Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place

Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place
Former names Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place
General information
Type Live theater
Location 175 East Chestnut Street
Chicago, Illinois 60611
Current tenants Broadway In Chicago
Renovated May 18, 2004
Renovation cost $9 million
Website
BroadwayInChicago.com

Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place is operated by Broadway In Chicago, a Nederlander Presentation. Located at Water Tower Place in Chicago, Illinois, it was formerly known as Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place.

Contents

History

The original Drury Lane Water Tower Place opened in 1976, but was closed in 1983 and became a movie theater.[1] Drury Lane Theatre group founder Anthony DeSantis spent $9 million to transform another movie theater located on 175 East Chestnut Street just off Michigan Avenue into a showplace for live performances in Chicago.[2] At the time of his death in 2007, the DeSantis family remained owners of the theater.[3] The new Drury Lane Water Tower Place, opened May 18, 2004 with similar décor and mainstream musical and comedy line-ups of its sister theater in Oakbrook. This next era for the 549-seat Drury Lane Water Tower began with performances of The Full Monty.[1] This was followed by Broadway In Chicago productions of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Shout! and Xanadu.[4]

2010 re-opening

On April 6, 2010, Broadway In Chicago announced that it had entered into a long-term agreement with General Growth Properties, owner and manager of the Water Tower Place shopping center, to re-open the theatre as the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place. The newest of 5 theatres operated by Broadway In Chicago, it is adjacent to the Water Tower Place shopping center along Chicago's Magnificent Mile.[4]

The rebranded theater is officially scheduled to open on September 24, 2010 with a short series of concert performances by Sutton Foster, followed by a production of Traces, a French Canadian urban acrobatics show. The first marquee production at the Broadway Playhouse will be a new production of the 1978 Studs Terkel musical Working, featuring additional material written by Lin Manuel Miranda, the writer behind In the Heights. David Stone, the producer of Wicked and Next to Normal, as well as Mark Platt are also to be involved with the show scheduled for the spring of 2011.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b Jonathan Abarbanel (April 29, 2004). "Tony DeSantis and His New Drury Lane Theatre". PerformInk. http://www.performink.com/Archives/features/DeSantisDruryLaneWaterTower.htm. Retrieved July 15, 2008. 
  2. ^ Chris Jones (July 2, 2008). "Revitalized Drury Lane is back, bold and downtown". Chicago Tribune. http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/the_theater_loop/2008/07/revitalized-dru.html. Retrieved February 25, 2009. 
  3. ^ "Anthony De Santis, 93, Theater Owner, Dies". New York Times. June 9, 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/09/arts/09santis.html. Retrieved August 18, 2010. 
  4. ^ a b "Broadway In Chicago Announces New Venue - The Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place". Theatre in Chicago. April 6, 2010. http://fwix.com/chicago/share/67590dc9ae/broadway_in_chicago_announces_new_venue_-_the_broadway_playhouse_at_water_tower_place. Retrieved August 18, 2010. 
  5. ^ "Broadway in Chicago announces Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place". Chicago Tribune. April 6, 2010. http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/the_theater_loop/2010/04/broadway-in-chicago-announces-chicago-playhouse-at-water-tower-place.html. Retrieved August 18, 2010. 

External links