Theater On The Lake

Theater on the Lake offers beautiful sets and setting.

If you love theater —  but not high ticket pricesand  the hustle and bustle of large crowds — consider a show at Chicago’s rustic Theater on the Lake, part of the Chicago Park District.

A local gem, Theater on the Lake is a 300-seat pavilion performance space located on the shore of Lake Michigan in tree-lined Lincoln Park. Built in the 1920s as a recuperation ward for infants with tuberculosis, it was transformed in the years following WWII into a dance hall.

In the following years the hall was used as a home for Community Theater and began professional stagings in the 1990s. Today, many of the city’s major theater companies call Theater on the Lake their summer venue. In a sense, this space offers a two-for-one with great performances within and a lakeside spectacle outside.

This venue is perfect on warm summer nights as cool breezes off the lake sweep over the open-air theater. Patrons are protected from sun and rain by canvass walls.

This season, Theater on the Lake will host eight plays in eight weeks, ending Aug. 9. For a listing of performances, click here or call the theater at (312) 742-7994.       

Tickets for all shows are $17.50; a season subscription to all eight plays is $110. The box office is open Tuesday-Saturday, 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Sundays, 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. The theater is wheelchair accessible and a small concession stand is open for refreshments.

Performances are held Wednesday-Saturday at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday at 6:30 p.m. Parking is available at the Lincoln Park Zoo located at Fullerton Avenue and Cannon Drive. CTA bus routes 151 or 156 serve the area.