I know of a few theaters in the suburbs, but Big Noise isn't one I had heard of until the last year…read morewhen they had a table at a Park Ridge community event. Apparently they started as a theatre in Winnetka, and when their theatre space there was under renovation they made their way to Des Plaines and decided to stay put as Big Noise. The theater's name is an homage to their beginnings in Winnetka, from the jazz tune "Big Noise From Winnetka". Now you know! They apparently perform as Winnetka Theatre at the Winnetka Community House as well; the theatre has an interesting history for sure. They are a non-equity theatre, and they list audition information on their website for their upcoming shows. The company produced a play called Pete the Cat this season so my toddler's play group all went together. It was fun and they did well for any age, but for a group of 2 and 3 year olds they were phenomenally good audience members. The play was about an hour long and had there were a couple of spots where the kids could dance or respond to the actors which I think helped keep them engaged. I really enjoyed my visit here and I'm looking forward to checking out The Wizard of Oz this year and learning what they'll be doing next season.

This was my second time attending a show here, but first time I've felt it necessary to give a…read morereview. We saw "Disaster!" and sad to say the sound and the lighting lived up to the title. Which was unfortunate because the performers were AMAZING. Luckily we were in the third row so even when the microphones didn't work - which was pretty often - we could still hear most of the show. But the script is great (I've seen it before) and there is some wonderful wordplay that was completely lost because we couldn't hear. Spotlights appeared on empty sets while two actors performed their lines in utter darkness in another area. The orchestra was on the stage, normally a nice addition, but when microphones didn't t work, even the fake Muzak in the elevator scene was enough to obliterate an entire conversation. I complained after the show and got a "we know". No apology that we paid $40 a ticket for this. Or any indication the we're going to fix it. I hope they do. And worth mentioning that "Gray Gardens" (the only other show I've seen there) did not suffer from these problems. So there's hope

First Date was so great we saw it twice in one night. What an amazing cast. My roommate and I love…read morethe arts and have a soft spot in our hearts that appreciates the heart of the entertainer just as much as the entertainment. The actors were so talented, personable and so sweet. We sat in the first row. In my best choir voice: drink service!!!! The acting waiter also waited on us before the show began. What a great way to connect with the audience. We definitely recommend the show and will visit the venue again.

My wife and I went and saw First Date on our anniversary. It was a really great night out. In the…read moreday and age of Broadway in Chicago, it's good to see a show in an intimate space. The songs were good and the story was fun. The real reason for the fifth star was the cast, they were all really talented.

The inaugural production of the Chicago Theatre Workshop is "Wicked City," a musical take on film…read morenoir, currently running at the The Edge Theatre near Bryn Mawr on Broadway. The show is a tremendous introduction. Although I saw it in previews, and there were some minor adjustments to be made, the songs (which, after all, are the foundation of any musical) were clever, tuneful, and enjoyable. The singers, with backgrounds ranging from Porchlight, Kokandy, and Bailiwich, were talented (of course) and, even more, able to convey the inner foundations for what it is they were trying to tell us. A bit of story: there is a murder, and there are "dames" sashaying through the semi-underworld , causing jealousy, greed, and anger to shimmer across the stage. The murder is being investigated by typical "tough-guy" gumshoes and a not-so-tough-guy PI who is sees himself as inheriting the heritage and work of Dashiel Hammet's Sam Spade (especially as played by Bogart -- there are overt references to "Casablanca" and other Bogart roles). Unfortunately by the PI, he gets involved to an unhealthy extent, and given the female bait, it is easy to understand why. This is a wonderful production, better than many new musicals we have seen over the past couple of years. It has a limited run, unfortunately, due to the obligations of the rental space in the Edge Theatre. See it, please!

This is my favorite time of the year. Scary movies, lots of candy, and of course - haunted houses!…read more Halloween isn't complete without going to a haunted house (or two.. or three). But I admit that the only ones I've been to were in the suburbs. You name 'em, I've been to 'em. This year, however, I was curious if there were any *good* ones in the city. In the past I avoided the city haunts because they're tame compared to the big budget ones out in the 'burbs. There's a great resource for haunted houses in Illinois (hauntedillinois.com) and found this one at St. Thecla's Church. Tonight was the last night for this haunted house, so we were excited to see the grande finale. Walking towards the entrance, we heard loud screams from within. So far, so good! We were greeted by a creepy character telling us to move forward into the maze. It was dark, foggy, and scary... I could already feel my palms sweat. The actors did a fantastic job. They had different sets and scenes. My favorite room was the clown room with the strobe lights (an excellent special effect for haunted houses). The glow in the dark dots room was also very cool. They even had a chainsaw guy at the end. I considered it a success, since I screamed throughout the whole ordeal. As the other reviewers noted, this was a surprisingly great haunt for just $5. I've definitely been to scarier haunted houses, but they did an awesome job, especially since this was their first year. I'm looking forward to going here next year :)

A-MAZE-ING!!! I have…read moreto be honest, this is one of the best haunted houses that I have been to! For only $5 bucks you get at least 20 minutes of scares! It starts out with a very creepy entranceway going down the back stairs to the basement of the church, which adds to the atmosphere. The haunt is very professionally decorated with the right amount of darkness, not too much where you are groping your way through but not too little where everything is visible. The maze was well done and along with the occasional strobe lighting, provided for a bit of fun disorientation. The actors also do an excellent job of popping out unexpectedly and startling patrons with loud noises. When it comes to haunted houses, somebody at St. Thecla's has definately done their homework here!!! Just a note: Even though the signs all say open until ten on Thursdays, make sure you get there early as they stop ticket sales at 9:15 because of the curfew for kids.

I'm taking part of this review directly from their website to give you an idea of what they're…read moreabout. HouseHold Arts Collective is a not-for-profit organization which produces artistic and educational community programming under 3 divisions - Open House Dance Collective, Second Floor Dance, and Fusebox Art. Each division specializes in its own unique events in multidisciplinary arts and involving the arts community and community at large in different ways. I participated in Open House Dance in 2008, which produces yearly summer dance concerts in downtown Chicago. Community members, regardless of skill level, rehearse with professional choreographers, giving them the opportunity to perform in a professional public dance concert that they may not otherwise have. A portion of the funds raised through ticket sales is donated to a charity. OHD was fun for the most part. It allows inexperienced dancers to learn from some great choreographers and perform on stage in front of a few hundred people. If you are a trained dancer, you will probably not enjoy it as much since the choreography will be too easy, you'll barely break a sweat at practice, and you won't be challenged by the dancers around you. If you're looking for something to do during the summer or if you want to meet new people while trying something new, it's worthwhile to give this a try.

I have always enjoyed this event. It reminds me of the old time dinner and entertainment scene that…read moreyou see in old movies. On stage is Elysabeth Alfano - Creator, Executive Producer, Producer & Host, and four guests, each with a specialty, usually related to the arts, and one of the guests is always a chef from a local establishment. My very first one, March 26, 2012, was with the Green Mill Poetry Slam founder Mark Smith ( who gave a wonderful performance), Chicago blues legend Billy Branch performing "Hoochie Coochie Man" on his harmonica, Naomi Beckwith Curator at the MCA, and Matt Troost from the restaurant Three Aces, making gnocchi and ribollita, and Guest artist Nicholas Barron performed that night as well! Elizabeth starts out interviewing each person, but also encourages conversation between the guests. In this case (March 2012) the guests got up and performed, and it was so wonderful. Then the chef gives a cooking lesson on the video monitor of the meal that he is preparing for the guests and then the meal is brought out with a tasting of wine to go with each and Voges Chocolates are served for dessert. It was a night to remember! So much fun, and interesting! PS - I posted the Fear No Art presents The Dinner Party's May event here on Yelp, not because I have anything to do with it, because I don't, but because they don't seem to have a presence on Yelp, and I was doing a review of it, so thought that I should give them a presence here.

Wow, not at all what we expected. City Winery is a great venue but the Fear No Art dinner party is…read morenot the best way to appreciate the space. The tickets were $40/pp (plus service charge) and promised wine tastings, dinner, dessert and great panelists. First of all there was 1 wine tasting (about an ounce of wine) other drinks need to be purchased. The food was tasty but very small & we had to wait and wait some more for it to be served. The panelists were entertaining but seemed much more interested in talking among themselves than to the audience. Tried to tweet in questions but they were not addressed. Not a great evening overall.

Great theater company. Tough parking areA. will go there again. Every seat in the house is great.read more

I've seen a few plays at City Lit over the years. I find it strange that I just now noticed I…read morehaven't shared the info with you. Maybe it's my subconscious keeping you all away. Maybe I didn't want to share this underrated theater. It's not like I don't want them to do well because they do, it's always a full house. Maybe it's just because the performers are all top notch and that there are very limited amount of seats, I just don't want to give up mine to you. I guess I'm a little selfish. Oh well, I can live with that. As long as I get to keep seeing wonderful plays here!! FYI -The map attached is incorrect so beware. It's located on the 2nd Floor of Edgewater Presbyterian Church. Seating is a little tight but still comfortable. Most recent play- "The Wind in the Willows" (as a musical... I know?! But it worked!!) A rat with a gun. A toad driving a car. It's got action, comedy, and drama, what else do you want?! Fantastic set design and performance!! This next generation (late 20's max in age, maybe) of performers have real talent. I see a LOT of plays and they impressed me. If you're a fan of the books or not "The Wind in the Willows" is time well spent and this musical did great justice to the famous author.

Fantastic boutique theatre in Chicago. I caught a couple plays before the COVID shutdown and was…read morevery impressed. One play was straight up horror and was genuinely scary at times. Another play was depicting an authoritarian dystopia that included founding member Michael Shannon in a cameo role. Powerfully done and sadly very timely given our current descent into Fascism.

Really bad seats for non-subscribers - Unless you're paying a monthly subscription, you're gonna…read moreget really crappy seats. Apparently they have this policy where they reserve all the best seats for paying subscribers. So if you're just a "regular" paying customer, you'll get to see the actors' backs for 90% of the time. This policy is not stated anywhere on the website (nor do they have a seating plan available) - when I talked to the theatre manager (Abigail) about this, she chose to ignore the question about why they don't disclose this policy *before* you purchase the tickets.