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8 MIN READ – Broadway In Chicago is thrilled to celebrate its 25th year, marking a quarter-century of bringing world-class theatre to the heart of Chicago. This celebration not only highlights the incredible journey of growth and achievement but also underscores the pivotal role Broadway In Chicago has played in shaping the city’s vibrant cultural scene and enlivening it with over 25 million theatregoers.
In July 2000, Broadway In Chicago was established through a landmark partnership led by the Nederlander Organization, marking a significant milestone in Chicago's theatrical history. This collaboration aimed to bring the magic of Broadway to Chicago, enriching its cultural landscape with pre-Broadway and long-run productions.
Broadway In Chicago transformed the Downtown Theatre District. The Loop Business District went from going to sleep after 5 p.m. each night to having up to 1.7 million Broadway theatregoers filling and lighting up the Loop annually. Both in 2000 and coming out of a pandemic shutdown, Broadway In Chicago led the way to enliven the Loop. Today it continues to thrive with more pre-Broadway productions and long-run engagements than ever before...
Reflecting on this milestone, Lou Raizin, President & CEO of Broadway In Chicago, expressed his gratitude: “Chicago has always been a city that embraces the arts and culture with open arms. We are deeply thankful to Chicago whose unwavering support has made these 25 years possible. Together, we have shared countless unforgettable moments and look forward to many more.”
Broadway In Chicago’s Highlights from the Past 25 Years:
July 2000
- Broadway In Chicago is formed as a partnership between the Nederlander Organization and SFX Entertainment
November 2000
- Pre-Broadway run of Kathleen Turner in Tallulah
February 2001
- Pre-Broadway World Premiere of The Producers: The New Mel Brooks Musical
May 2001
- Pre-Broadway run of Mamma Mia!
June 2001
- Pre-Broadway run of Tom Selleck in A Thousand Clowns
December 2001
- Pre-Broadway World Premiere of John Lithgow in Sweet Smell Of Success
June 2002
- Broadway In Chicago’s first free concert in Grant Park – “Broadway Rocks Chicago”
- Pre-Broadway World Premiere of Billy Joel & Twyla Tharp’s Movin’ Out
November 2002
- Disney’s The Lion King goes on sale with record-breaking 18-hour event
April 2003
- Disney’s The Lion King begins nine-month run
December 2004
- Pre-Broadway World Premiere of Monty Python’s Spamalot
- Pre-Broadway World Premiere of All Shook Up
February 2005
- Pre-Broadway World Premiere of Christina Applegate in Sweet Charity
March 2005
- Chicago’s fastest-selling musical, Wicked, announces Broadway In Chicago’s first sit-down, long-run production to begin in June 2005
November 2005
- Record-breaking run of Billy Crystal in 700 Sundays
May 2006
- Shubert Theatre Restoration complete - opens as LaSalle Bank Theatre; inaugurated with performance by Michael Crawford
June 2006
- Over 365 Witches celebrate Wicked’s official First Anniversary in Water Tower Park
October 2006
- Pre-Broadway World Premiere of The Pirate Queen
January 2007
- BIC Economic Impact Press Conference with Mayor Daley
- Annual economic impact of nearly $750 million
- Total annual attendance: 1.7 million theater patrons
- Over 42% of audiences travel to Chicago from out of state
- Approximately 88% of long-run show attendees surveyed cite a Broadway In Chicago show as the primary purpose for their visit
- Broadway In Chicago theatre patrons occupy over 640,000 hotel room nights per year; that is 7% of the occupied hotel room nights in Chicago annually
- Broadway In Chicago patrons spend approximately $90 million at local restaurants while visiting the area
- Broadway In Chicago productions support more than 9,200 jobs in the city of Chicago
April 2007
- Oprah Winfrey Presents The Color Purple National Tour Launch with Oprah Winfrey in attendance
May 2007
- League of Chicago Theatres awards Broadway In Chicago with the League’s 2007 Leadership Award
- League of Chicago Theatres announces The House Theatre of Chicago as the first recipient of the newly created “Broadway In Chicago Emerging Theatre Award”
June 2007
- Over 365 Witches celebrate Wicked’s Second Anniversary in Water Tower Park
July 2007
- Then-Senator Barack Obama attends Oprah Winfrey Presents The Color Purple
August 2007
- Michelle Obama and family attend a performance of High School Musical
October 2007
- Jersey Boys sit-down production opens for two-year long run
November 2007
- Wicked reaches 1,000 performances
June 2008
- Over 365 Witches celebrate Wicked’s Third Anniversary in Millennium Park
October 2008
- Jersey Boys First Anniversary celebrated with city-wide pizza party
January 2009
- Wicked closes after 3 ½ years and 1,500 performances
March 2009
- Disney and Cameron Mackintosh present Mary Poppins launches National Tour at the Cadillac Palace Theatre
June 2009
- Jersey Boys welcomes 1,000,000th patron
October 2009
- Jersey Boys celebrates Second Anniversary with Mayor Daley and Chicagoland mayors
- Over 1,000 guests sport green ears during the special sneak peek of Shrek The Musical at the Cadillac Palace Theatre
December 2009
- Pre-Broadway World Premiere of The Addams Family starring Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth
January 2010
- Final Jersey Boys Performance after over two years and 1.3 million patrons
April 2010
- Broadway In Chicago announces Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place
- Billy Elliot: The Musical National Tour Premiere – star-studded opening night with Elton John & Oprah Winfrey in attendance
June 2010
- Broadway In Chicago’s eighth free Concert in Grant Park celebrates 10 years of Broadway In Chicago
July 2010
- Broadway In Chicago’s official 10-Year Anniversary
- Shrek The Musical National Tour Premiere
September 2010
- Broadway Playhouse opens with An Evening with Sutton Foster
January 2011
- Dolly Parton visits Broadway In Chicago with 9 to 5 the Musical
February 2011
- Working revival, based on Studs Terkel’s book composed by Stephen Schwartz, opens at the Broadway Playhouse
- Broadway In Chicago hosts final Chicago mayoral debate between Rahm Emanuel, Gery Chico, Carol Moseley Braun and Miguel Del Valle at Oriental Theatre
November 2011
- Pre-Broadway Engagement of Ann – The Ann Richards Play starring Holland Taylor
March 2012
- Pre-Broadway run of Bring It On: The Musical
May 2012
- Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards created
October 2012
- Pre-Broadway World Premiere of Kinky Boots starring Billy Porter (Tony Award Winner for Kinky Boots – Best Leading Actor in a Musical)
December 2012
- The Book of Mormon National Tour Premiere starring Ben Platt and Nic Rouleau. The Second National Tour kicked off in Chicago and ran for 43 weeks.
April 2013
- Pre-Broadway World Premiere of Big Fish starring Norbert Leo Butz and Kate Baldwin
April 2014
- Motown the Musical National Tour Premiere
May 2014
- Buyer & Cellar, starring Michael Urie, plays the Broadway Playhouse for six weeks
June 2014
- Pre-Broadway World Premiere of The Last Ship with music and lyrics by Sting
October 2014
- Pre-Broadway World Premiere of Amazing Grace
November 2014
- World Premiere of Dee Snider’s Rock & Roll Christmas Tale starring Dee Snider
June 2015
- Pre-Broadway World Premiere of On Your Feet! The Story of Emilio and Gloria Estefan with the songs of Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine
December 2015
- Beautiful: The Carole King Musical - 12-week long-run engagement
- World Premiere of Gotta Dance starring André De Shields, Georgia Engel, Stefanie Powers and Lillias White
June 2016
- Pre-Broadway World Premiere of The SpongeBob Musical
September 2016
- Hamilton – Chicago’s sit-down, long run engagement is first outside of NYC. Lin-Manuel Miranda attends opening night in September 2016. The 3+ year engagement ends January 2020.
April 2017
- Aladdin National Tour launches at the Cadillac Palace and runs for 22 weeks
November 2017
- Pre-Broadway tour of Escape To Margaritaville featuring Jimmy Buffett songs
- Full Cast of Escape To Margaritaville performs live on Michigan Avenue for the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival
- Lin-Manuel Miranda attends Escape To Margaritaville and performs with Jimmy Buffett
March 2018
- Pre-Broadway World Premiere Pretty Woman the Musical
June 2018
- Pre-Broadway World Premiere of The Cher Show starring Stephanie J. Block (Tony Award winner for The Cher Show – Best Actress in a Musical)
- Cher attends The Cher Show
September 2018
- Pre-Broadway World Premiere of Tootsie starring Santino Fontana (Tony Award winner for Tootsie – Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical)
February 2019
- Dear Evan Hansen inaugurates the newly dedicated James M. Nederlander Theatre, renamed from the Oriental Theatre
July 2019
- Broadway In Chicago introduces a new theatrical venue, Spiegeltent ZaZou, in the Theatre District for Teatro ZinZanni
September 2019
- Oslo – TimeLine Theatre Company Regional Theatre Premiere at the Broadway Playhouse
March 2020 – September 2021
- COVID 19 closure for 18 months
- Shows that Closed: What The Constitution Means To Me
- Missed shows:
The Bachelor Live, Keane, The Choir Of Man, Once Upon A One More Time (Pre-Broadway World Premiere), The Office: A Musical Parody, Waitress, The Crown Live!, Goshen Deeply Rooted, Lisa Lampanelli’s Losin’ It!, Dear Evan Hansen, Some Like It Hot (Pre-Broadway World Premiere)
October 2021
- Post-COVID – Broadway In Chicago re-opens theatres with sold-out engagement of RENT at the CIBC Theatre beginning October 5, 2021
November 2021
- Pre-Broadway World Premiere of Paradise Square starring Joaquina Kalukango (Tony Award winner for Paradise Square – Best Actress in a Musical)
- Disney’s Frozen – Nine-week long-run engagement
December 2021
- The Play That Goes Wrong – Sit-down, long run production at the Broadway Playhouse
March 2022
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical National Tour Premiere
- Six National Tour Premiere
July 2022
- Pre-Broadway World Premiere of The Devil Wears Prada
« Elton John attends The Devil Wears Prada
October 2022
- The Twenty-Sided Tavern - New work based on Dungeons & Dragons plays the Broadway Playhouse for 11 weeks
April 2023
- Into the Woods starring Montego Glover, Stephanie J. Block, Sebastian Arcelus, and Gavin Creel.
August 2023
- MJ National Tour Premiere
October 2023
- Pre-Broadway Engagement of A Wonderful World starring James Monroe Iglehart
November 2023
- Pre-Broadway World Premiere of Boop! The Betty Boop Musical introducing Jasmine Amy Rogers
- Pre-Broadway Engagement of The Wiz
- Boop! The Musical and Hamilton perform on top of the Wrigley Building for the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival, broadcast nationwide
April 2024
- Pre-Broadway World Premiere of Death Becomes Her starring Megan Hilty, Jennifer Simard, Christopher Sieber and Michelle Williams
- How I Learned What I Learned starring Harry Lennix – Congo Square Theatre’s regional premiere at the Broadway Playhouse
May 2024
- Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards (IHSMTA) celebrates 13 years of programs, with 80 schools participating and impacting over 6,500 students and eight Alumni of the program on Broadway
June 2024
- Pride Parade - Broadway In Chicago participates in more than 10 years of Pride Parades
August 2024
- 21 Free Summer Concerts, attracting nearly 20,000 people each year to Millennium Park. The 2024 Concert will kick off Broadway In Chicago’s 25th year
September 2024
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child North American Tour Premiere
April 2025
- Titanique – Porchlight Music Theatre regional premiere at the Broadway Playhouse
- Pre-Broadway World Premiere Ali the Musical
July 2025
- Disney’s Beauty and the Beast launches 30th Anniversary Tour at the Cadillac Palace Theatre
Fun facts about Broadway In Chicago:
- The largest Broadway Theatre Market outside of NYC
- Entertaining over 25 Million People
In 25 years:
- Over 35 Pre-Broadway engagements
- Over 565 productions
- Over 2,500 weeks of entertainment
- 56 Long Runs (8 weeks or more)
- Presenting 10 tours of Mamma Mia! and over seven engagements each of Rent, Chicago, Les Miz, Rain: A Tribune to the Beatles, Stomp
