We’re reconnecting.

One story, one community, one train stop at a time.

The Connecting Routes Project brings Chicago artists together with communities beyond our own - traveling by train and performing in towns connected along the railway networks that stem from our city. We’re proud to be a touring company that promotes, prioritizes and practices sustainable transportation in our travels. Traveling by train is a cleaner mode of touring our productions - cutting down our carbon footprint, while connecting us with both small towns and big cities.

Amtrak’s southwest chief, touring SOON

Following our initial tour on the Chicago Metra rail system, we aim to expand our reach nationally. As early as 2025, The Connecting Routes Project hopes to tour The Conductors nationwide, traveling along Amtrak's Southwest Chief route. 

Stretching from Chicago to Los Angeles, we will bring attention to the national treasure that is Amtrak's Southwest Chief line, and bring a variety of programming to the communities it serves from Illinois through California, performing at libraries, parks, museums, and community centers.

We will begin planning this tour in Fall of 2024. If you are an organization located along the Southwest Chief that is interested in bringing our work to your community, please connect with us or send an email to theconnectingroutesproject@gmail.com!

future plans

After setting up routes on both Metra and Amtrak, we aim to continue expanding our repertoire. Productions created from new partnerships will typically start their touring life with us on our Metra regional network, sharing their work first with the greater Chicagoland community.

We will continue to collect stories from the audiences we meet through our community storytelling outreach programs, and partner with communities to create original works inspired by their stories. These uniquely American stories will soon become theatrical productions that tour the nation, connecting with audiences in communities all across the country.