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NIGHTLIFE IN CHICAGO

Chicago's bustling energy isn't confined to daylight hours. The city offers something for everyone, from discriminating culture vultures to hard-core club-hoppers. But nightlife here has a distinctly low-key, midwestern flavour. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Lyric Opera of Chicago are world-class performing-arts institutions, but their audiences aren't snobby, and newcomers are welcome. Chicago's thriving theatre scene was built by performers who valued gritty realism and a communal work ethic; from the big-league Steppenwolf and Goodman theatres down to the scrappy storefront companies that keep springing up, that down-to-earth energy is still very much a part of theatre here. Chicago also has a thriving music scene, with clubs devoted to everything from jazz and blues to alternative rock, reggae, and Latin beats. Music and nightclub haunts are scattered throughout the city, but many are concentrated in Lincoln Park, Lakeview, and Wicker Park.

For up-to-date entertainment listings, check the local newspapers and magazines, particularly the "Friday" and "Weekend Plus" sections of the two dailies, the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times; the weekly magazine Time Out Chicago, which has excellent comprehensive listings; and the Chicago Reader or New City, two free weekly tabloids with extensive listings. The Tribune's entertainment-oriented website, www.metromix.com; the Reader's website, www.chireader.com; and the local Citysearch website, www.chicago.citysearch.com, are also excellent sources of information, with lots of opinionated reviews.

Dance Clubs & Nightclubs

Chicago is the hallowed ground where house music was hatched in the 1980s, so it's no surprise to find several dance clubs pounding away and attracting a mostly under-30 crowd. Some spots specialise in a single brand of music, while others offer an ever-changing mix of rhythms and beats that follow the latest DJ-driven trend. Many clubs attract a different clientele on each day of the week (Sun night, for example, is gay-friendly at many clubs). What's impressive about Chicago's club scene is the number of longtime survivors -- clubs that have lasted more than a year or two and continue to draw loyal crowds.

Live Music

Jazz
In the first great wave of black migration from the South just after World War I, jazz journeyed from the Storyville section of New Orleans to Chicago. Jelly Roll Morton and Louis Armstrong made Chicago a jazz hot spot in the 1920s, and their spirit lives on in a whole new generation of musicians. Chicago jazz is known for its collaborative spirit and a certain degree of risk-taking -- which you can experience at a number of convivial clubs.

Blues
If Chicagoans were asked to pick one musical style to represent their city, most of us would start singing the blues. Thanks in part to the presence of the influential Chess Records, Chicago became a hub of blues activity after World War II, with musicians such as Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Buddy Guy recording and performing here. Chicago helped usher in the era of "electric blues" -- low-tech soulful singing melded with the rock sensibility of electric guitars. Blues-influenced rock musicians (the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, for example) made Chicago a regular pilgrimage spot. Today the blues has become yet another tourist attraction, especially for international visitors, but the quality and variety of blues acts is still impressive. Hard-core blues fans shouldn't miss the annual (free) Blues Fest, held along the lakefront in Grant Park in early June.

Rock
In the early 1990s, Chicago's burgeoning alternative-rock scene produced such national names as the Smashing Pumpkins, Liz Phair, Veruca Salt, Urge Overkill, and Material Issue. Although the city's moment of pop hipness quickly faded (as did most of the aforementioned artists), the live music scene has continued to thrive. Most Chicago bands concentrate on keeping it real, happy to perform at small local clubs and not obsessing (at least openly) about getting a record contract. The city is a regular stop for touring bands, from big stadium acts to smaller up-and-coming bands. Scan the Reader, New City, or Time Out Chicago to see who's playing where.

The biggest rock acts tend to play at the local indoor stadiums: The United Center (tel. 312/455-4500; www.unitedcenter.com), home of the Bulls and Blackhawks, and Allstate Arena (tel. 847/635-6601; www.allstatearena.com), in Rosemont near O'Hare Airport. During the summer you'll also find the big names at the outdoor Tweeter Center (tel. 708/614-1616; www.tweetercenter.com/chicago/main.asp), inconveniently located in the suburb of Tinley Park, about an hour outside the city, and cursed with pretty bad acoustics.

You can catch rock acts at local venues with a lot more character. The Riviera Theatre, 4746 N. Racine Ave. (tel. 773/275-6800), is a relic of the Uptown neighbourhood's swinging days in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. A former movie palace, it retains the original ornate ceiling, balcony, and lighting fixtures, but it has definitely gotten grimy with age (head upstairs to avoid the crowd that crushes toward the stage during shows). The Aragon Ballroom, a few blocks away at 1106 W. Lawrence Ave. (tel. 773/561-9500; www.aragon.com; subway/El: Red Line to Lawrence), was once an elegant big-band dance hall; the worn Moorish-castle decor and twinkling-star ceiling now give the place a seedy charm. A former vaudeville house is now the Vic Theatre, 3145 N. Sheffield Ave. (tel. 773/472-0366; www.victheatre.com; subway/El: Red or Brown line to Fullerton), a midsize venue that features up-and-coming acts (get there early to snag one of the lower balcony rows).

More sedate audiences love the Park West, 322 W. Armitage Ave. (tel. 773/929-5959; www.parkwestchicago.com; subway/El: Brown Line to Armitage, or bus no. 22 [Clark St.]), both for its excellent sound system and its cabaret-style seating (no mosh pit here). For tickets to most shows at all these venues, you're stuck going through the service-fee-grabbing Ticketmaster (tel. 312/559-1212).

The Performing Arts

Chicago is a regular stop on the big-name entertainment circuit, whether it's the national tour of Broadway shows such as The Lion King or pop music acts such as U2 or the Dave Matthews Band (both of whom sell out multiple nights at stadiums when they come to town). High-profile shows such as Monty Python's Spamalot and Mel Brooks's stage version of The Producers had their first runs here before moving on to New York.

Thanks to extensive renovation efforts, performers now have some impressive venues where they can strut their stuff. The Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress Pkwy., between Michigan and Wabash avenues (tel. 312/922-2110; www.auditoriumtheatre.org), is my pick for the most beautiful theater in Chicago -- and it's a certified national landmark, too. Built in 1889 by Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler, this grand hall schedules mostly musicals and dance performances. Even if you don't catch a show here, stop by for a tour.

The city's other great historic theatres are concentrated in the North Loop. The Ford Center for the Performing Arts/Oriental Theater, 24 W. Randolph St. (tel. 312/977-1700), and the Cadillac Palace Theater, 151 W. Randolph St. (tel. 312/977-1700), book major touring shows and are well worth a visit for arts buffs (visit the website www.broadwayinchicago.com to see the schedule of upcoming shows). The Oriental's fantastical Asian look includes elaborate carvings almost everywhere you look; dragons, elephants, and griffins peer down at the audience from the gilded ceiling. The Palace features a profusion of Italian marble surfaces and columns, gold-leaf accents a la Versailles, huge decorative mirrors, and crystal chandeliers. (If you'd like to get a look at these historic theatres for a fraction of the standard ticket price, guided tours of both start at 11am Sat and cost $10 per person; meet in the Oriental lobby.)

The LaSalle Bank Theatre, 18 W Monroe St. (tel. 312/977-1700), was built in 1906 as a home for vaudeville; today it books mostly big-name musicals and sometimes comedy performers. The Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State St., at Lake Street (tel. 312/443-1130), is a 1920s music palace reborn as an all-purpose entertainment venue, playing host to everything from pop acts and magicians to stand-up comedy. Arie Crown Theater, in the McCormick Place convention center at 23rd Street and Lake Shore Drive (tel. 312/791-6190), books musicals and pop acts; a renovation has improved previously terrible acoustics (Elton John once interrupted a performance to complain about the sound), but this is still a massive, somewhat impersonal hall. Since all these theaters are quite large, the cheaper seats are in nosebleed territory.

Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave., between Adams Street and Jackson Boulevard (tel. 312/294-3000), is the building that encompasses Orchestra Hall, home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO). Expanded and renovated a few years back, the building now holds a six-story sky-lit arcade, recital spaces, and the fine-dining restaurant Rhapsody. While the CSO is the main attraction, the Symphony Center schedules a series of piano recitals, classical and chamber music concerts, a family matinee series, and the occasional jazz or pop artist.

Chicago has a few other major venues for traveling shows, but they are not as convenient for visitors. The Rosemont Theatre, 5400 River Rd. in Rosemont, near O'Hare Airport (tel. 847/671-5100), is a top suburban stop for musicals and concerts. The North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie, 9501 Skokie Blvd. in the northern suburb of Skokie (tel. 847/673-6300), is home to the well-respected Northlight Theater, the Skokie Valley Symphony Orchestra, and a series of touring acts, including comics, dance troupes, and children's programs.

Classical Music
For current listings of classical music concerts and opera, check with the Chicago Dance and Music Alliance (tel. 312/987-1123; www.chicagoperformances.org).

The Apollo Chorus of Chicago (tel. 312/427-5620; www.apollochorus.org) is best known for its annual holiday-season performance of Handel's Messiah at Orchestra Hall. Founded in 1872, 1 year after the Great Chicago Fire, the oldest all-volunteer civic chorus in the country began life as an all-male chorus and now includes men and women. Concerts take place throughout the year at various venues.

The Chicago Chamber Musicians (tel. 312/225-5226; www.chicagochambermusic.org), a 14-member ensemble drawn from performers from the CSO and Northwestern and DePaul universities, presents chamber music concerts at various locales around the city. The season runs September through May, and you can always find the CCM performing free noontime concerts on the first Monday of the month (except Sept and Mar) at the Chicago Cultural Center. The Chicago String Quartet, in residence at DePaul, is affiliated with the group.

The Chicago Sinfonietta (tel. 312/236-3681; www.chicagosinfonietta.org), with its racially diverse 45-member orchestra and a wide-ranging repertoire, seeks to broaden the audience for classical music. In the past the group has followed a Beethoven piano concerto with a piece featuring a steel drum. Playing about 10 times a year at Orchestra Hall and other venues, the orchestra often takes a multimedia approach to its multicultural mission, accompanying its performances with slides depicting art from the Art Institute and the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum.

Music of the Baroque (tel. 312/551-1414; www.baroque.org), a small orchestra and chorus that pulls members from both the CSO and the Lyric Opera orchestra, features professional singers from across the country. The ensemble performs the music of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, appropriately in Gothic church settings in various neighbourhoods. The group has made several recordings and has introduced works by Mozart and Monteverdi to Chicago audiences.

Dance
Chicago's dance scene is lively, but unfortunately it doesn't attract the same crowds as theatres or music performances. So although some resident dance troupes have international reputations, they spend much of their time touring to support themselves. Although visiting companies such as the American Ballet Theatre and the Dance Theater of Harlem stop in Chicago for limited engagements, dance performances in Chicago tend to occur in spurts throughout the year. Depending on the timing of your visit, you may have a choice of dance performances -- or there may be none at all. Dance lovers should schedule their visit for November, when the annual "Dance Chicago" festival (tel. 773/989-0698; www.dancechicago.com) is held at the Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave., on the North Side. Featuring performances and workshops from the city's best-known dance companies and countless smaller groups, it's a great chance to check out the range of local dance talent.

The major Chicago dance troupes perform at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph St. (tel. 312/334-7777) in Millennium Park. The 1,500-seat theater feels fairly stark and impersonal -- the gray concrete lobby could be mistaken for a parking garage -- but the sightlines are great, thanks to the stadium-style seating. Most of the troupes listed below perform there. For complete information on local dance performances, check the Chicago Dance and Music Alliance information line (tel. 312/987-1123; www.chicagoperformances.org).

Another phenomenon that has enlivened the local scene is the scintillating Chicago Human Rhythm Project (tel. 773/281-1825; www.chicagotap.com). An annual tap-dance festival and nonprofit foundation created in 1990, it brings together tap and percussive dancers from all over the world for a series of workshops and outreach programs in July and August at locations throughout the city and suburbs.

Theatre
Ever since the Steppenwolf Theatre Company burst onto the national radar in the 1970s and early 1980s with gritty, in-your-face productions of Sam Shepard's True West and Lanford Wilson's Balm in Gilead, Chicago has been known as a theatre town. As Broadway produced bloated, big-budget musicals with plenty of special effects but little soul, Chicago theatre troupes gained respect for their risk-taking and no-holds-barred emotional style. Some of Broadway's most acclaimed dramas in recent years (the Goodman Theatre's revival of Death of a Salesman and Steppenwolf's The Grapes of Wrath, to name just two) hatched on Chicago stages. With more than 200 theatres, Chicago might have dozens of productions playing on any given weekend -- and seeing a show here is on my must-do list for all visitors.

Chicago's theatres have produced a number of legendary comedic actors, including comic-turned-director Mike Nichols (The Graduate, Postcards from the Edge, Primary Colors), as well as fine dramatic actors and playwrights. David Mamet, one of America's greatest playwrights and an acclaimed film director and screenwriter, grew up in Chicago's South Shore steel-mill neighbourhood and honed his craft at the former St. Nicholas Players, which included actor William H. Macy (Fargo, Boogie Nights).

The thespian soil here must be fertile. Tinseltown and TV have lured away such talents as Macy, John Malkovich, Joan Allen, Dennis Franz, George Wendt, John and Joan Cusack, Aidan Quinn, Anne Heche, and Lili Taylor. But even as those actors get lured away by higher paychecks, a new pool of talent is always waiting to take over. This constant renewal keeps the city's theatrical scene invigorated with new ideas and new energy. Many of the smaller theatre companies place great emphasis on communal work: Everyone takes part in putting on a production, from writing the script to building the sets. These companies perform in tiny, none-too-impressive venues, but their enthusiasm and commitment are inspiring. Who knows -- the group you see performing in some storefront theatre today could be the Steppenwolf of tomorrow.

For a complete listing of current productions playing on a given evening, check the comprehensive listings in the two free weeklies, the Reader (which reviews just about every show in town) and New City, the weekly Time Out Chicago, or the Friday sections of the two dailies. The website of the League of Chicago Theatres (www.chicagoplays.com) also lists all theatre productions playing in the area.

The Lounge & Bar Scene

If you want to soak up the atmosphere of a neighbourhood tavern or sports bar, it's best to venture beyond downtown into the surrounding neighbourhoods. Lincoln Park, Wrigleyville, and Bucktown/Wicker Park have well-established nightlife zones that abound with bright, upscale neighbourhood bars. But you'll also find numerous dives and no-frills "corner taps" in the blue-collar neighbourhoods.

As for hotel nightlife, virtually every hotel in Chicago has a cocktail lounge or piano bar and, in some cases, more than one distinct environment where you can take an aperitif before dinner or watch an evening of entertainment. The piano bars at The Drake and in the Omni Ambassador East Hotel's Pump Room are standouts.

Hotel Hopping
Forget the stereotypical bland hotel bar filled with drunken conventioneers. In downtown Chicago some of the most distinctive watering holes are in hotel lobbies. In the Loop the coolest happy-hour spot is Encore in the Hotel Allegro, 171 W. Randolph St. (tel. 312/236-0123), where the spiral-shaped bar, purple velvet upholstery, and silver accents create a futuristic feel. Things heat up later in the evening at Base, the bar in the Hard Rock Hotel, 230 N. Michigan Ave. (tel. 312/345-1000). The look is sleek -- lots of black and gray -- and the music (live acts or a DJ) is always good. You'll find the beautiful people hanging out at the tiny Whiskey Sky, on the top floor of the W Chicago Lakeshore hotel, 644 N. Lakeshore Dr. (tel. 312/943-9200). There's not much seating, but the views -- of both the surrounding skyline and the gorgeous staff -- are terrific. At the Sofitel Chicago Water Tower, Le Bar, 20 E. Chestnut St. (tel. 312/324-4000), is a popular after-work hangout with a low-lit, intimate vibe. If you prefer to stick to tradition, Kitty O'Shea's, 720 S. Michigan Ave. (tel. 312/294-6860), is an authentically appointed Irish pub inside the Hilton Chicago -- a genuine Irish bartender will even pour your Guinness.

Rush & Division Streets
Around Rush Street are what a bygone era called singles bars -- although the only singles that tend to head here now are suburbanites, out-of-towners, and barely legal partiers. Rush Street's glory days have long passed, but there are still a few vestiges of the old times. Division Street overflows with party-hearty spots that attract a loud, frat-party element. They include Shenanigan's House of Beer, 16 W. Division St. (tel. 312/642-2344); Butch McGuire's, 20 W. Division St. (tel. 312/337-9080); the Lodge, 21 W. Division St. (tel. 312/642-4406); and Mother's, 26 W. Division St. (tel. 312/642-7251). Many of these bars offer discounts for women, as loud pitchmen in front of each establishment will be happy to tell any attractive ladies who pass by.

Old Town
The centre of nightlife in Old Town is Wells Street, home to Second City and other comedy clubs, as well as a string of reliable restaurants and bars. You're not going to find many trendy spots in Old Town; the nightlife here tends toward neighbourhood pubs and bustling restaurants, filled mostly with a late-20s and 30-something crowd.

Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park, with its high concentration of apartment-dwelling singles, is one of the busiest nightlife destinations in Chicago. Prime real estate is at a premium in this residential neighbourhood, so you won't find any warehouse-size dance clubs here; most of the action is at pubs and bars. Concentrations of in-spots run along Halsted Street and Lincoln Avenue.

Wrigleyville, Lakeview & The North Side
Real estate in Wrigleyville and Lakeview is a tad less expensive than in Lincoln Park, so the nightlife scene here skews a little younger. You'll find a mostly postcollegiate crowd partying on Clark Street across from Wrigley Field (especially after games in the summer). But you'll also discover some more eclectic choices.

Wicker Park/Bucktown After Dark
For an alternative scene, head over to Wicker Park and Bucktown, where slackers and some adventurous yuppies populate bars dotting the streets near the confluence of North, Damen, and Milwaukee avenues. Don't dress up if you want to blend in: A casually bohemian getup and low-key attitude are all you need to fit in. While you can reach most of these places relatively easily by public transportation, I recommend taking a cab at night -- the surrounding neighbourhoods are what I'd call "transitional."

The Movies

Chicago has a fine selection of movie theatres -- but even the so-called art houses show mostly the same films that you'd be able to catch back home (or eventually on cable). But three local movie houses cater to cinema buffs with original programming. The Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State St. (tel. 312/846-2600; www.siskelfilmcenter.org; subway/El: Red Line to Washington or Brown Line to Randolph), named after the well-known Chicago Tribune film critic who died in 1999, is part of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The centre schedules an eclectic selection of film series in two theatres, including lectures and discussions with filmmakers. The Film Center often shows foreign films that are not released commercially in the United States.

The Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave. (tel. 773/871-6604; www.musicboxtheatre.com; subway/El: Brown Line to Southport), is a movie palace on a human scale. Opened in 1929, it was meant to re-create the feeling of an Italian courtyard; a faux-marble loggia and towers cover the walls. The Music Box books an eclectic selection of foreign and independent American films -- everything from Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieslowski's epic Decalogue to a singalong version of The Sound of Music.

Facets Multi-Media, 1517 W. Fullerton Ave. (tel. 773/281-4114; www.facets.org; subway/El: Red or Brown line to Fullerton), a nonprofit group that screens independent film and video from around the world, is for the die-hard cinematic thrill-seeker. The group also mounts a Children's Film Festival (Oct-Nov) and the Chicago Latino Film Festival (Apr-May), and rents its impressive collection of classic, hard-to-find films on video and DVD by mail.


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