top of page
(630) 897-9496
11 - 13 S Water Street Mall, Aurora, IL 60505
Celebrating Our 48th Season!
Coming Soon!
The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940
March 27th through April 12th
Friday and Saturday @ 8pm
Sunday Matinee @ 3pm
***No show on Easter, Sunday April 5th***
It's December, 1940. Elsa Von Grossenknueten, an eccentric theatre financier, has gathered a team at her mansion in Chappaqua, New York. Everyone believes that they will have a backer’s audition for Elsa in order to get financing for the newest musical by Roger Hopewell and Bernice Roth, directed by Ken De La Maize, and produced by Marjorie Baverstock. However, the shadow of the team’s last show hangs over the group--deemed a flop, Manhattan Holiday was ravaged by the “Stage Door Slasher,” a mysterious killer who stabbed chorus girls. The undercover police officer Michael Kelly is hoping to flush out the killer from this group of suspects--but the killer has other plans. More than that, the threat of Nazi saboteurs lurks among them. Throw in blizzard conditions, secret passageways, and some musical snippets to create an Agatha-Christie-meets-Clue formula of whodunnit parody.
Coming Soon!
2025-2026 Season Remaining:
5/22/26-6/20/26 Sordid Lives
8/7/26-8/8/26 Director's Workshop
Fundraiser
The Riverfront Playhouse
Past, Present and Future Fundraiser
Thank You to Our Sponsors
Executive Producer
John F. Byrd
Pat and Tom Krave
Director
Dick and Arlene Hawks
Marissa Amoni and Max Balding
Kathleen and Shawn Dooley
Supporting Actor
Jennifer and Adam Cresse
Bill Burmeier
Samuel Goodman & Elizabeth Eccher
Walk-on
John and Margaret Wilson
Tracey Sherman Falcon and Gandi Falcon
Michael Childress
Patron
Mike & Vicki White
Joe & Eileen Konopacki
Larry & Jean Shepard
Mike Blake
Mary Ingram-Schatz
Sharon & Mark Morris
Dale & Rhonda Roe
Nick Cafaro
Allison Lanthrum
Faith & Matt Greising
About Us
The Riverfront Playhouse
Est. 1978
The Riverfront Playhouse is a 501c3 not-for-profit store front theater founded in 1978 and established under the direction of David Morris as a creative outlet for actors of all walks of life and all levels of experience to learn and hone their craft. With the very first show, UNDER THE YUM YUM TREE, which featured the talents of Gary Puckett, Christiane Morris, Dick Hawks, and Barbara Alexander, the playhouse was off and running.
The Riverfront Playhouse has doubled it's size since its inception, and we're constantly looking for ways to make it even bigger. Through the un-flagging loyalty of our personnel and patrons, we've made it to well over 200 mainstage shows, countless children's theatre presentations, and
While performing in the backroom of Max's All-American Bar, which sat on the corner of The Water Street Mall and Galena Boulevard, the actors were all crammed into a coffin-like backstage area, and were forced to do their costume changes out on the Mall behind bedspreads held up by their fellow actors and technical personnel.
we have remained a venue for diverse and exciting entertainment in the Western Suburbs, as well as a sort of blue-collar clubhouse for the artistic types of the Chicagoland area. Our longevity is a tribute, not only to the folks that handle the day to day grind of business, but to the audiences that have kept our doors open since 1978. A debt of gratitude is owed to all.
News & Updates
A message from the Riverfront Board of Directors:
The January Meeting of the Board of Directors is scheduled for Wednesday, January 21st, 2026,
7:00 p.m. at the Riverfront Playhouse offices.
Zoom link available on request.
Home: News & Updates
“There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour.”
Charles Dickens from A Christmas Carol
CONTACT US
Mailing Address:
Riverfront Playhouse
P.O. Box 1703
Aurora, Illinois 60507
(630) 897-9496
Phone:
Email:
Home: Contact
bottom of page