Theatres in Chicago, Illinois

The Schiller Theater Building was designed by Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler of the firm Adler & Sullivan for the German Opera Company. At the time of its construction, it was one among the tallest buildings in Chicago. Its centerpiece was a 1300-seat theater, which is considered by architectural historians to be one of the greatest collaborations between Adler and Sullivan.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Chicago theatre company founded in 1974 by Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry, and Gary Sinise in the Unitarian church on Half Day Road in Deerfield and is now located in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood on Halsted Street. Its name comes from the novel Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse which original member Rick Argosh was reading during the company's inaugural production, And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little, in January 1974.

The Iroquois Theatre fire happened on December 30, 1903, in Chicago, Illinois. It was the deadliest theater fire and the deadliest single-building fire in United States history. At least 602 people died as a result of the fire, but not all the deaths were reported, as some of the bodies were removed from the scene.

The Drury Lane Theatres were a group of six theatres in the Chicago area founded by Tony DeSantis. The playhouses were named after the historic Theatre Royal Drury Lane, built in London in the 17th century. The five suburban locations all provided affordable dinner theatre that was appropriate for families.

The Annoyance Theatre, or Annoyance Productions as it is sometimes called, is a theatre and associated ensemble based in Chicago, Illinois, that deals mainly in absurd and outrageous humor. Many people who have performed with the ensemble have gone on to become successful stage and screen actors. Popular productions have included Co-Ed Prison Sluts and That Darned Antichrist. Annoyance Productions currently runs classes in improvisation, writing, musical improvisation, acting, and solo work.

New Age Vaudeville was an American professional theater troupe that was part of the Chicago comedy boom of the 1980s.

The La Salle Theater was an influential musical, vaudevillian and dramatic playhouse in two Chicago locations, first at 137 West Madison Street, which, until December 1902, had been named the Orpheon Music Hall. The La Salle operated at that location until 1910. Then it moved into a new facility at 110 West Madison, operating as playhouse until 1927, when film began to predominate. The theater closed in the late 1940s. In the spring of 1950, the building was razed to make way for St. Peter's Church.

The Arie Crown Theater is an entertainment venue named after Lithuanian immigrant Arie Crown, who was the father of Henry Crown, the American industrialist and philanthropist, and situated on Lake Shore Drive, Chicago. It opened in 1960, with seating for 5,000 people, one of the largest seating capacities in Chicago. The theater is part of the McCormick Place convention facility, owned by the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority.

Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place is operated by Broadway In Chicago, a Nederlander subsidiary. Located at Water Tower Place in Chicago, Illinois, it was formerly known as Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place. It was reopened in 2004 and seats 549.

Located at Six Corners in the Portage Park neighborhood of Chicago's Northwest Side, the Portage Theater is one of the oldest movie houses in Chicago. The Portage Theater opened on December 11, 1920 as the Portage Park Theatre (the former name is still visible on the building's facade). Built for the Ascher Brothers circuit with 1,938 seats, the Portage was the first theater built specifically for film (and not vaudeville) in the area.