Chicago is known across the world for its innovative and vibrant live theatre scene. Add a performance (or two!) to your itinerary – plus, experience many shows on a budget with half-price theater tickets from Hot Tix!
Want to find out what else is playing this summer? View the League of Chicago Theatres 2023 summer theatre guide.
What the Constitution Means to Me
Drama/Comedy
TimeLine Theatre
Now playing – July 2
The first Chicago-based production of the Tony Award-nominated Pulitzer Prize finalist! Fifteen-year-old Heidi earned her college tuition by winning Constitutional debate competitions across the United States. In this hilarious, hopeful, and guttingly human debate-meets-play, she resurrects her teenage self in order to trace the relationship between four generations of women—all while grappling with the founding document that, for better and worse, shapes their lives. Check for half-price tickets at Hot Tix!
Shaw vs. Tunney
Drama/Comedy
Grippo Stage Company at Theater Wit
Now playing – July 8
The story of the deep and enduring relationship that developed between George Bernard Shaw, the celebrated Irish playwright, and Gene Tunney, the American world heavyweight boxing champion – and the “miracle” that changed their lives forever. Check for half-price tickets at Hot Tix!
Tango
Drama/Comedy
PrideArts at PrideArts Center
Now playing – June 11
An elderly waitress at a Chinese restaurant in Singapore refuses to serve a same-sex couple and their adoptive son because of her religious beliefs. When a video of her actions is shared online, this erupts into vitriol, heated debates and a protest rally that rocks the country. Check for half-price tickets at Hot Tix!
PERSONALITY: The Lloyd Price Musical
Musical
The Studebaker Theater
June 2 – Sept. 3
From humble beginnings in his hometown of Kenner, Louisiana, Lloyd Price overcame incredible obstacles on his way to a revolutionary musical career. He became the first Black man to open a nightclub below Harlem in New York City, and the first recording artist of any color to create his own record label, generating more hits like “Stagger Lee” and “Personality,” and spreading the New Orleans R&B sound throughout the world. Check for half-price tickets at Hot Tix!
The Memory Place
Drama
Pivot Arts at The Edge Theater
June 1 – 11
A unique multi-arts experience about cultural memory and hidden histories. The Memory Place uplifts collective memories from groups that have too often been left out of the public narrative about our collective past. Come share in powerful stories, celebratory dance, music and interactive events that bring us together as a vibrant community. Check for half-price tickets at Hot Tix!
Bowie in Warsaw
Drama/Comedy
Trap Door Theatre
Now playing – July 1
The women of Warsaw tremble with the rumor of a strangler on the prowl… Set in the landscape of a true crime story from 1970’s Poland, Bowie In Warsaw is an absurd comedy about the repression of self expression and love in a Soviet era Poland. Playwright Dorota Masłowska creates an atomic-era Polish landscape, which might even inspire a visit from David Bowie himself. Check for half-price tickets at Hot Tix!
Being Seen
Drama/Comedy
RG Productions at The Den Theatre
June 14 – July 2
The Chicago Premiere of Being Seen, Written and Directed by Richard Gustin, enjoyed a Sold Out Run during its New York Premiere Voted “Fan Favorite” at the New York International Fringe Festival, this captivating, fast-paced comedy by Richard Gustin looks at launching a “fresh start.” An actor answers the audition notice of a highly acclaimed director and finds herself navigating his outlandish creative process. This tour de force comedy asks the question: “What would you do for a dream?” Check for half-price tickets at Hot Tix!
Arabia, Arabia
Drama/Comedy
The Plagiarists at Jarvis Square Theater
Playing June 15 – July 2
It’s 1761. Five researchers have been selected by the Danish government to travel to the Arabian peninsula, to “Happy Arabia.” But the journey isn’t as happy as its destination. The doctor is incompetent, the botanist is elitist, and the linguist has enough arsenic to kill them all. And that’s hardly the worst of it. When the Narrator appears and tries to save the expedition from certain failure, the researchers begin to realize that their story may not belong to them anymore. Check for half-price tickets at Hot Tix!
The Who’s Tommy
Musical
Goodman Theatre
Playing June 13 – July 23
Myth and spectacle combine in a fresh reinvention of The Who’s exhilarating 1969 rock concept album, Tommy—including the unforgettable anthems “I’m Free,” “See Me, Feel Me,” “Sensation” and “Pinball Wizard.” After witnessing his father shoot his rival, the young Tommy Walker is lost in the universe, endlessly and obsessively staring into the mirror. An innate knack for pinball catapults him from reticent adolescent to celebrity savior. Check for half-price tickets at Hot Tix!
Lucy and Charlie’s Honeymoon
Musical
Lookingglass Theatre Company
Now playing – July 16
Hooray! Lucy and Charlie just got hitched…and they’re embracing the worst of the American dream. They do what they want. Take what they want. They’re First Generation Asian American Renegades. In love. And on the run. Featuring original country western and folk songs, directed by Amanda Dehnert (Peter Pan (A Play), Eastland), Lucy and Charlie’s Honeymoon tracks a young couple as they rev it down quintessentially American highways and across stereotypic borders, fleeing expectation and trawling up trouble along the way. Check for half-price tickets at Hot Tix!
Note that the schedules included above are subject to change; visit the Hot Tix website for exact dates and half-price ticket availability. Visit ChicagoPlays.com to find other exciting productions on stage, and find insider guides to all things performing arts and the Chicago theatre scene to create your Chicago itinerary.
