America at 250: How Chicago's theater scene has helped shape Broadway and late-night comedy
Chicago has more than 200 active theaters. They make up the city's thriving entertainment scene that has not only captivated local audiences for more than 60 years, but the nation's, too.
Walk through almost any Chicago neighborhood and you'll see them; majestic theaters, newer theaters, storefront theaters.
Longtime Chicago Tribune theater critic Chris Jones, who also used to review stage productions for CBS News Chicago, said it's a unique scene, with offerings as diverse as the people who live here.
"All shapes and sizes, all coming and going, and it is a unique thing in Chicago. I get asked a lot, do other cities have this? And my answer is always, actually, they don't," Jones said. "I think Chicago is the only city in America that cities like New York and L.A. keep a close eye on, because frankly it's the only theater that they really respect."
That respect is rooted in decades of tried-and-true productions; not just the big ones, like Boop! The Musical, which soft open in Chicago before heading to Broadway, but ground-breaking productions that went on to change the nation's theatrical course.
"They get to work out the kinks here. They get to hear from people like me on what I think is any good and what is not," Jones said. "This has always been an incubator of new plays; a place where you can try things out."
Take The Second city, the edgy improv and sketch comedy theater that started in Chicago in 1959.
"It's always been a singular part of Chicago, and that of course really changed the face of American late-night comedy," Jones said.
The Second City helped launch a slew of now-famous faces like Stephen Colbert, John Belushi, Steve Carell, and Tina Fey; and that's just skimming the surface.
Then there's the world-renowned, cutting-edge Steppenwolf Theatre, the origin of many plays that went on to Broadway and beyond.
"It's known wherever you go. Anybody who goes to theater is aware of Steppenwolf," Jones said.
Perhaps most unique to Chicago's entertainment scene is its storefront theaters – theaters in literal converted storefronts.
"It had its origins, I think, in a desire to create a native Chicago theater, meaning theater that was created by Chicagoans for Chicagoans," Jones said. "Audiences who craved a kind of a non-mass experience, if you like, would flock to these little theaters, often seating 100 people or so, and they would pack in and they would get this incredibly intimate experience."
Many storefront theater companies reveled in pushing societal limits. Some, like Annoyance Theatre, have moved on to bigger spaces and sometimes brand-new buildings. But Jones said that storefront feel remains intact, a big part of Chicago's always dynamic theater scene.
"It's very important that he city pays attention to its theaters, because they really are the fabric and the heart of this city," Jones said.
Here's another fun fact; in 1882, the first vaudeville theater in the country also opened in Chicago.