Rogers Park Has a Stage on Every Commercial Street Again, and Late October Is When They All Line Up

On July 31, a line of moviegoers formed outside 6746 N. Sheridan Road, and Block Club Chicago reported that the scene looked as though the theater had never closed. The 400 Theater had been dark since 2023, ending a 111-year run as the oldest movie house in the city.

Rogers Park's stages are spread out one per commercial street, from Howard Street down to Loyola's campus, and the 400 was the missing piece on Sheridan Road. With its screen back, every one of those streets has something on the calendar between Oct. 15 and Nov. 1. The dates overlap without being identical, and the busiest Saturdays, Oct. 17 and Oct. 24, each have five of the six rooms running.

The line, north to south

Taken together, the six rooms show what a night out in Rogers Park looks like this fall. Most of the shows are small and inexpensive, and you can walk between them. The top regular ticket on this list is $30.

Sheridan Road got its screen back, and it's busier than planned

New owner Jordan Stancil runs three movie houses in Michigan, including the Rialto Theater in Grayling, which his family has owned since 1915. Before opening, the theater's FAQ promised about five new releases a month plus around 30 other titles. By September, the Loyola Phoenix was reporting plans for 40 to 50 films a month. Staff told the paper that turnout had been strong for Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Jurassic Park and Twilight. That's a bigger calendar than the one first announced, and October is where it shows.

The Monster Mash series pulls from Universal's classic monster films, spanning the studio's 1930s run through the new creatures it introduced in the 1940s and 1950s. Here are the remaining dates on the theater's listings:

• Dracula (1931), Thursday, Oct. 15 at 7:15 p.m.
• The Wolf Man (1941), Saturday, Oct. 17 at 4:45 p.m., with more showings Oct. 20 and Oct. 22
• Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), Saturday, Oct. 24
• The Mummy, Saturday, Oct. 31

The theater is also running a seasonal series called Black Cats and Broomsticks. When it opened, Block Club listed tickets at $11 for evening shows, $8.50 for afternoon shows and $6 on Tuesdays, plus a $1.50 online fee and tax. Those are July prices, so check the box office before you count on the Tuesday rate.

Howard and Jarvis hold the north end

The Factory Theater opens Radical Futures on Friday, Oct. 16. B.Z. Florida wrote it and Kayla Menz directs. Two estranged friends meet again in a failing dive bar, where hallucinogenic cocktails set off visions of the future. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. through Nov. 21, and tickets are $30. An understudy performance is set for Sunday, Nov. 15 at 3 p.m. Block Club's fall theater roundup lists it as a world premiere.

The block changed in September. Rogers Park Taproom and Coffeehouse, at 1615 W. Howard, a few doors from the Factory, closed permanently after a little over two years. It had moved into the former Sol Cafe space and filled the gap left when Howard Street Brewing Co. closed. If you're heading to a Howard Street curtain this fall, that storefront is no longer an option before the show.

About half a mile south, Theatre Above the Law is running Grimm at Jarvis Square Theater through Nov. 1. Michael Dalberg wrote this original adaptation, in which Jakob Grimm goes looking for his brother Wilhelm and lands in a cabaret bar hosted by the wolf and Little Red. Shows are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets run $15 to $30 at theatreatl.org or 773-655-7197. For dinner nearby, L'Angolo Italiano opened in early July at 1538 W. Jarvis. Block Club's July report listed dinner Thursday through Saturday, 5 to 9 p.m., which lines up with a 7:30 curtain.

Jarvis Square's busiest day this month comes the following weekend. Jarvis Square Alfresco, 1500 W. Jarvis, is hosting a free Family Fall Halloween Fest on Saturday, Oct. 24, from 2 to 6 p.m. You could go to the fest that afternoon and see Grimm that night without leaving the block. Through October, the 49th Ward's Oct. 10 update also had the square's southwest alley blocked from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. while work continued on a new mural by Oscar Joyo, which had reached the priming and grid stage.

Glenwood and Morse switch shows the same weekend

Lifeline Theatre's A Wrinkle in Time closes Sunday, Oct. 18. Emeritus ensemble member James Sie adapted it, and Heather Currie directs. Lifeline doesn't go quiet after that. Its world-premiere fairytale-noir mystery Sugar Plum Fairy, P.I., adapted by Aly Amidei, runs weekends through Nov. 8. Tickets are $17 for previews and $22 for the regular run. The next MainStage show, Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol, doesn't start until Nov. 28.

The weekend Wrinkle closes, Rhapsody Theater on Morse is hosting Kiki Queens: Drag to the Future on Friday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 17 at 5 and 9 p.m. That Saturday, five of the six rooms on the table have something scheduled: the 400, the Factory, Jarvis Square, Lifeline and Rhapsody.

Glenwood has a deadline of its own the next weekend. The Glenwood Sunday Market at 6960 N. Glenwood runs Sundays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and its last day this season is Oct. 25. Lifeline is a block down the same street, so that Sunday you could close out the market season and catch a children's matinee.

Loyola fills in the south end and the last week

Loyola's fine and performing arts department opens Tartuffe at Newhart Family Theatre, 1032 W. Sheridan Road, on Oct. 22 and runs it through Nov. 1, with tickets from $10 to $25. Two shorter programs fall on the same weekends. Madrigal Madness is Oct. 24 at the Mundelein Center's Skowronski Music Hall for $7 to $15. That's Absurd! plays Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 at the Underground Laboratory Theatre for $5, the lowest ticket in the neighborhood this month.

With Loyola's shows added, the weekend of Oct. 24 matches the one before it, with five rooms running. Creature from the Black Lagoon, Radical Futures, Grimm, Sugar Plum Fairy, P.I., Tartuffe and Madrigal Madness are all on the calendar, along with the Jarvis Square fest that afternoon and the final market the next morning.

The three weekends, by date

1. Thursday, Oct. 15. Dracula at the 400, 7:15 p.m.
2. Friday, Oct. 16. Radical Futures opens at the Factory. Kiki Queens at Rhapsody, 7 p.m.
3. Saturday, Oct. 17. The Wolf Man at the 400, 4:45 p.m. Rhapsody at 5 and 9 p.m. Grimm and Radical Futures at 7:30 p.m.
4. Sunday, Oct. 18. Final performance of A Wrinkle in Time at Lifeline.
5. Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 19 and 20. CDOT resurfacing on Damen between Rogers and Jarvis on Oct. 19, then on the Fargo/Jarvis and Birchwood/Fargo segments on Oct. 20, according to the ward update.
6. Thursday, Oct. 22. Tartuffe opens at Newhart Family Theatre.
7. Saturday, Oct. 24. Family Fall Halloween Fest at Jarvis Square Alfresco, 2 to 6 p.m. Creature from the Black Lagoon at the 400. Madrigal Madness at Loyola.
8. Sunday, Oct. 25. Last Glenwood Sunday Market of the season, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
9. Friday, Oct. 30. Free Trunk or Treat at Willye B. White Park, 1610 W. Howard, 3 to 6 p.m.
10. Saturday, Oct. 31. The Mummy closes out Monster Mash at the 400. That's Absurd! at Loyola, $5.
11. Sunday, Nov. 1. Final performances of Grimm and Tartuffe. The Catrina Walk steps off with a giant collaborative puppet built in GROW/PROGRESANDO's workshops at 7056 N. Clark.

After Nov. 1, the calendar thins out. The Factory keeps going until Nov. 21 and Lifeline until Nov. 8, and the three weeks when every street has a show on the calendar end with the Catrina Walk.

Patrick tells neighborhood stories like the 400's reopening on The American Dream TV. If you live near Howard, Jarvis, Glenwood or Sheridan and want to know how a reopened movie palace and a full stage calendar show up in what buyers ask about your block, Patrick O'Brien can walk you through it. Let's connect. Start with a free home valuation.