The Chicago Theatre
History
The grandeur of The Chicago Theatre often leaves its visitors breathless. The
elegant lobby, majestic staircase and beautiful auditorium, complete with murals
above the stage and on the ceiling, are components of an amazing building called
“the Wonder Theatre of the World” when it opened on October 26, 1921.
The Chicago Theatre was the first large, lavish movie palace in America and was
the prototype for all others. This beautiful movie palace was constructed for $4
million by theatre owners Barney and Abe Balaban and Sam and Morris Katz and
designed by Cornelius and George Rapp. It was the flagship of the Balaban and
Katz theatre chain.
Built in French Baroque style, The Chicago Theatre’s exterior features a
miniature replica of Paris’ Arc de Triomphe, sculpted above its State Street
marquee. Faced in a glazed, off-white terra cotta, the triumphal arch is sixty
feet wide and six stories high. Within the arch is a grand window in which is
set a large circular stained-glass panel bearing the coat-of-arms of the Balaban
and Katz chain – two horses holding ribbons of 35-mm film in their mouths.
The grand lobby, modeled after the Royal Chapel at Versailles, is five stories
high and surrounded by gallery promenades at the mezzanine and balcony levels.
The grand staircase is patterned after that of the Paris Opera House and ascends
to the various levels of the Great Balcony.
The 3,600 seat auditorium is seven stories high, more than one half of a city
block wide, and nearly as long. The vertical sign "C-H-I-C-A-G-O," at nearly six
stories high, is one of the few such signs in existence today. A symbol of State
Street and Chicago, the sign and marquee are landmarks in themselves, as is the
29-rank Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ.
Balaban and Katz spared no expense on the workmanship and materials for this
miniature Versailles. Marshall Field's supplied the drapes, furniture and
interior decoration. Victor Pearlman and Co. designed and built the crystal
chandeliers and lavish bronze light fixtures with Steuben glass shades. The
McNulty Brothers' master craftsmen produced the splendid plaster details and
Northwestern Terra Cotta Company provided the tiles for the facade.
