Auditorium

About this museum

Long before the steel - and - glass towers reshaped the Chicago skyline, Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler were busy constructing something that would outlast every era of architectural fashion. The Auditorium Theatre, completed in 1889, is one of the great rooms of American performance culture - a vast, ornate space where the acoustics were considered a miracle of engineering and the gilded arches seem to breathe with the weight of history. Standing inside for the first time, visitors often go quiet before they even find their seats. That response is exactly what Sullivan intended.The building has seen more than a century of drama, dance, ballet, opera, and rock - and - roll blow through its doors, and that breadth of programming is part of what makes it so alive. This is not a preserved relic kept behind velvet ropes; it is a working theater that has hosted everyone from Rudolf Nureyev to The Who. With a rating of 4.7 across nearly 3, 000 reviews, it has clearly lost none of its power to impress modern audiences.The theater's exterior, part of a ten - story block on Michigan Avenue, is built in the Romanesque Revival style with rough - cut granite at its base and intricate terracotta ornamentation climbing toward the roofline. But the interior is where Sullivan's philosophy - that ornament should grow from structure the way leaves grow from a branch - becomes fully visible. The ceiling arches, the stenciled friezes, the electric light brackets: every surface carries meaning.Admission to performances varies depending on the show, but the building itself has historically welcomed visitors to explore its public spaces free of charge, and public tours offer an accessible way to encounter one of the most important architectural interiors in the country. For anyone visiting Chicago with even a passing interest in design, music, or theater history, the Auditorium deserves a dedicated stop rather than a casual glance from the sidewalk.The Auditorium Theatre is located in Chicago's Loop, steps from Grant Park and the lakefront. Check the theater's performance calendar for upcoming events, and consider arriving early enough to wander the lobby and take in Sullivan's extraordinary vision at your own pace.