From the Saturday, April 26, editions of The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …
The WISCH LIST
By Dave Wischnowsky
Thanks to concert tickets and its iconic marquee, you may know the Chicago Theatre inside and out.
But do you really know the Chicago Theatre?
Odds are you aren’t familiar with the rich history, the fascinating quirks and the full beauty of one of Chicago’s most beloved and recognizable venues. However, thanks to a behind-the-scenes tour that allows you to lift the curtain on the State Street landmark, you can be.
At noon Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on Saturdays, and 6 p.m. on select summer evenings, the Chicago Theatre (175 N. State St.) offers an hour-long Marquee Tour that takes you through every nook, cranny and sweeping staircase inside one of America’s last standing movie palaces from the 1920s.
Tickets, which can be purchased through thechicagotheatre.com, are $12 for adults and $10 for children 10 and under. And if you’re a fan of history, architecture, show business or simply the city of Chicago, the price of admission is definitely worth it.
Although, admittedly, you won’t get quite the bang for your buck that you would have 93 years ago when the theatre opened and charged only 25 cents if you entered before 1 p.m. For that price, you could sit anywhere and stay all day, enjoying the air-conditioning while getting your fill of main features along with short films, vaudeville acts and even music from a 50-piece orchestra during intermissions.
Back on Oct. 26, 1921, when the 3,533-seat Chicago Theatre opened on Oct. 26, 1921, it was promoted as the “Wonder Theatre of the World” and billed as the “largest, most costly and grandest of the super deluxe movie palaces” in America.
Constructed in a Neo-Baroque French-revival style, the theater’s ornate lobby was modeled after the Chapel of Versailles, while its grand staircase was designed to emulate that of the Palais Garnier Opera House in Paris. Interestingly, the exterior was designed after the Arc de Triomphe, something I’d never before noticed despite walking past countless times.
On the tour, I learned that when the theater opened, all of its ushers were men of a certain height and weight, if only because their military-style uniforms were purchased before anyone was actually hired. The only two women on staff wore Marie Antoinette dresses to add to the French theme.
Renovated in 1933 for the World’s Fair and again during the 1950s, the Chicago Theatre had fallen into severe disrepair by the 1970s. So bad that during the early 1980s plans were made for it to be torn down and replaced with a bland, boxy skyscraper.
The Chicago Theatre Preservation Group, however, rallied to raise $25 million to completely renovate the theater and return it to its former glory. After being closed for two years, the theater re-opened on Sept. 10, 1986, when none other than Frank Sinatra took the stage to perform.
The Marquee Tour guide shares fun stories and trivia about the theater while taking you to its pricey mezzanine boxes, the 68-ton balcony that owners proved safe by stacking 96,000 pounds of sandbags upon it, and the original Wurlitzer organ that has its own landmark status.
Best of all, you get the walk down the backstage stairwell where every Chicago Theatre performer since Sinatra has scrawled his or her signature on the walls. You’ll find the likes of Sammy Davis Jr., Bill Cosby, Smokey Robinson, Prince, Steve Martin, Charlie Sheen, Jay Leno, Liza Minelli, Olivia Newton John, David Copperfield, Bernie Mac, Englebert Humperdinck, Marcel Marceau and so many more.
I could have spent an hour just looking at the names on the wall, but of course, the show must go on.