“Armed with new custom-created research claiming Chicago-area theaters are worth a whopping $347 million in total economic activity to their home metropolis, the League of Chicago Theatres is on a newly energized mission to convince local corporate leaders that Chicago theater deserves to be taken more seriously by business interests… The study, to be released on Monday, argues that Chicago’s live theater industry has doubled its direct and indirect economic impact in just seven years — from $164 million in 1996 to $347 million in 2002.”