DoTheatreLoop
An old Balaban & Katz movie palace, refurbished as one of the city's premier performance venues. It hosts a wide range of events, from spoken word and stand-up comedy to jazz, gospel, and rock. Most people, however, know it for the iconic marquee out front.
Box office Mon-Fri noon-6PM·Generally $27.50 and up. Tours available Apr-Sep Tu,Th noon and Oct-March Tu noon, also the third Sa of every month at 11AM, noon; $5 · Heritage listed
DoParkNear South
Home of the NFL's Chicago Bears, and from 2020 home (again) to Chicago Fire FC of Major League Soccer. If you'd like to see a Bears game, then you have something in common with many Chicagoans; there's no point in listing ticket prices, because they sell out long before the season starts. On the other hand, if you're a soccer fan, you have a much better chance of getting in for a Fire game, even though that team plans on using only the lower seating bowl for most of its games. The original Soldier Field was built in 1924 to honor veterans of the First World War, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. By 2002, the stadium was in dire need of renovations, and the Bears promised to preserve the majestic colonnades of the old stadium. However, when the renovations were complete, what appeared to be a giant spaceship had landed at midfield. The amenities have improved, and it really is a nice facility... on the inside. On the outside, it's hard to say what it is, other than probably the strangest-looking sports venue in America. (It's not a Historic Place any more, having been stripped of that designation in 2006.) Tours are available during the week, M-F 9AM-5PM, by phone appointment; $15 adults, $10 students, $7 seniors, $4 children.
DoTheatreLincoln Park-Old Town
The list of Second City alumni in show business has become something of a cliche — Alan Alda, John Belushi, Bill Murray, on and on — and it's still going strong today, with recent graduates like Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, and Tina Fey. The separate revues on the Mainstage and the e.t.c. theaters are consistently smart, timely, and funny. (The third stage, Donny's Skybox, is rented out to local sketch troupes outside the artistic direction of Second City, and is hit-or-miss.) The third act of the night is fully improvised, and if there's space left among the paying customers from the first two acts, admission is free.
8PM (Sun 7PM), Fri-Sat also 11PM·Tickets M $14, Su,Tu-Th $22, F-Sa $29
DoTheatreLoop
Extraordinary productions of major operas, in the impressive Civic Opera House, overlooking the river; local legend has it that the back-story behind business magnate Samuel Insull's decision to build it was the inspiration for the opera scenes in Citizen Kane. Although highly acclaimed today, there was a minor controversy among purists when they began to project English titles above the stage for non-English operas.
From $31 for weekdays and $42 for weekends