Chicago is full of historic buildings, but few places carry as much grandeur and lore as the Palmer House Hilton. The downtown icon has spent more than a century hosting presidents, celebrities, artists, and travelers beneath its glittering chandeliers and fresco-painted ceilings. This June, the legendary hotel is adding another layer to its story: live magic.
Theater of Magic is transforming the Palmer House into an intimate stage for world-class illusions, craft cocktails, and theatrical spectacle. Founded by Australian celebrity magician Christopher Wayne, the immersive experience has quickly gained international recognition, recently earning TripAdvisor’s 2025 Travellers’ Choice Award and ranking among the platform’s top 10% of experiences worldwide.
Chicago’s Theatre of Magic at the Palmer House a Hilton Hotel
13 June 2026 16:30 + more dates
The 90-minute show takes place in an intimate setting, placing audiences just feet away from the illusions. The performance blends sleight of hand, storytelling, audience interaction, and high-end hospitality in a setting that already feels cinematic.
The Palmer House, a slice of U.S. history in the heart of Chicago
Opened in 1871 as a wedding gift from businessman Potter Palmer to socialite Bertha Honoré Palmer, the hotel survived the Great Chicago Fire, was rebuilt in 1873, and eventually grew into the massive 25-story landmark. The property is widely recognized as North America’s longest continually operating hotel and helped pioneer innovations like electric light bulbs, telephones, and elevators in hotel rooms.
The hotel’s famed Empire Room became one of the city’s premier entertainment spaces during the 20th century, turning the Palmer House into a glamorous nightlife hub during the jazz and supper-club era.
Legendary performers including Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Judy Garland, and Liberace all performed inside the hotel over the decades. The Palmer House also hosted presidents, writers, and cultural icons ranging from Oscar Wilde to Mark Twain.
Today, the Palmer House remains enormous even by modern standards, featuring more than 1,600 guest rooms and roughly 130,000 square feet of event space spread across ornate ballrooms, historic lounges, and performance areas.
Still, one of the hotel’s most enduring claims to fame is culinary rather than architectural. Back in 1893, Bertha Palmer commissioned a portable chocolate dessert for guests attending the World’s Columbian Exposition, leading the hotel’s pastry chefs to create what is widely regarded as the original brownie.
