Going to Chicago next weekend and wondering about getting theatre tickets. We are interested in seeing Second City's Romeo and Juliet. Should we buy ahead of time or wait until we get there? I checked the hot tix website for half price tickets and didn't see it listed this week. Also wondering if anyone has been to the Quadrille. It sounds interesting and a little different. Do they ever sell discounted tickets for that show? We'll be in town for 4 days--Saturday through Tuesday so we'll be looking for weekend tickets.

buy them online or call they apear to be available
http://www.chicagoshakes.com/

I did not know this was going on, I think going to see it myself - looks very funny

Definitely buy tickets in advance if you have a certain play in mind. 'Romeo and Juliet' is sold out for some weekend performances. Hottix are the last available seats, and you get what you pay for. The exception to this is Second City's stages on Wells, which don't have reserved seating. For the best options while you're in the city, visit the theatre's own box office when they aren't busy.

BTW, 'Cyrano," staged by Redmoon Theatre at the Museum of Contemporary Art, got rave reviews and is closing this weekend. chicagoplays.com is a good source of extensive theatre listings.

Be sure to buy the package of museum tickets. The money savings is small, but passing 100 people in the ticket line was wonderful. We bought the book of tickets at the air conditioned aquarium and passed up at least 100 people waiting in the hot sun at the Field Museum. Best hint from Fodor's so far.

Thanks for the help. I will definitely get my tickets for Romeo & Juliet right away. I already have tickets for The Shaggs, which is closing next weekend. Got them on a buy one ticket, get one for half price deal.
Thanks, KateS, for the museum tip. We definitely don't want to miss the Field Museum. Chicago is one of my favorite cities but I haven't been back for at least 5 years. I hear they've done a great job revitalizing the waterfront and bringing theatre back into the city. My husband and I are really looking forward to our trip.

Thanks for the advice, chicgal. (In fact, thanks for all the advice you've given to everyone about Chicago. I've been cruising the other Chicago threads and you always have helpful suggestions.) It's just me and my husband this trip and we're only here for 4 days so I don't think we're going to have time for everything. One of my must sees is the Field Museum so I might just get advance tickets for that one. We don't want to cram too much in as Chicago is such a great city for just walking around, especially if the weather is good.

WOW! Looks like we picked a busy weekend to visit. We'll probably do the Field Museum on Monday or Tuesday. We have tickets for Romeo and Juliet Sunday afternoon so thought we'd go early to Navy Pier and look around before the show. We just got the Hilton on Priceline for Saturday night, which is right across from Grant Park so that could be kind be a problem. Do you know where and when the Pride Parade will be? If we're going from the Hilton to Navy Pier will we be likely to run into road closures? Would it be easier to walk than to take a taxi? The other variable is that we are moving to the Omni Ambassador East on Sunday (don't ask--we had trouble getting full stay at one hotel for our trip--Saturday was a problem). It appears that this hotel is on the northern side of Chicago. We may drop off our luggage there and then walk over to Navy Pier if it's close enough.
Actually, since the Hilton is close to Grant Park, maybe we'll take in the Taste of Chicago when we arrive Saturday. Our flight gets in around 8:30 a.m. and we probably won't be able to check into our hotel right away. I was wondering what we would do that early on Saturday (or maybe shopping!!).

Thanks, Chicgal, for your response. I wasn't able to post a reply on your new thread. We're flying into O'Hare. I'm sure we'll be able to leave our luggage at the Hilton. Most hotels have a check room for that purpose. It sounds like we're in for an exciting time next weekend. My husband and I are really looking forward to it. I've been reading the Chicago postings here and checking out the recommended websites and it looks like there's a lot of fun things happening. Thanks again for the help.

Since you are staying at the Hilton, you might want to walk over to the Summer Dance stage in Grant Park, which is across the street and about two blocks north of the Hilton. They have music and free dance lessons Thursday through Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. Not many people know about it, but it is a good time.

BTW, the Hilton has (or used to have!) a free shuttle to North Michigan Avenue. You can also take the Chicago Free Trolley around to Navy Pier, etc. See
http://www.cityofchicago.org/Transportation/trolleys/

To avoid the crowds at the Country and Western Fest, use Dearborn, Clark or LaSalle street to move north and south. Columbus and Monroe will be closed in Grant Park. The Gay Pride parade is 3-4 miles north of downtown near Belmont Avenue; it doesn't affect Michigan Avenue traffic. If you do visit the Belmont Ave. area, take the El. Parking is a nightmare. Ditto for Navy Pier on the weekends. Have a great visit!

Thanks for the info, patg. I'll check at the Hilton when we arrive to see if they have a free shuttle to the North Michigan area. After checking other posts here, I think we're going to try to take public transport from O'Hare. When I told my husband it was $1.75 per person vs. $40 for a taxi, he said let's try the El. I also appreciate the information on specific streets to avoid. It's always frustrating going to a city you don't know, plotting your route on a map, and then finding out that some of the streets you planned to use are closed or jammed with traffic.

The El is great, although a taxi would be fairly fast on a Saturday morning. If you do take the Blue Line, get off at Jackson and State, and either grab a cab, or walk two blocks east to Michigan Avenue, then 3-4 blocks south to the hotel. It's a great introduction to the city if you didn't overpack!

We plan to do some shopping se we're traveling light this time. If the weather is good, I think we'll probably walk from Jackson & State so we can get a feel for the city. When we were younger, we used to just cab it everywhere but that way we never really knew where we were in relation to other parts of the city and never knew how we got there. Now that we're not in such a hurry anymore, we take the time to familiarize ourselves with our surroundings before we go running all over the place.
We plan to visit Taste of Chicago when we arrive Saturday, then a show Saturday night (The Shaggs). On Sunday, we'll do Navy Pier when we see Romeo & Juliet. We're planning on having a nice lunch or dinner Monday (maybe John Hancock Building for the view), and the architecture boat tour, and then the Field Museum on Tuesday. I think that will leave us time for some shopping one of the days. We leave for home on Wednesday mid-morning. We chose mainly the things we really wanted to do so we won't be frantic trying to fit everything in. Does our schedule look fairly easy? We don't want to knock ourselves out and we'll probably try to walk or take the El wherever possible so we can stop if we see womething interesting along the way.

We are planning to try to see the Shaggs this weekend. Does anyone know how to get the buy one, get one free tickets?

www.hotix.org
You must buy them in person.
Tickets for all weekend performances go on sale Friday morning; the Randolph Street booth opens before the others.

If you are interested in a particular show and have only a limited amount of time, Hottix is not a good choice.

Sorry, I see you were referring to a specific offer at Lookingglass Theatre. Their website says:
BUY ONE TICKET...
GET ONE TICKET HALF-PRICE!
Lookingglass is celebrating its one year anniversary in the Water Tower Water Works. Share in the celebration with a special offer to see the Jeff Recommended Musical, The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World. Contact the Box Office at 312.337.0665 and mention this offer. Restrictions apply. Subject to availability. Offer expires June 27.

"Our flight gets in around 8:30 a.m. and we probably won't be able to check into our hotel right away. I was wondering what we would do that early on Saturday (or maybe shopping!!)."

That's perfect timing... you could take a walk along the lake or sit in a sidewalk café and people watch. We like the Corner Bakery in River North, but there are probably some closer to the Hilton. One of our favorite restaurants in Chicago for lunch is The Berghoff:

http://www.berghoff.com/

Best,
Sandy

Thanks, Sandy. We love to people watch. I think we'll probably go over to Taste of Chicago as soon as it opens, then when it gets too crowded (if our hotel room isn't available yet) we'll find a little cafe to relax and have a spot of tea (no, we're not British, we just like tea).