Someone turned up the heat in Chicago’s 2020 summer, and the temperature is not the only thing that is hot around here. While the houses are still mostly dark in the Belmont Theater District, here are five theaters inviting you to mask up and come out or stream from the comfort of your own air-conditioned living room.
Hell in a HandBag’s Drive-In Festival
For those of you who need a little (or a lot!) more camp in their summertime Chi, Hell in a Handbag Productions presents its first ever Under the Stars with Handbag – A Drive-In Festival! This pop-up festival begins August 21 and runs for 5 weekends, bringing you Handbag’s popular productions on a large outdoor screen. Bring your car or your lawn chair with your festival tickets to The Redbox Workshop parking lot, and mark your calendars now because it’s a new feature every week. Also: Free snacks.
Chicago’s Best Standup at Laugh Factory
If there was ever a time to blow off some steam, 2020 is the year for it. Laugh Factory has opened its doors with a new schedule and safety protocol to make sure it’s not the virus who has the last laugh. This BTD comedy club is churning out laughs on Friday, twice on Saturday, and twice on Sunday this month, and let’s be real, we need all the comic relief we can get.
ComedySportz’s Virtual Zoom Dome
The laughs keep coming with Comedy Sportz. Actually CSz never stopped bringing the funny: they just took it online. ComedySportz Chicago streams Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 and 9:30 PM from their living rooms to yours in an epic battle for points and emojis. Their signature show has been modified for the online platform, but the intensity and audience interaction is stronger than ever. FREE.
Trickery Chicago: The Show Returns!
No tricks here: Hoppy the Psychic Wonder Bunny and Aaron have re-opened their hour-long “comedy show disguised as a magic show” with limited capacity and also private bookings in their cozy storefront venue, following city safety guidelines. This interactive show provides the hour of escapism that we’ve needed all year. Their BYOB policy can also help you with that. And just wait ‘til you see what he does with that balloon . . .
Otherworld Theatre’s Stream Queens
Their latest show, Of Dice and Men, streams for free on their YouTube channel through August 14, but you can nerd out on the catalog of shows and content Otherworld is currently streaming. Most of which have strong female protagonists (is there any other kind?), such as Countess Dracula, The Rogue Aviator, Medusa Undone, and the oh-so-ironically titled CORONA: A Sci-Fi Retelling of the Minotaur Myth.
***Bonus!***
Music Box Garden Movies
Yes! There’s a movie theater in the BTD, and the Music Box Theatre has always been the hottest place to see new flicks and cult classics in the Windy City. Join them in their social distance screening garden before this summer is a thing of the past.
What BTD shows are you seeing this month? Is there one we missed? Let us know in the comments below!
To see what’s playing now in the BTD, head to our Shows page.
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