Theaters, Fine Arts Centers + Comedy Clubs
Norris Cultural Arts Center
LOCATION: 1040 Dunham Rd, St. Charles
This art gallery also has a 1,000-seat performance theater with a hydraulically operated orchestra pit that can be raised to one foot above the stage to showcase performers, flush with the stage to expand the stage area, or lower than the stage for its traditional use as an orchestra pit.
Open YEAR-ROUND
St. Charles
Fine Line Creative Arts Center
LOCATION: 37W570 Bolcum Road, St. Charles
630-584-9443
Fine Line Creative Arts Center of St. Charles supports artists and the larger community through instruction, exploration and exhibition of traditional and innovative arts and crafts, its mission enriched by a natural and inspirational setting.
Open YEAR-ROUND
St. Charles
Steel Beam Theatre
LOCATION: 111 W. Main Street, St. Charles
(630) 587-8521
Steel Beam Theatre has focused on presenting passionate, engaging, provoking – but always entertaining – professional theatre that’s accessible and affordable to all audiences.
Performances held SPORADICALLY throughout the year
St. Charles
Marquee Youth Stage
LOCATION: 619 W Main St, St. Charles
While this is a great place for youth and teens to take lessons, their goal is to increase performing arts opportunities by teaching the skills and knowledge of how theater can serve and benefit the community at large.
Performances held SPORADICALLY throughout the year
St. Charles
Playhouse 38
LOCATION: 321 Stevens Street, Suite P, Geneva (entrance in rear of building)
The Geneva Park District's Youth Theater Productions feature young actors ranging in ages from 7-17 and provide a full theater experience, including costumes, lighting, props, backgrounds, and more. Productions include both theatrical plays and musicals. Playhouse 38 produces both musical and non-musical adult productions throughout the year.
Performances SPORADICALLY throughout the year.
Geneva
Water Street Studios
LOCATION: 160 S Water St, Batavia
Water Street Studios is an art gallery that has become an integral cultural hub that draws, enriches and supports renowned artists, experienced art teachers, talented students and the art and culture-loving public from all over the Fox Valley and beyond.
Open Wednesday - Sunday YEAR-ROUND
Batavia
Hemmens Cultural Center
LOCATION: 45 Symphony Way, Elgin
(630) 863-0713
Home to the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, the Hemmens Cultural Center has 1,200-seats and is the cornerstone of Elgin’s growing arts community for musical performances, concerts, theatrical performances, and more.
Performances YEAR-ROUND
Elgin
Paramount Theatre
LOCATION: 23 E. Galena Boulevard, Aurora
(630) 896–6666
Paramount continues to provide world-class entertainment—including dance, music, Broadway-caliber theatre, and children’s programming—for an annual audience of 350,000 patrons from over 250 communities.
Performances YEAR-ROUND
Aurora
Copley Theatre
LOCATION: 8 E. Galena Boulevard, Aurora
(630) 896-6666
The Copley Theatre underwent a major renovation, transforming into an intimate, contemporary space to house their next creative adventure: intimate, emotional, and timely dramatic pieces. This semi-circe theatre provides every patron with an incredible seat!
Performances YEAR-ROUND
Aurora
WeGo Community Theatre
LOCATION: West Chicago, IL
(331) 465-9317
WeGo Community Theatre is dedicated to producing high-quality live theatre entertainment that provides opportunities for self-discovery, individual development, and cultural enrichment by fostering the creative energy of our youth and creating a safe, inclusive environment for all.
Performances held throughout the year.
West Chicago
BrightSide Theatre
LOCATION: 31 S. Ellsworth Street, Naperville
Performing at the Meiley-Swallow Theater on North Central College's campus located in the heart of historic downtown Naperville, BrightSide Theatre is the newest professional theatre in the western suburbs. A unique blend of award-winners, premieres, modern works and timeless classics meant to reflect upon and inform our community will inhabit BrightSide's stage.
Naperville
Dhrishti Center For Performing Arts
LOCATION: 808 S. Route 59, Naperville
We provide a unique location to host a captivating array of theatrical events, music concerts, dance recitals, literary showcases, and art exhibitions.
Our Center features electric music, dance shows, fine plays of all genres, niche events, and art exhibits. Our center houses interactive training venues, including an acting studio. Our acclaimed Dhrishti brand brings in artists from all over the world to create exquisite experiences for you.
Naperville
Madden Theatre
LOCATION: 171 E. Chicago Avenue, Naperville
As a black box theatre, the Bartley and Maricela Madden Theatre brings together actors and audience up close and personal with its flexible seating and staging configurations. Madden Theatre is an ideal setting for experimental theatrical performances and a great space for film screenings, jazz and dance performances and lectures.
In addition to being used for many of the College's theatre and dance classes, Madden Theatre hosts performances in the Cabaret Series of the College's fine and performing arts season. Such artists as Spider Saloff, performance duo Beckie Menzie and Tom Michael, and Barbra Streisand impressionist Steven Brinberg have engaged audiences in an intimate nightclub-type setting.
The removable seating can be configured in a variety of ways: in the round, in traditional lecture-style, to one side, or whatever arrangement the event requires. The venue features high-tech lighting and sound systems, which production staff can arrange to suit any need.
The versatile space is available for rentals and features its own lobby, making it ideal for hosting conferences and events for up to 150 people. With its own entrance off Chicago Avenue-but connected to the rest of the Fine Arts Center-Madden Theatre can be used at the same time as the Wentz Concert Hall. The building's state-of-the-art acoustics and sound-proof design ensure no sound disruption or interference from either inside or outside the building.
The Bartley and Maricela Madden Theatre is named in honor of a Naperville couple and neighbors of the College who made a generous gift to the Fine Arts Center. Maricela is a 1999 fine arts graduate of North Central College and Bart Madden is an independent scholar and retired financier.
Naperville
Magical Starlight Theatre
LOCATION: 440 Aurora Avenue, Naperville
Magical Starlight Theatre was formed in September 1994 and is a program of The Naperville Park District. Magical Starlight's express mission is to produce quality, family-oriented theatrical presentations.
Magical Starlight strives to include community actors and production staff of all ages in its productions. Included have been such classics as The Wizard of Oz, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and Peter Pan. Magical Starlight provides a unique opportunity for adults and young people to work together as peers and learn from one another. In addition, a conscious effort is made to include as many family members as possible in all aspects of each production.
Naperville
Pfeiffer Hall
LOCATION: 310 Benton Avenue, Naperville
Pfeiffer Hall is a grand venue with a large proscenium stage. Built before the start of the Great Depression, this auditorium has been a magnet for the arts in Chicago's western suburbs for more than 85 years.
Dedicated as the Barbara Pfeiffer Memorial Hall, the venue was the largest performance theater in Illinois west of Chicago when it opened. In addition to hosting North Central College's musical and theatrical performances and weekly chapel services for many decades, Pfeiffer Hall has hosted many speakers over the years, including Robert Frost, Martin Luther King Jr., Henry Kissinger, Cornel West and Barack Obama.
The auditorium features main-floor seating for 588 and balcony seating for 469. The hall also houses classrooms and practice rooms for the College's departments of music and theatre and continuing education music programs for the community, as well as faculty offices for North Central's speech communication department.
Over the years Pfeiffer Hall has undergone renovations to its exterior, interior furnishings, sound systems and air comfort systems.
Pfeiffer Hall is named in honor of Barbara Pfeiffer by her sons, Henry and G.A. Pfeiffer who gave the lead gift for the building. The Pfeiffer family has been a generous benefactor of the College.
Naperville
Summer Place Theatre
LOCATION: 440 Aurora Avenue, Naperville
Founded in 1966 by North Central College theatre professor Don "Doc" Shanower, Summer Place Theatre has spent the last fifty years providing professional quality theatre arts entertainment to the Naperville community. The all-volunteer board, crew and cast work hard together to produce entertaining plays and musicals for the Naperville area.
The Summer Place occupies the Naperville Central High School auditorium during the summer months, performing favorite musicals like South Pacific and Jesus Christ Superstar, and plays like Father of the Bride and Cheaper by the Dozen. They also collaborate with the Naperville Park District in the fall for their annual Ghost Stories in the Park... In the Dark!, an evening of spooky storytelling at the Grand Pavilion near Centennial Beach. Other performances, workshops, and theatre classes keep the Summer Place busy year-round.
The Summer Place, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization that receives funding through sales of affordably priced tickets, program ads, concessions, from a small number of grants and from the kind donations of its patrons. It provides a great deal to Naperville: the opportunity to gather to create a work of art, and to share that work with its citizens at a very low cost.
Naperville
Wentz Concert Hall
LOCATION: 171 E. Chicago Avenue, Naperville
Wentz Concert Hall is hailed as a gem-the premier destination in Chicago's western suburbs to appreciate performances of classical, jazz and contemporary music. The acoustics in Wentz Concert Hall are designed by Talaske Sound Thinking, acoustical consultants for Chicago's critically acclaimed Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park. The venue also is ideally suited for recording. Hear what artists who have performed in Wentz Concert Hall say about the quality of the venue's acoustics.
Wentz Concert Hall can be "tuned" through the motorized extension and retraction of sound-absorbing curtains. Two massive sound chambers, one on each side of the stage and invisible to the audience, enhance the audio characteristics and allow sound to bounce off multiple planes as it is directed to the audience.
Wentz Concert Hall has hosted such notable classical performers as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Yo-Yo Ma and Lyric Opera of Chicago soloist Elizabeth Futral; jazz legends Herb Alpert, Herbie Hancock and Ramsey Lewis; and such contemporary artists as Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Colbie Caillat and Los Lonely Boys. The hall is the west suburban home of the Chicago Sinfonietta, home of the DuPage Symphony Orchestra and is an incomparable venue to showcase bands, orchestras and choirs of area high schools as well as the College's multitude of musical ensembles and soloists.
Located at Chicago Avenue and Ellsworth Street in downtown Naperville, the Wentz Concert Hall at the Fine Arts Center is named in honor of Dr. Myron Wentz, a visionary scientist, entrepreneur and lover of music who provided the lead gift for the Fine Arts Center. Dr. Wentz is also a North Central College alumnus of the class of 1963.
Naperville
The Venue
LOCATION: 21 S. Broadway, Aurora
The Venue is a live music performance space in downtown Aurora, Illinois. The flex-space listening room can be configured for reserved high and low top tables, general admission or standing room only shows. Access to outdoor patio stage when weather permits. We are proud to book nationally-recognized talent in all genres of music from blues and big band, to rock and world music, and everything in between. Frequently, our opening acts feature regional and local musicians and songwriters.
Aurora
The Bit Theater
LOCATION: 4034 Fox Valley enter Drive, Aurora
The Bit was founded in 2021 out of our owners’ desire to take a different approach to improv training and performing. Although we’re still babies in the comedy world, in our short life we’ve expanded our offerings far beyond just improv, and we hope to continually grow and nurture the comedy community in the Chicagoland area. We have a diverse and welcoming community of wonderful new talent both onstage and off. The Bit offers improv and sketch comedy shows, classes, corporate training, and private events!
Aurora
The Comedy Vault
LOCATION: 18 E. Wilson Street, Batavia
Welcome to The Comedy Vault, Batavia's premier destination for uproarious live entertainment!
Located in the vibrant suburbs of Chicago, our comedy club offers an unforgettable night out. Get ready to laugh until your sides ache as nationally accredited acts take the stage, no more than 50 feet away from your seat! Our shows average 1 hour and forty minutes, and typically feature a lineup of talented comedians including an opener, a feature, and a headliner with national entertainment credits.
At The Comedy Vault, we prioritize your comfort and enjoyment. Our facility provides an intimate and relaxed atmosphere for you to unwind and indulge in a wide selection of food and beverages. From perfectly-portioned appetizers to the hottest craft beers, we've got something to satisfy every craving. Join us for an unforgettable evening of laughter and entertainment – come check us out!
Batavia
Zanies Comedy Club
LOCATION: Parkway Bank Park, 5437 Park Place, Rosemont
Comedy Club in Rosemont.
Tickets are available online (for purchase only) and through the Box Office (purchase and free ticket reservations.) Prices typically range from $10 to $30, subject to change per show.
We DO NOT use physical tickets. There is nothing to pick up at the box office before the show. All tickets are redeemed using the last name and photo ID of the person who purchased them. An actual ID is required we do not accept photos/copies/picture
Box Office Hours
5pm until start of last show- Wednesday through Friday.
5pm on Saturdays.
Two item minimum purchase per person (food or drink)
Seating
1)Seating is first come, first served.
2)We do our best to accommodate large groups. Late admittance can NOT be guaranteed seats together.
3) We recommend arriving as early as possible to the doors open time.
Age Requirements
All patrons MUST be at least 21 years old with a valid photo ID.
No exceptions.
Rosemont
Center Stage Theater
LOCATION: 1665 Quincy Avenue, Suite 131, Naperville
Center Stage Theater brings unique theatrical experiences to the Naperville area. We warmly welcome community groups, performers, bands and budding artists who seek a launching pad for their artistic endeavors. Additionally, we offer ample, affordable and centrally located meeting space perfect for local business, non-profit organization and community gatherings. A wide range of groups and individuals leverage our theater, not only for our terrific facility but also for the invaluable professional expertise we can contribute to successful stage productions, conferences and more.
Naperville
Westside Improv
LOCATION: 125 W. Front Street, Wheaton
Westside Improv presents long form improv shows and classes throughout the week in the heart of downtown Wheaton, Illinois. Send us an email if you’re interested in watching shows, learning improv, or performing on our stage!
Jeff Ash is the owner and Artistic Director of Westside Improv. Our theater also features a number of experienced teachers and coaches from around the community. Westside Improv delivers a great performing and training environment.
Wheaton
CG's Comedy Club
LOCATION: 619 E. Boughton Road, Suite 125, Bolingbrook
Comedy Club, live entertainment, stand up comedy.
Bolingbrook
Kidz Cabaret
LOCATION: 1665 Quincy Avenue, Suite 143, Naperville
Kidz Kabaret is Fair Lady Productions flagship program that introduces children and teens to theater. The organization holds the vision of “Every Child Center Stage” and every performance features all-youth casts, of all ages and abilities. Thanks to the group’s loving and nurturing environment students grow, learn skills and develop qualities that will help them thrive in school, in their future careers and throughout their lives.
Naperville