Loop Theater
165 N. State Street,
Chicago,
IL
60601
165 N. State Street,
Chicago,
IL
60601
17 people
favorited this theater
Showing 76 - 85 of 85 comments
Not quite on topic, but the Walgreens is due to be shut: I believe that the one recently opened on Washington (the old Woolworth’s) was to replace that location. Gap signed most of the ground floor retail at MoMo.
The history of this 1939 “taxpayer” building is covered pretty extensively in “Here’s the Deal”—Arthur Rubloff at one point wanted to move the Greyhound terminal to this location.
My parents took me here in the late 60’s to see the god-awful “Equinox.” The audience was unlike what we were used to seeing in the neighborhood theaters at the time. We felt a little “unsafe.” I guess this was the turning point in the Loop’s decline in the 70’s. I saw a couple live shows at the “Loop” theater on Randolph in the past year. I was hoping to see the old theater but as stated above, the live theater was not a part of the old auditorium (even though the information in the lobby leads one to think that the live theater was the same space as the movie theater). When the building is demolished later this year to make way for the new condos, I’d love to see if any hints of the former movie theater are visible in the rubble.
Some 1953 views of the Loop and several other loop theatres are available at Real Chicago: Chicago in the Fifties. The Capitol building was actually rather attractive in its original design, before it was modernized.
While in Chicago last summer, I looked for the old Loop Theater site and found a State of Illinois Off-Track Betting facility, not a retail shop in its place. Correct me if I’m wrong. (I even went in and put down a few bets—and lost.)
Upon slightly closer examination, the marquees date this as a May 1963 photo. The movies booked seem to bespeak a great deal about each theater, indeed, excellent representations of each theater’s clientele. At the Chicago, Bye Bye Birdie is showing. At the State-Lake, the Ian… indicates that Dr. No is showing, and the Loop is showing Mondo Cane.
http://www.geocities.com/boc2400/thchicago1970.jpg An excellent shot of the State-Lake, Chicago, and Loop theatre marquees is visible in this 1970s Postcard
Here’s some a press release on the theaterical programs currently located in the LOOP THEATER –
THE CHICAGO DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS
ANNOUNCES EXTENSION OF 2004 SEASON AT THE LOOP THEATER
Programs Feature Mix of Chicago Premieres and Remounts May-Dec. 2004
The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs proudly announces the extension of programs at the Loop Theater, 8 E. Randolph St., from May â€" Dec. 2004. Originally scheduled for demolition in June 2004, the City now anticipates selling the land to a developer by Jan. 2005 and will continue programming until that time.
“Since we opened in August 2003, the Loop Theater has both provided performing space to nomadic theater companies and drawn diverse audiences,†says Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Lois Weisberg. “We’re excited to continue to make good use of this transitional space and strengthen our contribution to the vibrant theater district.â€
Featured performances for 2004 include: CIF Sketch as part of the Chicago Improv Festival, May 7-8; two performances presented by Hook and Mouth Productions, BASSPROV and the Chicago premiere of The Humperdink Family Reunion, May 13-22; Nomenil Theatre Company’s Love Pollution: A Tekno-popera, May 29 â€"
June 27; National Showcase of New Plays 2004, July 16 â€" 21, featuring the best new American plays from national theater companies; greasy joan & company’s production of Antigone, Sept. 10 â€" Oct. 10; 500 Clown Frankenstein, Oct. 15 â€" Nov. 13; and Hell In A Handbag Productions’ farcical holiday programs Rudolph the Red Hosed Reindeer, Dec. 2 â€" 31, and A Very Special Fa La La This Christmas, Dec. 10 – 18.
Tickets can be purchased by phone at 312-744-LOOP (5667), on-line at www.ticketweb.com, or in person at the Loop Theater box office, 8 E. Randolph St. Box office is open one hour before performance time. For more information, visit www.chicagoculturalcenter.org
The Loop Theater is an extension of the Studio and Storefront Theaters currently operated by the Department of Cultural Affairs on Randolph Street. The Loop Theater’s mission is to create an interim theater complex in downtown Chicago by maximizing city resources and utilizing unused space; provide space and marketing support to theater companies for free to encourage the growth of new creative talent; bring performances of cultural and artistic merit to downtown audiences; keep ticket prices low; and provide day and evening rehearsal space to various emerging theater companies at an inexpensive rate.
The loop theater has been operating as a live theater venue as of last fall as i saw a play there “Judgment at Nuremburg”. There is
information on the history of the theater in the small lobby.
The Loop was known as the “little giant” in the area where 8 other palaces were within one block. The Loop only sat around 600 people but was always a big hit because of the ingenuity of co-owner Oscar Brotman, who always had some sort of gimmick to promote his features at the Loop. When “Flipper” played in the 60’s Brotman set up a giant tank on State street that had a dolphin inside. For a grade z thriller called “Equinox” he had staff parading around in ape costumes. The Loop really came into its own in the late 60’s with a 60 week run of Russ Meyer’s “Vixen”. Because of the popularity of the theater the Loop was able to outbid other palaces for some of the bigger film product. The most notable example was the Loop getting the exclusive rights to play “Dirty Harry” as their Christmas film for 1971. In the 70’s the Loop had continued success with different types of movies. The two biggest successes of the 70’s were the X-rated “The Stewardesses” which ran 42 weeks and “The Sting” which ran 27 weeks. The theater must have run into tough times in the late 70’s as the Loop finally closed its doors with no fanfare in 1978. It’s final presentation was the Dustin Hoffman film “Straight Time”.
The Noble Fool comedy troupe was using this building for performances before moving into their new space in the old Heidelberg building (Block 36); I don’t know whether they used the theater space or not, though.
The city owned the site, but recently sold the site for about $11 million to Smithfield Properties, which will build a 32-story, retail/residential building on the site.
– pc