This weekend the 400-seat Lou & Nancy Schauer Mainstage at 4384 Hampton Avenue still belongs to the adults. Working, the musical built from the stories of everyday workers, has its last four performances between Thursday and Sunday. The cast comes from the theatre's volunteer company. After the Sunday matinee on November 1, the building hands over to its students.
From November 6 to December 13, the bills come from high schoolers, grade schoolers, kindergartners, and one tribute concert. Three of the four events left on the 2026 fall calendar are Children's Theatre of Western Springs productions. So if you see a show at the Theatre of Western Springs between now and the holidays, the cast will almost certainly be young.
The Final Weekend Runs Into Halloween
Working opened October 22 and closes November 1. Thursday and Friday shows start at 7:30 p.m., Saturday has a 2:00 p.m. matinee and a 7:30 p.m. evening show, and Sunday is a single 2:00 p.m. matinee. Tickets are $32 for every performance and $19 for children and students. The Hinsdalean ran the dates and prices back in August, so the run has been on the calendar since late summer.
Saturday is October 31. The Village calendar sets town trick-or-treating from 2:00 to 8:00 p.m. that day, so both Saturday performances fall inside those hours. Thursday at 7:30, Friday at 7:30 and the Sunday matinee are the times that stay clear of the costumes and candy bowls.
Everyone on that stage is a volunteer. TWS casts only from its "Actives," members who act and also crew backstage. To audition, a performer has to be an Active and must have taken the three-week TWS Studio class. Working is one of four Mainstage plays in the adult subscription season. Each one runs for ten performances across two weekends.
Who Takes the Stage Next
Once Working closes, the calendar switches to the Children's Theatre of Western Springs and the Performance Series. The rest of the fall, in order:
| Dates | Production | Who's on stage | Space | Tickets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov. 6–8 | Macbeth, High School Rep Fall Play | High school students | Mary Cattell Theatre | $17 general, $13 for 18 and under |
| Nov. 13–15 | What Happened After Once Upon a Time, Children's Theatre Fall Play | 3rd through 8th graders | Cattell Theatre | Not yet posted |
| Nov. 21, 7:30 p.m. | Radio Gaga, Performance Series concert | Queen and Lady Gaga tribute | Schauer Mainstage | $50, $5 more on show day |
| Dec. 4–13 | Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella, Fall Musical | Kindergarten through 12th grade | Schauer Mainstage | $17 adults, $13 for 18 and under |
The student shows also run on a different schedule from the adult season. Macbeth has 7:00 p.m. curtains on Friday and Saturday, plus 2:30 p.m. matinees on Saturday and Sunday. Cinderella follows the same Friday and Sunday pattern but adds an 11:00 a.m. Saturday show alongside the 2:30 p.m. matinee. The adult company never starts before 2:00 p.m. A late-morning curtain is built for families with young kids, and that seems to be the audience the Children's Theatre is planning around.
One Building, Two Very Different Rooms
Where each show plays depends on how big it is. TWS built its 400-seat theatre in 1961 and added a 100-seat black box in 1976. That second space is now named the Cattell Theatre. The two Cattell productions this fall are the smaller casts. The theatre's Children's Theatre productions page describes Macbeth as "presented by our high schoolers in our intimate Cattell Theatre," and gives the 3rd through 8th grade fairy-tale play the same room a week later.
At 100 seats, a sold-out Cattell house holds a quarter of what the Mainstage does. A four-performance run like Macbeth's tops out at a few hundred tickets. Cinderella gets the big room because its cast covers every grade the program teaches. The same TWS listing says it is
Presented by K-12th graders on our Mainstage.
Cinderella is the only Children's Theatre show this fall in the 400-seat house, and its run stretches over the first two weekends of December. That makes it the most open-ended ticket on the calendar. The Cattell weekends are smaller and shorter.
Why the Kids Have Carried the Stage for 80 Years
The Children's Theatre has been a core part of the organization for most of its history. Western Springs resident Mary Cattell founded the Theatre of Western Springs in 1929, and the black box carries her name. The Children's Theatre followed in 1946. TWS says it now trains more than 400 students a year in onstage and backstage skills.
Four hundred students a year explains how a single organization can stage a high school Shakespeare, a middle-grade comedy and a K–12 Rodgers & Hammerstein musical inside five weeks. Each show draws on a different age group from the same training program. The adult company's four-show subscription season leaves room on the calendar, and the student productions fill it.
TWS is in its 98th season, and the homepage banner calls it "over 93 years of West Suburban Chicago Theatre." Governance stays local too. A Board of Governors elected from the Active membership runs the organization.
What the Ticket Prices Tell You
Working costs $32 for an adult ticket, and Macbeth and Cinderella cost $17. A family of four with two kids under 18 pays $60 for Cinderella before fees. Four tickets to Working at the adult and student rates would come to $102.
Fees are the same across the season. Credit-card purchases carry a $3-per-ticket convenience fee, and e-tickets carry no fee. Cinderella and Working also offer print-and-mail tickets for $3 per order. For Macbeth, the ticket page says cash or check payments have no fees at all. On a four-ticket order, paying by card adds $12.
Radio Gaga is priced as a one-night concert. General admission is $50 and goes up $5 per ticket on the day of the show. TWS subscribers and CTWS families can get $45 general admission with a discount code from the box office. That discount ties the concert back to the student program. Families with a child in the Children's Theatre get the reduced price.
December 5 Is the Busiest Saturday
Cinderella's first Saturday lands on December 5. The Western Springs Business Association has scheduled Winter Wonderland for the same day, from noon to 5:00 p.m. Santa arrives on a firetruck, the Village tree is lit, and there are photos with Santa.
The times fit together. Cinderella plays at 11:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. that Saturday. A family could see the 11:00 show and get out for most of the Winter Wonderland afternoon. Families who want both the 2:30 curtain and the festival's later hours can arrive at noon and walk over to Hampton Avenue before the matinee. Families with a performer in the cast may spend most of that day near the theatre.
If that Saturday is too much, the run continues through Sunday, December 13, with Friday nights at 7:00 and Sunday matinees at 2:30.
Your Calendar From Thursday On
- Oct. 29–Nov. 1: Working's final four performances on the Mainstage, with both Saturday shows during trick-or-treat hours.
- Nov. 6–8: Macbeth in the Cattell Theatre, with a 7:00 p.m. Friday opening.
- Nov. 13–15: What Happened After Once Upon a Time in the Cattell Theatre. Check the TWS site for showtimes and prices.
- Nov. 21: Radio Gaga at 7:30 p.m. Buy ahead to avoid the $5 day-of increase.
- Dec. 4–13: Cinderella on the Mainstage, with an 11:00 a.m. Saturday option on December 5, the day of Winter Wonderland.
Tickets for every show are sold through the TWS box office, and you can find details for each production on the Theatre of Western Springs website.
At The Anne Monckton Group, we think a seat at 4384 Hampton Avenue says a lot about what it's like to live in Western Springs. If you're new to town or thinking about moving here, and you'd like to hear which local traditions we'd put on your first-year calendar, book an appointment with us. We're happy to talk through the season with you.
