Chicago Theatre
Encyclopedia
The Chicago Theatre, originally known as the Balaban and Katz Chicago Theatre, is a landmark theater
located on North State Street
in the Loop area of Chicago
, Illinois
. Built in 1921, the Chicago Theatre was the flagship for the Balaban and Katz
(B&K) group of theaters run by A. J. Balaban
, his brother Barney Balaban
and their partner Sam Katz. Along with the other B&K theaters, from 1925 to 1945 the Chicago Theatre was a dominant movie theater
enterprise. Now the Chicago Theatre is a performing arts venue for stage plays, magic shows
, comedy
, speeches, and popular music concert
s. It is owned by Madison Square Garden, Inc.
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places
on June 6, 1979, and it was listed as a Chicago Landmark
on January 28, 1983. The iconic Chicago Theatre marquee
, "as an unofficial emblem of the city", appears in film
, television
, artwork, and photography
.
Abe
and Barney Balaban
, together with Sam and Morris Katz (founders of the Balaban and Katz
theater chain), built the Chicago Theatre in 1921 with plans for it to be one of a large chain of opulent motion picture houses
. The theater would become the flagship for 28 theaters in the city and over 100 others in the Midwestern United States
that B&K operated in conjunction with the Paramount Publix
chain. The building was constructed at a cost of 4 million dollars
and was designed by architect
s Cornelius W. Rapp and George L. Rapp
. The Rapp brothers also designed many other B&K properties in Chicago, including the Oriental
and Uptown Theatres
. The Chicago Theatre was one of the first theaters in the nation to be built in Rapp and Rapp's signature Neo-Baroque French-revival style. It is the oldest surviving example of this style in Chicago.
When it opened on October 26, 1921, the 3,880 seat theater was promoted as the "Wonder Theatre of the World". Capacity crowds packed the theater during its opening week. The feature film was First National Pictures' The Sign on the Door starring Norma Talmadge
, and other attractions included a 50-piece orchestra, famed organist Jesse Crawford
at the 29-rank Wurlitzer
organ, and a live stage show. Poet
Carl Sandburg
, reporting for the Chicago Tribune
, wrote that mounted police
were required for crowd control
. The theater's strategy of enticing movie patrons with a plush environment and top notch service (including the pioneering use of air conditioning
) was emulated nationwide.
During its first 40 years of operation, the Chicago Theatre presented premiere films and live entertainment. Throughout its existence, many of the top performers and stars of their day made live appearances at the theater. One of its biggest draws was live jazz
, which Balaban and Katz promoted as early as September 1922 in a special event they called "Syncopation
Week". This proved so successful that jazz bands became a mainstay of the Chicago Theatre's programming through the 1920s and into the 1930s. In preparation for the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago, the Chicago Theatre was redecorated. The building has been associated with popular culture
occasions. For example, Ronald Reagan
announced his engagement to Jane Wyman
at the theater. It was also modernized in the 1950s when stage shows were discontinued.
A slow down in business at the Chicago Theatre, caused by economic and social changes during the 1970s, whilst it was owned by Plitt Theatres, affected ongoing viability. In 1984, the Chicago Theatre Preservation Group purchased the theater and adjoining Page Brothers Building
for $11.5 million ($ million today). Attempts at using the structure as a picture theater failed to maintain that viability and the building was closed on September 19, 1985.
The Chicago Theatre Preservation Group commenced renovation of the buildings and both were completed in 1986 at a cost of $9 million ($ million), which includes $4.3 million ($ million) spent on the Theatre. During the renovation, the Chicago Theatre was restored to a 1930s appearance by architects Daniel P. Coffey & Associates, Ltd and interior design consultants A.T. Heinsbergen
& Co. The Chicago Theatre reopened on September 10, 1986 with a performance by Frank Sinatra
. This reopening marked the culmination of a four-year historic preservation effort championed by the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois
, which has left the current seating capacity
of the theater at 3,600. The gala reopening was also symbolic because Sinatra had performed at the theater in the 1950s. The restoration of the adjoining Page Building, which is itself a Chicago Landmark
and on the National Register of Historic Places
, provided office space to support the Chicago Theatre. The theater, like its neighbor (the Joffrey Tower
), is an important component of the North Loop/Theatre District revitalization plan. Theatre district revitalization plans go back as far as Mayor Jane Byrne
's 1981 plan.
is now the property of the Balaban and Katz Historical Foundation. On October 11, 2007 it was announced that New York's Madison Square Garden Entertainment, subsidiary of Cablevision, was buying the theater.
Prior to 2008, the theater had hosted the annual opening-night film of the Chicago International Film Festival
until the festivities moved to the nearby Harris Theater
. Mayor Richard M. Daley
declared July 12, 2005 "Roger Ebert
Day in Chicago" and dedicated a plaque under the marquee in his honor. The theater is featured in a new book, The Chicago Movie Palaces of Balaban and Katz, by David Balaban, grandson of the original owner.
. The 60 feet (18.3 m) wide by six-story tall arch on the State Street façade
is designed similarly to the l'Arc de Triomphe in Paris
. The coat of arms
of the Balaban and Katz chain—two horses holding ribbons of 35 mm film in their mouths outlined by a border of film reels—is set inside a circular Tiffany
stained glass window inside the arch. The exterior of the building is covered in off-white terra cotta
supplied by the Northwestern Terra Cotta Company with Neo-Baroque plaster
designs by the McNulty Brothers.
The interior shows French Baroque influence from the Second French Empire
. The grand lobby, five stories high and surrounded by gallery promenades at the mezzanine
and balcony
levels, is influence by the Royal Chapel at Versailles
. The grand staircase is patterned from one inside the Paris Opera House
and ascends to the various balcony levels. Marshall Field and Company
supplied interior decorations including drapes
and furniture. The crystal
chandeliers and bronze
light fixtures fitted with Steuben
glass shades were designed and built by Victor Pearlman and Co.
The stage dimensions exceed 60 feet (18.3 m) in width and 30 feet (9.1 m) in depth. The orchestra pit
is approximately 6 feet (1.8 m) below stage level, 54 feet (16.5 m) wide at the stage lip, with a depth of 15 feet (4.6 m) at center. An adjustable pit filler can be used for performances requiring other levels.
The entire marquee was replaced in 1994, but retains the look of its predecessor, which was not part of the original design. In 2004, the original marquee was donated to the Smithsonian Institution
. The marquee is featured in numerous movies and TV shows set in Chicago, and its neon
font
was used in the title of the 2002 film Chicago
.
Theater (structure)
A theater or theatre is a structure where theatrical works or plays are performed or other performances such as musical concerts may be produced. While a theater is not required for performance , a theater serves to define the performance and audience spaces...
located on North State Street
State Street (Chicago)
State Street is a large south-north street in Chicago, Illinois, USA and its south suburbs. It begins on the Near North Side at North Avenue. For much of its course, it lies between Wabash Avenue on the east and Dearborn Street/Lafayette Avenue on the west...
in the Loop area of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. Built in 1921, the Chicago Theatre was the flagship for the Balaban and Katz
Balaban and Katz
The first incarnation of the Balaban and Katz Theatre corporation appeared in 1916 in Chicago by A. J. Balaban, Barney Balaban, Sam Katz, and Morris Katz. It held its first meeting as a Delaware corporation on January 21, 1925. Famous Players-Lasky Corporation bought a controlling interest in...
(B&K) group of theaters run by A. J. Balaban
A. J. Balaban
Abraham Joseph "A. J." Balaban was a Chicago-based showman whose particular influence on popular entertainment in the early 20th century led to enormous innovations in the American movie-going experience.Following the leasing and operation of a modest nickelodeon house in 1909, Balaban oversaw...
, his brother Barney Balaban
Barney Balaban
Barney Balaban was president of Paramount Pictures from 1936 to 1964, and innovator in the cinema industry. The eldest of the seven sons of grocery store owner Israel Balaban, Barney worked as a messenger boy and a cold storage company employee until 1908, when he was persuaded, at age 21, to go...
and their partner Sam Katz. Along with the other B&K theaters, from 1925 to 1945 the Chicago Theatre was a dominant movie theater
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
enterprise. Now the Chicago Theatre is a performing arts venue for stage plays, magic shows
Magic (illusion)
Magic is a performing art that entertains audiences by staging tricks or creating illusions of seemingly impossible or supernatural feats using natural means...
, comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
, speeches, and popular music concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
s. It is owned by Madison Square Garden, Inc.
Madison Square Garden, Inc.
Madison Square Garden, Inc. , is an American entertainment promotion company, headquartered in New York, New York. The company spun off from Cablevision on February 9, 2010.-Divisions:...
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
on June 6, 1979, and it was listed as a Chicago Landmark
Chicago Landmark
Chicago Landmark is a designation of the Mayor of Chicago and the Chicago City Council for historic buildings and other sites in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, economic, architectural, artistic, cultural,...
on January 28, 1983. The iconic Chicago Theatre marquee
Marquee (sign)
A marquee is most commonly a structure placed over the entrance to a hotel or theatre. It has signage stating either the name of the establishment or, in the case of theatres, the play or movie and the artist appearing at that venue...
, "as an unofficial emblem of the city", appears in film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, artwork, and photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
.
Grand opening, growth, and decline
A. J. Balaban
Abraham Joseph "A. J." Balaban was a Chicago-based showman whose particular influence on popular entertainment in the early 20th century led to enormous innovations in the American movie-going experience.Following the leasing and operation of a modest nickelodeon house in 1909, Balaban oversaw...
and Barney Balaban
Barney Balaban
Barney Balaban was president of Paramount Pictures from 1936 to 1964, and innovator in the cinema industry. The eldest of the seven sons of grocery store owner Israel Balaban, Barney worked as a messenger boy and a cold storage company employee until 1908, when he was persuaded, at age 21, to go...
, together with Sam and Morris Katz (founders of the Balaban and Katz
Balaban and Katz
The first incarnation of the Balaban and Katz Theatre corporation appeared in 1916 in Chicago by A. J. Balaban, Barney Balaban, Sam Katz, and Morris Katz. It held its first meeting as a Delaware corporation on January 21, 1925. Famous Players-Lasky Corporation bought a controlling interest in...
theater chain), built the Chicago Theatre in 1921 with plans for it to be one of a large chain of opulent motion picture houses
Movie palace
A movie palace is a term used to refer to the large, elaborately decorated movie theaters built between the 1910s and the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opened every year between 1925 and 1930.There are three building types in particular which can be subsumed...
. The theater would become the flagship for 28 theaters in the city and over 100 others in the Midwestern United States
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
that B&K operated in conjunction with the Paramount Publix
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
chain. The building was constructed at a cost of 4 million dollars
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
and was designed by architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
s Cornelius W. Rapp and George L. Rapp
Rapp and Rapp
The architectural firm Rapp and Rapp was active in Chicago, Illinois during the early 20th century. The brothers Cornelius W. Rapp and George Leslie Rapp of Carbondale, Illinois were the named partners and 1899 alumnus of the University of Illinois School of Architecture...
. The Rapp brothers also designed many other B&K properties in Chicago, including the Oriental
Oriental Theatre (Chicago)
The Ford Center for the Performing Arts Oriental Theatre is a theater located at 24 West Randolph Street in the Loop area of downtown Chicago, Illinois. Opened in 1926 as a deluxe movie palace, today the Oriental is operated by Broadway In Chicago, a subsidiary of the Nederlander Organization...
and Uptown Theatres
Uptown Theatre (Chicago)
The Uptown Theatre, also known as the Balaban and Katz Uptown Theatre, is a massive, ornate movie palace in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Designed by Rapp and Rapp and constructed in 1925, it the last of the "big three" movie palaces built by the Balaban & Katz theatre chain run by...
. The Chicago Theatre was one of the first theaters in the nation to be built in Rapp and Rapp's signature Neo-Baroque French-revival style. It is the oldest surviving example of this style in Chicago.
When it opened on October 26, 1921, the 3,880 seat theater was promoted as the "Wonder Theatre of the World". Capacity crowds packed the theater during its opening week. The feature film was First National Pictures' The Sign on the Door starring Norma Talmadge
Norma Talmadge
Norma Talmadge was an American actress and film producer of the silent era. A major box office draw for more than a decade, her career reached a peak in the early 1920s, when she ranked among the most popular idols of the American screen.Her most famous film was Smilin’ Through , but she also...
, and other attractions included a 50-piece orchestra, famed organist Jesse Crawford
Jesse Crawford
Jesse Crawford , was a US pianist and organist. He was well known in the 1920s as a theater organist for silent films and was avery popular gramophone record recording artist. In the 1930s, he switched to the Hammond organ and became a freelancer...
at the 29-rank Wurlitzer
Wurlitzer
The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to simply as Wurlitzer, was an American company that produced stringed instruments, woodwinds, brass instruments, theatre organs, band organs, orchestrions, electronic organs, electric pianos and jukeboxes....
organ, and a live stage show. Poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
Carl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg was an American writer and editor, best known for his poetry. He won three Pulitzer Prizes, two for his poetry and another for a biography of Abraham Lincoln. H. L. Mencken called Carl Sandburg "indubitably an American in every pulse-beat."-Biography:Sandburg was born in Galesburg,...
, reporting for the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
, wrote that mounted police
Mounted police
Mounted police are police who patrol on horseback or camelback. They continue to serve in remote areas and in metropolitan areas where their day-to-day function may be picturesque or ceremonial, but they are also employed in crowd control because of their mobile mass and height advantage and...
were required for crowd control
Crowd control
Crowd control is the controlling of a crowd, to prevent the outbreak of disorder and prevention of possible riot. Examples are at soccer matches, when a sale of goods has attracted an excess of customers, refugee control, or mass decontamination and mass quarantine situations . It calls for gentler...
. The theater's strategy of enticing movie patrons with a plush environment and top notch service (including the pioneering use of air conditioning
Air conditioning
An air conditioner is a home appliance, system, or mechanism designed to dehumidify and extract heat from an area. The cooling is done using a simple refrigeration cycle...
) was emulated nationwide.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, which Balaban and Katz promoted as early as September 1922 in a special event they called "Syncopation
Syncopation
In music, syncopation includes a variety of rhythms which are in some way unexpected in that they deviate from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak but also powerful beats in a meter . These include a stress on a normally unstressed beat or a rest where one would normally be...
Week". This proved so successful that jazz bands became a mainstay of the Chicago Theatre's programming through the 1920s and into the 1930s. In preparation for the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago, the Chicago Theatre was redecorated. The building has been associated with popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
occasions. For example, Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
announced his engagement to Jane Wyman
Jane Wyman
Jane Wyman was an American singer, dancer, and character actress of film and television. She began her film career in the 1930s, and was a prolific performer for two decades...
at the theater. It was also modernized in the 1950s when stage shows were discontinued.
A slow down in business at the Chicago Theatre, caused by economic and social changes during the 1970s, whilst it was owned by Plitt Theatres, affected ongoing viability. In 1984, the Chicago Theatre Preservation Group purchased the theater and adjoining Page Brothers Building
Page Brothers Building
The Page Brothers Building, 177-91 North State Street in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States, features the city's last remaining cast iron front on the north facade facing Lake Street...
for $11.5 million ($ million today). Attempts at using the structure as a picture theater failed to maintain that viability and the building was closed on September 19, 1985.
Restoration
Anthony Heinsbergen
Anthony Heinsbergen was an American muralist considered the foremost designer of North American movie theatre interiors....
& Co. The Chicago Theatre reopened on September 10, 1986 with a performance by Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
. This reopening marked the culmination of a four-year historic preservation effort championed by the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois
Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois
The Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois -- also known as Landmarks Illinois -- is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1971 to prevent the demolition of the Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan designed Chicago Stock Exchange Building...
, which has left the current seating capacity
Seating capacity
Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...
of the theater at 3,600. The gala reopening was also symbolic because Sinatra had performed at the theater in the 1950s. The restoration of the adjoining Page Building, which is itself a Chicago Landmark
Chicago Landmark
Chicago Landmark is a designation of the Mayor of Chicago and the Chicago City Council for historic buildings and other sites in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, economic, architectural, artistic, cultural,...
and on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
, provided office space to support the Chicago Theatre. The theater, like its neighbor (the Joffrey Tower
Joffrey Tower
The Joffrey Tower is a high-rise commercial real estate development on the northeast corner of North State Street and East Randolph Street in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States that is the permanent home of the Joffrey Ballet...
), is an important component of the North Loop/Theatre District revitalization plan. Theatre district revitalization plans go back as far as Mayor Jane Byrne
Jane Byrne
Jane Margaret Byrne was the first and to date only female Mayor of Chicago. She served from April 16, 1979 to April 29, 1983. Chicago is the largest city in the United States to have had a female mayor as of 2011.-Early political career:...
's 1981 plan.
Revitalized
On April 1, 2004 the building was purchased by TheatreDreams Chicago, LLC for $3 million. The Balaban and Katz trademarkTrademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
is now the property of the Balaban and Katz Historical Foundation. On October 11, 2007 it was announced that New York's Madison Square Garden Entertainment, subsidiary of Cablevision, was buying the theater.
Prior to 2008, the theater had hosted the annual opening-night film of the Chicago International Film Festival
Chicago International Film Festival
The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America....
until the festivities moved to the nearby Harris Theater
Harris Theater (Chicago)
The Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance is a 1,525-seat theater for the performing arts located along the northern edge of Millennium Park on Randolph Street in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, US...
. Mayor Richard M. Daley
Richard M. Daley
Richard Michael Daley is a United States politician, member of the national and local Democratic Party, and former Mayor of Chicago, Illinois. He was elected mayor in 1989 and reelected in 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, and 2007. He was the longest serving Chicago mayor, surpassing the tenure of his...
declared July 12, 2005 "Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
Day in Chicago" and dedicated a plaque under the marquee in his honor. The theater is featured in a new book, The Chicago Movie Palaces of Balaban and Katz, by David Balaban, grandson of the original owner.
Architecture
The structure is seven stories tall and fills nearly one half of a city blockCity block
A city block, urban block or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. A city block is the smallest area that is surrounded by streets. City blocks are the space for buildings within the street pattern of a city, they form the basic unit of a city's urban fabric...
. The 60 feet (18.3 m) wide by six-story tall arch on the State Street façade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
is designed similarly to the l'Arc de Triomphe in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. The coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
of the Balaban and Katz chain—two horses holding ribbons of 35 mm film in their mouths outlined by a border of film reels—is set inside a circular Tiffany
Tiffany & Co.
Tiffany & Co. is an American jewelry and silverware company. As part of its branding, the company is strongly associated with its Tiffany Blue , which is a registered trademark.- History :...
stained glass window inside the arch. The exterior of the building is covered in off-white terra cotta
Terra cotta
Terracotta, Terra cotta or Terra-cotta is a clay-based unglazed ceramic, although the term can also be applied to glazed ceramics where the fired body is porous and red in color...
supplied by the Northwestern Terra Cotta Company with Neo-Baroque plaster
Plaster
Plaster is a building material used for coating walls and ceilings. Plaster starts as a dry powder similar to mortar or cement and like those materials it is mixed with water to form a paste which liberates heat and then hardens. Unlike mortar and cement, plaster remains quite soft after setting,...
designs by the McNulty Brothers.
The interior shows French Baroque influence from the Second French Empire
Second French Empire
The Second French Empire or French Empire was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France.-Rule of Napoleon III:...
. The grand lobby, five stories high and surrounded by gallery promenades at the mezzanine
Mezzanine (architecture)
In architecture, a mezzanine or entresol is an intermediate floor between main floors of a building, and therefore typically not counted among the overall floors of a building. Often, a mezzanine is low-ceilinged and projects in the form of a balcony. The term is also used for the lowest balcony in...
and balcony
Balcony
Balcony , a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade.-Types:The traditional Maltese balcony is a wooden closed balcony projecting from a...
levels, is influence by the Royal Chapel at Versailles
Versailles
Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...
. The grand staircase is patterned from one inside the Paris Opera House
Palais Garnier
The Palais Garnier, , is an elegant 1,979-seat opera house, which was built from 1861 to 1875 for the Paris Opera. It was originally called the Salle des Capucines because of its location on the Boulevard des Capucines in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, but soon became known as the Palais Garnier...
and ascends to the various balcony levels. Marshall Field and Company
Marshall Field's
Marshall Field & Company was a department store in Chicago, Illinois that grew to become a major chain before being acquired by Macy's Inc...
supplied interior decorations including drapes
Curtain
A curtain is a piece of cloth intended to block or obscure light, or drafts, or water in the case of a shower curtain. Curtains hung over a doorway are known as portières...
and furniture. The crystal
Crystal
A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are arranged in an orderly repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions. The scientific study of crystals and crystal formation is known as crystallography...
chandeliers and bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
light fixtures fitted with Steuben
Steuben Glass Works
Steuben Glass Works was an American art glass manufacturer, founded in the summer of 1903 by Fredrick C. Carder and Thomas G. Hawkes in Corning, New York, which is in Steuben County, from which the company name was derived. Hawkes was the owner of the largest cut glass firm then operating in Corning...
glass shades were designed and built by Victor Pearlman and Co.
The stage dimensions exceed 60 feet (18.3 m) in width and 30 feet (9.1 m) in depth. The orchestra pit
Orchestra pit
An orchestra pit is the area in a theater in which musicians perform. Orchestral pits are utilized in forms of theatre that require music or in cases when incidental music is required...
is approximately 6 feet (1.8 m) below stage level, 54 feet (16.5 m) wide at the stage lip, with a depth of 15 feet (4.6 m) at center. An adjustable pit filler can be used for performances requiring other levels.
The entire marquee was replaced in 1994, but retains the look of its predecessor, which was not part of the original design. In 2004, the original marquee was donated to the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
. The marquee is featured in numerous movies and TV shows set in Chicago, and its neon
Neon sign
Neon signs are made using electrified, luminous tube lights that contain rarefied neon or other gases. They are the most common use for neon lighting, which was first demonstrated in a modern form in December, 1910 by Georges Claude at the Paris Motor Show. While they are used worldwide, neon signs...
font
Font
In typography, a font is traditionally defined as a quantity of sorts composing a complete character set of a single size and style of a particular typeface...
was used in the title of the 2002 film Chicago
Chicago (2002 film)
Chicago is a 2002 musical film adapted from the satirical stage musical of the same name, exploring the themes of celebrity, scandal, and corruption in Jazz-age Chicago....
.