15 Best Performing Arts Venues in The Loop, including the West Loop and South Loop, Chicago

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.

Designed by famed theater architects the Rapp Brothers, the Cadillac Palace opened to much fanfare in 1926. The ornate, gilded interior was inspired by the palaces of Versailles and Fontainebleau; restored to its original opulence in 1999, the 2,500-seat space now hosts a wide range of traveling productions.

This block-long landmark building houses several performance spaces. The most magnificent is the top-floor Preston Bradley Hall, with its Tiffany glass dome and ornately detailed white marble walls.

This company shrugs off esoteric notions of opera, preferring to make productions that are accessible to aficionados and novices alike. From innovative versions of traditional favorites to important lesser-known works, the emphasis is on both theatrical and musical aspects. Fear not—performances are sung in English or in Italian with English supertitles projected above the stage.

The venerable Chicago Symphony Orchestra made generational waves when it chose a successor to longtime music director Riccardo Muti; the Finnish conductor and cellist Klaus Mäkelä, just 28 years old at the time of his appointment in April 2024, is the youngest leader in the CSO's 133-year history. The orchestra's impressive roster includes regular concerts as well as special themed series dedicated to classical, chamber, and children's concerts. The season runs from September through June. Tickets are sometimes scarce, but they do become available.

Since 1921, visitors to the Chicago Theatre, which began as a Balaban and Katz movie palace, have marveled at its stunning baroque interior. The 3,600-seat auditorium features crystal chandeliers, bronze light fixtures, and murals on the wall and ceiling. These days the marquee draws tend to be big-name music and comedy acts.

After debuting as the Majestic in 1906, this 1,800-seat theater became a major stop on the vaudeville circuit. Today, after a series of name changes (the current naming-rights holder is a Canadian bank), the plush, red-and-gold venue hosts Broadway in Chicago performances such as Jersey Boys, The Book of Mormon, and other traveling shows.

Thought-provoking fare with leading national and international contemporary-dance artists is presented by the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago.

New releases from around the globe and revivals of cinematic classics are shown at the Gene Siskel Film Center; the best part is that filmmakers often make appearances at screenings.

Founded in 1925, the city's oldest and largest nonprofit theater presents an exceptional repertoire of plays each year featuring local and national performers. Works by August Wilson and David Mamet have premiered here, and the Goodman's annual holiday staging of A Christmas Carol is a Chicago tradition.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago exudes a jazzy vitality that has made it extremely popular. The style mixes classical-ballet techniques, theatrical jazz, and contemporary dance. Most performances take place at the Harris Theater in Millennium Park.

Originally dubbed the Oriental Theatre, this former movie palace has a grand, over-the-top Far Eastern decor (think Buddha statues and huge mosaics of an Indian prince and princess). First opened in 1926, it reopened in 1998 after a period of disrepair to accommodate big-name Broadway hits, and received a welcome name change in 2019.

Located on the northwest corner of Millennium Park, this 1,500-seat, mostly belowground theater is a sleek, contemporary space where you can catch music and dance performances by the likes of Laurie Anderson, Magnetic Fields, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.

At the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the big voices of the opera world star in top-flight productions September through May. This is one of the top opera companies in America today. Don't worry about understanding German or Italian; English translations are projected above the stage. The key to getting in is to call the Lyric in early August, when individual tickets first go on sale.

Rewind time with one of the Midwest's leading music ensembles. Specializing in baroque and early classical music, it mounts about eight programs a year, mostly at Millennium Park's Harris Theater.