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If you're even mildly interested in the performing arts, Chicago has the means to put you in your seat—be it floor, mezzanine, or balcony. Just pick your preference (theater, dance, or symphony orchestra), and let an impressive body of artists do the rest. From critically acclaimed big names to fringe groups that specialize in experimental work, there truly is a performance art for everyone.
Ticket prices vary wildly, depending on whether you're seeing a high-profile group or venturing into more obscure territory. Chicago Symphony tickets range from $15 to $200, the Lyric Opera from $30 to $180 (if you can get them). Smaller choruses and orchestras charge from $10 to $30; watch the listings for free performances. Commercial theater tickets cost between $15 and $75; smaller experimental ensembles might charge $5, $10, or pay-what-you-can. Movie prices range from $11 for first-run houses to as low as $1.50 at some suburban second-run houses.
Fine-tuned performances, such as the glittering production of The Nutcracker, make this Chicago's premier classical-dance company. The Joffrey performed at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University for nearly two decades but took up residence with the Lyric Opera in 2021.
The Neo-Futurists artist collective is most famous for their long-running, late-night hit The Infinite Wrench, where 30 original plays are performed in 60 minutes. Performances take place at their intimate, black-box space adjacent to Andersonville where audience members often participate in the show.
Chicago's oldest folk-music school has served as folk central in the city since it opened in 1957. The welcoming spot in Lincoln Square hosts outstanding performances by national and local acts in an intimate-feeling, 420-seat concert hall that has excellent acoustics. A major expansion in 2012 added a new, environment-friendly facility across the street, with a 150-seat performance hall and acoustically engineered classrooms.
Chicago's music scene got a major upgrade in 2022, when the owners of small-but-cool clubs like the Empty Bottle converted a disused Morton Salt facility into one of the country's most exciting places to see live music. There are two distinct spaces here: the acoustically excellent Shed, an indoor venue that's big enough to attract acts like the Flaming Lips and PJ Harvey but small enough to feel special, and the Fairgrounds, an outdoor stage with music festival vibes perched beside the Chicago River. In 2024, homegrown brewer Goose Island launched an on-site brewpub with a great riverside patio, adding a pre-show pint spot into the mix.
Steppenwolf's alumni roster speaks for itself: John Malkovich, Gary Sinise, Joan Allen, and Laurie Metcalf all honed their chops with this troupe. The company's trademark cutting-edge acting style and consistently successful productions have won national acclaim. An ultramodern 2021 expansion added a 400-seat theater in the round, an education center, and two bars to the company’s already-impressive assets.
Telling imaginative, almost magical stories is Redmoon Theater's specialty. The company's “spectacles” take a number of forms but can best be described as madcap theater with a twist—imagine a mix of live music, puppetry, pageantry, and visual art. Some are staged outdoors, others inside a converted Pilsen warehouse called Spectacle Hall.
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