The Chicago Theatre
The 1921 State Street picture palace whose vertical CHICAGO sign became a city emblem.
The Chicago Theatre opened on 26 October 1921, billed as the Wonder Theatre of the World and built for the Balaban and Katz circuit by the brothers Cornelius and George Rapp. The design borrows from French Baroque sources: a triumphal-arch front modelled on the Arc de Triomphe, a lobby derived from the royal chapel at Versailles and a grand staircase copied from the Paris Opera. It seated 3,880 and was equipped with a 26-rank Wurlitzer organ, one of the oldest still in place.
The vertical sign spelling CHICAGO, with the Y-shaped municipal device below it, has become an unofficial emblem of the city. The theatre closed in 1985 and was saved by a preservation group, reopening on 10 September 1986 after restoration, with Frank Sinatra on the first bill. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and made a Chicago Landmark in 1983. Madison Square Garden Entertainment now runs it, with about 3,600 seats.
Highlights
- Vertical CHICAGO marquee sign, an unofficial emblem of the city
- Lobby and staircase modelled on Versailles and the Paris Opera
- 26-rank Wurlitzer organ installed when the theatre opened in 1921
- Guided tours reach the stage and its backstage wall of artists' signatures
