitment and work ethic. His act included variations of tricks performed by other magicians, with his own twists. He is an expert at sleight of hand and distraction, which is considerably more difficult in a room about the size of an average residential living-room. He had an appropriate sense of humor aligned with an audience coming to Boystown, an overtly gay neighborhood in Chicago (if you're not familiar). However he wasn't garish, flaming, flamboyant, or offensive; he managed a perfect balance of innuendo humor and audience engagement without being cheap or ingenuine. The snarky one-liners will likely go over your young kids' heads (although bring them to an early show, your 9 year old doesn't belong in Boystown at 10 pm on a weekend), and he carries himself with class avoiding the use of profanity or graphic terms. Again, I can't overstate that his tricks were amazing, impressive, and captivating - as magic should be. You leave the show shaking your head and wondering how it's done - which truly makes it "magic". You would be hard-pressed to spend $36.36/person for an hour of live entertainment that can match Aaron's performance. Pro-tip: If you're driving there you will need to use an app to reserve parking, as there aren't garages like downtown Chicago and every street is filled with so many signs there's no way you will return and find your car not-towed or not-ticketed. Chicago does this on purpose to generate revenue; you'll see "street cleaning" on Tuesday from xx hour to xx hour, no parking when snow is over 2 inches OR any time from Dec 1 through April 1, loading zone, 15 minute stopping/standing with flashers, no parking, residential permit zone only, bike lanes, bus stop restrictions, etc. If you find street parking and think you've beaten the system, think again. Nobel Prize Laureates, Rhodes Scholars, Ivy League PhDs, Mensa members - you can meet them all at Chicago Central Auto Pound retrieving their vehicles. Stephen Hawking couldn't drive, but if he could and he parked in that neighborhood all the quantum mechanics in the world wouldn't make his towed car reappear from the Chicago Parking space-time continuum. The nice thing is if you do reserve parking and give yourself enough time you can walk to many, many restaurants and bars in the area that are open even after the 10 pm show ends. Thank you Aaron for a wonderful experience, you made my wife's birthday memorable for both of us.

If you're looking for something a little different, this is a fantastic magic/comedy show not too…read morefar from Wrigley Field. Great for date nights and if you're lucky, you might end up on stage. It's also BYOB and there's a 7/11 a block away.

This was my first visit to The Second City and I can't wait to go back!…read more WHAT IS IT: This Chi town staple is a creative and fun theater that offers a rotation of improv and sketch comedy shows. The roster of well known Second City alumni includes greats like Tina Fey, Chris Farley, Amy Poehler, Chris Farley, Bill Murray and more. We saw Improv Supernova and what's great about this show is that no two performances are ever the same. WHERE IS IT: The Chicago location is in the historic Old Town neighborhood which has cute shops, cafes, and restaurants in the surrounding blocks. They also have locations in Toronto and NYC. PARKING and ACCESSIBILITY: There is a garage attached to Piper's Alley. They do not validate. There is also metered street parking which can be limited depending on the day and time. The building has elevators and escalators and the theater has wheelchair accessible seating. FOOD, DRINK, and MERCH: They offer fun cocktails, mocktails, wine, food items, and a selection of candy and snacks. You can also pick up cute merch such as mugs, glasses, shirts, sweaters, and hats.

First time at an improv show, Second City was a recommendation from a friend…read more The place is really big & well decorated. We got reasonably priced tickets and headed up to the 3rd floor. The space was small and intimate but it was great being so close to the stage. Very cute little spot and fun activity with friends or a date.

05/12/26 - My wife & I went The Cadillac Theater to see Les Miserables. The show was inside…read moreCadillac Palace. This was the first time I have been inside this theater. We were seated on the balcony in the third row so we had a pretty good view of the stage. The Cadillac Theater is a beautiful theater located @ 151 W Randolph Street. There's is a parking garage 1/2 block down on Wells where there is a discounted rate for theater goers from 6pm - 11pm during the show. There's Cadillac Theater opened in 1926. It's a beautiful theater w/2300 seat venue supposedly modeled after The Palace of Versailles. I say supposedly because I've been there and I don't see the similarities. That being said the Cadillac theater is a beautiful theater. The seating is spread out so all of the seats have a good view of the stage. The theater is beautiful, the staging for the musical Les Miserable was very impressive w/the props & stage items changing seamlessly. Couple this w/an excellent performance & it was a very enjoyable evening

Although the actual performance and show were great, what a horrible staff that works here (sans 1…read moreperson who actually helped). When we first arrived, upon checking our tickets, our tickets wouldn't scan/verify. The usher was getting frustrated with us for this, and made us go to the ticket booth to get our physical tickets. We showed the person the tickets on our phone, and she printed them out for us -- after several rounds of confusion on her part. She was so soft spoken (in a noisy theatre entrance) that it led to much confusion. After this, we had to "cut" back into the entrance line (the security guard was helpful here) and we got thru the gates, finally. Then this usher/ticket checker who scanned our tickets (the 2nd time) was literally yelling at us on which direction to go (not a yelling as in being loud, but yelling like we were stupid). I go the way he yells at me because he won't stop yelling at me to go the direction he points me in -- which is the wrong direction. We had orchestra seats and were headed there, but this usher/ticket checker was yelling at us to go up the stairs. Fine, maybe I'm wrong. We get upstairs, and the 2nd usher again points us in the wrong direction to go further upstairs. This is again incorrect. We are flustered and confused, and not sure what is going on. We finally reach the 3rd usher at the top of the stairs, and he finally points us in the correct direction. The ushers here (Sans the 3rd one) were incompetent and rude.

We came here as something to do while in town for the evening with no plans and we didn't have a…read morelot of hope for the event, but thought it would be fun... We didn't know it would be GREAT!!! We decided to buy stage-side seats and we were seated right next to the area where the king & queen would sit and watch. This play is absolutely incredible! The actors and staff were all great and hilarious! I don't want to give too much of it away, but we did it all and had a great experience. Definitely worth visiting!

I'm going to be the dissenter and call in Fentanyl Shakespeare. My wife are fun people, dance to…read morethe music in public when no one else is and love comedy not dependent upon shock and gutter talk but on hilarity and well executed timing. I think if you are 21 ish you will love it and all of the jokes that require you are up to date on the latest pop stars back stories. We endured. We smiled. We looked at our watches, smiled and sighed with the others in the room who had that why am I here look. People who had the most fun arrived hammered in my humble opinion. I while I am on the topic of pain, and those pew benches. Omg folks what's the cost of a long ? $300? Wow. That was equally painful. Some of have firm booties Staff was nice. Bar set up worked like a charm.

I've lived in the area for a bit and FINALLY made my way to the Laugh Factory. My friends and I…read morecame for a late night stand-up show. Tickets were free!! Honestly a great show, I've been to some really bad stand up before and I was impressed by each of the comedians. There is a two drink minimum per person - alcoholic or non-alcoholic. Not a big deal to us since we were in the mood for a drink and didn't pay for tickets, but something to note if you're coming to a paid show. There's a lot of open seating as well, and all were in great view of the stage. The venue is fairly large while still feeling pretty intimate. If you're a fan of comedy I'd definitely recommend a stand-up show, and I'll probably be back to check out one of the paid ones!

3-4 out of the 7 comedians were decent or better. Tickets were cheap at $25/piece but the 2 drink…read moreminimum is stupid. Just include it in the price of the ticket. My wife and I don't drink but we ended up spending $50+ on mocktails which was about the same as the tickets and was an unexpected surprise. Stupid policy. The chairs are also very uncomfortable. Try to get a booth - they looked comfier.

I have seen the magic of Dennis Watkins prior to The Magic Parlour even opening so when he…read moreannounced this theater as part of the Goodman built for magic, I was all in! I have been there for Dennis's solo show with my daughter and cousins and I treated my dad, my mom, and my family to Three Card Monte for his birthday as a way to spend time together. Three Card Monte was where the audience was seated at three tables and three different close up magicians rotated through. The magic was literally happening in front of your eyes! The variety in the three magicians was great--they had a variety of tricks, varying levels of sarcasm and humor, and overall, made it one of the best Sunday evenings I have had! Your ticket comes with a drink ticket--I don't drink, but they made me a mean Shirley Temple. My daughter bought a 2nd one at intermission and it was very reasonably priced. I made sure to have cash to tip my bartender. With Dennis's solo show, there was an option to pay to be a VIP where we got a taste of close up magic right after the general show. It was very cool and I recommend adding it on. If you love magic or even if you just know someone who loves magic, I recommend! A classy venue with top notch entertainment!

Been a couple of times, the magician is a great entertainer and makes you believe in real magic…read more I tore a dollar bill into 8 pieces 2 separate times without letting go of bill and as you can see I still have it. Great mentalist as well.

This theatre is a welcome alternative to its larger-scale counterparts in the Loop. It is smaller…read moreand newer, so it has modern amenities, for whatever it lacks in old-school grandeur. Location is excellent, right next to/under Water Tower Place. Please be aware that parking underneath this building is feasible, but only a few doors are open at Water Tower Place after hours, and there are no signs or pieces of helpful info to alert you to this. It gets a bit crowded, nothing serious, but I think I went to a show on a night when few people had any spatial awareness...you say "excuse me" and nobody sees fit to move...weird! The bar lines seemed pretty long, but the bathroom lines were quick. There are multiple entrances to the women's bathroom, so it was a bit of an awkward "zipper merge" that we all laughed about, but this could've been planned better. None of that is enough to take stars away, because the overall experience is amazing. While watching Titanique (a hilarious, unhinged, brilliant parody-style musical), my friend and I found our seats comfortable and with easy sight lines. We are both very short, but our view was not blocked one bit! The stadium seating here is very intentionally done, so it's hard have a bad view. When you're short, it is rare to have this, so I really appreciated it. Also, the theatre is small enough, so even from "far away," you still feel close to the action!

Fabulous theatre we discovered quite by accident. We had a few hours to spare and discovered this…read moretheatre had a few seats for its showing of Titanique. This is not a huge theatre, but we found it the perfect size with all seats accessible and modern. The full bar up front and the welcoming staff here were also much appreciated. Highly recommend this theater for all.

This is a small, intimate theater and honestly a really unique experience. The space itself is…read moresuper interesting, I think it used to be some sort of old water or industrial facility, though I'm not totally sure. It adds a lot to the atmosphere. We saw White Rooster and thought it was really good. Because of how the space is set up, you feel like you're part of the show instead of just watching it, which made it way more engaging than a typical theater.

We saw a production of Moby Dick here that we will never forget. Amazing production design- so…read moreimpactful and nuanced. Just great.

Built in 1889, this is an absolutely stunning theatre. We attended a Raye concert and was not only…read moresurprised by the sheer size of the space but it is both visually stunning as well as acoustically amazing. It is 5 stories with balconies cantilevered over the main floor. Just a heads up that drinks/booze isn't available on every floor. The line moved quickly and the number of attendants available make quick work of guests trying to find their seats. The stairs are steep so hold off on the 4th or 5th beverage! A great place to watch a show.

Opulence! Comfort! We enjoyed Ludovico Einaudi's Summer Portraits tour and it was amazing. The…read moretheatre was full but still ran very well. We were checked in quickly despite long lines. This is a spectacular venue with gorgeous architecture. Be prepared to enjoy a beautiful time, no matter the performance.