Chicago Children's Theatre To Throw A Walkie Talkie Dancey Party At Unity Park's Pumpkinfest

Pop in your earbuds and lace up your kicks, because Chicago Children's Theatre is teaming with the Unity Park Advisory Council to throw a Walkie Talkie Dancey Party as part of Unity Park Pumpkinfest.

On Saturday, October 29, from 12:30 to 1 p.m., DJ Rica will be spinning fun, spooky tunes at Unity Park's always popular Halloween event, to give Logan Square kids and families a chance to dance, sing, show off their costumes, and shake their sillies out.

Artists from Chicago Children's Theatre will be on-site, too, ready to introduce kids and families to Logan Learnin', one of the newest episodes in CCT's Walkie Talkies audio walking tours of different Chicago neighborhoods.

In CCT's popular podcast series, every neighborhood becomes a unique adventure created by a local artist who engages the imagination with an original story while encouraging kids and families to get outside and explore Chicago's diverse communities, including neighborhood landmarks, historical figures and top destinations along the way.

In CCT's new Walkie Talkie, Logan Learnin', a girl named Harper befriends a Unity Park tree keeper who leads her on an adventure of the imagination. Along the way, Harper learns Unity Park's rich history and role in the fabric of life in Logan Square, with side trips to the Illinois Centennial Monument and bustling Milwaukee Avenue.

The episode was written for Chicago Children's Theatre by Lomai, a writer/director and proud Logan Square resident with a growing list of short films, videos and independent features, including his debut film, the sci-fi/fake documentary Proven. 

Logan Learnin' dropped in August with new Walkie Talkie tours of Grant Park, Palmer Square, Chinatown, and Chicago Children's Theatre's own neighborhood, the West Loop. They're available for free via Chicago Children's Theatre's website, and on podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Each tour runs under an hour, and comes with a downloadable map, photos of tour highlights, vocabulary keys, and resources like reading and song lists.

The October 29th event at Unity Park is the second Walkie Talkie Dancey Party Chicago Children's Theatre has hosted to generate excitement around its neighborhood audio adventure tour podcast series. Last July, at Taste of Chicago, Chicago Children's took over the SummerDance stage with its first Walkie Talkie Dancey Party, hosted by The Q Brothers, creators of Sonic Experiment #312, an EDM-infused Walkie Talkie self-tour of Grant Park.

Thanks to support from the Chicago Park District's Night Out in the Parks and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Chicago Children's Theatre has produced more than a dozen Walkie Talkies tours of different Chicago neighborhoods, with as many as 20 planned by year's end. For more information and to download episodes, visit chicagochildrenstheatre.org/event/walkie-talkies. 

The Unity Park Advisory Council is a local group made up of local parents and neighbors. The council facilitates the use of Unity Park by the public through maintenance and up-keep of the park, planning and fund-raising for capital improvements, Creating garden and art projects, and planning and hosting special events at the park. For more, visit unityparkchicago.org.

Chicago Children's Theatre was founded in 2005 with a big idea: Chicago is the greatest theater city in the world, and it deserves a great children's theater. Today, Chicago Children's Theatre is the city's largest professional theater company devoted exclusively to children and young families. CCT has established a national reputation for the production of first-rate children's theater with professional writing, performing, and directorial talent and high-quality design and production expertise.

Today, Chicago Children's Theatre, 100 S. Racine Ave. in Chicago's West Loop, is Chicago's destination for the best plays, musicals, classes and performing arts camps for young audiences. For parents, caregivers and teachers, Chicago Children's Theatre is a convenient, welcoming community hub, centrally located in the city, with free, onsite parking.

Up next at Chicago Children's Theatre is its popular holiday show, The Beatrix Potter Holiday Tea Party, a seasonal rite of passage for Chicago's youngest theatergoers, returning for its seventh season, November 19-December 24. The experience includes a mesmerizing, highly interactive trunk and puppet show with a trio of talented actor/singer/musicians who bring four adorable Beatrix Potter animal tales to life, followed by a reception with juice, cookies, chocolate milk, and photos with the actors.

Performances are Saturdays and Sundays at 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. The show is ideal for ages 2 to 6. It runs 60 minutes, followed by the tea party. Tickets are on sale now at chicagochildrenstheatre.org.

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