Gateway Theatre (Chicago) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Gateway Theatre is a 2,000-seat former movie palace

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...

that is now part of the Copernicus Cultural and Civic Center in the Jefferson Park

Jefferson Park, Chicago

Jefferson Park is one of Chicago's 77 well-defined community areas located on the city's Northwest Side. The neighborhood of Jefferson Park occupies a larger swath of territory than the community area by including within it land of adjacent community areas...

community area

Community areas of Chicago

Community areas in Chicago refers to the work of the Social Science Research Committee at University of Chicago which has unofficially divided the City of Chicago into 77 community areas. These areas are well-defined and static...

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...

in Cook County

Cook County, Illinois

Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...

, 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,...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is located at 5216 W. Lawrence Avenue.

It was designed by architect Mason Rapp of the prestigious firm of Rapp and 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...

, famous for their design of deluxe theaters not only in Chicago (Chicago

Chicago Theatre

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 group of theaters run by A. J. Balaban, his brother...

, Oriental, and Palace

Cadillac Palace Theatre

The Cadillac Palace Theatre is operated by Broadway In Chicago, a Nederlander Presentation. It is located at 151 West Randolph Street in the Chicago Loop area downtown.-History:...

Theatres) but throughout the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is the architect's sole surviving atmospheric-style theatre in Chicago.

History

June 27, 1930 was the opening day for Jefferson Park

Jefferson Park, Chicago

's new deluxe motion picture palace. Weeklong festivities in the area leading up to the opening were capped off by a gargantuan parade sponsored by area businesses. All the Chicago dailies covered the event, and in fact, the Chicago Herald-Examiner put forth a full page spread proclaiming the new theater as "the most acoustically perfect theatre in the world." The reports were not guilty of sensationalism, as the architects indeed had given extra special attention to the acoustics

Acoustics

Acoustics is the interdisciplinary science that deals with the study of all mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician while someone working in the field of acoustics...

, as talking pictures, a relative newcomer to the entertainment field had found a perfect environment in this new, different theater.

Because of the new sound films (nicknamed "talkies"), plans to include a stage for vaudeville

Vaudeville

Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...

and stage shows were abandoned. Instead, a small "sound stage" was built to the back of the proscenium

Proscenium

A proscenium theatre is a theatre space whose primary feature is a large frame or arch , which is located at or near the front of the stage...

opening to house the screen and "newfangled" speakers. If the "talkies" were just a fad, the sound stage could easily be replaced with a full stage house with the usual complement of dressing rooms, proper rooms, fly space for the scenery and the like. The talking pictures soon became the norm, and, in 1932, all motion picture studios

Movie studio

A movie studio is a term used to describe a major entertainment company or production company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to film movies...

stopped making silent pictures, thus sounding the death knell for vaudeville and stage shows.

For over 50 years, the Gateway was the direct-from-the-Loop

Chicago Loop

The Loop or Chicago Loop is one of 77 officially designated Chicago community areas located in the City of Chicago, Illinois. It is the historic commercial center of downtown Chicago...

flagship theater for the prolific 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...

movie theater chain. For decades, images of such Hollywood stars as Astaire

Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...

and Rogers

Ginger Rogers

Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century....

, Hepburn and Tracy

Spencer Tracy

Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...

, Bogart

Humphrey Bogart

Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....

and Bacall

Lauren Bacall

Lauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...

, Greta Garbo

Greta Garbo

Greta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...

, Bette Davis

Bette Davis

Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...

, James Stewart

James Stewart (actor)

James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...

, Cary Grant

Cary Grant

Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...

, John Wayne

John Wayne

Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...

, and hundreds of others graced the screen of the Gateway. The theatre had perhaps its wildest days in 1973 when 45,000 patrons packed the old place weekly for an extended run of The Exorcist
The Exorcist (film)
The Exorcist is a 1973 American horror film directed by William Friedkin, adapted from the 1971 novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty and based on the exorcism case of Robbie Mannheim, dealing with the demonic possession of a young girl and her mother’s desperate attempts to win back her...

.

In 1977, the search began for a permanent site to house the Polish Cultural Center in Chicago. In 1979, groundbreaking ceremonies took place at the old Gateway Theater Building located near Milwaukee

Milwaukee Avenue (Chicago)

Milwaukee Avenue is a major diagonal street in the city of Chicago and the northern suburbs. True to its name, it once led to the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Starting with a short section at N. Canal and W. Lake Streets, it begins in earnest at the corner of N Desplaines and W. Kinzie Streets...

and Lawrence avenues. Because the Gateway Theater historically was the first movie theater in Chicago built exclusively for the "talkies," the Foundation decided to preserve the theater itself while remodeling around it, dividing the original 40-foot entry lobby

Lobby (room)

A lobby is a room in a building which is used for entry from the outside. Sometimes referred to as a foyer or an entrance hall.Many office buildings, hotels and skyscrapers go to great lengths to decorate their lobbies to create the right impression....

and constructing three floors of office, meeting room and classroom space for the Cultural Center. This first stage was completed in 1981.

In 1985, the "Solidarity Tower," with its matching facade, was erected atop the building. The exterior of the building was modified to resemble the historic Royal Castle in Warsaw, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

. The tower is an exact replica of the clock tower adorning the castle—its spire seen by commuters driving along the Kennedy Expressway

Kennedy Expressway

The John F. Kennedy Expressway is a long highway that travels northwest from the Chicago Loop to O'Hare International Airport. The expressway is named for the 35th U.S. President, John F. Kennedy. The Interstate 90 portion of the Kennedy is a part of the much longer I-90...

. The money was raised through the generosity of individuals and corporations that recognized the significance to the community of this symbol of the struggle for freedom in an oppressed country. That year the Copernicus Foundation

Copernicus Foundation

The Copernicus Foundation is a 501 not for profit organization based in the Jefferson Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. It was founded by Poles in Chicago in 1971 in order to raise funds towards raising a monument for the famous astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus to be set in front of the Adler...

took over the administration of the Gateway theatre and opened its doors to the Polish American

Polish American

A Polish American , is a citizen of the United States of Polish descent. There are an estimated 10 million Polish Americans, representing about 3.2% of the population of the United States...

and other ethnic communities, as well as Jefferson Park

Jefferson Park, Chicago

civic organizations which it has been serving until the present day.

In 1988, the Lake Shore Symphony Orchestra became the official orchestra-in-residence. The orchestra practices weekly and hosts concerts three times a year.

The Present

With the demolition of the historic Milford Theatre

Milford Theatre (Chicago)

The Milford Theatre was a movie palace located in the Avondale neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Constructed in 1917, like the Portage Theater, it was designed by Henry L. Newhouse and opened for the Ascher Brothers circuit....

in Avondale

Avondale, Chicago

Avondale is one of 77 officially designated Chicago, Illinois community areas. It is located on the Northwest Side of Chicago. Its main borders are the North Branch of the Chicago River, Diversey Avenue, Addison Street, Pulaski Road and the Union Pacific/Northwest rail line; bisecting the community...

in 1994, the Gateway is now the chief venue for Polish Cinema in Chicago.

Since then, the theater has been cleaned, a thrust stage

Thrust stage

In theatre, a thrust stage is one that extends into the audience on three sides and is connected to the backstage area by its up stage end. A thrust has the benefit of greater intimacy between performers and the audience than a proscenium, while retaining the utility of a backstage area...

has been built, and the theater has been utilized for a wide variety of programs, not only Polish in nature, but also those of other ethnic groups which do not have their own facilities, e.g. East Indian

East Indies

East Indies is a term used by Europeans from the 16th century onwards to identify what is now known as Indian subcontinent or South Asia, Southeastern Asia, and the islands of Oceania, including the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines...

, Spanish

Spanish people

The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....

, Korean

Korean people

The Korean people are an ethnic group originating in the Korean peninsula and Manchuria. Koreans are one of the most ethnically and linguistically homogeneous groups in the world.-Names:...

, Philippine, etc., as well as the American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

community.

Films, musical concerts, plays, athletic competitions, seminars, dance recitals, children's plays, choir competitions, the annual Polish Film Festival of America, and Candidates' Nights are just some of the many programs presented in the theater.

As knowledge of the existence of the theater grew, so did its usage and programs. The theater is now in use an average of 48 weeks per year, with the heaviest usage during the weekends. The programs have become more sophisticated in nature and serve many more people. The theater seats 2,000.

Access

The Gateway Theatre is located one block west of the Lawrence Avenue exit of the Kennedy Expressway

Kennedy Expressway

. It is accessible via the Blue Line

Blue Line (Chicago Transit Authority)

The Blue Line consists of a long trunk line in the Chicago Transit Authority's rapid transit system which extends through Chicago's Loop from O'Hare International Airport at the far northwest end of the city, through downtown via the Milwaukee-Dearborn subway, and across the West Side to its...

's Jefferson Park station as well as the Jefferson Park

Jefferson Park, Chicago

stop on the Metra

Metra

Metra is the commuter rail division of the Illinois Regional Transportation Authority. The system serves Chicago and its metropolitan area through 240 stations on 11 different rail lines. Throughout the 21st century, Metra has been the second busiest commuter rail system in the United States by...

Union Pacific/Northwest commuter rail line.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

History

The Present

Access

See also

External links