Oriental Theatre

24 W Randolph St, Chicago, IL 60601, USA

Address:	24 W Randolph St, Chicago, IL 60601, USA
Phone:	+1 312-977-1700
Site:	broadwayinchicago.com
Rating:	4.6

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 6

John Myers

The staff and the policies at the oriental theater are horrible. Absolutely horrible. To a one, they are rude and go out of their way to make sure you have the worst time possible. Avoid this theater at all costs until they change their policies and their rude staff. I dont care if your favorite show is playing there. If youre a tourist, GO TO ANOTHER THEATER while youre in chicago. Here are some specifics. This specifically refers to my experience at the Rain concert on Thursday June 29, but the staff and policies are the same for other concerts. 1) If you even take out your phone they will confiscate it. They will not be nice about it and politely tell you to just turn it off like every other theater, airplane and every other location known to man. THEY WILL CONFISCATE IT. Go ahead, look at their rules or call them. Theyll admit to it. And they will not give it back till after the show. I am not kidding. And their excuse? Oh they have some signs posted on the door. Yeah, the door that everyone is ushered quickly through to get into the theater. God forbid you forget to read the rulebook posted there. Listen, nobody likes a bunch of people using their phones. So dont feed me that line. Other theaters do it right. MOVIE theaters do it right. Airplanes do it right. You guys do it wrong. Bottom line. I would like to add here that my phone was NOT confiscated. I am writing here because of the atrocious behavior I saw around me. 2) There was a large white bald man in a suit harassing people near me. He was constantly up in peoples faces and pointing his finger in their faces. 3) There was a female usher in the aisle three, white with black hair, constantly harassing people. She would stalk up and down the rows CONSTANTLY, making sure everyone was obeying her every whim. She was possibly the rudest and most horrible woman Ive ever encountered. Not a bit of kindness in her. She was mean to the kids, mean to the parents, mean to everyone. Went out of her way to make sure people who paid $75 a piece had a horrible time. 4) If youre not there EXACTLY on time, they will not let you in. This policy is beyond stupid. Why? Because once youve crossed the magical barrier once, you can exit all you want to go to the bathroom or get refreshments. Luckily, I got there in time, but god forbid if you are even one minute late. No refunds, and I heard them blatantly making fun of people who didnt get in. Oh, and before you feed me the "oh but we we have to help you find your seat" line, NOBODY helps you find your seat. At least they didnt for us. But then again I had the horrible witch lady in my isle so other experiences may vary. She offered no help and blatantly ignored us when we came in. She was too busy harassing other people. Again I reiterate that none of worst things here happened to me. I am writing this on behalf of the people I saw whose night was ruined. I felt so sorry for them. You, the staff of the Oriental Theater, should be ashamed of yourselves. You, the owners and operators of the Oriental Theater, need a wake up lesson. And I intend to give it to you in the form of bad reviews wherever I can. Dont like it? Offer PROOF ON YOUR SITE that you have changed your policies and an apology to the people whose night you ruined, and Ill gladly delete them.

Emily Ralph

DONT SIT IN THE DRESS CIRCLE! I was really upset because we got $120 tickets which were not listed as limited view and ended up not being able to see the top 3rd of the stage set which was a critical part of the show Newsies as people are climbing up it and there are scenes actually projected up at the top. We were sitting in the dress circle and I saw speakers, but it didnt seem that they were on, we couldnt understand any of the words in the first half and the music was like listening to a speaker pointing away from you so we werent hearing everything going on. It was still okay for me because I loved Newsies as a kid and knew what was going, but my husband had no idea what was going on because he couldnt hear the conversations happening or see the news banners scrolled at the top of the set. These tickets cost the same as some on the floor level, but I thought they would be better to get an elevated view of the dancing numbers, but I think it took more away. These seats should be noted as limited view and poor sound and I will never sit here again. We have been to the oriental before sitting on the floor all the way back and all the way back in the balcony and never had any of these problems.

D Pham

I love going to the theater, and Ive been here for a few plays and musical. Most recently, I came for Evita and sat in the Middle Aisle of Dress Circle. The Dress Circle is on the second floor and has a great view, as long as the scene doesnt take place too high up on stage. The acoustic is wonderful and youll have no problems seeing the actors. The seats are moderately comfortable but it is directly behind the seat in front of you, so if you have someone tall in front of you, you will have some wriggling around to do to get a good view. Tip- theres a bathroom on this floor, but it is worth it to go to the basement. The bathroom there is larger and you will be finish a lot faster than waiting on the smaller bathroom on the 2nd floor.

Chrissy Papnick

I have seen a lot of live theater at the Oriental over the years. I have always had a great time. There are some bad seats in the house and it varies based on the performance you are seeing. All the way off to the sides makes it difficult to see the whole stage and if you are too high up and in the back, you cannot see the screen that some performances have used. The theater itself is very ornate and is accessible to all. If you need accessible seating be sure to buy the proper tickets because some areas of the theater are not accessible. I would suggest eating at Pettrino;s and use their $15 valet parking service. If you want a less expensive dinner or lunch, Jasons Deli is next to the parking garage.

Stuart Conover

Just had a chance to see another show here with my wife. This time up? Alton Brown Live, and we had an absolute blast! As always the Oriental has decent seating compared to many of the theaters in Chicago and the sound and lighting are perfect for any show that Ive seen here. It probably helps that it felt made for Altons performance even though its a limited performance at the venue. During the mid show performance there are of course standard theater drinks you can purchase but this time around we wanted to check out the shows extras and my wife happily walked away with a new coffee tumbler. Good show, good price, good times! Which is what you tend to expect from the Oriental.

Melissa Sanchez

The theatre is so ornate with its beautiful ceilings and chandliers...beautiful plush red carpet and lovely wallpaper. I went there to see the performance of Wicked -- AWESOME!!!!! It was one of the best plays ive gone to see in a long time... They are very strict with no picture taking inside the theatre where the stage area is...make sure to take advantage of using the bathroom before the performance starts -- it gets crowded super fast! The seats are super comfy. Oh and also they have open captions for the hearing impaired/deaf in the ADA section, which was terrific! If youre able to attend a play here, take the opportunity!