Home to DePaul University, this cultural hub is the heart of theater and music in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood.
Originally a native American trail, the 13-mile Lincoln Avenue is one of Chicago’s famed diagonal streets. Here it features some of the city’s most renowned local theatre: Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, founded in 1974 and housed in the former movie theater where John Dillinger was shot; the Greenhouse Theatre Center, home to multiple off-Loop theatre companies; and the Apollo Theatre, the space where David Mamet’s “Sexual Perversity in Chicago” became a hit. You can also find Lincoln Hall, one of Chicago’s of-the-moment music venues.
Swing on over to Halsted Avenue for authentic Chicago-style blues at Chicago B.L.U.E.S. Bar and Kingston Mines (you can hit them both in the same night — the venues are next to one another). Or jam to reggae music at The Wild Hare (official name: The Wild Hare and Singing Armadillo Frog Sanctuary). Hot Caribbean music is especially good on cold Midwestern nights.
Museums abound in Chicago, and the DePaul Art Museum, on the DePaul University campus, is definitely worth a visit. The free museum features contemporary and historical work, including pieces by Salvador Dali, Francisco De Goya and Andy Warhol. While you’re on campus, check out the DePaul School of Music and the DePaul Theatre School — both prestigious programs feature professional-level performances for low ticket prices (so low they’re sometimes free).
