High Hall, the secret, DIY queer theater in Humboldt Park, is aptly named: this apartment-turned occasional event space boasts nearly 20-foot ceilings and elegant silver molding throughout.
Located near the northwest corner of Humboldt Park, High Hall is a home for alternative performances that incorporate drag, dramatic storylines and professional-level production crews. July’s puppet show was a blur of fabric and fur: the night featured a huge robot with flash beam eyes, a 7-foot puppet head that could be operated by a performer from within and a horde of Lady Gaga-inspired hand puppets, among others.
Event organizer and resident of High Hall Kyle Deininger said he moved into the apartment space in 2020. He envisioned a space for queer performance to take place, and the High Hall team has since put on near-monthly shows with themes like Adventure Time, Avatar the Last Airbender and bugs.
“We sat and dreamed of sharing it again one day with our friends and family,” Deininger said. “And now we share it with the community and the city of Chicago in this very unexpected, but very surprising, community-based kind of way. I have to pinch myself sometimes, because I literally live in this quasi version of the movie The Birdcage.”
Inside High Hall, audience members perched on repaired couches, shag rugs, an old church pew and bean bags to watch the show. It was hosted by Malheurt, Tirrany Reins and Sylvia Sybin. Other performers included Astari Skye, Kerosene, Atlas, Salty Fears and Rose Nylon, and Jillian Mueller, Sam Locke and Peter Robards.
There were eight acts in total, ranging from a ventriloquist comedy set by Sylvia Sybin to Pagina’s Lady Gaga number featuring more than a dozen back-up dancing hand puppets that poked out from behind a suspended sheet. At one point in the show, suspended ropes lifted up the arms of a giant robot, which stretched out far over the audience’s heads.
“It’s never just a drag show. It’s never just press play on the track and just let it go,” Deininger said. “We always have some sort of production element that elevates the performers’ ideas.”
This was High Hall’s first puppet show, and there were many puppet enthusiasts in the crowd. All ten of one spectator’s fingers sported animal finger puppets, which danced along with every number.
During intermission, the hosts facilitated a puppet-making contest, allowing four groups to quickly make hand puppets and strut them down the runway. The winner of the contest – A Set of Lego Bricks from the Roaring Twenties.
Puppets are special because they are objects that are not inherently alive, but people are able to activate them, Malheurt said at the end of the show. They can be brought to life through performance and play.
Checking their Instagram is the best way to stay informed about upcoming shows and to access tickets. Attendees can only get the address to High Hall by email in the days leading up to a show.
“Imagine planning a wedding—your own wedding—once a month, every month in perpetuity,” Deininger said. “And all of your closest queer family and friends from the city of Chicago are coming.”
