As part of our commitment to making the arts accessible to all children and families, Chicago Children’s Theatre offers a variety of accessible performances for each of our season’s mainstage productions.
2024-2025 Access Performances
Saturday, April 12th
9:30AM – Sensory Friendly
Saturday, April 19th
2PM – Audio Description and Touch Tour (tickets must be purchased 2 weeks prior to performance)
Touch Tour at 12:30pm
Performance at 2pm
Both the audio description and the touch tour will be provided in English.
PLEASE NOTE: The April 19th 2pm performance will unfortunately no longer feature Audio Description or the Touch Tour.
Saturday, May 3rd
9:30AM – Sensory Friendly
Saturday, May 10th
11:30AM – ASL & Open Captions (tickets must be purchased 3 weeks prior to performance)
This play alternates between spoken English and spoken Spanish. Through context, speakers of either language will leave with understanding of the play. Open Captions will contain text that matches what is being spoken onstage. Open Captions will not be provided either entirely in English or entirely in Spanish for the purposes of translation.
Sensory Friendly Performances
Tailored specifically for guests on the autism spectrum or with other sensory sensitivities, we offer performances with sensory modifications to production elements such as lighting, sound, and volume. Audience members should feel comfortable taking breaks from these performances and are welcome to take advantage of a quiet room and designated family restrooms. The cast and crew will be trained and prepared to create a safe and welcoming environment so that everyone can experience the show in their own unique way.
Learn more about The Red Kite Project, our accessible arts programming for youth on the autism spectrum.
ASL Interpretation & Open Captioning
These performances offer guests who are Deaf or hard of hearing an experience where all dialogue and lyrics are interpreted by a licensed American Sign Language interpreter during the show. Open captions will also be displayed on a large screen for audience members who benefit from reading along with the action.
Touch Tours
For guests who are blind or have low vision, Chicago Children’s Theatre offers guided pre-show tours of the production. This allows for a deeper connection and understanding of the performance. Audience members will be able to touch select props, scenery, puppets, and costumes. Guests will also have a chance to listen to the performers describe their characters and appearance. Registration for Touch Tours is included in the purchase of an Audio Description ticket.
Audio Description
With advanced notice through purchase of tickets, we can provide audio description services to guests who are blind or have low vision. The Audio Describer provides audience members with in-depth descriptions of performer characterizations, costumes, and staging. To request Audio Description services, tickets must be purchased two weeks before the performance you are planning to attend.
Equipment Loaned by Cultural Access Collaborative with special thanks to the Chicago Academy of Sciences / Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
How to Purchase Tickets
You may purchase your tickets online by following the links above to the performance that you want to attend. When purchasing tickets for an accessible performance, please indicate that you are interested in the service that is being offered so we can be prepared to assist you.
If you have questions or concerns about purchasing tickets for access performances please contact our Guest Services Team at boxoffice@chicagochildrenstheatre.org, or by calling (312) 374-8835.