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Harris Theater (Chicago)
Encyclopedia
The Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance (also known as the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, the Harris & Harris Theater or, most commonly, the Harris Theater) 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. The theater, which is largely underground due to Grant Park
-related height restrictions, was named for its primary benefactors, Joan and Irving Harris
. It serves as the park's indoor performing venue, a complement to Jay Pritzker Pavilion
, which hosts the park's outdoor performances.
Constructed in 2002–03, it provides a venue for small- and medium-sized music and dance groups, which had previously been without a permanent home and were underserved by the city's performing venue options. Among the regularly featured local groups are Joffrey Ballet
, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
and Chicago Opera Theater
. It provides subsidized rental, technical expertise, and marketing support for the companies using it, and turned a profit in its fourth fiscal year.
The Harris Theater has hosted notable national and international performers, such as the New York City Ballet
's first visit to Chicago in over 25 years (in 2006). The theater began offering subscription series of traveling performers in its 2008–09 fifth anniversary season. Performances through this series have included the San Francisco Ballet
, Mikhail Baryshnikov
, and Stephen Sondheim
.
The theater has been credited as contributing to the performing arts renaissance in Chicago, and has been favorably reviewed for its acoustics
, sightline
s, proscenium
and for providing a home base for numerous performing organizations. Although it is seen as a high caliber venue for its music audiences, the theater is regarded as less than ideal for jazz groups because it is more expensive and larger than most places where jazz is performed. The design has been criticized for traffic flow problems, with an elevator bottleneck. However, the theater's prominent location and its underground design to preserve Millennium Park have been praised. Although there were complaints about high priced events in its early years, discounted ticket programs were introduced in the 2009–10 season.
File:Millennium Park Map labels.png|Image map
of Millennium Park. Each feature or label is wikilinked. |alt=Rectangular map of a park about 1.5 times as wide as it is tall. The top half is dominated by the Pritzker Pavilion and Great Lawn. The lower half is divided into three roughly equal sections: (left to right) Wrigley Square, McCormick Tribune Plaza, and Crown Fountain. North is to the left.|400px|thumb|left
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rect 60 486 216 546 Wrigley Square
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desc bottom-left
The Harris Theater was built to fill the need for a modern performance venue in downtown Chicago, which would be a new home for previously itinerant performing arts companies. Such troupes were never sure from year to year where they would be able to perform; for example, the Chicago Tribune
reported in 1993 that six dance companies lost their performance space during renovations at the Civic Opera House
. The need for a new theater was identified by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in a 1990 study; the new venue had to be flexible, affordable, and technically and physically "state-of-the-art". Once the need was identified, the theater was the culmination of "years of planning by Chicago's philanthropic, arts, business and government leaders" including groups like Music of the Baroque
, which now perform there regularly. The plan also extended Chicago's performing arts district, which had been predominately west of Michigan Avenue
, east towards Lake Michigan
, and linked it more with the Museum Campus and Michigan Avenue cultural institutions.
The Harris Theater is in Grant Park
, which lies between Lake Michigan to the east and the Loop to the west, and has been Chicago's front yard since the mid-19th century. Grant Park's northwest corner, north of Monroe Street and the Art Institute
, east of Michigan Avenue, south of Randolph Street, and west of Columbus Drive, had been Illinois Central
rail yards and parking lots until 1997, when it was made available for development by the city as Millennium Park
. As of 2007, Millennium Park trails only Navy Pier
as a Chicago tourist attraction.
In 1836, a year before Chicago was incorporated, the Board of Canal Commissioners held public auctions for the city's first lots. Foresighted citizens, who wanted the lakefront kept as public open space, convinced the commissioners to designate the land east of Michigan Avenue between Randolph Street and Park Row (11th Street) "Public Ground—A Common to Remain Forever Open, Clear and Free of Any Buildings, or Other Obstruction, whatever." Grant Park has been "forever open, clear and free" since, protected by legislation that has been affirmed by four previous Illinois Supreme Court rulings. In 1839, United States Secretary of War
Joel Roberts Poinsett
declared the land between Randolph Street and Madison Street east of Michigan Avenue "Public Ground forever to remain vacant of buildings".
Aaron Montgomery Ward
, who is known both as the inventor of mail order
and the protector of Grant Park, twice sued the city of Chicago to force it to remove buildings and structures from Grant Park and to keep it from building new ones. In 1890, arguing that Michigan Avenue property owners held easement
s on the park land, Ward commenced legal actions to keep the park free of new buildings. In 1900, the Illinois Supreme Court concluded that all landfill east of Michigan Avenue was subject to dedications and easements. In 1909, when he sought to prevent the construction of the Field Museum of Natural History
in the center of the park, the courts affirmed his arguments. As a result, the city has what are termed the Montgomery Ward height restrictions on buildings and structures in Grant Park; structures over 40 feet (12.2 m) tall are not allowed in the park, with the exception of bandshells. Therefore, the theater is mostly underground, while the adjacent Jay Pritzker Pavilion
was described as a work of art to dodge the height restriction.
The theater is named for its primary benefactors, Joan and Irving Harris
, who gave a gift of $15 million gift ($ million in current dollars) and a $24 million ($ million) construction loan to the Music and Dance Theater Chicago; this was believed to be largest single monetary commitment ever to a performing arts organization in Chicago. The Harrises had a long history of philanthropy benefitting the arts.
The Harris Theater was designed by Thomas Beeby of Hammond Beeby Rupert Ainge Architects; his previous work in Chicago includes the Harold Washington Library Center and the Art Institute of Chicago Building
's Rice Wing. Thornton Tomasetti was the structural engineer
. The building is located on ground leased from the City of Chicago, and cost $52.7 million ($ million in current dollars). Construction began on , 2002, and the theater opened for use on , 2003.
-winning architecture critic Blair Kamin
describes as "a multistory shaft of space that explodes downward from street level". The theater and adjacent Millennium Park Garage are located mostly underground, with a passage connecting them. Kamin also notes that the theater's underground design and the Millennium Park Garage entrance causes many theater goers to miss the spatial grandeur of the lobby, and has led to complaints about the time it takes to descend the many stairs to the theater. The theater has a rooftop terrace
that is available for private events.
The Harris Theater is located beneath and directly north of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park's outdoor performance venue. The theater and pavilion were built adjacent to each other at about the same time, with the benefit that they share a loading dock
, rehearsal rooms and other backstage facilities. The entire auditorium is in a cube 100 feet (30.5 m) on a side, so all the seats are relatively close to the stage. The seating capacity is 1525, with approximately 600 main floor seats, 500 raised orchestra level seats and 400 balcony
seats. The modern orchestra pit
, which can be closed, accommodates 45 musicians. The seats are maplewood; carpeting and walls have a muted color scheme—blacks, charcoals and grays. Kamin felt the modest palette is appropriate for a modest structure that attempts to complement the exuberant neighboring pavilion.
The proscenium is 30 feet (9.1 m) high and is flanked by 75 feet (22.9 m) steel reflector towers to help focus sound. The stage is both 45 feet (13.7 m) wide and deep, with 75 feet (22.9 m) of flyspace above. The offstage right distance is 26 feet (7.9 m), while offstage left is 27 in 10 in (8.48 m).
The theater's sightlines and acoustics provide "an unusually modern and stainless-steel bolstered environment" for experiencing performances according to the Centerstage City Guide.
The original design planned for most theater patrons to enter the theater from the underground parking garage, but the success of Millennium Park and neighboring businesses has caused most attendees to enter at street level. The design's limited elevator
service has caused bottlenecks for street level patrons. Additional elevators and escalator
s, which would require special dedicated funding, have been considered. The initial construction leaked and did not protect some non-public spaces from water exposure; this cost Chicago taxpayers $1 million for repairs in 2008.
, which sponsor touring artists. The theater provides subsidized rental, technical expertise, and marketing support, and underwrites over two-thirds of the daily usage costs for its non-profit users while providing marketing, box office, front of house
, and technical services at no extra charge. As of 2008, the theater was used on average 262 days a year for 112 different performances with audiences at about 65 percent of capacity.
, The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, Lyric Opera Center for American Artists, Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum
, Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago, Music of the Baroque, Old Town School of Folk Music
, and Performing Arts Chicago. After the 2003 opening, small dance companies aspired to perform in the state-of-the-art theater; one such troupe, Luna Negra Dance Theater
, achieved its goal and performed there in 2006 and 2007.
In 2010, Frommer's
noted that the major local dance troupes performing regularly at the theater included Columbia College Chicago, Hubbard Street, Joffrey, Muntu, and River North Dance Company. The 2009 edition of Fodor's
cited Music of the Baroque's seven performances at the Harris Theater each year. The theater has also hosted a few free Grant Park Music Festival
events. According to the 2005 Frommer's Irreverent Guide to Chicago, by providing a regular performing venue, the Harris Theater has also "raised the profile of local dance groups" in Chicago.
The attempt to facilitate modest-sized performance groups has been recognized by philanthropist
s; both the Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the New York-based Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
have provided grants to the theater. For example, in 2009 the MacArthur Foundation gave the theater $150,000 over three years "in support of a subsidized usage program for smaller arts organizations".
for five days of performances that marked the company's first visit to Chicago in over 25 years. This presentation grossed $2.3 million and enticed 600 new donors to support the theater, which netted $800,000 for operations and rental subsidies for its resident troupes. This contributed to the theater's first year of profitability in fiscal year 2007; it had net income
of $1.3 million on revenue
s of $8.2 million. In , Mikhail Baryshnikov made his first visit to Chicago as a performer in seven years, with two shows at the theater.
The theater began to present its own music series of touring groups in its fifth season (2008–09), which put it in competition with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
's "Symphony Center
Presents" series and Chicago's Auditorium Theatre. The "Harris Theater Presents" series was in addition to programs by its numerous resident performing arts groups. The theater's music series for the 2008–09 season included a five-concert classical music
series and a three-performance dance series by the San Francisco Ballet
and the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company
. The San Francisco Ballet is America's oldest professional ballet troupe, and was on a widely publicized four-city 75th anniversary celebration tour. Many of the performers for the Harris Theater's first subscription series were internationally acclaimed artists.
The lineup for the Harris Theater's 2009–10 second subscription season included Mikhail Baryshnikov, Lang Lang, Kathleen Battle
and Stephen Sondheim
. Harris theater has been involved in hosting the Chicago International Film Festival
. Prior to 2008, the Chicago Theatre
had hosted the annual opening-night film of the festival, but that year the festivities were moved to the Harris Theater.
The theater has hosted several successful jazz
performances, including Nicholas Payton
's comeback and the first indoor Chicago show by the Portuguese fado
singer Mariza
. In 2005, the theater hosted the 14th annual Jazz Dance World Congress, and the following year it hosted "Imagine Tap!", a show that featured an array of tap dance
styles.
, mundane concrete-framing, under-refined modest palette and blunt entrance. However, Kamin praises the spacious lobby and the theater's underground design as a concession to preserve the green lakefront.
Kamin also praises the design of the proscenium
and the venue's sightline
s and acoustics
, which also drew praise from Tribune journalist Howard Reich and Chicago Sun-Times
journalist Wynne Delacoma. Reich, who notes that the theater has a wonderful stage, describes the theater as a blessing for both audiences and arts organizations because its high profile confers "instant prominence and credibility to musicians and presenters". Reich feels it is a less than perfect jazz music venue because of its "cavernous" size and high rental cost ($4,750 in 2008, plus costs for stagehands). Nonetheless, Delacoma describes it as "an astonishingly beautiful place to listen to music. Its acoustics cradle sound like a velvet-lined jewel box."
Tribune journalist Chris Jones credits the theater's founding as part of Chicago's performing arts renaissance, and praises it as "the only major Chicago arts building with a long-term commitment to equal partnerships" with its performance groups. Another Tribune journalist, John von Rhein, describes the theater as a boon to the performing groups that it serves, and praises it for being state-of-the-art. He also notes that because of the theater's success it is able "to present an increasing number of risky, sometimes boundary-busting events the likes of which audiences will hear nowhere else in the area".
However, von Rhein notes that the theater's size poses a challenge to the performers attempting to fill its seats, and feels that it overemphasizes high-priced events. In 2009–10, the theater introduced a pair of discounted ticket programs: a $5 lunchtime series of 45-minute dance performances, and a discounted $10 ticket program was initiated for in-person, cash-only purchases in the last 90 minutes before performances.
The theater has been recognized with the 2002 American Architecture Award, and the 2005 American Institute of Architects
Chicago Institutional Design Excellence Award. In 2008, Joan Harris was recognized with a National Arts Award from Americans for the Arts
for her arts leadership and achievement, exemplified in part by funding the Harris Theater with her late husband.
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...
for the performing arts
Performing arts
The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...
located along the northern edge of Millennium Park
Millennium Park
Millennium Park is a public park located in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, USA and originally intended to celebrate the millennium. It is a prominent civic center near the city's Lake Michigan shoreline that covers a section of northwestern Grant Park. The area was previously...
on Randolph Street in 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...
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,...
, US. The theater, which is largely underground due to Grant Park
Grant Park (Chicago)
Grant Park, with between the downtown Chicago Loop and Lake Michigan, offers many different attractions in its large open space. The park is generally flat. It is also crossed by large boulevards and even a bed of sunken railroad tracks...
-related height restrictions, was named for its primary benefactors, Joan and Irving Harris
Irving Harris
Irving B. Harris was an American businessman and philanthropist. With his brother, he co-founded the Toni Home Permanent Company, which was sold to the Gillette Safety Razor Co...
. It serves as the park's indoor performing venue, a complement to Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Jay Pritzker Pavilion, also known as Pritzker Pavilion or Pritzker Music Pavilion, is a bandshell in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located on the south side of Randolph Street and east of the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan...
, which hosts the park's outdoor performances.
Constructed in 2002–03, it provides a venue for small- and medium-sized music and dance groups, which had previously been without a permanent home and were underserved by the city's performing venue options. Among the regularly featured local groups are Joffrey Ballet
Joffrey Ballet
The Joffrey Ballet is a dance company in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 1956. From 1995 to 2004, the company was known as The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. The company regularly performs classical ballets including Romeo & Juliet and The Nutcracker, while balancing those classics with pioneering modern...
, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago is an American dance company based in Chicago. HSDC performs in downtown Chicago and its metropolitan area and tours nationally and internationally throughout the year....
and Chicago Opera Theater
Chicago Opera Theater
The Chicago Opera Theater is an opera company that was founded as the Chicago Opera Studio in 1974 by Alan Stone to give vocal students performance experience, although it has grown into a professional opera company...
. It provides subsidized rental, technical expertise, and marketing support for the companies using it, and turned a profit in its fourth fiscal year.
The Harris Theater has hosted notable national and international performers, such as the New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Leon Barzin was the company's first music director. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company...
's first visit to Chicago in over 25 years (in 2006). The theater began offering subscription series of traveling performers in its 2008–09 fifth anniversary season. Performances through this series have included the San Francisco Ballet
San Francisco Ballet
The San Francisco Ballet is a ballet company, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, under the direction of Helgi Tomasson. SFB is the first professional ballet company in the United States...
, Mikhail Baryshnikov
Mikhail Baryshnikov
Mikhail Nikolaevich Baryshnikov is a Soviet and American dancer, choreographer, and actor, often cited alongside Vaslav Nijinsky and Rudolf Nureyev as one of the greatest ballet dancers of the 20th century. After a promising start in the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad, he defected to Canada in 1974...
, and Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
.
The theater has been credited as contributing to the performing arts renaissance in Chicago, and has been favorably reviewed for its 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...
, sightline
Sightline
A sightline, or sight line, is a normally unobstructed line-of-sight between an intended observer and a stage, arena, or monument, for example. Sightlines are a particularly important consideration in theatre and stadium design, road junction layout and urban planning...
s, 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...
and for providing a home base for numerous performing organizations. Although it is seen as a high caliber venue for its music audiences, the theater is regarded as less than ideal for jazz groups because it is more expensive and larger than most places where jazz is performed. The design has been criticized for traffic flow problems, with an elevator bottleneck. However, the theater's prominent location and its underground design to preserve Millennium Park have been praised. Although there were complaints about high priced events in its early years, discounted ticket programs were introduced in the 2009–10 season.
Background and construction
Image map
In HTML and XHTML , an image map is a list of coordinates relating to a specific image, created in order to hyperlink areas of the image to various destinations . For example, a map of the world may have each country hyperlinked to further information about that country...
of Millennium Park. Each feature or label is wikilinked.
rect 51 18 145 80 McDonald's Cycle Center
McDonald's Cycle Center
McDonald's Cycle Center is an indoor bike station in the northeast corner of Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago, in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city of Chicago built the center at the intersection of East Randolph Street and Columbus Drive, and opened it July 2004...
rect 338 2 496 94BP Pedestrian Bridge
BP Pedestrian Bridge
The BP Pedestrian Bridge, or simply BP Bridge, is a girder footbridge in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It spans Columbus Drive to connect Daley Bicentennial Plaza with Millennium Park, both parts of the larger Grant Park. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect...
rect 497 62 536 101BP Pedestrian Bridge
BP Pedestrian Bridge
The BP Pedestrian Bridge, or simply BP Bridge, is a girder footbridge in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It spans Columbus Drive to connect Daley Bicentennial Plaza with Millennium Park, both parts of the larger Grant Park. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect...
rect 497 6 631 34 Columbus Drive
Columbus Drive (Chicago)
Columbus Drive is a north-south street in Chicago, Illinois which bisects Grant Park. It is 254 E in Chicago's street numbering system. Its south end is an interchange with Lake Shore Drive at Soldier Field...
rect 10 88 154 104 Exelon Pavilion NE
Exelon Pavilions
The Exelon Pavilions are four buildings that generate electricity from solar energy and provide access to underground parking in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States...
rect 47 108 79 131 Exelon Pavilion NE
Exelon Pavilions
The Exelon Pavilions are four buildings that generate electricity from solar energy and provide access to underground parking in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States...
rect 619 95 754 112 Exelon Pavilion SE
Exelon Pavilions
The Exelon Pavilions are four buildings that generate electricity from solar energy and provide access to underground parking in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States...
rect 728 113 759 135 Exelon Pavilion SE
Exelon Pavilions
The Exelon Pavilions are four buildings that generate electricity from solar energy and provide access to underground parking in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States...
rect 10 246 166 263 Exelon Pavilion NW
Exelon Pavilions
The Exelon Pavilions are four buildings that generate electricity from solar energy and provide access to underground parking in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States...
rect 47 265 78 288 Exelon Pavilion NW
Exelon Pavilions
The Exelon Pavilions are four buildings that generate electricity from solar energy and provide access to underground parking in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States...
rect 613 243 762 258 Exelon Pavilion SW
Exelon Pavilions
The Exelon Pavilions are four buildings that generate electricity from solar energy and provide access to underground parking in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States...
rect 736 260 757 275 Exelon Pavilion SW
Exelon Pavilions
The Exelon Pavilions are four buildings that generate electricity from solar energy and provide access to underground parking in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States...
rect 44 149 174 229 Harris Theater
rect 175 103 572 288 Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Jay Pritzker Pavilion, also known as Pritzker Pavilion or Pritzker Music Pavilion, is a bandshell in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located on the south side of Randolph Street and east of the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan...
rect 573 134 757 238 Lurie Garden
Lurie Garden
Lurie Garden is a garden located at the southern end of Millennium Park in the Loop area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Designed by Kathryn Gustafson, Piet Oudolf, and Robert Israel, it opened on July 16, 2004. The garden is a combination of perennials, bulbs, grasses,...
rect 572 311 718 329 Nichols Bridgeway
Nichols Bridgeway
The Nichols Bridgeway is a pedestrian bridge located in Chicago, Illinois. The bridge begins at the Great Lawn of Millennium Park, crosses over Monroe Street and connects to the third floor of the West Pavilion of the Modern Wing, the Art Institute of Chicago's newest wing...
rect 516 298 777 306 Nichols Bridgeway
Nichols Bridgeway
The Nichols Bridgeway is a pedestrian bridge located in Chicago, Illinois. The bridge begins at the Great Lawn of Millennium Park, crosses over Monroe Street and connects to the third floor of the West Pavilion of the Modern Wing, the Art Institute of Chicago's newest wing...
rect 58 350 207 396 Chase Promenade North
Chase Promenade
Chase Promenade is an open-air, tree-lined pedestrian walkway that opened July 16, 2004. It is part of Millennium Park, which is located in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. The Promenade was made possible by a gift from the Bank One Foundation...
rect 291 350 453 396 Chase Promenade Central
Chase Promenade
Chase Promenade is an open-air, tree-lined pedestrian walkway that opened July 16, 2004. It is part of Millennium Park, which is located in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. The Promenade was made possible by a gift from the Bank One Foundation...
rect 537 350 687 396 Chase Promenade South
Chase Promenade
Chase Promenade is an open-air, tree-lined pedestrian walkway that opened July 16, 2004. It is part of Millennium Park, which is located in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. The Promenade was made possible by a gift from the Bank One Foundation...
rect 313 397 431 424 AT&T Plaza
AT&T Plaza
AT&T Plaza is a public space that hosts the Cloud Gate sculpture. It is located in Millennium Park, which is a park built to celebrate the third millennium and which is located within the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois in the United States...
rect 37 434 227 473 Boeing Gallery North
Boeing Galleries
- Past exhibitions :2005The first exhibition in the renamed Galleries was Revealing Chicago: An Aerial Portrait, which was displayed on the Central Chase Promenade and South Boeing Gallery, appeared from June 10–October 10, 2005...
rect 516 433 757 469 Boeing Gallery South
Boeing Galleries
- Past exhibitions :2005The first exhibition in the renamed Galleries was Revealing Chicago: An Aerial Portrait, which was displayed on the Central Chase Promenade and South Boeing Gallery, appeared from June 10–October 10, 2005...
rect 337 426 416 470 Cloud Gate
Cloud Gate
Cloud Gate, a public sculpture by Indian-born British artist Anish Kapoor, is the centerpiece of the AT&T Plaza in Millennium Park within the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The sculpture and AT&T Plaza are located on top of Park Grill, between the Chase Promenade and...
rect 60 486 216 546 Wrigley Square
Wrigley Square
Wrigley Square is a public square located in the northwest section of Millennium Park in the Historic Michigan Boulevard District of the Loop area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, USA. The square is located at the southeast corner of the intersection of East Randolph Street and North Michigan...
rect 287 477 457 543 McCormick Tribune Plaza & Ice Rink
McCormick Tribune Plaza & Ice Rink
McCormick Tribune Plaza & Ice Rink or McCormick Tribune Plaza is a multi-purpose venue within Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, USA. On December 20, 2001, it became the first attraction in Millennium Park to open. The $3.2 million plaza was funded by a donation from...
rect 557 488 727 543 Crown Fountain
Crown Fountain
Crown Fountain is an interactive work of public art and video sculpture featured in Chicago's Millennium Park, which is located in the Loop community area. Designed by Catalan artist Jaume Plensa and executed by Krueck and Sexton Architects, it opened in July 2004. The fountain is composed of a...
rect 308 567 439 583 Michigan Avenue
Michigan Avenue (Chicago)
Michigan Avenue is a major north-south street in Chicago which runs at 100 east south of the Chicago River and at 132 East north of the river from 12628 south to 950 north in the Chicago street address system...
rect 1 316 23 442 Randolph Street
Randolph Street (Chicago)
Randolph Street is a street in Chicago. It runs east-west through the Chicago Loop, carrying westbound traffic west from Michigan Avenue across the Chicago River on the Randolph Street Bridge, interchanging with the Kennedy Expressway , and continuing west. It serves as the northern boundary of...
desc bottom-left
The Harris Theater was built to fill the need for a modern performance venue in downtown Chicago, which would be a new home for previously itinerant performing arts companies. Such troupes were never sure from year to year where they would be able to perform; for example, 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...
reported in 1993 that six dance companies lost their performance space during renovations at the Civic Opera House
Civic Opera House (Chicago)
The Civic Opera House is an opera house located at 20 North Wacker Drive in Chicago. It is part of a building which contains a 45-story office tower and two 22-story wings. This structure opened on November 4, 1929 and has an Art Deco interior....
. The need for a new theater was identified by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in a 1990 study; the new venue had to be flexible, affordable, and technically and physically "state-of-the-art". Once the need was identified, the theater was the culmination of "years of planning by Chicago's philanthropic, arts, business and government leaders" including groups like Music of the Baroque
Music of the Baroque
Music of the Baroque is a professional chorus and orchestra based in Chicago that specializes in the performance of eighteenth-century works.-History:...
, which now perform there regularly. The plan also extended Chicago's performing arts district, which had been predominately west of Michigan Avenue
Michigan Avenue (Chicago)
Michigan Avenue is a major north-south street in Chicago which runs at 100 east south of the Chicago River and at 132 East north of the river from 12628 south to 950 north in the Chicago street address system...
, east towards Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
, and linked it more with the Museum Campus and Michigan Avenue cultural institutions.
The Harris Theater is in Grant Park
Grant Park (Chicago)
Grant Park, with between the downtown Chicago Loop and Lake Michigan, offers many different attractions in its large open space. The park is generally flat. It is also crossed by large boulevards and even a bed of sunken railroad tracks...
, which lies between Lake Michigan to the east and the Loop to the west, and has been Chicago's front yard since the mid-19th century. Grant Park's northwest corner, north of Monroe Street and the Art Institute
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
, east of Michigan Avenue, south of Randolph Street, and west of Columbus Drive, had been Illinois Central
Illinois Central Railroad
The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois with New Orleans, Louisiana and Birmingham, Alabama. A line also connected Chicago with Sioux City, Iowa...
rail yards and parking lots until 1997, when it was made available for development by the city as Millennium Park
Millennium Park
Millennium Park is a public park located in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, USA and originally intended to celebrate the millennium. It is a prominent civic center near the city's Lake Michigan shoreline that covers a section of northwestern Grant Park. The area was previously...
. As of 2007, Millennium Park trails only Navy Pier
Navy Pier
Navy Pier is a long pier on the Chicago shoreline of Lake Michigan. It is located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side community area. The pier was built in 1916 at a cost of $4.5 million, equivalent to $ today. It was a part of the Plan of Chicago developed by architect and...
as a Chicago tourist attraction.
In 1836, a year before Chicago was incorporated, the Board of Canal Commissioners held public auctions for the city's first lots. Foresighted citizens, who wanted the lakefront kept as public open space, convinced the commissioners to designate the land east of Michigan Avenue between Randolph Street and Park Row (11th Street) "Public Ground—A Common to Remain Forever Open, Clear and Free of Any Buildings, or Other Obstruction, whatever." Grant Park has been "forever open, clear and free" since, protected by legislation that has been affirmed by four previous Illinois Supreme Court rulings. In 1839, United States Secretary of War
United States Secretary of War
The Secretary of War was a member of the United States President's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War," was appointed to serve the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation...
Joel Roberts Poinsett
Joel Roberts Poinsett
Joel Roberts Poinsett was a physician, botanist and American statesman. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives, the first United States Minister to Mexico , a U.S...
declared the land between Randolph Street and Madison Street east of Michigan Avenue "Public Ground forever to remain vacant of buildings".
Aaron Montgomery Ward
Aaron Montgomery Ward
Aaron Montgomery Ward was an American businessman notable for the invention of mail order.The mail-order industry was started by Aaron Montgomery Ward in 1872 in Chicago...
, who is known both as the inventor of mail order
Mail order
Mail order is a term which describes the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote method such as through a telephone call or web site. Then, the products are delivered to the customer...
and the protector of Grant Park, twice sued the city of Chicago to force it to remove buildings and structures from Grant Park and to keep it from building new ones. In 1890, arguing that Michigan Avenue property owners held easement
Easement
An easement is a certain right to use the real property of another without possessing it.Easements are helpful for providing pathways across two or more pieces of property or allowing an individual to fish in a privately owned pond...
s on the park land, Ward commenced legal actions to keep the park free of new buildings. In 1900, the Illinois Supreme Court concluded that all landfill east of Michigan Avenue was subject to dedications and easements. In 1909, when he sought to prevent the construction of the Field Museum of Natural History
Field Museum of Natural History
The Field Museum of Natural History is located in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It sits on Lake Shore Drive next to Lake Michigan, part of a scenic complex known as the Museum Campus Chicago...
in the center of the park, the courts affirmed his arguments. As a result, the city has what are termed the Montgomery Ward height restrictions on buildings and structures in Grant Park; structures over 40 feet (12.2 m) tall are not allowed in the park, with the exception of bandshells. Therefore, the theater is mostly underground, while the adjacent Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Jay Pritzker Pavilion, also known as Pritzker Pavilion or Pritzker Music Pavilion, is a bandshell in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located on the south side of Randolph Street and east of the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan...
was described as a work of art to dodge the height restriction.
Irving Harris
Irving B. Harris was an American businessman and philanthropist. With his brother, he co-founded the Toni Home Permanent Company, which was sold to the Gillette Safety Razor Co...
, who gave a gift of $15 million gift ($ million in current dollars) and a $24 million ($ million) construction loan to the Music and Dance Theater Chicago; this was believed to be largest single monetary commitment ever to a performing arts organization in Chicago. The Harrises had a long history of philanthropy benefitting the arts.
The Harris Theater was designed by Thomas Beeby of Hammond Beeby Rupert Ainge Architects; his previous work in Chicago includes the Harold Washington Library Center and the Art Institute of Chicago Building
Art Institute of Chicago Building
The Art Institute of Chicago Building houses the Art Institute of Chicago, and is located in the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan Boulevard District in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. The building is also located in Grant Park on the east side of Michigan Avenue, and marks the third...
's Rice Wing. Thornton Tomasetti was the structural engineer
Structural engineer
Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research structural components and structural systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants...
. The building is located on ground leased from the City of Chicago, and cost $52.7 million ($ million in current dollars). Construction began on , 2002, and the theater opened for use on , 2003.
Architecture
The above-ground entrance to the Harris Theater is a glass-walled lobby at 205 E. Randolph Street, which spans several metallic and neon floors in what the Chicago Tribunes Pulitzer PrizePulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning architecture critic Blair Kamin
Blair Kamin
Blair Kamin is the Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic of the Chicago Tribune, a post he has held since 1992. Kamin has held other jobs at the Tribune and previously worked for The Des Moines Register. He also serves as a contributing editor of Architectural Record...
describes as "a multistory shaft of space that explodes downward from street level". The theater and adjacent Millennium Park Garage are located mostly underground, with a passage connecting them. Kamin also notes that the theater's underground design and the Millennium Park Garage entrance causes many theater goers to miss the spatial grandeur of the lobby, and has led to complaints about the time it takes to descend the many stairs to the theater. The theater has a rooftop terrace
Terrace (building)
A terrace is an outdoor, occupiable extension of a building above ground level. Although its physical characteristics may vary to a great degree, a terrace will generally be larger than a balcony and will have an "open-top" facing the sky...
that is available for private events.
The Harris Theater is located beneath and directly north of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park's outdoor performance venue. The theater and pavilion were built adjacent to each other at about the same time, with the benefit that they share a loading dock
Loading dock
A loading dock is a recessed bay in a building or facility where trucks are loaded and unloaded. They are commonly found on commercial and industrial buildings, and warehouses in particular....
, rehearsal rooms and other backstage facilities. The entire auditorium is in a cube 100 feet (30.5 m) on a side, so all the seats are relatively close to the stage. The seating capacity is 1525, with approximately 600 main floor seats, 500 raised orchestra level seats and 400 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...
seats. The modern 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...
, which can be closed, accommodates 45 musicians. The seats are maplewood; carpeting and walls have a muted color scheme—blacks, charcoals and grays. Kamin felt the modest palette is appropriate for a modest structure that attempts to complement the exuberant neighboring pavilion.
The theater's sightlines and acoustics provide "an unusually modern and stainless-steel bolstered environment" for experiencing performances according to the Centerstage City Guide.
The original design planned for most theater patrons to enter the theater from the underground parking garage, but the success of Millennium Park and neighboring businesses has caused most attendees to enter at street level. The design's limited elevator
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
service has caused bottlenecks for street level patrons. Additional elevators and escalator
Escalator
An escalator is a moving staircase – a conveyor transport device for carrying people between floors of a building. The device consists of a motor-driven chain of individual, linked steps that move up or down on tracks, allowing the step treads to remain horizontal.Escalators are used around the...
s, which would require special dedicated funding, have been considered. The initial construction leaked and did not protect some non-public spaces from water exposure; this cost Chicago taxpayers $1 million for repairs in 2008.
Performers and events
The Harris Theater is a privately owned institution serving mostly local mid-size non-profit arts companies and projects, including those, like Old Town School of Folk MusicOld Town School of Folk Music
The Old Town School of Folk Music is a Chicago teaching and performing institution that launched the careers of many notable folk music artists...
, which sponsor touring artists. The theater provides subsidized rental, technical expertise, and marketing support, and underwrites over two-thirds of the daily usage costs for its non-profit users while providing marketing, box office, front of house
Front of House
Front of house is primarily a theatrical term, referring to the portion of the building that is open to the public. In theatre and live music venues, it typically refers to the auditorium and foyer, as opposed to the stage and backstage areas...
, and technical services at no extra charge. As of 2008, the theater was used on average 262 days a year for 112 different performances with audiences at about 65 percent of capacity.
Local performers
When the Harris Theater opened, it served as the home venue for a dozen founding music and dance groups: Ballet Chicago, Chicago Opera Theater, Chicago SinfoniettaChicago Sinfonietta
The Chicago Sinfonietta is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. The stated mission of the orchestra is to "serve as a national model for inclusiveness and innovation in classical music" and to "help America become a true cultural democracy, in which everyone can share fully in its...
, The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, Lyric Opera Center for American Artists, Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum
Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum
The National Museum of Mexican Art is a museum which features Mexican, Latino, and Chicano art and culture. The museum was founded in 1982 by Carlos Tortolero. Located in the neighborhood of Pilsen in Chicago, Illinois, the current building in Harrison Park opened on March 27, 1987...
, Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago, Music of the Baroque, Old Town School of Folk Music
Old Town School of Folk Music
The Old Town School of Folk Music is a Chicago teaching and performing institution that launched the careers of many notable folk music artists...
, and Performing Arts Chicago. After the 2003 opening, small dance companies aspired to perform in the state-of-the-art theater; one such troupe, Luna Negra Dance Theater
Luna Negra Dance Theater
Luna Negra Dance Theater is a dance ensemble that integrates traditional Latin dances, rich musical heritage, folkloric traditions of Latino cultures as well as contemporary movements without using traditional folkloric dress nor dancing strictly traditional dance styles such as Flamenco, Tango or...
, achieved its goal and performed there in 2006 and 2007.
In 2010, Frommer's
Frommer's
Frommer's is a travel guidebook series and one of the bestselling travel guides in America. The series began in 1957 with the publication of Arthur Frommer's book, Europe on $5 a Day. Frommer's has expanded to include over 350 guidebooks across 14 series, as well as other media including the award...
noted that the major local dance troupes performing regularly at the theater included Columbia College Chicago, Hubbard Street, Joffrey, Muntu, and River North Dance Company. The 2009 edition of Fodor's
Fodor's
Fodor's is the world's largest publisher of English language travel and tourism information, and the first relatively professional producer of travel guidebooks...
cited Music of the Baroque's seven performances at the Harris Theater each year. The theater has also hosted a few free Grant Park Music Festival
Grant Park Music Festival
Grant Park Music Festival is an annual ten-week classical music concert series held in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It features the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra and Grant Park Chorus along with featured guest performers and conductors. The Festival has earned non-profit organization status...
events. According to the 2005 Frommer's Irreverent Guide to Chicago, by providing a regular performing venue, the Harris Theater has also "raised the profile of local dance groups" in Chicago.
The attempt to facilitate modest-sized performance groups has been recognized by philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
s; both the Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the New York-based Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation of New York City and Princeton, New Jersey in the United States, is a private foundation with five core areas of interest, endowed with wealth accumulated by the late Andrew W. Mellon of the Mellon family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the product of the 1969...
have provided grants to the theater. For example, in 2009 the MacArthur Foundation gave the theater $150,000 over three years "in support of a subsidized usage program for smaller arts organizations".
Visiting performers
In the fall of the 2006–07 season, the Harris Theater hosted the New York City BalletNew York City Ballet
New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Leon Barzin was the company's first music director. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company...
for five days of performances that marked the company's first visit to Chicago in over 25 years. This presentation grossed $2.3 million and enticed 600 new donors to support the theater, which netted $800,000 for operations and rental subsidies for its resident troupes. This contributed to the theater's first year of profitability in fiscal year 2007; it had net income
Net income
Net income is the residual income of a firm after adding total revenue and gains and subtracting all expenses and losses for the reporting period. Net income can be distributed among holders of common stock as a dividend or held by the firm as an addition to retained earnings...
of $1.3 million on revenue
Revenue
In business, revenue is income that a company receives from its normal business activities, usually from the sale of goods and services to customers. In many countries, such as the United Kingdom, revenue is referred to as turnover....
s of $8.2 million. In , Mikhail Baryshnikov made his first visit to Chicago as a performer in seven years, with two shows at the theater.
The theater began to present its own music series of touring groups in its fifth season (2008–09), which put it in competition with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
's "Symphony Center
Symphony Center
Symphony Center is a music complex located at 220 South Michigan Avenue in the Loop area of Chicago, Illinois. Home to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Sinfonietta, Symphony Center includes the 2,522-seat Orchestra Hall, which dates from 1904; Buntrock Hall, a rehearsal and...
Presents" series and Chicago's Auditorium Theatre. The "Harris Theater Presents" series was in addition to programs by its numerous resident performing arts groups. The theater's music series for the 2008–09 season included a five-concert classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
series and a three-performance dance series by the San Francisco Ballet
San Francisco Ballet
The San Francisco Ballet is a ballet company, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, under the direction of Helgi Tomasson. SFB is the first professional ballet company in the United States...
and the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company
Lar Lubovitch Dance Company
Lar Lubovitch Dance Company is a dance company based in New York City and founded by Lar Lubovitch in the late 1960s. They have performed at Carnegie Hall, and worldwide....
. The San Francisco Ballet is America's oldest professional ballet troupe, and was on a widely publicized four-city 75th anniversary celebration tour. Many of the performers for the Harris Theater's first subscription series were internationally acclaimed artists.
Kathleen Battle
Kathleen Battle , is an African-American operatic soprano known for her agile and light voice and her silvery, pure tone. Battle initially became known for her work within the concert repertoire through performances with major orchestras during the early and mid 1970s. She made her opera debut in...
and Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
. Harris theater has been involved in hosting 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....
. Prior to 2008, the Chicago Theatre
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...
had hosted the annual opening-night film of the festival, but that year the festivities were moved to the Harris Theater.
The theater has hosted several successful jazz
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...
performances, including Nicholas Payton
Nicholas Payton
Nicholas Payton is a jazz trumpet player from New Orleans, Louisiana.-Biography:The son of bassist and sousaphonist Walter Payton, he took up the trumpet at the age of four and by the time he was nine he was playing in the Young Tuxedo Brass Band alongside his father...
's comeback and the first indoor Chicago show by the Portuguese fado
Fado
Fado is a music genre which can be traced to the 1820s in Portugal, but probably with much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar, Rui Vieira Nery, states that "the only reliable information on the history of Fado was orally transmitted and goes back to the 1820s and 1830s at best...
singer Mariza
Mariza
Mariza is the stage name of a popular fado singer. She was born Marisa dos Reis Nunes on 16 December 1973 in Lourenço Marques, Mozambique. At the time, Mozambique was known as the Portuguese Overseas Province of Mozambique....
. In 2005, the theater hosted the 14th annual Jazz Dance World Congress, and the following year it hosted "Imagine Tap!", a show that featured an array of tap dance
Tap dance
Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sound of one's tap shoes hitting the floor as a percussive instrument. As such, it is also commonly considered to be a form of music. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses more on the...
styles.
Reception
The Harris Theater has been the subject of numerous reviews, which are probably best summed up by the Chicago Tribunes architecture critic Blair Kamin, who describes it as a "solid, though not unqualified, success", while giving it a two star rating (out of a possible four). Among the foibles that he notes were the off-putting industrial aestheticsAesthetics
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...
, mundane concrete-framing, under-refined modest palette and blunt entrance. However, Kamin praises the spacious lobby and the theater's underground design as a concession to preserve the green lakefront.
Kamin also praises the design 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...
and the venue's sightline
Sightline
A sightline, or sight line, is a normally unobstructed line-of-sight between an intended observer and a stage, arena, or monument, for example. Sightlines are a particularly important consideration in theatre and stadium design, road junction layout and urban planning...
s and 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...
, which also drew praise from Tribune journalist Howard Reich and Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
journalist Wynne Delacoma. Reich, who notes that the theater has a wonderful stage, describes the theater as a blessing for both audiences and arts organizations because its high profile confers "instant prominence and credibility to musicians and presenters". Reich feels it is a less than perfect jazz music venue because of its "cavernous" size and high rental cost ($4,750 in 2008, plus costs for stagehands). Nonetheless, Delacoma describes it as "an astonishingly beautiful place to listen to music. Its acoustics cradle sound like a velvet-lined jewel box."
Tribune journalist Chris Jones credits the theater's founding as part of Chicago's performing arts renaissance, and praises it as "the only major Chicago arts building with a long-term commitment to equal partnerships" with its performance groups. Another Tribune journalist, John von Rhein, describes the theater as a boon to the performing groups that it serves, and praises it for being state-of-the-art. He also notes that because of the theater's success it is able "to present an increasing number of risky, sometimes boundary-busting events the likes of which audiences will hear nowhere else in the area".
However, von Rhein notes that the theater's size poses a challenge to the performers attempting to fill its seats, and feels that it overemphasizes high-priced events. In 2009–10, the theater introduced a pair of discounted ticket programs: a $5 lunchtime series of 45-minute dance performances, and a discounted $10 ticket program was initiated for in-person, cash-only purchases in the last 90 minutes before performances.
The theater has been recognized with the 2002 American Architecture Award, and the 2005 American Institute of Architects
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...
Chicago Institutional Design Excellence Award. In 2008, Joan Harris was recognized with a National Arts Award from Americans for the Arts
Americans for the Arts
Americans for the Arts is a nonprofit organization whose primary focus is advancing the arts in the United States. With offices in Washington, D.C. and New York City, it has a record of more than 50 years of service...
for her arts leadership and achievement, exemplified in part by funding the Harris Theater with her late husband.
External links
- Millennium Park map
- Official website of the Harris Theater in Chicago
- archive at Chicago TribuneChicago TribuneThe 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...
- archive at Chicago Reader