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About the League
Mission Statement
The League of Chicago Theatres (LCT) is an alliance of theaters which leverages its collective strength to promote, support and advocate for Chicago's theater industry locally, nationally and internationally. The League of Chicago Theatres Foundation (LCTF) is dedicated to enhancing the art of theater in the Chicago area through audience development and support services for theaters and theater professionals.
Service Area
Today the League's membership includes 190+ member theaters, a vast majority of the Chicago area's rich and varied theater community. Membership reaches into all regions of the metropolitan area, from the North Shore to Aurora, and also includes select theaters outside the region (e.g., Normal's Illinois Shakespeare Festival, the Center for Performing Arts at Governor's State in University Park and Hemmens Cultural Center in Elgin).
No other theater service organization in the country has such a diverse theater membership. While this diversity breeds many challenges, it also provides us with a unique opportunity to support and advocate for the theater industry as a whole, and for theater as an art form. We effectively leverage our industry's strength for the benefit of the theater community and for the metropolitan area and state as a whole.
Organizational History
Founded in 1979 by a handful of theaters formerly known as the Off Loop Producers Association, their mission was to enrich and sustain the economic and cultural life here by developing marketing, advocacy and information services to strengthen the operations of member theaters. Initially launched to manage a downtown Hot Tix booth, the League now offers a full range of services to strengthen theater operations in an increasingly challenging environment. A membership collective in which the members set goals and once functioned as primary staff, the League grew over the past two decades into a professionally managed agency that serves a broader mission as a leadership organization.
Members range from storefront, non-union theaters with budgets under $10,000 to major cultural centers with multi-million dollar shows. Members' needs are as varied as their profiles, and theaters can find it difficult to support each other, or to build upon each other's audiences. The League bridges the gaps between our diverse members with programs, services and activities that directly impact administrative and artistic operations, as well as promote awareness and visibility for live theater as an art form. It is our job to leverage the strength of the theater community as a whole, developing partnerships and facilitating internal and external networks that individual theaters cannot accomplish on their own.
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