After we shared how to see Chicago plays and musicals on a budget, we decided to round up shows we’re most excited to see this season.
Best Chicago Story: ‘Welcome to Matteson’
📍 Northwestern University’s Abbott Hall in Streeterville
🗓️ Sept. 6–Oct. 1
This Congo Square Theatre dark comedy imagines a dinner party between one couple who has long lived in the southwest suburb and another couple who moved from the Cabrini-Green housing complex.
Most-Anticipated Return: ‘Hamilton’
📍 Nederlander Theatre in the Loop
🗓️ Sept. 13–Dec. 30
After running a three-plus-year run in the city, the popular Lin-Manuel Miranda musical is back and so is the $10 digital lottery!
Best Chicago History: ‘Jane’
📍 The Edge Off-Broadway in Edgewater
🗓️ Sept. 14–Oct.15
Based on interviews, the play explores the underground collective of Chicago women who provided safe abortions before Roe v. Wade.
Best Theater Fest: Destinos Festival
📍 Citywide
🗓️ Sept. 28–Nov. 12
The annual fest showcases Latinx theater and companies from Chicago and across the world. Productions will be in Pilsen, Chicago Lawn, Wicker Park, Oak Park, and more.
Best Musical Adaptation: ‘The Color Purple’
📍 The Studebaker Theater in the Loop
🗓️ Sept. 29–Oct. 1
Before the new film comes out, see the musical based on Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.
- 🥈 Runner-up: “Boop! The Musical”
- 🥉 Runner-up: “American Psycho”
Best Staged Reading: ‘The White City’
📍 Glessner House in South Loop
🗓️ Oct. 6–7
Get into the spooky spirit with this tale of serial killer H. H. Holmes, who murdered more than 20 people during the World’s Fair of 1893.
Best Musical Tribute: ‘A Taste of Soul’
📍 Black Ensemble Theater in Ravenswood
🗓️ Through Oct. 15
Celebrate the genre’s evolution from its gospel roots to today’s pop hits. Songs are from Barry White, Gladys Knight, Peaches & Herb, and more.
Best for Kids: ‘Pinocchio’
📍 Beverly Arts Center
🗓️ Oct. 25–Nov. 22
The one-hour musical invites kids to help Pinocchio become a real boy.
- 🥈 Runner-up: “A Ben Franklin Science & History Mystery”
- 🥉 Runner-up: “Young Frankenstein”
Best 2024 Election Prep: ‘POTUS, or Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive’
📍 Steppenwolf Theatre in Lincoln Park
🗓️ Oct. 26–Dec. 3
Seven women in the West Wing try to keep a White House PR nightmare from spinning out of control in a play that explores politics, power, and sex.
