There is one day of the year that's been requested as a day off every year for the past seven years…read moreand it ain't my birthday and it ain't Arbor Day. It's B-Fest. Held the last weekend in January at Northwestern University B-Fest is a 24 hour bad movie marathon spanning 6pm Friday until 6pm Saturday and has shown some of the worst films of the 20th and 21st centuries. Such heyday gems as Kingdom of the Spiders and The Magnetic Monster all the way through psychedelic 60's bombs, 70's blacksploitation, 80's classics and even contemporary used diapers like Baby Geniuses II and Battlefield Earth have seen screentime. But that's only half the story, the real attraction is the MST3K-like audience participation that takes place as well as the crowned king of B-Movies, Plan 9 From Outer Space as the perennial midnight movie at the fest. Get your tickets early as it's sold out quicker and quicker every year. Show up with comfortable clothes, a pillow, a blanket, a stack of paper plates and enough lozenges to quell your inevitable laryngitis from yelling out every quip that occurs to you. It's simply put the most fun you can have without waking up the next morning to something awkward.

B-Fest is 24 hours of cinematic mayhem - if you're coming to "enjoy the movies," you might as well…read morestay home. This is all about yelling back at the screen and making your fellow festgoers laugh. B-Fest rewards thorough preparation and caffeine consumption, so do your homework and bring a toothbrush. If you love b-movies, you don't want to miss B-Fest.

Great show! Gaslight was terrifically acted and the set was amazing!! I am glad to be a season…read moreticket holder.

Delightful and intimate theater on the north suburbs of Chicago in Skokie. My wife and I are big…read moretheater goers and typically go downtown: to our delight we are pleased that we have a great option going the opposite direction of wherr we normally go! A couple things I like about the theatre is that there is not a bad seat in the house! You can see anything and hear everything. The attention to detail on the sets make it seem very immersive for the audience. Parking is incredibly easy here! If you need to make it a night on town plenty of options to eat at right by including Old Orchard mall.

I know of a few theaters in the suburbs, but Big Noise isn't one I had heard of until the last year…read morewhen they had a table at a Park Ridge community event. Apparently they started as a theatre in Winnetka, and when their theatre space there was under renovation they made their way to Des Plaines and decided to stay put as Big Noise. The theater's name is an homage to their beginnings in Winnetka, from the jazz tune "Big Noise From Winnetka". Now you know! They apparently perform as Winnetka Theatre at the Winnetka Community House as well; the theatre has an interesting history for sure. They are a non-equity theatre, and they list audition information on their website for their upcoming shows. The company produced a play called Pete the Cat this season so my toddler's play group all went together. It was fun and they did well for any age, but for a group of 2 and 3 year olds they were phenomenally good audience members. The play was about an hour long and had there were a couple of spots where the kids could dance or respond to the actors which I think helped keep them engaged. I really enjoyed my visit here and I'm looking forward to checking out The Wizard of Oz this year and learning what they'll be doing next season.

This was my second time attending a show here, but first time I've felt it necessary to give a…read morereview. We saw "Disaster!" and sad to say the sound and the lighting lived up to the title. Which was unfortunate because the performers were AMAZING. Luckily we were in the third row so even when the microphones didn't work - which was pretty often - we could still hear most of the show. But the script is great (I've seen it before) and there is some wonderful wordplay that was completely lost because we couldn't hear. Spotlights appeared on empty sets while two actors performed their lines in utter darkness in another area. The orchestra was on the stage, normally a nice addition, but when microphones didn't t work, even the fake Muzak in the elevator scene was enough to obliterate an entire conversation. I complained after the show and got a "we know". No apology that we paid $40 a ticket for this. Or any indication the we're going to fix it. I hope they do. And worth mentioning that "Gray Gardens" (the only other show I've seen there) did not suffer from these problems. So there's hope

You can see from anywhere. The seats were comfortable! The acoustics were great! We were here for a…read moreconcert. There is campus parking for the events. If there is another event that I like in the future I will attend

Cahn is located on Northwestern University's campus, but it is available for use by outside…read moreorganizations as well. I have visited here for a performance by Music Theatre Works (at the time known as Light Opera Works), and was pleasantly surprised by my visit. Parking can be a big pain in the ass in a city like Chicago, where I've most often been a patron of various theatrical events, so let's get this out of the way early: Parking is a dream at Cahn! On the weekends, I think it is, it's free and abundant. When I was here the lot directly across the street was already filled, but then again I'm not what one would call overly early (though I'm never late for a performance!), so perhaps it would have been an option if I'd been on the earlier side. Luckily there was parking within a block or two that was easy. The theater is surprisingly large; it's about 1,000 seats and is a proscenium stage. Seats are good throughout the theatre. I think Music Theatre Works now plays out of the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, but if I have the opportunity to attend an event at Cahn Auditorium again I won't hesitate because I know that the space will allow for a great experience.

We've been having a heatwave and daily thunderstorms so it was questionable whether this event…read morewould take place. For 2026, they moved the start time an hour early to avoid rain. Before the fireworks, they had some kids games, a band, and maybe more. Maine East had their concession stand open too, serving pizza, cotton candy, drinks, hot dogs, etc. There was a good crowd, but the lightning detection system went off five minutes after the fireworks started and they asked folks to head out. That's ok, I'd rather be safe. The biggest issue was concerned was parking--specifically, preferred parking. I bought a pass since it was our first time attending and had no frame of reference for how difficult it would be to find a parking spot, how long it would take to get out, and so on. Here are my issues with the ($30-40) preferred parking: - Tailgating. I don't have a problem in theory--the execution is a problem. Tailgating needs to be parked separately from those who aren't, easily achieved by selling tailgating and non-tailgating passes. Or they could have an end time for tailgating. Because when we were leaving due to the Thorguard alarm going off per the organizer's request, some of us were trying to get to our cars through a bunch of tailgating that was blocking a dozen or more cars in. Our car was by another party leaving; the tailgates started one car away from us. Not one of those people moved at all. We had to back out of our spaces, carefully avoiding people. And it may have been the same even if everything had gone as planned this year since they may have wanted to continue tailgating past the end of the show. This is why I say they need to either have a space reserved for tailgaters--preferably further away from the exit, to make it easier for non-tailgaters to get out--or they need to make sure people pack up their gear by a certain time, and enforce it. - The volunteers disappear at some point. When we left I didn't see any volunteers in the parking lot. I'm not sure there were any near the entrance, because cars were still entering the preferred lot (so, they hadn't blocked it off to arriving traffic even though they were telling people to leave). This caused issues trying to exit. When I was backing out, some guy who I think was one of the tailgaters was kinda guiding me out, and there were cars entering the parking lot that were waiting for me as I was backing up. I think that entrance may have been the planned exit for the lot (according the the note enclosed with my parking pass detailing the original plan, you could only enter that lot until 8:45, so if it had started after 9 as planned that could have been used for an exit). As it was, that entrance was blocked since there were cars entering. Those of us trying to leave had literally nowhere to exit since cars were entering there and there were tailgaters down many of the rows, blocking us from driving down the parking rows. I had to get out of my car to move a barricade out of the way because there was nowhere else for those of us exiting to go. There was no one--not a police officer, park district employee, etc.--directing traffic, creating an exit, or making people pack up to leave. - Cars are parked in diagonally, rather than straight. I guess perhaps this is for the ease of the volunteers so they don't have to try and convince people to park straight (who would probably park poorly anyway) but as someone who helped park cars for football games for about 10 years from the time I was 11, it's the most efficient way to do it.

A nice, annual, and free Park Ridge tradition. And even better - walking distance for us, so no…read moredriving needed. But if you do need to drive, lots of neighborhood parking is available and nearby as long as you don't wait til the last minute.

Went to see the play, Baked. It was delightful. Staging was excellent. Story line was funny and…read morepoigant. The space is nicely set-up. There is a bar for drink purchases. It is a nice evening out. The only problem is that the area is parking challenged. Do come a little earlier to secure pay to park spots. The area has little free street parking. The venue itself is usually air conditioned to be on the cool side. A light jacket or layer is highly recommended for all performances.

Intimate space for some great shows. Bar staff is friendly, as well as other support staff…read more Acoustics are good. I was impressed. Nice job.

Came to watch The Odyssey here and loved the design of the whole place! It gave an old school,…read moreretro feel with comfy seats. I liked that there wasn't long ads in the beginning and found it amusing to see the theater advertising their own events -- like trivia nights. The theater was very dark, just the way I like it and there weren't many people around and there was more than enough space to choose your own seats. Got some popcorn and diet coke (obviously) and enjoyed the three hour long movie thoroughly. Everything was clean and well kept, I can't wait to watch all the latest movies here.

I love walking to the movies from my house in Logan Square. I have lots of fun at trivia night. The…read morelate-night repertory programming is super! I saw the Blackhawks win a Stanley Cup there a decade ago and have vivid memories of the crowd spilling out of the theater onto Milwaukee Avenue to celebrate. But honestly, this place is TRASH as a movie theater. The screens are uniformly way too dark. Go see a vivid superhero movie and it looks like it was shot through a dark scrim. That's OK, though. The sound will deafen you even as you see nothing but a dark grey muddle. The cheapness extends to the amenities. They use nasty-ass bottom-of-the-barrel liquid soap in their bathrooms. Have a slash, wash your hands, continue eating your popcorn and congrats -- you now get to eat soap-flavored popcorn. The horrific synthetic small of this pink industrial slime will not leave your fingers for DAYS. Were you hoping that a neighborhood movie theater would have staff on hand to control the feral moviegoers talking on their phones and causing a ruckus during your film's climax? Haha, good luck with that. The AMC a mile away on Western is one of the worst places I have ever seen a movie. What frustrates me about the Logan is that it COULD be GREAT ... but simply isn't. All because they're cheap about their projection equipment and basic amenities.

Super SUPER cool theater and great prices (if you go on Tuesday). Love that the box office is on…read moreone of the upper levels, and you have to keep going up the ramp to get to the theaters! Never seen a movie in a place like that before and it's pretty unique. Saw a movie there last Tuesday with family. We signed up for the membership and go tickets for about $7 each which is pretty good. There's a lot more space that I was expecting in each theater, and our movie was packed. Definitely going to consider getting tickets online next time so we can get better seats. I recommend this spot if you live in the area and want to see a movie!!

This theater is fine. I'm a bit biased towards the one closer to my place that has newer seats and…read morean imax screen but this one has a nice retro charm. It's hidden away inside a semi kind of shopping mall? The escalators were broken so it took a maze of elevator and going to the wrong place to find it. Popcorn was yummy and salty, seats were not great, but the employees were friendly.