Athenaeum Theatre in Chicago, IL

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Telephone:	+1 773-935-6860
Website:	www.athenaeumtheatre.org
Address:	2936 N Southport Ave, Chicago, IL, 60657 b/t George St & Lincoln Ave Lakeview
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:	0.3 miBelmont & Lakewood EB 0.3 miBelmont & Lakewood WB 0.6 miSouthport
Categories:	Performing Arts Venues & Event Spaces

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Accepts Credit Cards	Yes
Wheelchair Accessible	Yes

Good for Kids

Yes

Today

Today	12:00 pm – 8:30 pm Closed now
Local time (Chicago)	01:28 Thursday, 12 June 2025

Business hours

Monday	12:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Tuesday	12:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Wednesday	12:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Thursday	12:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Friday	12:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Saturday	12:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Sunday	12:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Description

Specialties

The main stage is available for rent year-round at affordable rates

* prime time by performance or by the week

* for special events by the day

a unique performance complex

* the main stage seating 984 people

* 3 studio black boxes seating 67, 81, and 89 people

* Curtain Call Club seats 55 people — concessions, receptions and a great cabaret space

The Athenaeum Theatre promotes the arts, arts education and adds to it’s century old heritage by sharing the various public spaces of the historic Athenaeum Theatre building.

We offer performing, rehearsal, reception and office spaces to arts and educational organizations at affordable, below market rates.

We cultivate relationships with arts organizations and through outreach to the local community of artists and arts administrators to interact, share ideas and offer mutual support.

We serve as a cultural resource and a forum for new and established arts groups and audiences both in the Lakeview neighborhood and the greater Chicago a

History

Established in 1911.

A unique performance complex, the Athenaeum Theatre opened in 1911 as part of the campus of St. Alphonsus Catholic Church. Conceived as a «neighborhood playhouse,» by the original German-American parish, the Athenaeum Theatre is a historic building and the oldest continuously operating off-Loop theater in Chicago.

The Athenaeum Theatre shares its heritage by using its various spaces for the arts, educational, and social service communities. The building houses five performance spaces and offices and rehearsal halls for performing arts groups as well as a gymnasium and a food pantry. The theatre serves as a cultural resource and a forum for arts groups and audiences both in the neighborhood and the greater Chicago area.

The Athenaeum Theatre has a main stage theatre which seats 984 people and three studio theatres seating 67, 81 and 89 people. The Curtain Call Club serves as a reception room for 55 people for cabaret, comedy improv, lectures and other intimate events. All public space

Meet the Manager

Jeff D.

Manager

Marketing Director

Jeff DeLong (jeff@athenaeumtheatre.org) is a Chicago native with over twenty years of experience in marketing, promotions and sponsorship in Denver and New York City. A graduate of Chicago’s Columbia College he has worked as Director of Marketing for Theatre Building Chicago, Promotions/Sponsorship Manager at the Museum of Science and Industry, Director of Consumer Promotions and Marketing for the cable TV channel WE: TV, and Territory Manager of Sales and Marketing for American Movie Classics.

Through his consulting firm Idea Man, he has worked for HGTV, The Museum of Broadcast Communications, Karma Loop TV, The Foundation for Emerging Artistic Talent (E.A.T.) at Thalia Hall in Chicago’s Pilsen Art’s District and several local theater companies here in Chicago.

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20 reviews of Athenaeum Theatre

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Tracy H.

Place rating: 4
Chicago, IL

A nice old theatre. Seats are a bit narrow and the aisles are steep, but that is to be expected in these older venues. They let your bring your alcohol into the auditorium.

Stephanie M.

Place rating: 1
Las Vegas, NV

We rented the Athenaeum Theatre back in February for a childrens dance competition– We will never go back. The staff is completely rude– Walked around cussing in front of the children, making derogatory comments, & even yelling at the kids. If you’re thinking about this theater for a rental, I highly suggest staying away. Allan Chambers is one specific person we had numerous complaints about.

Kymberly J.

Place rating: 4
Chicago, IL

If you talk in the hallway you’ll get a demerit! Keep it silent or else! My suggestion to the theater is: get sound proof doors so you don’t have to treat your guests like we’re all in grade school!
The theater in which we sat was nice and cozy… in a good way. The seats slightly reclined and were super comfy. There is a limited bar to wait for your friends and relax before the show.

Brandi W.

Place rating: 1
Lockport, IL

Horrible customer service. Their website makes it seem like finding somewhere to park is easy. I arrived 25 minutes before the show I was seeing was supposed to start and after finding somewhere to park and walking 10 minutes back to this place I was 5 minutes late. Then when I went to get my tickets they go hmmm it looks like your tickets have already been printed and one of them has already been scanned? Really that sucks fix it. I asked if they checked Id before they give people the tickets they claim are there’s and the girl assured me they do (even though she never once asked for mine all I had was my email print out). So I only need one ticket so the usher shows me to the door to the room and opens the door looks in then looks back out and goes there’s someone in your seats. I tell him okay we know one of my tickets was scanned I’ll take the other seat. He tells me there is someone in both seats. I ask him if he can tell them to move and he says no the show has already started and he can’t cause a commotion. There was a seat in row N on the end I could have instead. My tickets were for row D… that or they could refund my money. The website also said the show was 90 minutes. And the only parking in the area was 2 hour parking which I thought would be fine. The show was not 90 minutes. I had to leave early so my car wouldn’t get towed or booted. I will never go to this place again. I enjoyed the show itself but this venue is the worst.

Erin J.

Place rating: 1
Cary, IL

Show was great. Theatre sucked. Telling people they can’t use the bathroom because «we have a second showing» when there was no intermission as promised online is completely absurd. Also, get rid of the plain clothed cops.

Corey D.

Place rating: 4
Elgin, IL

Came here for the first time this past December for the Nutcracker and loved it. I mean, the play was alright. Wife and daughter loved it. I was stoked over the beautiful old time feel and décor of the place. They sold beer in the lobby too which helped guide me through. Definitely going back next year!

E T.

Place rating: 2
Oswego, IL

I forgot to mention that the hot air blowing from these vents is strong enough to blow your hair around — so it’s a pretty strong current. Not worth it, trust me.

Lynne F.

Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL

Just saw a remarkable performance of A Winter’s Tale done by the Promethean Theatre Ensemble. Shakespeare is never easy to perform, but this was done as professionally as ever seen in Chicago. No stage setting or props, this was done as only good actors can do, it was convincing. Very clear pronunciation of those difficult lines so you miss nothing. Might be in the best small theatre at the Atheneum — a bonus there’s a café outside to have refreshments.
Not necessary if you’re interested in experiencing Shakespeare.

James P.

Place rating: 5
Sleepy Hollow, IL

Customer service was outstanding!
I was originally frustrated with a recent concert, that I was excited to attend. (Damien Rice) I had logged in at the selling date to be booted by the theatre’s ticking system four times. I was not able to purchase a ticket. Out of desperation I purchased tickets 3x’s face value from a third party vendor. Once at the concert, Damien had stopped the show and walked off stage telling the audience he was too ill to perform. They rescheduled the show to a new venue. The venue then was changed back to the Athenaeum theatre, but in doing so the third party seller had canceled all tickets purchased through them.
The Athenaeum Theatre (Beth) had worked to obtain tickets to sell back to those who were bumped from the show because of this. In the end, I have been bumped to front row paying face value for the ticket. They did not have to do this, but they worked to make sure that everyone who was effected was able to see the show.
Thanks again!

Amy R.

Place rating: 3
Naperville, IL

Came here to see Tim & Eric’s Bedtime Stories a few weeks ago with a group of 6 friends. For those of you unfamiliar with Tim & Eric, go watch a few episodes of «Tim & Eric, Awesome Show, Great Job!» And thank me later. They’re fantastic.
Anyway, I’d kinda slept on getting tickets and when I went to order, saw there was only ONE SPOT LEFT in the entire theater where we could get 6 tickets in a row. I kept trying to order and the website kept failing. Since the tickets were moderately priced, I feared that I would be charging $ 200+ to my card over and over again with each attempt, and opted to call instead. I got an extraordinarily polite and kind woman who bluntly informed me the website doesn’t work. Oh. Neat? In seriousness, had I known she would be so great to work with, I would have just called first, but a venue’s ticketing website needs to be functional, no?
I got there for the performance and parked in the life saving church parking lot next door — $ 6 for safe non-street parking and no hassle, SCORE! The theater is old but in no way dilapidated, though there’s a whole bunch of stairs, so get your cardio hat on. Our seats ended up being quite awful, we were in the 2^nd to last row in the highest balcony, and though I was impressed we could see as well as we could, I was uncomfortable. I am in no way scared of heights and even I thought the steepness of the seating was a little intense (my poor friend next to me held on to the armrests for the whole show in silent terror, haha). The staff who were assisting people to their seats were very unfriendly, but in their defense, I imagine that crowd was a little drunk and obnoxious, so I get it.
I would most likely go see another show here again if it was a worthwhile act, but wouldn’t go out of my way to return unless I had very good seats. Still, a nice old school theater that hardens back to a different time.

Janine G.

Place rating: 1
Chicago, IL

When I wrote a comment on the Athenaeum Theatre Facebook Page about how they did not prepare their site for the high traffic it would receive for the Damien Rice tickets, they deleted it and blocked me from commenting. I in no way was rude in my comment. I didn’t use abusive language or anything of the sorts. I just stated the site was sub par, could not handle high traffic and had poor service. Learn to take honest criticism and not block people from politely telling it like it is. Not only do they need a new website, they need a new social media manager that knows how to handle negative feedback.

Fatima K.

Place rating: 2
Chicago, IL

Saw a comedy play «dead mans cellphone» by Sarah Ruhl because it had gotten really good reviews on Chicago Tribune. Turned out to be a bad idea! My husband and I almost fell asleep even before the intermission. Definitely not a comedy!

David R.

Place rating: 4
Park Ridge, IL

I saw an outstanding comedy show here a couple of months ago, featuring Kyle Kinane and Tig Notaro. I thought that I was familiar with all of the small and medium-sized early-twentieth-century theaters on the north side, but this was a new one to me. Who knew? It doesn’t look like much on the outside, but inside is a simple theater with a steep balcony and pretty well kept walls, ceilings, and floors. There is none of the crumbling plaster and flaking paint that you see elsewhere. It’s true that the seats are high-school auditorium style from your parents’ generation, but I was comfortable. Also, they use an assigned seating system here, which I greatly appreciate: no worrying about getting there early enough for a good spot or else elbowing into a standing-room-only crowd.
Anyway, the space was perfect for comedy. The sound was very good and we could see quite well from Row C on the balcony level. I wonder how an acoustic music show would sound in there.
I waited in line about five minutes at the downstairs bar before the show. They have a nice selection of bottled craft beer but no ice for soft drinks. However, the bartender guaranteed me that the soda was cold, and he was right – ice cold. Kudos to you buddy; that frosty beverage really hit the spot on a hot evening.
Last Sunday I returned to see The Empty Theatre’s production of Richard III. This took place in the third-floor performance space, a modestly sized black box with about fifty or sixty seats. It’s intimate theater, man, intimate.
So there you go – the Athenaeum is a triple threat: music, comedy, and theater. What an asset.

Christin B.

Place rating: 1
Chicago, IL

If you are contacting this theater to for a rental be very careful. The prices they list in the Chicago Spaces were not the quote they gave me. I was ready to rent from them to use their space– with no lights and they wanted to charge me $ 1,000 for the day! They quoted $ 20 an hour on the site.
I sent someone to look at the space and talk with a representative which was a huge waste of time. Make sure you call and get the rates before visiting the space for a walk through.

Angela T.

Place rating: 3
Chicago, IL

I saw several reasonably priced circus performances here on the main stage during last week’s circus festival.
The building looks like a converted high school and the main stage a converted auditorium. The seats aren’t the most plush and are a little tight as a result. Also, the floor isn’t as sloped as you might expect and the views from the far west and east sides of the theater are not as good as those from the center, but that’s likely normal. I didn’t go up onto the balcony, so I don’t know how the view is from up there.
They have a bar with lots of tables and chairs inside the theater’s building, so if you get there before the doors open/seating begins, you can sit down rather than have to stand like you do at Lookingglass. The bathrooms are clean, but this is where it’s clear that the space was converted, because there are very few stalls.

Padma A.

Place rating: 3
Chicago, IL

Went to watch Six stories and up from Tellin’ Tales Theatre and spent 40 mins trying to find legal parking, the lot filled up fast, street side none… went to a dance musical many years ago and remember the horrible parking situation. The Theater itself is old, staff did their best to accommodate us because we arrived late, but Athenaeum needs help to stay in the community. While the show was good, i doubt if i want make the trip driving there again, advisable to take the public transportation.

Carl D.

Place rating: 1
Fuquay Varina, NC

The performance was GREAT. The technical side of the prodcution was GREAT. Why not 5 stars then? Becuase the interaction with their ushers and ticketing staff SUCKED THAT BAD.
I bought 5 tickets and arrived 90 minutes before curtain and picked up the tickets. Our group was told we could wait in the bar area until seating opened and we would be told when we could enter the theater. Since we had a large group we wanted to sit together so we arrived early. They NEVER announced when seating was opening in the bar area and by the time we figured out we could go in, we couldn’t find 4 seats together. That was annoying since we had intentionally got there extra early for that reason.
But what I found VERY RUDE AND INSULTING was that when we were entering the theater the usher asked if there were 4 or 5 of us. I said I had bought 5 tickets, but there were only 4 of us because one was sick. She then TOOK the extra ticket OUT OF MY HAND and said «I will give this to someone else then»!!! I was not REFUNDED the amount. I was not ASKED to donate it (which I would have!) MY PROERTY WAS PHYSICALLY TAKEN OUT OF MY HAND AND GIVEN TO SOMEONE ELSE BY THEIR STAFF AFTER I HAD PAID FOR IT!!! THis was insulting and frankly, theft. I loved the acting, but will not be back.

Courtney C.

Place rating: 4
Chicagoland, IL

We saw the show «Listen to Your Mother» at the Athenaeum Theatre this past weekend which featured 18 local writers/bloggers telling stories about motherhood in celebration of the upcoming Mother’s Day. A friend from college was in it, so while I’m not a mother, I wanted to go to support her. First off, if you get a chance to go to one of these shows (there are 24 of them nationwide) I highly recommend it. You don’t have to be a mother to find yourself on a rollercoaster of emotions – through tears, happiness and rolling on the floor laughter.
The theater itself was really nice and one of those older types. We were at the main stage downstairs, but they also have acting classes and other theaters upstairs.
We got there at 1 PM for a 2 o’clock show. Most theaters open their doors an hour early, but Athenaeum told us that the doors wouldn’t open for awhile, so they recommended we chill at the bar. The bar had snacks for $ 1, as well as a fully stocked bar. The worst part of it was that they didn’t even open the doors until around 1:45. I’m not sure if that’s how they normally operate, but it doesn’t leave a lot of time to get settled. One thing I should also note is that no one even checked our tickets. Since there was a set of double doors, I’m sure it was the case that the ushers at the main doors thought someone else had already checked them. Woops.
The auditorium itself was very nice and the seats were unusually comfortable. I don’t think that there’s a bad seat in the house. We were in the 2^nd row down Aisle 3 and could see and hear everything perfectly. I would consider seeing another play or show here considering it’s very easy to get to from the highway and the tickets were very reasonable as well ($ 24 each.)
Tip: parking is only $ 6 all day. They have 2 lots that they share with the Catholic church next door. We went early and just parked there all day while we walked around.

Stephanie M.

Place rating: 4
Chicago, IL

The first time I went to this theater was for Laura Marling in June 2012. I loved it and decided it was one of my new favorite venues! Parking was easy, the setting was nice, the staff was nice (very old and sweet) and there didn’t seem to be a bad seat in the house!
However, the second time I went I wasn’t so sure. For Laura Marling we were up in the balcony. For Ben Gibbard we were downstairs toward the back. And that was when I changed my mind slightly. With the doors right behind us there was constant movement, people coming and going, getting drinks and talking on the phone in the back. It was so distracting! Also, the barbacks were moving bottles around right behind the stage, so loud that Bed asked them to stop! It was crazy!
I still really like the venue but highly recommend sitting upstairs.

Nick M.

Place rating: 4
Chicago, IL

Whoa, where did this place come from?! I’ve probably driven by it and not even noticed, since this tall building is next to an equally tall church (never mind that it has been here since 1911). Still with this place hosts just about everything, so I can’t believe we haven’t crossed paths before. Dance performances, plays, Improve festivals, World Dance festivals, cabaret, and even Miss Latina Illinois. The main theater is huge, like seating 984 people huge and there doesn’t seem to be a bad seat (except maybe the ends in the balcony). There is some work need to the building, seats are comfy enough but could be better but the sound needs a lot of work. They have a box office but you can go online for easy tickets. Of course I’ll be coming back for more performances.
I came to celebrate 2012 World Dance Day and left… eh, about the performance. Tap dancers were cool, along with the Irish but that’s about it.

Athenaeum Theatre

Chicago, United States

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20 reviews of Athenaeum Theatre