Give the Gift of Theatre

If your friends and/or family are theatre-going types (or if they're not and you'd like them to be), you might consider giving them season tickets to a theatre company they like, or gift certificates for a specific show or shows this holiday season. And whether they prefer the big downtown musicals or the small storefront theatres scattered around town, there's something to be had for almost anyone. Even better, most (if not all) can be purchased online, which saves you a trip across town and certainly beats the hell out of the malls or Michigan Avenue.

For the big venues, there is of course Ticketmaster, which sells gift cards on its website.  Ticketmaster serves Broadway In Chicago, the Drury Lanes, and also includes places like the Royal George, The Theatre Building, and Blue Man Group.  Ticketmaster gift cards can be redeemed online, unlike Broadway In Chicago's own gift certificates, which are only redeemable at their ticket outlets (and only serve BIC-sponsored shows).

StubHub also sells gift certificates redeemable at many of these same shows. Stubhub's tickets are  advertised as "premium" or "hard-to get" seats to major plays, but for that reason are generally more expensive than either Ticktmaster or Broadway In Chicago tickets.

For storefront theatre lovers, try Goldstar. Many smaller theatre companies sell tickets through here and you can see a list of the current shows they have to offer at our Half-Price tickets page.

All theatre companies, of course, sell their own season tickets, and some of the larger ones offer gift cards of their own as well including Second City, Chicago Shakespeare, Steppenwolf, Goodman. Or search for any individual theatre to find their website to purchase their season tickets.

Luke Heiden
Contributing Writer