All-ages. Day-long competitions run from 10am-6pm with varying breaks. Doors open at 9am.
Natural fitness competition including seven Pro Classes and a chance for amateur competitors to earn a Pro-Qualification and work their way to becoming a World Champion.

DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND — 2nd SHOW ADDED! Thursday 9/19 at 8pm

You’ve said it before: Crime Junkie feels like you are sitting in a room with your best friends Ashley & Brit talking about true crime. Now is your chance to do that for real! For four days only, Ashley & Brit are bringing you a never before told case. You’ll get to analyze the facts an evidence with Ashley and yell “Wait, What?!” right along with Brit. Get ready to experience your favorite chart-topping podcast Crime Junkie in a whole new way!

ONE STVARI (Those Things) is a mixture of theatre, workshop, cabaret, monodrama, therapy, and presentation. The main and only character is a Serbian sexual and marital therapist, Dr. Agoljub. This is also a type of laughter therapy, with the idea of having fun, but also helping all those who are able to recognize their own problem yet hesitant to look for a sexual therapist or a marital counselor.

The play represents a creative blend of professional and personal experience, with regard to gender relations. The emphasis is seemingly only on sex, but the show goes even wider and deeper, with the analysis of all other aspects of living together and the relations between men and women.

Even though the theme of sex and sexual (dis)satisfaction is already a bit delicate, the performance is at all times within the limits of good taste.

ONE STVARI (Those Things) has played over 200 times, in front of packed auditoriums, both nationally and internationally. For this show, the tickets move fast!

The International Choreographers Showcase is celebrating its 26th year and features companies from across the US, Canada and the world. Renowned as a launching pad for dance groups that have appeared on World of Dance, So You Think You Can Dance, America’s Best Dance Crew and Dancing with the Stars, the International Choreographers Showcase brings together today’s hottest new dancers and styles.

This year’s Youth Showcase will be held at the historic Athenaeum Theater where young dancers from around the globe will share the stage with our very own Chicago youth companies as they blaze a path towards the future of dance. Featuring Mini, Mighty & Future Shock D.C., Future Shock Ottawa, All Team Collaboration San Diego, Future Shock Las Vegas, All Team Collaboration Los Angeles, Mini, Mighty & Future Shock Oakland and Shock Waves Chicago with special guest Chicago companies. Bringing you coast to coast and international talent, this show is not to be missed!

The Golden Ratio Live show brings your favorite squad of golden retrievers from TheGoldenRatio4 on stage with Jen, GR Mom, joined as always by GR Dad. We’ll spend an evening sharing secret stories of the dogs and humans plus a crazy Florida Man story for good measure.

The Lakeview Orchestra was founded in 2013 and is now recognized as a leading volunteer orchestra in Chicago. Under the baton of Artistic Director Gregory Hughes, the orchestra presents acclaimed performances that engage, entertain, and educate. The orchestra is home to well-trained, non-professional musicians that revel at opportunities to perform a diverse variety of music — from established masterworks to pieces written expressly for the ensemble.

The orchestra’s commitment to artistic excellence has been noted by audiences, critics, and artists alike. In 2016 the Lakeview Orchestra garnered an unprecedented three awards in a single year from the Illinois Council of Orchestras, including the prestigious Community Orchestra of the Year award.

Gregory Hughes conductor
Tage Larsen trumpet
GRAINGER: Molly on the Shore
HINDEMITH: Mathis der Maler Symphony
HAYDN: Trumpet Concerto
STRAVINSKY: The Firebird Suite (1919 Version)

“ZAZ has a voice as warm and rich as the wines in the Bordeaux region, where she first began performing… she’s a performer full of insouciant charm.” – NPR

“It’s always an event when ZAZ chooses to grace us with new music; and as ever, the sultry introspective new single is full of surprises… [‘Qué vendrá’] is distinctly sensual.” – BlackBook

ZAZ (born Isabelle Geffroy) has been compared to the likes of Edith Piaf, Yves Montand and Ella Fitzgerald and her signature voice is celebrated all over the world. Moving from Bordeaux to Paris as a teen, she set out to seize what would prove a unique destiny. Since the start of her career in 2010 with the seminal hit “Je veux,” ZAZ has won a multitude of awards, including French and German Grammys, and has sold in excess of four million records internationally, with Gold status or higher in twelve countries. She has performed over 500 shows across five continents, relentlessly proving that music transcends borders. An artist of global resonance, her last album, Paris, saw her collaborate with the likes of Quincy Jones, Charles Aznavour and Pablo Alborán. Quincy Jones has noted that ZAZ “has real blues roots in her voice that you’d swear came straight out of the ghetto!” In 2011, ZAZ joined the Les Enfoirés charity ensemble and has created the project Zazimut to develop and promote projects for a society more respectful of life in all its forms.

ZAZ recently released Effet Miroir [translation: Mirror Effect], a studio album comprised entirely of original songs. Combining elements of chanson, South American guitars, pop, salsa and rock, Effet Miroir is an album of hope that is testament to the beliefs of ZAZ, an internationally celebrated artist.On Effet Miroir, ZAZ hopes listeners can find and recognize themselves: “To accept all our facets with their paradoxes is for me, a way to unite the polarities of our being,” ZAZ says. The album serves as an illustration of several faces and genres, just like the diversity of humanity that she had the opportunity to observe and appreciate for several years on the road, in concert or elsewhere.

For more on ZAZ: ZAZ official site / Facebook / YouTube / Instagram / Twitter / Spotify

TICKETS GO ON SALE FRIDAY MAY 17TH 1OAM CST

Calling all Upholders, Questioners, Obligers, and Rebels! Gretchen and Elizabeth are taking their show on the road. See the sisters’ disembodied voices take human form live on stage in Happier Hour: An Evening With Gretchen And Elizabeth. You’ll participate in a real-time “Try This Right Now,” enlighten fellow Happierites in an audience “Happiness Hack” lightning round, and find out if Gretchen is actually learning to play the ukulele (#7 on her “19 for 2019” list). Because this event won’t be televised, Gretchen and Elizabeth will even share embarrassing photos from the European trip that turned them from “just” sisters into actual best friends. Remember: the things that go wrong often make the best memories!

Whether Gretchen and Elizabeth remind you of your sisters, make you wish you had sisters, or make you wish you had different sisters, you’ll love this IRL evening packed with fun, laughter, and practical tips about how to be happier, healthier, and more creative. Bring your friends, your family, your co-workers…or just bring yourself. Follow the one-minute rule, and order your ticket now.

All ages. Performance lasts 120 minutes plus a 15-minute intermission. Doors open for seating at 6:00 PM.

From Frank Turner’s Blog: THOUGHTS ON NO MAN’S LAND

“The record is, first and foremost, a piece of story-telling – a history record, if you will, a pretty traditional folk approach. I didn’t actually set out to write exclusively about women. In the beginning I was just toying with various stories that felt interesting to tell (and I was keen, after my recent records, to write about something other than my own life and feelings for a while). Now, clearly, there is an implicit politics in the fact that, in telling lesser known stories, I’ve ended up singing about women, and I’ll stand behind that, for what it’s worth. But my initial interest was in sharing some stories that I didn’t know before, and that I suspect most people didn’t.”

Citi® Card Member Presale begins at 10am July 16th!

Ticket Prices:

• Orchestra Pit: $75
• Main Floor: $55
• Balcony Front: $45
• Balcony Rear: $35

Click here to see the Athenaeum Main Stage Seating Chart.

*All support acts are subject to change without notice.

ICAIC Animation Studios (Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos)

A selection of short animations produced in the 1960’s by the ICAIC Animation Studios which reflect many of the early revolution’s aspirational goals: improved literacy, healthcare, housing, and food production.

Post-screening presentation: Cuban animator Ivette Avila and other invited guests will discuss the evolution of Cuban animation and the use of film to promote the ideals of the Revolution, and also pose relevant criticisms. Other potential panelists include, Julio César Guanche Zaldívar, Law Professor, Historian and former Deputy Director of the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema (Havana Film Festival).

Mary Chapin Carpenter & Shawn Colvin – Tour Package
(VIP Pit Seats: $204, VIP Main Floor Seats: $164)

Mary Chapin Carpenter and Shawn Colvin will embark on a series of tour dates throughout the fall of 2019. Carpenter and Colvin—longtime friends for over 30 years— will appear on stage together as an intimate acoustic duo, swapping songs and sharing stories. These special shows will feature the acclaimed songwriters performing material from their vast catalogues as well as some of their favorite songs.

Carpenter and Colvin previously toured together in 2013 to the delight of both fans and critics. Audiences were invited to share the artists’ “living room” as they played music and traded quips in a warm, comfortable setting inspired by the duo’s long-lasting camaraderie.

Pop-Up Magazine is a touring “live magazine” show, created for a stage, a screen, and a live audience. Contributors tell vivid, new, multimedia stories accompanied by illustration, animation, photography, and an original score performed onstage by our musical collaborators, Magik*Magik Orchestra.

This fall, Pop-Up Magazine is heading on its first themed tour: The Escape Issue. We could all use a little escape. From politics. From the past. From hostile countries and climate change. From the Internet. From negativity. Maybe even from ourselves. Join us for an immersive night of storytelling devoted to escapes big and small, daring and mundane, physical and mental.

Past contributors include bestselling authors (Michael Pollan, Alice Walker, Susan Orlean), award-winning documentary filmmakers (Ava DuVernay, Alex Gibney, Barry Jenkins), prominent radio and podcast producers (Ira Glass, Jad Abumrad, Kelly McEvers), renowned photographers (Larry Sultan, Alec Soth, Katy Grannan), musicians and actors (Beck, Kumail Nanjiani, Sasheer Zamata), as well as a wide, eclectic group of emerging media makers.

We end the night gathered around the bar, performers and audience together. And nothing goes online after—you have to be there to see it.

“A sensation” — The New York Times
“Beautiful” — Los Angeles Times
“Highbrow/Brilliant” — New York Magazine
“Consistently one of the most inspiring, hilarious, and thought-provoking theatrical performances.—Thrillist

For more information, check out popupmagazine.com!

After the success of Piaf! The Show starring the internationally acclaimed ANNE CARRERE, with a million tickets sold in more than 50 countries, sold out at Carnegie Hall, Jan 2017, Gil Marsalla presents a brand new show highlighting the best repertoire of French music in the world: Paris! The Show. This spectacular evening is a vibrant tribute to the greatest French songs of the post-war years, exporting the charm and essence of PARIS for the whole world to enjoy.

Thrilling casting and exquisite scenic design transport us to Montmartre and the stages of the great Parisian cabarets of the time, presenting a repertoire of the greatest songs of EDITH PIAF, CHARLES AZNAVOUR, JACQUES BREL, MAURICE CHEVALIER, LUCIENNE BOYER, CHARLES TRENET, JOSEPHINE BAKER, and YVES MONTAND.

See Rhett & Link discuss their new novel, The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek, live on stage!

All guests will receive a copy of the new book with their ticket!

Ticket Prices include Athenaeum Restoration Fee

• VIP Meet & Greet: $150
• All Seats: $39

Frankie Quiñones is a stand-up comedian best known for his character work. He tours as himself, but also as Creeper (a reformed cholo turned fitness guru) and Juanita Carmelita (a spicy suburban drama queen). Frankie’s characters have racked up millions of views, and Creeper’s Cholofit exercise routines have become viral sensations. Frankie’s repertoire of characters also includes party bro Afradooshie, feel-good guardian angel Pachanga, and he’s got plenty more ready to debut. In addition to his stand-up and online sketches, Frankie can soon be seen as a series regular in the sitcom “The Dress Up Gang,” and he voices a key character in Cartoon Network’s upcoming “Victor and Valentino.” Additionally, he has made appearances on Comedy Central, HBO, TBS, and Nickelodeon.

TICKETS GO ON SALE FRIDAY MAY 3rd, 10AM CST

La Música de las Esferas (Music of the Spheres) / Directed by Marcel Beltran / 82 min. / 2018 / Documentary Feature / Spanish with English subtitles

Beltrán’s father Mauricio and mother Regina met in the 1980s. Equally committed to socialist ideals, they started a life together, even though Regina’s father rejected Mauricio on account of his race. Beltrán draws out what was sacrificed as his parents forged into the austerity of the 1990s, simultaneously confronting the fraught politics of family and nation both.

Post-screening presentation: Americas Media Initiative (AMI) Cuban artist and filmmaker Marcel Beltrán will host an intimate conversation following his nonfiction feature screening, which pays homage to his parents’ enduring love while pondering his country’s turbulent history.

Dracarys, Khaleesis! Everyone’s favorite authority on basic, Stassi Schroeder, is taking her hit podcast Straight Up With Stassi on the road for the first time ever. Stassi wrote the New York Times bestselling book, NEXT LEVEL BASIC, is the owner of National #OOTD Day, stars on Bravo’s hit show, “Vanderpump Rules” — and now fans have the chance to experience her hit podcast live. The 18-date run of North America kicks off on October 2nd in Nashville, Tennessee.

Straight Up With Stassi LIVE will take your ‘girls night in’ to the NEXT LEVEL with exclusive never-before-seen content, shocking stories, next level basic tips, and a glass (or five) of wine. Join Stassi and her special guests — Beau Clark and Taylor Strecker — as they talk pop culture, Reality TV, celeb gossip, relationships, and more! She’s never one to hold back on any topic — so come see her do what she does best — judge.

“This tour is going to be unlike any other podcast tour anyone has ever been to! It’s not just going to be two people sitting in chairs having a conversation, I’m putting on a show!! Listen, everyone knows I love musical theater and this tour is giving me the chance to live out my truest Broadway dreams (disclaimer: no, I will not be singing),” says Stassi.

BOTH EVENTS ARE SOLD OUT!

For more on Stassi: Stassi official site / Facebook / Straight Up With Stassi Podcast / Instagram / Twitter / Spotify

The Super Scientific Circus proves that science can be fun and funny. Alternately assisted and foiled by the comedic antics of Trent the Mime, Mr. Fish uses amazing circus skills involving boomerangs, bubbles, beach balls, and magic to introduce the principles of friction, inertia, centripetal force, aerodynamics, sonic booms, air pressure, and ultraviolet light.Best suited for ages 5+. Performance lasts 60 minutes with no intermission. Children under 2 are free, but must sit on a guardian’s lap.

Josh Mather conductor
Joshua Brown violin
COPLAND: Fanfare for the Common Man
MENDELSSOHN: Violin Concerto
FARRENC: Symphony No. 3

Famous pieces with a piece that should be more famous.

All ages (Be advised: strong language). Event lasts 120 minutes with no intermission. Doors open for seating 60 minutes before showtime.
Comedians James Pietragallo and Jimmie Whisman are taking their hit podcast, Small Town Murder, on the road! Each week, they look at a small town, what makes it tick, and a murder that took place there. In-depth research, horrible tragedy, and the hosts’ comedic spin on the whole thing. Shut up, and give me murder!!

Josh Mather conductor
TBD Winner of the Student Concerto Competition
VILLA-LOBOS: Sinfonietta
TBD: Concerto
NIELSEN: Symphony No. 4 (“The Inextinguishable”)

“Music is life, and like life, inextinguishable!”

Gregory Hughes conductor
Ricardo Castañeda oboe
BEETHOVEN: Overture to The Ruins of Athens
HIGDON: Oboe Concerto
TBD: Composition Competition Winner
DEBUSSY: La mer

A birthday celebration, Chicago Sinfonietta Principal Oboist Ricardo Castañeda plays Jennifer Higdon’s Oboe Concerto, and the critics get it wrong — again!

Gregory Hughes conductor
BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 8

Lakeview Orchestra’s Artistic Director Gregory Hughes tackles Bruckner’s Apocalypse Symphony.

Gregory Hughes conductor
John Macfarlane violin
BRAHMS: Hungarian Dances Nos. 1, 5, and 6
BOLOGNE: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. posth., No. 1
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 4

Dances, music by classical music’s first composer of African descent, and Tchaikovsky’s searching “Fate” symphony conclude Lakeview Orchestra’s 2019/2020 season!

Stephanie and Mike are a couple who think they have it figured out. He’s an accountant moving up in his firm, and she is an aspiring writer who has recently quit her day job to pursue writing full time. Mike wants to help with her novel in any and every way he can. But Stephanie won’t let him read a single page of her rough draft- she wants to keep it a surprise. After a year of writing, submitting, edits and dealing with her new agent, Dan, the book is finally ready to be published. Mike excitedly reads it only to find out it’s about his childhood growing up and eventually escaping from a cult. As the buzz for Stephanie’s book grows, so does the danger of Mike’s past finally coming back for him. 

(Non)Fiction examines the line between fact and fiction. When does an artist have a right to a story? And ultimately, who does the story belong to- the person who told it or the person who lived it?

The turbulent tale abandons linear narrative in favor of 70 brief scenes played out of order, resulting in a wild, dreamlike ride that blends realism with psychological surprise and humor. Partners become wolves and phantoms in this domestic drama about a marriage dying of familiarity. Their haunted home offers a weirdly comical and thought-provoking glimpse into the nature of relationships.

“A quirky, inventive, and fun play in which time is out of joint as married couple Jeff and Joan contend with ghosts, beasts, and witches banging on their windows, wafting through their rooms, and wielding butcher knives.” –Broadway Publishing Inc.

This show is near to our founders’ hearts and we are excited to bring it to Chicago this October!No late seating. Recommended for ages 13+ due to strong language. Performance lasts 90 minutes with a 10-minute intermission.

The Conspirators are back with another high-energy, high-style, hard-hitting satire, this time skewering the culture of police violence and the complicity of the Code of Silence. Updated and adapted from Dario Fo’s modern classic, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, Accidental Death of a Black Motorist drops the story right smack in the middle of one of America’s worst abuses of power. A crazy, maniacal actor infiltrates police headquarters posing as the State’s Attorney and gets the bad cops to unwittingly confess the truth behind their victim’s “accidental” death. As hilarious as it is provocative!

Looking for performance space?

Contact our GM, Allan Chambers to find out about rates and availability. 773-935-6860 ext.301 or Allan@Athenaeumtheatre.org.

Conscious Light offers a penetrating glimpse into the remarkable life and enlightened teachings of Avatar Adi Da Samraj and his work to establish a way of ultimate spiritual realization for everyone. It draws on extensive archival film, photography, and audio recordings, as well as interviews with students who lived with Avatar Adi Da and continue to practice the way that he revealed.

One of the film’s Producers/Directors will be in attendance at this screening and will offer a Q&A session.

On a dark stormy night, five men arrive at a cabin for a soap star’s surprise birthday party. Each guest has been asked to dress as the birthday boy’s favorite actress, Joan Crawford, in one of her signature roles – and the results aren’t pretty. As they wait for the star, the five “Joans” begin drinking and dishing, dark secrets emerge, and soon there’s one Joan less… and then another… Who Killed Joan Crawford?! All ages. Performance lasts two hours including a 15-minute intermission.

Looking for performance space?

Contact our GM, Allan Chambers to find out about rates and availability. 773-935-6860 ext.301 or Allan@Athenaeumtheatre.org.

Based on a true story, this one-act opera follows Robert Dziekanski as he attempts to immigrate from his home country of Poland to be reunited with his mother in Canada, only to meet a tragic fate at the hands of airport security. The opera will be preceded by an instrumental prelude by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki, featuring the Thompson Street Opera Company orchestra.

RICHARD III by William Shakespeare Before the Game of Thrones, there was this masterpiece. Will Richard stop at nothing to reach the pinnacle of power? Will he act unethically, unlawfully? Deceive, seduce, even commit murder? Come on, you think George R.R. Martin invented this stuff? Meet the unlikely man who schemed so cleverly (and bloodily), we’re still talking about him today.

The 2019 Christopher Durang Season concludes with the hilarious Why Torture Is Wrong and the People Who Love Them, a play which turns political humor upside down in a raucous and provocative satire about America’s growing homeland “insecurity.” It is the story of a young woman suddenly in crisis: Is her new husband, whom she married when drunk, a terrorist? Or just crazy? Or both? Is her father’s hobby of butterfly collecting really a cover for his involvement in a shadow government? Honing in on our private terrors both at home and abroad, Durang oddly relieves our fears in this black comedy for an era of yellow, orange and red alerts.

Looking for performance space?

Contact our GM, Allan Chambers to find out about rates and availability. 773-935-6860 ext.301 or Allan@Athenaeumtheatre.org.