Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, NPR's weekly hour-long quiz program, will resume live audience recordings this summer in a new Chicago home, the historic Studebaker Theater at the Fine Arts Building (401 S. Michigan Avenue). Wait Wait audiences will be among the first to experience the Studebaker Theater’s multi-million dollar restoration, which is near completion under the direction of property owner Berger Realty Group. Among key enhancements and modernization are all-new seating, updated lobbies, a newly designed VIP lounge in the second balcony, and a state-of-the-art technical booth. Tickets for the inaugural taping on Thursday evening, June 16 are now available by visiting www.npr.org/waitwait or www.fineartsbuilding.com; guest panelists will be announced soon.
Each week, Wait Wait invites listeners to test their knowledge against today’s funniest comedians and celebrity guests. The popular radio broadcast and podcast has been hosted by Peter Sagal since the show’s inception in 1998; since 2014, he has been joined by legendary anchorman Bill Kurtis as judge and scorekeeper.
“After more than two years wandering in the wilderness, by which I mean my spare bedroom, I feel like Noah did when he saw the dove,” Sagal said. “Finally! A new home for us all! I can stop sharing a bathroom with a pair of gazelles and two cheetahs. (Okay, that last was more Noah than me.) We are utterly delighted to become the resident comedy news quiz of the Studebaker Theater, and look forward to living up to the ideal of cutting edge innovation implied by the name ‘Studebaker.’”
“As what NPR would call a ‘backseat baby,’ it’s a very exciting moment to be able to facilitate Wait Wait... Don’t Tell Me! moving into my and my late father’s building, the Fine Arts. Through a variety of synchronous events, we find ourselves together here. It’s only fitting that we add yet another medium to the historic Studebaker—the live recording and taping of a radio show and podcast that is one of the most unique and beloved on air and across the ethers today,” said Erica Berger, Principal of Berger Realty.
"Becoming the new home of Wait Wait is the opening of an exciting new chapter in the history of the majestic Fine Arts Building. As we approach its 125th anniversary, we’re proud to re-open our newly renovated Studebaker Theater with a homegrown Chicago favorite. We can't wait to introduce the Studebaker to the next generation of live performance artists and audiences and carry on the Fine Arts' legacy as a Chicago-centric cultural hub," added Jacob Harvey, Managing Artistic Director of Fine Arts Building.
A co-production of NPR and WBEZ Chicago, Wait Wait’s former Chicago residence was the Chase Auditorium, where the show was recorded weekly for 15 years. (More recently, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the shuttering of live performance venues, Wait Wait pivoted to recording its show via Zoom). Its last show was broadcast April 14; the Wait Wait team can’t wait to return to a live performance schedule in June.
About Wait Wait...Don’t Tell Me!
Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! is NPR's weekly news quiz, inviting listeners to have a laugh and test their knowledge with today's funniest comedians. Now in its 25th year, the Peabody Award-winning show has an audience of more than 3.9 million listeners weekly on 727 NPR member stations. The Wait Wait podcast is downloaded eight hundred thousand times a week. The radio show is a co-production of NPR and Chicago Public Media. All episodes are also available as a podcast in the NPR One app and wherever podcasts are available.
About NPR
NPR's rigorous reporting and unsurpassed storytelling connect with millions of Americans every day — on the air, online, and in person. NPR strives to create a more informed public — one challenged and invigorated by a deeper understanding and appreciation of events, ideas, and cultures. With a nationwide network of award-winning journalists and 17 international bureaus, NPR and its Member Stations are never far from where a story is unfolding. Listeners can find NPR by tuning in to their local Member stations (npr.org/stations), and now it's easy to listen to our stories on smart speaker devices. Ask your smart speaker to, "Play NPR," and you'll be tuned into your local Member station's live stream. Your speaker can also access NPR podcasts, NPR One, NPR News Now, and the Visual Newscast is available for screened speakers. Get more information at npr.org/about and by following NPR Extra on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
About Fine Arts Building & the Studebaker Theater
The Fine Arts Building was built in 1885, originally designed as the carriage assembly and showroom for the Studebaker Company. Situated on Michigan Avenue overlooking Grant Park, the building was immediately hailed as one of “Chicago’s architectural jewels.” In 1898, the building was repurposed to become the Fine Arts Building, Chicago’s first fine arts colony. From the beginning, the building attracted influential artists from all creative disciplines, becoming a cultural hub for some of the most acclaimed visionaries of their time - a home for art in all forms. Its historic Studebaker Theater was originally built to house vaudevillian performances and later expanded into large productions in the 1920s. During subsequent years, performances by icons Bob Hope, Peter O’Toole and Vincent Price graced the stage, among many others. Studebaker Theater continued throughout the decades being known as one of the most important live theatrical venues in Chicago, receiving landmark status in 1978.
Today, the approximately 600-seat Studebaker Theater hosts nonprofit and touring productions and special events. In addition to the Studebaker is the adjacent Carriage Hall, a contemporary multidisciplinary performance and event space that is being built in the former Playhouse Theater space. Its restoration is scheduled for completion in 2023 for the 125th Anniversary.
The Fine Arts Building acknowledges its place on the traditional unceded homelands of the Council of the Three Fires: the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations. Many other tribes such as the Miami, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac, and Fox also historically called this area home.
The Fine Arts Building strives to be an organization which embraces a commitment to Indigenous rights, racial justice, and cultural equity. As a home to some of Chicago’s most prominent artists, the Fine Arts Building strongly believes that art is for everyone and aims to be a driving force in showcasing art that is accessible to all. The Studebaker Theater and Carriage Hall, while not producing organizations, are committed to building, fostering, and maintaining an inclusive, accessible, affirming, diverse workplace that is an equitable and anti-racist environment for artists to thrive. By honoring our past as a home for art in all forms, we carry that legacy into the future through articulating these core values. This vision of being an intersectional home to today’s artists shapes the organization’s decision-making and institutional policies.
For more information, please visit www.fineartsbuilding.com or via instagram @fineartsbuilding