Neighborhood News: “It’s Showtime at Apollo!” in Lincoln Park

If you haven’t been to Lincoln Park’s Apollo Theater, 2550 N. Lincoln Avenue, you’ve missed a lot of great theater in Chicago!

How do I know such a thing? Because I’ve been going to productions there for 25+ years, starting with “Pump Boys and Dinettes,” and on to “Steel Magnolias,” “Million Dollar Quartet, and “Middletown: The Ride of Your Life!” 

Maybe it’s the intimacy of the 440-seat venue that makes it unique among performing arts venues. Maybe it’s the muted colors and design of the building that makes it a unique place to see a show. In any case, whether it’s a musical or a theatrical play,  it feels like you’re part of the action rather than an observer.

The theater itself can be easy to miss. It sits on a ribbon-sized stretch of Lincoln Avenue, where vertical brick buildings rise high in the sky. The marquee, while visible, isn’t quite as distracting as the ‘Irish Eyes’ bar sign nearby.

In a city with so much theater life, how has this one survived for nearly 50 years?

From “Sexual Perversity in Chicago” to “Vape!”

According to WTTW’s website, in 1978, Lincoln Park was in the middle of a cultural transformation… the neighborhood was losing its historic working-class German, Italian, and Latino roots through gentrification, as middle-class families and professionals moved in. 

It was into this transitional phase that the Apollo Theater opened in 1978, by theater producers Jason Brett and Stuart Oken. 

This live theater, at the time something of a phenomenon for the North Side of Chicago, became instrumental in drawing people and businesses to Lincoln Park. The Apollo Theater earned acclaim and attention for their commitment to quality and long-running productions. 

For its inaugural productions, producers Oken and Brett chose Albert Innaurato’s “Gemini,” which featured the production’s original Broadway director, Peter Schifter. 

What put them on the map was David Mamet’s “Sexual Perversity in Chicago”  (later becoming basis for the film “About Last Night”)  which became a smash hit at the Apollo, starring Jim Belushi in his dramatic stage debut, directed by former Second City Artistic Director Sheldon Patinkin.

The actors, productions and theatre groups associated with the Apollo Theater helped it become legendary. 

Through the 1980’s and 90’s, Apollo Theater became home to plays produced by the acclaimed Steppenwolf Theatre Company, including “Balm in Gilead” with John Malkovich and Gary Sinise, “Cloud Nine,” “Secret Rapture,” “Harvey,” “Wrong Turn at Lungfish, and Sam Shepard’s “True West.”

As their website notes, in 1991, Michael Leavitt and Fox Theatricals took over operation of the Apollo and brought stars John Astin and Jamie Farr for “Lend Me a Tenor.”  Other productions included “Cole Porter, No Regrets,” Edward Albee’s Pulitzer prize-winning drama “Three Tall Women,” the musical comedy “Forbidden Hollywood,” and the one-man show “20th Century Man,” starring Ray Davies of the Kinks. (Note: I may have seen that one as well!) 

In 1996, producer Rob Kolson took over the Apollo, hosting two popular musicals, “Always…Patsy Cline” and “Buddy…The Buddy Holly Story,” followed by Robert Dubac’s long-running one-man show “The Male Intellect: an oxymoron?”

“The Vagina Monologues” made its Midwest premiere here with author Eve Ensler starring for a limited run. 

The Vagina Monologues then continued with an array of renowned local and national stars, including Loretta Swit, Kim Fields, Mayim Bialik, Dawn Wells, Maureen McCormick, Chicago native Amy Morton and Illinois natives Judy Tenuta and Rondi Reed. The show had a nearly three-year run, and became the fastest-selling show in the history of the Apollo.

On July 25, 2003, the smash hit “Menopause the Musical” made its Chicago debut at the Apollo, entertaining nearly a quarter of a million people in its three and a half year run.

During the summer of 2005, a smaller, second stage was added, in what was formerly the Act One bookstore. The 50-seat Apollo Theater Studio became one of the most sought after venues for comedy, sketch, upstart theater companies and improv.

For many years, Apollo Theater was the home of the Emerald City Children’s Theater Company.  At one time, the theater drew more than 50,000 patrons annually. It closed in 2020. 

Current Show: “Vape, The Grease Parody!”

Their current production spoofs one of the most popular musicals/movies of all time. “Vape: The Grease Parody”  is described as an “unhinged spoof of the iconic and timeless musical film Grease.”

As their website notes, the show pokes “loving fun” at all of the wonderful moments, sexual innuendos, outrageous characters, rivalries and secret romances from the original. 

The hair products may have changed, but the drama, the rivalries, and the thirst for hallway clout remain timeless, but in this version, dragged through a cloud of strawberry-scented vapor and a TikTok filter. 

As they say,  “It’s the show that you want!” (…Ooh! Ooh! Ooh, honey!) 

For tickets and information, click here. 

 Alison Moran–Powers and Dean’s Team Chicago