The Theater Loop
So here's a first: A multi-theater subscription ticket
October 26, 2007
BY CHRIS JONES
If you really like the work of a particular Chicago theater company, you've probably bought a subscription ticket. Good for you. You save some bucks and get to be a part of that theater’s family of supporters. But if you prefer to spread your theater-going around, you probably rely on single tickets. They’re more expensive—but you don’t get locked into the ups and downs of one group.
Well, here’s something new and unusual to consider—now you can buy a subscription ticket that covers four different, independent theaters. Available now and covering shows that run between February and June, the new subscription scheme, entitled "Looks Like Chicago," is a communal marketing attempt to get theatergoers to better appreciate the diversity of the Chicago theater.
For $98, you get four tickets to works by four quite different theater companies—Silk Road Theatre Company (which specializes in the peoples of the Silk Road and their Diaspora), Congo Square Theatre Company (dedicated to the theater of the African Diaspora), Remy Bumppo Theatre Company (which produces mostly European-American works) and Teatro Vista (which mostly produces works drawing from Latino culture). All of those groups are worthy and established theaters with decent records; they have quite often appeared in my list of recommended shows.
But they’re often not the most obvious choice for a night out in this competitive city.
Silk Road came up with the idea. "We decided to reach out to three of the other companies that we really liked and respected in an attempt to cross-pollinate our audiences," said Jamil Khoury, Silk Road 's artistic director. "And we thought we could offer audiences four very distinct experiences." Silk Road's notion got the attention of the Joyce Foundation, a long-time funder of Chicago theater, which has provided the marketing funds for this project. "There’s been a lot of talk that Chicago theater is insufficiently diverse," says Michelle Boone, the program officer. "We think there is already a lot of diverse theater here, but people just don’t know about it."
The aim here is to snag between 200 and 500 people for this pilot project. From the theaters' perspective, obviously, this is a good thing because it should bring in additional audience members. But I think it’s also a decent deal for the theater-going public—along with the savings on the tickets to a wide array of theaters, you also get parking and dining deals around each of the theaters. Better yet, you can pick your dates, and at both Congo Square and Silk Road , you also can pick your show from the two spring offerings. Remy Bumppo, for example, tops out at $40 a ticket. So $24.50 works out to be a great deal—and a multi-theater subscription ticket is a rare beast.
To purchase the 2007-08 series ($98) or for more information, contact www.lookslikechicago.com or the League of Chicago Theaters at 312-554-9810 .