Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place
175 E. Chestnut Street,
Chicago,
IL
60611
175 E. Chestnut Street,
Chicago,
IL
60611
9 people
favorited this theater
Related Websites
Broadway in Chicago (Official)
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Meridian Theatres, Plitt Theatres, Village Theatres
Functions: Live Performances, Live Theater, Retail
Previous Names: Water Tower Place Cinemas, Drury Lane Water Tower Theatre, Water Tower Theatre
Phone Numbers:
Box Office:
800.775.2000
Manager:
312.977.1700
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Dec 12, 2008 — Remembering "Scarface", "Sudden Impact", and Chestnut Station
- Jan 21, 2005 — From Live Theater to Movie Theater to Live Theater Again
- Sep 16, 2004 — New Legit Theater Replacing Water Tower Theatre
This theatre opened on December 21, 1976 as the Water Tower Place Cinemas. Its original four screens were built on the 2nd floor of the Water Tower Place Mall, at the back of where the hotel is now located, with the address given as 845 N. Michigan Avenue. In April 1984 Screens 5 to 7 were erected by Plitt Theatres on street level on E. Chestnut Street.
By the 1990’s, the Water Tower was in rather rough shape and screen 1-4 closed in May 2000 and screens 5-7 closed in November 2000.
In August 2002, the Village Theatres chain, which also operated the historic Biograph Theatre, Village Theatre and Village North Theatre, renovated and reopened the former 5-7 Water Tower auditoriums along E. Chestnut Street, as simply the Water Tower Theatre. It screened mainly art and foreign features. The 1-4 auditoriums were gutted and turned into retail space. At the end of August 2003, Village Theatres closed the Water Tower Theatre.
In May of 2005, the former 5-7 screens of the movie house on Chestnut Street were reopened after a conversion into a single auditorium seating 549 as the Drury Lane Water Tower Theatre. Like the other Drury Lane Theatre in suburban Oakbrook Terrace, the theatre will present live musical theatre. In September 2010 it was renamed Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place and is operated by Broadway in Chicago.
Contributed by
Aaron S. Wood, Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 38 comments)
April 13th, 1984 grand opening ad for the expansion in the photo section.
Newspaper ads from 1980’s have the address as 835 N. Michigan. But newspapers have been known to make mistakes. See newspaper ad in the “Photo” section that I posted.
The Water Tower Theatres 1-4 opened on December 21, 1976.
Was this (one of) Chicago screening room(s) for press & media (critics), e.g. advance screenings for embargoed publications?
One year we did our holiday shopping downtown chicago – slimmed my shopping duties to catch a screening of ‘Wild Bill’ (1995) here.
I’m surprised no one mentioned that the Broadway Playhouse (on Chestnut Street) was originally (in the 1970s/early 1980s) the Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place. It was an in-the-round theater with seating on two levels. I saw a transfer of LITTLE ME (1982) from the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire and a musical about the Kennedy family called ONE SHINING MOMENT (1983 by Allan Jay Friedman and Leslie Bricusse). The cast of young adult performers included Kevin Anderson, Gene Weygandt, and Megan Mullally. It was shortly after this production that the building was converted into a three screen cinema. In 2005 the building was converted back into a live theater as mentioned above.
It is mentioned in the Overview and Previous Names in the right hand column. I believe I saw “Vanities” there among others circa `81.
Yes, it is listed as a “previous name” but above it says, “In April 1984 Screens 5 to 7 were erected by Plitt Theatres on street level on E. Chestnut Street.” The building was converted from a live in-the-round theater to a three screen cinema.
This is the last paragraph. Do they have the time line wrong? I now remember seeing “Xanadu” the stage play there in 2007. In the round, or half round maybe…
“In May of 2005, the former 5-7 screens of the movie house on Chestnut Street were reopened after a conversion into a single auditorium seating 549 as the Drury Lane Water Tower Theatre. Like the other Drury Lane Theatre in suburban Oakbrook Terrace, the theatre will present live musical theatre. In September 2010 it was renamed Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place and is operated by Broadway in Chicago.”
It started as a live in-the-round theater in the 1970s (I don’t know when it officially opened). I saw shows there in 1982 & 1983. Then it was converted into a 3-screen cinema. In 2005, it was converted back into a theater but had, and still has, a proscenium. When it reopened in 2005 it was a subscription house like the Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace, Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, and Paramount Theatre in Aurora. The shows they produced (and that I saw) were: The Full Monty (2005); Morning’s at Seven (2005); and Grand Hotel (2005). After that there were sit-down runs of smaller Broadway show tours like: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (2006); Shout! (2008); and Xanadu (2009). Then the name was changed to the Broadway Playhouse and reopened with Traces (2010). There were changes made to the lobby and auditorium to go with the name change. I don’t remember if Broadway in Chicago took over the theater with the longer runs of Broadway tours (in 2006) but the name change and remodel were by Broadway in Chicago. Broadway in Chicago has programmed the theater ever since.
One of my fondest memories is seeing Idle Hands here, and sneaking in Chinese food.