The Belmont Theater District (BTD), Chicago’s largest theater district located in the Lakeview West and Lakeview East neighborhoods, is offering a wide variety of entertainment options all ONLINE throughout spring and continuing into summer. Belmont Theater District is funded and maintained by the Lakeview Chamber of Commerce and the Lakeview East Chamber of Commerce.
Productions include (in alphabetical order by company name):
NOTE: Event details may change without notice, please go to BTDChicago.com for the most up to date listings and information.
Annoyance Theater
OUT OF TOUCH
Join our ‘QuaranTeam’ in our effort to stay creative and stay alive. A cast and crew of nine people spent 10 days living in quarantine together in the theater creating a show while live-streaming the process to raise money to help pay staff, cover the costs of the project and secure the future of the theater.
FREE – Donations welcome
Black Button Eyes Productions
Masque of the Red Coronavirus
Black Button Eyes Productions is pleased to present the world premiere of Masque of the Red Coronavirus, a free online-only script and video experience, adapted, in part, from Edgar Allen Poe’s short story “The Masque of Red Death.” Including multi-disciplinary performances from the script including spoken word, song, original music, fire dancing, puppetry, burlesque dancing, opera and more.
Appropriate for ages 18+.
FREE
Chicago Playback Theatre Ensemble
Tell Us Your Story: A Virtual Playback Theatre Show
Monday, May 18 and Monday, June 8 from 7:30 - 8:45 p.m.
Available on Zoom
EventBrite Registration required (70 device capacity limit)
In Playback Theatre, actors guide audience members in sharing their own memories and experiences which are then brought to life by the actors using improv, movement, and music; only this time, our stage will be virtual using Zoom! Tell your own story, or simply join in and experience the community that comes with gathering to share stories.
FREE (with a suggested donation of $12 or pay-what-you-will)
ComedySportz
Virtual ComedySportz
Fridays at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30p.m.; Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30p.m.
Available on Zoom
ComedySportz has taken their critically acclaimed show to the screen with a hilarious virtual match! Staying true to the traditional format, the virtual match features two teams and a ref who compete for your laughs! Using the ever-popular Zoom platform, audience members can participate with suggestions and vote for their favorite games and favorite team.
FREE – donations welcome
ComedySportz
ReCeSz
Monday – Friday 12 p.m.-12:30 p.m.
Available on Zoom
Led by our team of Training Center teachers, CSz Theater Chicago is offering a free 30-minute break in the homeschool day to play, imagine, and move around with other kids at noon, Monday through Friday. Each ReCeSz ends with a popular dance party to wiggle all that indoor energy right out!
FREE – donations welcome
Eclectic Full Contact Theatre
Throwing Shade Podcast
Every Wednesday
Available on RedCircle, Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google
Chicago, 1934, in a city rife with crime and corruption, a hero emerges. The Shade, who rushes in where fools fear to tread...with predictable results. Luckily for Chicago, there’s the Vamp, female crimefighter replete with all the skill and talent the Shade lacks. Can the Shade save Chicago from crime? Can the Vamp save The Shade from himself?
FREE
Hell in a Handbag Productions
Sexy Baby
HandbagProductions.org
Stage 773 resident company, Hell in a Handbag Productions, is streaming its 2012 production of Sexy Baby, a “docu-musical” that takes audiences behind the scenes of the fascinatingly addictive world of child beauty pageants.
FREE
Laugh Factory
Live Comedy
Every day at 12 p.m.
youtube.com/user/TheLaughFactory
The World Famous Laugh Factory has been recognized as "the #1 comedy club in the country" by such high-profile media as USA Today. With southern California locations in Hollywood (its original Sunset Boulevard locale) and Long Beach (opened in 2008), comedy's top stars, as well as today's brightest emerging talent, shine on its legendary stage.
FREE
Music Box Theatre
Virtual Cinema
https://musicboxtheatre.com/events/virtual-cinema-with-the-music-box
Music Box Theatre is teaming up with our frequent partners to provide viewing-at-home options for our amazing audience! All sales will help support the Music Box during its closure, and you can watch powerful new films that would otherwise be playing on our screen.
Music Box Direct
Available to stream on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and online
Music Box Direct, the streaming service platform of Music Box Films, offers over a hundred titles including acclaimed films and TV series from around the world. Available to stream on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and online.
Otherworld Theatre Company
Stupid Shakespeare's PickleRickicles
Available online on Patreon and YouTube
Enjoy a recording of the recently closed production of Stupid Shakespeare's PickleRickicles: It's just Pericles with Rick and Morty characters. The bard's most convoluted play, Pericles, gets an intergalactic spin.
Recommended for Ages 16 years +
FREE
Otherworld Theatre Company
Super Richard World III
Available online on and YouTube
Enjoy a recording of Stupid Shakespeare's Super Richard World III. Nominated for Chicago Reader's Best New Play 2019. Set in the Mushroom Kingdom, Duke Luigi and Bowserham scheme against Mario and Princess Peach. Meanwhile Diddy Kong sails the high seas to come reclaim his father's throne. A tale of deception and vengeance, "Super Richard World III" decimates the context of the Bard's most famous history play and replaces it with 90 minutes of smiles.
FREE
Otherworld Theatre Company
Medusa Undone
Available online on Patreon and YouTube
Enjoy a recording of Otherworld Theatre's production of Medusa Undone. Before she was one of the greatest mythical monsters of all time, Medusa was a kind, beautiful sea-nymph in Athena's service. Unparalleled in both her beauty and devotion to the Gods, Medusa catches the eye of the charming but narcissistic Poseidon. Interested only in the passions of the spirit, and not the flesh, Medusa has no choice but to reject the greedy God. She not only suffers violence at the hand of Poseidon, but also unknowingly incites a deep-seated jealousy in Athena, with horrific and disturbing consequences. Medusa Undone explores the social problem of rape culture, our tendency to victim blame, and the great injustice suffered by female victims of abuse of all kinds.
FREE
Otherworld Theatre Company
Improvised Dungeons and Dragons
Every Sunday at 7 p.m.
Available online on YouTube
Enjoy a pre-recorded, brand new performance of Improvised Dungeons and Dragons. Improvised Dungeons and Dragons brings classic tabletop RPGs to life in this 90 minute improvised show! Each week, the audience selects a core cast of adventurers to embark on an epic quest guided by a guest Dungeon Master! Watch as heroes endure triumph and tragedy, romance and revenge, all while reckoning with the whims of the almighty D20!
FREE
Otherworld Theatre Company
Theatre of Ted Digital Open Mic
Every Saturday from 5 – 7 p.m.
Available online on Facebook
Everyone may submit 3-5 minute video performances to james@otherworldtheatre.org to be featured on our Theatre of Ted Digital Open Mic. This isn't limited to comedy; all performance art welcome!
FREE
Otherworld Theatre Company
The Rogue Aviator
Available online on Patreon
Join Otherworld Theatre as they take you to "The Diamond in the Sky!" in this Dieselpunk adventure! In an alternate history of the 1930s, the floating city of Olympus has been built among the clouds of America. Rogue Aviator Ellie McCloud navigates the perils of her time. Once raised among the elites of Olympus, Ellie now fights for the freedoms of those they oppress. In a world of fanatical rulers and nearly forgotten masses living in the bowels of the city, Ellie must wage a war on two fronts: the Sky Pirates who lay their claim to the city, and her moral battle within.
Access to all stage productions recordings: $5
TimeLine Theatre
To Master The Art
Tuesdays — Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., and
Sundays at 2 p.m.
Available on TimeLine’s website
TimeLine presents a new streaming production of its smash hit To Master the Art, a story that recalls the adventure and romance of Julia and Paul Child’s journey of discovery to Paris during the 1950s. From the French bistro where Julia Child fell in love with food, to the kitchen table where she recreated everything learned during cooking class, to a room where her husband Paul was grilled by U.S. agents about alleged Communist contact, To Master the Art is the story of a larger-than-life culinary icon and her remarkable spouse as they struggle to find themselves as Americans abroad.
$15 or $25 (pay-what-you-will, inclusive of all ticketing fees)
ABOUT THE BELMONT THEATER DISTRICT
The Belmont Theater District acts as an advocate to create, promote, and strengthen the diverse artistic offerings of the Lakeview West and Lakeview East neighborhoods to its residents and visitors.
The ongoing programming available at the diverse mix of theaters is perfect for Chicago’s 1.5 million theatergoers. With boundaries from Lake Michigan to Ravenswood Avenue and Diversey Avenue to Irving Park Road, the BTD has more than 50 unique theaters and theater companies located within a one-mile radius and over 150 shows playing every week. The Belmont Theater District is a collaboration between the Lakeview Chamber of Commerce and the Lakeview East Chamber of Commerce acting in partnership with local theaters and businesses, with additional support from SSAs #8, #17 and #27.
For more information on the Belmont Theater District, please visit www.BTDChicago.com or follow along on social media via Twitter @BelmontThtrDist, or @BelmontTheaterDistrict on Facebook and Instagram.
ABOUT THE LAKEVIEW CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
The mission of the Lakeview Chamber of Commerce (LCC) is to support the prosperity of the local Chicago business community from Diversey on the south and Irving Park Road on the north to Ravenswood on the west and Racine on the east. It especially strives to promote the retail, professional, educational, and economic interests of the area, and works to make Lakeview a neighborhood where people wish to live and linger. The Lakeview Chamber is the Sole Service Provider for Special Service Area 27 (SSA 27,) and coordinates the development and administration of SSA-funded programs. Follow along on social media with the handle @thisislakeview.
ABOUT THE LAKEVIEW EAST CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
The Lakeview East Chamber of Commerce is a broad community based organization designed to represent and help merchants and other business people in the community. It is a policy of the organization to promote goodwill and a pleasant business environment for merchants, consumers, and area residents. As a not for profit organization of merchants and various business people, the Lakeview East Chamber of Commerce works to foster economic growth and development within its boundaries of Diversey Parkway on the south, and Irving Park Road on the north, to the Lake on the east and Racine on the west, through the collaborative efforts of its staff, volunteers, Board of Directors, and the City of Chicago Department of Community Development. Learn more at LakeviewEast.com.