Theater News

Chicago's Mercury Theatre Closes Its Doors Permanently due to Coronavirus Pandemic

The company had been operating since 2011.

The Mercury Theatre in Chicago
The Mercury Theatre in Chicago
(image via Mercury Theatre's Facebook page)

Chicago's Mercury Theater will permanently close at the end of June due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The mid-sized, commercial Equity theater is located on North Southport Avenue, and has employed 975 actors, musicians, designers, and administrators since reopening in 2011, while presenting 25 plays and musicals and entertaining 300,000 people. It was closed by the coronavirus pandemic in mid-March, when it was producing Shear Madness and Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

The theater has a 280-seat main stage, as well as a cabaret space that opened in 2018. According to published reports, the theater is not carrying outstanding debt and is working with realtors to explore their future options for the building.

"We sought to bring a little joy to the world and have made many friends along the way," Mercury Theater said in a statement posted to Facebook. "Thank you to the artists who have been a part of our legacy. And thank you to the audiences who have supported our neighborhood theater."