Type Touring theatre Capacity 549 Owner GGP Inc. | Reopened 2004 Phone +1 800-775-2000 Opened 1976 | |
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Operator Broadway In Chicago/Nederlander Organization Address Water Tower Place, 175 E Chestnut St, Chicago, IL 60611, USA Similar Water Tower Place, Cadillac Palace Theatre, Oriental Theatre, PrivateBank Theatre, Auditorium Theatre of Roosevel | ||
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.
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History
The original Drury Lane Water Tower Place opened in 1976, but was closed in 1983 and became a movie theater. 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. At the time of his death in 2007, the DeSantis family remained owners of the theater. 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. This was followed by Broadway In Chicago productions of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, SHOUT! The Mod Musical and Xanadu.
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.
The rebranded theater officially opened 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 was 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 were also involved with the show that went up in spring of 2011.