I have been to the Arie Crown Theater on several occasions and it seems to get more disorganized each time. The parking is $23.00 to park but you have to walk what seems to be forever just to get into the theater. Me and my family had tickets last night to see Madea's Farewell Play. The play was awesome but this review is for the Arie. The ushers and staff members were all over the place giving out bad directions. It took us 15 to 20 minutes just to find our seats. The show had started and the ushers were still trying to assist people to their seats. The seats were small and uncomfortable. I was seated next to a guy balled up in his seat with his knees all up against me. I'm not going to be too harsh because the play and setting of the venue was nice. The crowd was a mature audience and you could really enjoy the show. You have to be a very patient person to deal with the long lines to get into the restrooms and for food and drinks. What really pissed me off the most was some of the ushers really didn't know their directions around the venue. You could only use the elevator if you were using a wheel chair. Just a bunch of mess going on last night. It cost people too much money to deal with this type of foolery and chaos. read more

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Improve leaving out the parking lot. It's terrible. Sitting there for close to an hour to leave is crazy

New Jack City the play was great! But the traffic for parking caused us to be late. It was horrible. Our Uber couldn't get through, so ge took us back to our vehicle. We had to pay for parking and it was sooo crowded. Traffic needed better management. read more

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We sat 2 hours in parking lot c after attending the Joe concert last night. Sitting in a parking structure, stuck, not moving, and breathing exhaust fumes felt like being captive. Finally I got out the car and walked all the way to the exit to find out what was the holdup. I saw TATE parking assistant who would Not tell me anything but instead became smart with me. Don't park there. Don't let them continue to treat us paying customers like that read more

I'm in a wheelchair and the theater isn't great for us. The seating was all the way at the top of the theater. The lighting fixture is in the way of sight if anything is on the big screen. The facility itself is nice however not one member of staff could direct us how to get to the wheelchair seating! First they directed us to an elevator that goes only to the basement. Then we finally found it on our own but because no one knew where the wheelchair seating was we had to get off at each floor to find it. Very big waste of time & disappointed that not one staff member knew. Time for some training! read more

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The play seems to be pretty good so far it has comedy and serious characters in it we recommend going to see it read more

Arie Crown Theater - When A Woman's Fed Up - Performing Arts Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Venue once you find it is cool but the set up is like harder than Chinese Arithmetic. The Lyft kept getting lost after 3 Lyfts I got there met up with my friend for the concert. I think any seat is a good seat it's a pretty quaint arena. The sound system was cool. When we left I swear I walked a mile to get to my friends car. ZERO stars for getting to the ride. read more

Arie Crown Theater - Mario - Performing Arts Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Horrible play: Jason's Lyrics. The acting was horrible. The set was horrible. We left after intermission. 75 people walked in a while after the play began. The play itself was boring. For $168 l was expecting something great. This was the most ghetto experience!!! Please do not waste your time or money! read more

Here for a concert. Parking is an adventure. Tonight wasn't too bad despite having the auto show and Toni Braxton's concert on the same night. It was only $10. The staff are decent. The washrooms are ok. Food options suck. Eat beforehand. You'll thank me. The seating is comfortable. The acoustics are good here too. Been here many times before. read more

First and last concert EVER at the Arie Crown last night! Rodriguez = FIVE STARS This venue though . . . ugh, where do I start? First of all, it's in crappy McCormick Place, so that means no easy public transit access, poorly market exits off LSD and the confusion of the southern Museum Campus. Plus . . . $22 parking, WTF. This is why I don't drive. Then, wandering thru what seems like miles of dimly lit, industrial looking hallways. Finally found the venue. A strange, impersonal, weirdly expansive lobby. A couple desultory food carts selling pizza, ribs and hot dogs. Really?! All the fantastic food - and food trucks - in this city and the venue chooses the three most overdone, boring varieties? Overwhelming smell of hot dogs in the lobby - for me this is not a bad thing, but not all have that opinion. Booze: Way too few bartenders for what looked like packed house. The selections? $6 for Bud or MGD. Corona Light is a "premium" beer, at $7. Okay, we're done here. Again . . . all the great *breweries* in Chicago? It seems like they're really missing the mark to get some local flavor up in here. But what do I know, I appreciate character. The concert venue itself. MASSIVE. Yes, there are few unobstructed views, but if you're up in the nosebleeds, there is little connection to what's going on on stage. The seats are stumble-y, not enough floor lighting to see where you're going if you happen to pop out during the concert. The sound was great, I'll say that. It's just too giant. My personal opinion is that I prefer the small, dirty rock clubs to see artists, not a giant venue like this. Good for Rodriguez, though - he packed the joint and the music was . . . fantastic. read more

Easy to park and find your car after the show. Any seat in this theatre is a good seat. Ticket collecting is done in orderly fashion.

Met with long lines and metal detectors at the Arie Crown theater entrance, six to be exact... three on each side of the theater's doorway entrance. This set-up was new and a complete surprise to me from my last visit about a few years ago. The whole set-up from start to finish is very disorganized and complete chaos. I was surprised at the complete lack of structure. Crowd seemed raunchier and rougher around the edges than I've recalled of past. Then again, it could just be the event of the evening was the stage play Set It Off. I had a great view of the stage from Mainfloor seats in Row V. Ok evening all in all. The lines to pay for parking afterward were extra long (again no structure or organization) as there are only five pay machines available nearing the exit. Parking must be paid prior to getting in your vehicle. No attendant is on duty. That wait, on top of the initial 20-25 minute wait to enter via metal detectors can add up to annoying. The Play: The Set It Off Play gets points for effort and celebrity. After having been a movie it didn't translate into a play well. Sketchy scene sequences, VERY poor prop budget (except the half hydraulic car in the end scene). Audience has to use their imagination for far to much of the play. Tix cost to much for that! I need them to run me back some of my coins, if I have to do half the play in my mind, LoL!! It also did not follow the movie true to storyline. Either get the cheapest seats in the venue, $30 or less or just wait for it on Netflix. read more

Was here last night to see Robin Thicke concert and I have to say yes it was my first time here, I was impressed with the whole lay out.. stage is well seen from anywhere on the main level. The acoustics are phenomenal yes you dont have that ringing sound in your ear when you leave... The bad is that some of the seats are not matching colors and WAY to small.... I felt like the big boy next to me was gonna end up in my lap at the end of the 3 1/2 hour concert.. Over all for being my first time and excited to be going, I had a wonderful night in the theater. read more

Arie Crown Theater - inside theater - Performing Arts Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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The parking payment system was not operating properly and caused a long line of people. The show started 30mins late because they were waiting for people to find their seats. The seats were narrow, tight and uncomfortable. read more

Terrible. It was a false advertisement. Earthquake and Cory Holcomb was supposed to be there. That was the main attraction that people wanted to see. Instead of informing people that there was a change, they brought out over comedians that were terrible. I have advised my credit card company to not authorize payment due to false advertising. read more

Would have given them zero stars if I could. Took my wife to the Mother's Day festival on the 11th. Paid premium for floor front seats and that was a waste. The venue allows the back of the room seats come up to the front of the stage and aisles during performances. This blocks your front row seats and the venue does nothing to control this. If was so horrible that we had to leave the performance. Even the restrooms were in no order. Women were using the men's restroom while men were in it and security did nothing about it. And if you plan on using Uber...don't...not a Uber friendly spot. There are designated Uber spots but Uber can't even get to it because of the lack of organization of this venue. We had to walk all the way to the Hyatt in order to get an Uber, not a short walk. Also the venue does not have enough Uber stop signs...you will see one that directs you, keep walking and then there is not another to direct you around a corner until you get to the Uber spot...and if you ask no one knows where to direct you. I have never been to such a horrible venue from a organization standpoint. The team that put together this event needs to never ever put one together again. I will never return to the Arie Crown. read more

I highly doubt I will go back to Arie Crown unless one of my favorite artists ever decides to perform at this venue. I attended the Toni Braxton concert here. Toni is my #2 most favorite singer of all time. I had never heard of the Arie Crown, I just saw photos. The venue itself is beautiful. and MASSIVE. No seriously, its a insanely ginormous performance hall. The reason this review is a 1 star is because they made us pocket our phones. We were not allowed to take photos or record Toni's performance. Security threatened to kick people out. This never happened, BUT, anytime people would take their phones out to record, the guest services people would come running down the aisle flashing their lights at the person who was recording. This is ridiculous! I was in the aisle seat so several times they were standing right in front of me - straight blocking Toni and disrupting the performance just to get someone to stop recording. This is stupid. This is trivial. Its 2016. People record themselves taking poops nowadays! OF COURSE we want to record Toni! She is one of the very few living legends left in the music industry! This was a moment in history. Especially for me. It was my first time seeing her live. May well be my last knowing her health. I cannot believe all I have to show for my VIP experience is one measly 7 second snuck video of her performing. Arie Crown. Get your crap together. Stop hounding people recording. If the artist requests no recording, I promise you they will get over it. Seasoned artists know that people are going to sneak recordings anyway. It makes absolutely NO sense to be running up and down the aisles disrupting the performance acting like we are children over a few videos. read more

I honestly must say that I don't really expect much out of venues like this. I mean I go for the particular show/person/etc. that I am going to see and that's pretty much it. Can I just tell you all that I HATE the McCormick Place? I mean walking thru 74 doors, down 87 ramps, and through 36.5 hallways just to get to the desired location is ridick. I mean I need my GPS just to get me through there - but wait - no satellite reception...guess I'll follow the rest of the 100s of penguins walking in the same direction. They've got to be going to the same place right? Anyway, seats were good all around. As most Yelpers said: there really wasn't a bad seat in the house. We were on the main floor and the sound and lighting were good. Seats weren't too cramped and the ventilation was good. Overall, it was okay. But my main happiness and pleasure came from who we went to support: Kevin Hart - the funniest man alive - in a sold out show on New Year's Eve!! read more

i have been going to the arie crown theater for a very long time.i have always liked any set in the house. the people that work in the box office have been around for the longest as well.* ernie will find you a good seat*. shelly the manager is the best if you may have any problem. one thing that i can say about the ushers is that you will always get help to your seat. in the lobby area you can always get you a bite to eat and a drink if you like. if you are in the mood for pictures the picture back drops are always very nice. so welcome to the arie crown.. read more

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Went here last night for Flight of the Conchords concert. First- $19 parking or $25 valet. We took the garage- but would have gotten the valet if I knew the place had such a weird layout- crazy stairs and ramps and signage, upper levels, lower levels. The inside of the place is hokey looking, signs are miserable. Don't get me wrong- everything looks fairly newly renovated- just like they renovated it using leftover materials from 1989/90. And maybe I missed the signage for where elevators or ramps are (because directional signs were so bad anyway)- but this place does NOT seem handicap accessible. Soooo many stairs. No one in my party was handicapped, but a man at my work is- and so I look for those kind of things. Once we got to our seats, 3rd balcony dead-center, couple rows back, the seats were very good. In fact- I think all seats in the house were good. Sound was pretty good as well. The show was a lot of fun. As far as this venue, I was overall very unimpressed, cheesy place, more difficult to navigate than I would have thought, and parking was a rip-off. read more

Imagine a theatre aesthetically inspired by a parking garage and Southwest Airlines terminal. No, this is not a compliment. Had the distinct misfortune to "view" as opposed to see The Color Purple here. That's what one does, one views a train wreck. Cramped seats, poor lighting -if you count roving spotlights in that category. Shoddy speaker system, pre-recorded score (for these ticket prices?) and amateur sets. The actors sparkled in spite of the production, which could best be classified as high school level at best. A high school on a shoestring budget. The sound team should be drawn and quartered as rustling wigs ended upstaging the talent. Overpriced drinks, poor acoustics, and an audience that openly talked to the stage. Every review should be balanced with the good as well as the bad. The good? It finally ended. If this had been a horse I would have shot it. read more

Saw Joe & the bae Toni Braxton here and it was a pretty good show...decent venue here but in some cases the music was drowning out her voice...not sure if thats always the case with their sound sytem. Its located in McCormick Place and parking here can be quite challenging in terms of price and lines coming off of Lake Shore Drive as it can get pretty congested. read more

Had a good time. But man those walking ramps in heels and stairs was not fun. The comedy show was great though. Next time i will wear flats. read more

Arie Crown Theater - Stage from balcony front row - Performing Arts Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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This is the worst venue I have ever had the unfortunate experience of attending. While the theater itself is beautiful the security leaves much to be desired after spending a lot of money to sit near the stage I had to leave my seat bc of the lack of crowd control it's unlike anything I have ever experienced in my life. I am a Chicagoan born and raised here and I am appalled at the apathy displayed by security when approached in regards to the lack of crowd control, I was told to call the box office on Monday--way to pass the buck! If you are remotely considering attending a program here I would highly suggest purchasing seats further from the stage I would actually suggest not even bothering bc with security and ushers as careless as these the venue just not even worth supporting I would give it 0 stars...but I can't post a review without at least 1 read more

I was here lastnight for NYE comedy show and the show was fantastic. It was my first time coming to the Arie Crown. I had been to McCormick Place several time for car shows. The Arie Crown is nice. The parking lot is color coded to cut down on confusion and misplacement of cars. Parking is $19, I guess thats not to much for Chicago, but I have parked for less in Chicago. The theater its self is rather large, we sere seated in seats L 200-206, great seats, not to far from the stage, nor were they to close. The ushers are very helpful as well. One bad thing, right before the show started, they announced no smoking, and when the lights went down, someone started smoking, I was pissed :(!!!! The comedy show was great as well, which took my mind off the smoking. I will be back. Thanks Corey, Ricky and Lavell for an awesome show, love you guys!!!!! read more

Oh, Arie Crown, what can I say about you? (1) First, I should note that my review of this theater is based not on its ability to serve as a good concert venue, but as a good venue for drama, specifically musical theater. I saw "The Color Purple" there. (2) It's because of Arie Crown that I will, for the rest of my life, have a panic attack if I arrive at a theater less than 1/2 hour before the show starts and think that I'll have enough time to get my will call tickets and be seated before the show starts. There must have been roughly, oh, TWO HUNDRED people in line ahead of me trying to get their tickets and file into the theater. I have never seen such madness in my entire life. The theater even started the show 10 minutes late, and I STILL missed the first two minutes of the show. Sheesh. I feel bad for the poor staff, though, who were trying as hard as they could to get people their will call tickets and seat everyone in time. (3) As another reviewer noted below, if you take public transit to the McCormick Place convention center, it's like a 1/2 mile walk from the entrance of McCormick to the actual theater. Awesome. (4) Yes, there is no "bad" seat in the house, as in there is no obstructed views, but the theater is large enough such that if you're sitting far enough back, you still feel pretty detached from the action going on on stage. 3 stars for the theater itself. Minus one star for the ridiculous will call line and the trek to the theater through a creepily large and sterile convention center. read more

Great time! Great Seats! I was surprised with 3rd row tickets to a concert and I had a WONDERFUL time!! We were so close that I could see the sweat on the performers. I really enjoyed myself even though the people in my row were kinda stiff, but I didn't care. Those tickets were expensive and I was going to enjoy every single minute of it! On a separate occasion we had seats in the balcony for a comedy show and I still had a great time. I could see and hear perfectly. It also didn't hurt that they had a photographer set up in the lobby if you wanted a nice portrait taken. Overall, every single visit I had a blast. Can't wait to go back! read more

I saw Rodriguez here. Positives - the sound system and the main act, Rodriguez Negatives - pretty much everything else. I was pretty excited about having 10th row seats...but even with 10th row, we were so far back, it felt very impersonal. Plus, we sat the whole time? Weird. The whole beer/food situation was a total joke...seriously. It felt like a high school cafeteria and there were 3(?) lines for drinks/food? We waited for 20 minutes and didn't make it half way through line? Ridiculous. I could give a crap about the food situation (I don't go to concerts to eat) but let me get a beer or something. Plus the location is just weird and not user friendly. I can't see myself coming back to this place unless I have to. read more

My first time in this venue and it was just ok. The concert I went to was awesome! Saw Rodriguez there and he was quite the entertainer. While I find the venue to look quite modern it does have a spacious feel to it making it seem more spread out than it is. Some theater venues that host concerts are nice because the seats are almost on top of one another so that you can see the stage a bit better. The sound system was pretty good. I think this place relies more on a sound system than natural acoustics like some of the old theaters. But seriously who designed the seating chart here. My husband and I were row Z. We started going down the rows like AA, BB, CC with some single letter rows mixed in, but there didn't seem to be a rhyme or reason in the order of the rows. read more

Came here a few weeks ago to see Mike Epps live and I must say I was pleasantly surprised at how smooth the night ran, being my first time there. Entering the parking lot for the place took a bit long but went smoothly the fee to park was a bit much in my opinion given the price of the tickets, we did however find easy parking and the walk to the actual venue wasn't too bad. I like how they had various stands to buy some drinks, however the lines were a tad slow and we waited a good 20-25 mins before we got helped and lines around us had seem to vanish. The drinks were great tho to our liking nice and STRONG!! lol ( don't judge me ), and reasonably priced. We made our way to the get a slice of pizza from Connie's and it wasn't bad but I wouldn't say Im dying to have it again lol... As we proceed to make our way to our seats the Theater it self was pretty big and very clean and it was a nice venue. We had probably the BEST seats in the house we were right in the "pit" area just 3 rows away from the main stage. IT WAS AMAZING. I never laughed so much in my life. Once the show was over we exited the venue literally within minutes which made me happy we didn't have to straggle behind slow walkers!!! lol. We got to the car and out the place within minutes. I can't wait to come back again and check out another event. read more

I recently attended an historic graduation ceremony at the Arie Crown Theater at McCormick Place. Overall, it was a very glorious afternoon filled with pride and reverence. The commencement ceremony was well organized, thoughtfully choreographed and artfully performed. Sound acoustics were spectacular as a rotund Sinatra impersonator warbled The Star Spangled Banner. Later, his rendition of Armstong's What a Wonderful World awed the room. The stage presentation was classy & sophisticated. Perfect for a commencement ceremony such as this one. The grads coolly crossed the stage shaking hands with various academic dignitaries while receiving their faux sheepskins. Parking was a bitch, but what do you expect? read more

The comedy show that I went to see was great. However, the parking situation was horrible. After the show we sat in their parking garage for over an hour unable to leave. There was no one there to really regulate exiting the garage. I dont know why it took so long to leave the garage, but for the amount of money you have to pay for the event and parking it was absolutely ridiculous! Also, the building was so outdated. The women's restroom was so small and only two of three stalls were in service. The line for the restroom was out the door. I loved the comedy show, but I hope that they have it somewhere else next year. I guess you're supposed to leave early to beat the crowd and parking lot idiocracy, but you shouldn't have to when you pay good money for an event. read more

I will never. Ever. Go back here again. How can any business justify losing that much money unless they are funded by the city? The Arie Crown Theater could have taken in an extra $20k EASILY by having enough staff to serve drinks. Honestly waited for over 45mins to get a drink and then they SHUT the bar. Unbelievable. DO NOT GO TO A SHOW HERE!!! Rodriguez was great.... read more

Why do I have pay for parking inside the theater. What if I forget my parking ticket?? Then when I get to the parking machine, you tell me it doesn't take cash. It's not working. read more

I am so disappointed in my experience. Wife and I were looking forward to a wonderful evening to see the color purple. It turned out to be everything but that. My fist impression of the theatre was not good as we were greeted with a filthy looking walkway leading to the theatre entrance from the car. After paying $21 for parking, I should at least get a clean refreshing walkway to the theatre. We left our coats in the car thinking that we would not need them. Being parked in the garage and it being 32 degrees outside we expected the theatre to be warm. Well somebody either spent the night in this place or didn't get the memo because it was freezing! At any rate, the sound crew was terrible and the acting was average. It was not the performance we were expecting. This is probably our last trip here. You decide for yourself. read more

This is the first and last time I will attend an event at the Arie Crown theatre. I went to see Color Purple this past Sunday. I had seen it before at a theatre downtown years ago. So I invited a few friends and family who hadn't seen it. 1.The orchestra seats were very tight and uncomfortable. 2.The parking garage charged $21 for parking. It was far and dimly lit. 3. The sound system was horrible. The mikes were either turned up too high or they were completely turned off. 4. The stage hands were visible as they slowly moved each prop around. 5. The bathrooms on our floor were out of order so we had to go upstairs to use other restrooms. 6. The food and drinks were ridiculously overpriced. A slice of pizza for $5.49. A bottle of water for $3. A tiny bag of chips for $2. Long lines to boot. 7. With everything that was wrong we were only given a 7 minute intermission instead of the 15 minutes they said. 8. The ushers didn't know where our seats were and looked as if they hoped no one would ask them anything. The musical itself was amateur, low budget, and ghetto. Lots of people left early. I saw the Broadway play years ago downtown and that was FAR more superior. We didn't even get programs. We were told we had to purchase them and guess what? They were sold out of them!! I knew Jennifer Holliday was in the play but I couldn't tell who she was. I had no idea who anyone was because they never even announced them as they bowed at the end of the play. NEVER AGAIN!!! read more

I was at Arie Crown, and more generally, McCormick Place for the AIA National Convention. The Theatre was where the Keynote Presentations were held, and it was great to see some of the brightest minds not only in architecture (Jeanne Gang), but also in community development (Theaster Gates) and business (Tony Hsieh, Zappos.com). The quality of presentations were great. The place had a classic structure, designed by a protege of Mies van der Rohe, and a renovation that made the interior more intimate not too long ago. It's currently the city's largest active auditorium. However, do be prepared to do a lot of walking, especially if you took transit there. There are CTA buses that go to McCormick Place as well as a Metra station underneath, but it still seems the car is the best way to get there. read more

Nice space, good sightlines, clean facilities and comfy seats. Not much to complain about. The bad, is the location, McCormick is pricey to park at, and the parking lot is very very very very far away. At night it can be confusing to find your way out of the empty ghost town behemoth that is McCormick Place. read more

One of the trashiest, low class theatres I've ever been to. They generally have a 'no holds' policy, and will seat people throughout the entire show. Good luck seeing the show; people will be standing in front of you most of the time. Do yourself a favor and skip this venue. read more

Saw Rodriguez here. The theater was ok, nice to have seats. 1 stand for alcoholic drinks, wait in line was forever. And there's nothing else around this place. Would be nice if Chicago could get it together and put a Casino nearby. read more