WildeMouth

Broadway in Chicago

Broadway In Chicago was created in July 2000 and, over the past 25 years, has grown to be one of the largest commercial touring homes in the country.

We’ve described dozens of Broadway in Chicago productions at all 5 of their theaters, including the:

  • James M. Nederlander Theatre (originally the Oriental Theatre)
  • Cadillac Palace Theatre
  • Auditorium Theater
  • CIBC Theatre, and
  • Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place
Color photo of the interior: the décor is a virtual art museum including large mosaics of an exotic prince and princess, an inner foyer with elephant-throne lighting and multicolored glazed Buddhas, and an auditorium of “hasheesh-dream design.”
The 2,253-seat James M. Nederlander Theatre
The theatre’s interior featuring a splendor previously unseen in Chicago — a breathtaking vision inspired by the palaces of Fontainebleau and Versailles. The theatre’s distinctive characteristics included a lobby richly appointed in huge decorative mirrors and brèche violet and white marble, which swept majestically through a succession of lobbies and foyers; great wall surfaces enhanced with gold leaf and wood decorations, as well as a series of complex arches and detailed brass ornamentation; and 2,500 plush, roomy seats.
The 2,344-seat Cadillac Palace Theatre
A rare combination of staggering size and unparalleled acoustics with hundreds of Sullivan’s intricate stencil patterns, ornate gilded and bas-relief designs and endless floor and wall mosaics. Radiant 24-karat gold-leafed ceiling arches and exquisite murals adorn the house of the theatre. Frank Lloyd Wright, who received much inspiration working his first job as a draftsman on the project said the Auditorium is, “The greatest room for music and opera in the world-bar none.”
The 3,875-seat Auditorium Theater
Interior of the theater. The theatre was opened on New Year’s Day in 1906 as the Majestic Theatre. The architects of the venue were Edmund R. Krause and George L. and Cornelius Rapp, and it was the first venue in Chicago to cost over one million dollars. The Majestic Building, the tallest building in Chicago when it was first built, became a Chicago landmark, and the theatre instantly became a popular destination for vaudeville acts.
The 1800-seat CIBC Theatre
Formerly known as Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place, Broadway in Chicago announced the re-opening of the theater in April 2010 as the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place. Seating 549, it is the newest of 5 theatres operated by Broadway In Chicago, and is adjacent to the Water Tower Place shopping center along Chicago's Magnificent Mile.
The 549-seat Broadway Playhouse

A full list of audio-described Broadway in Chicago productions is available here.

Contact us to explore Live Audio Description for your next event.

Shows

Here are a few samples of our pre-show narratives for selected productions:

Against a deep purple and black background, yellow, lightning bolt letters read: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

A new play by Jack Thorne, based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany. Premier run of the North American Tour.

SO much to describe, including magical spells, trolls, wands, centaurs, flying brooms, potions, and transfiguration. Tall, stone, self-supporting, pointed, vaulted arches rise from thick, stone columns to form the ceiling and roof of the buildings, resembling a Gothic, medieval castle. Dark, carved wood fireplaces, doors, benches, staircases, and tables mimic these structures with dark, hardwood floors throughout.

The Greasers of Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1967. A group of young teen men dressed in T-shirts, denim, one wearing a leather jacket, huddle around each other on the hood of a broken-down automobile.

The Outsiders

Book by Adam Rapp and Justin Levine. Music and Lyrics by Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance) and Justin Levine. Directed by Danya Taymor.

A wooden wall fills the entire back wall of the stage, behind a wide, open, playground park area in the middle of the stage.

At the left, a large, 4-foot diameter tractor tire lies on the ground. At times, this also forms the base of a wide, water-filled fountain on that side. At the back left, a shiny, new car lurks in the shadows. That, and a sparse, metal scaffolding along the left-hand wall serve as the anchor and center of the Socs’ world.

Several stacks of car tires appear along the base of the back wall, and at the right of the stage, a run-down black car sits up on blocks. This space, as well as the central open area, serves as the anchor and center of the Greaser’s world.

Against a gold background, a solitary figure stands atop a five-pointed star in silhouette with one fist raised high. White letters in the center read, Hamilton.

Hamilton

Book, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Directed by Thomas Kail. A non-stop, epic saga that follows the rise of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton as he fights for honor, love, and a legacy that would shape the course of a nation.

In a continuous and dynamic dance, all the set pieces in the play, everything from the tables, chairs, lampposts, wooden stools, soapboxes, and all the props used in the show including rifles, pistols, books, quills, and a laptop writing desk, are brought in, placed, and removed from the stage by the actors as the action proceeds. Together with the revolutions of the different sections of the underlying turntable, we move seamlessly from one scene to the next, in a constantly moving and changing perspective.

An image of The Lion King playbill. Against a yellow background, a black line drawing of a male lion's head and mane fills the page, the words The Lion King along the bottom.

The Lion King

Book by Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi, Music by Elton John, Lyrics by Tim Rice, Directed by Julie Taymor. A powerful story about responsibility and redemption using stunningly creative and intricate puppetry and costumes.

A range of masks and puppets are used to create the animals of the African savanna, from small birds to a huge elephant, rhino, cheetahs, gazelles, giraffes, groups of lionesses, and wildebeests. The actors who control the puppets and wear the animal masks are clearly visible, allowing the audience to see both animal and actor simultaneously.

The promotional image of the show: a head-and-shoulders image of a young, waif-like girl with unkempt hair and dark, soulful eyes.

Les Misérables

Book and Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, Lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer, Directed by James Powell. A powerful and emotionally resonant story about redemption, set against the backdrop of the French Revolution.

The set was inspired by the dark, brooding quality of Victor Hugo’s paintings illustrating the text of his massive novel. The production makes use of projected multimedia images that capture the haunting impressionistic quality of Hugo’s images. Shadow and darkness are used to establish the bleak landscapes, and enhance the set pieces giving the various backdrops rich depth, complemented by lighting design that highlights the tension with moving spots and well-timed flashes. Barricades, the interior of a factory, an old neighborhood of Paris, a monastery, the Paris sewers, and a brothel are just some of the locations of the show.

Audio-Described Broadway In Chicago productions include:

  • A Beautiful Noise
  • A Wonderful World
  • Ain’t Too Proud
  • Aladdin
  • Anastasia
  • Back to the Future
  • Beetlejuice
  • Beauty and the Beast
  • Book of Mormon
  • Cats
  • Chicago
  • Clue
  • Come From Away
  • Company
  • Dear Evan Hansen
  • Death Becomes Her
  • Devil Wears Prada
  • Fiddler on the Roof
  • Frozen
  • Golden Girls
  • Hadestown
  • Hamilton
  • Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
  • Hell’s Kithchen
  • Hip Hop Nutcracker
  • Into The Woods
  • Jagged Little Pill
  • Jersey Boys
  • Jesus Christ Superstar
  • The King & I
  • The Kite Runner
  • Lehman Trilogy
  • Les Misérables
  • The Lion King
  • MJ The Musical
  • Mean Girls
  • Moulin Rouge
  • My Fair Lady
  • The Outsiders
  • Paradise Square
  • Peter Pan
  • The Phantom of the Opera
  • Potted Potter
  • Riverdance 30
  • Rocky Mountain High Experience®: – A John Denver Christmas
  • Shucked
  • The Simon & Garfunkel Story
  • SIX
  • Some Like It Hot
  • Something Rotten
  • The Sound of Music
  • TINA – The Tina Turner Musical
  • The Wiz
  • Titanique
  • To Kill a Mockingbird
  • Twenty-Sided Tavern
  • Wicked

Contact us to explore Live Audio Description for your next event.