Regal Theater

I hope the Regal opens back up soon! i am going to try to save it soon!!! if your interested please e-mail me at sirezebooker@yahoo.com

Recent new about the New Regal in the Daily Southtown:
http://www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/yrtwn/south/061syt2.htm

I was born and lived 1 block from the Avalon theater. I saw Moby Dick there when I was four years old and remember sitting in the front row. This was a marvelous place to see. The gold and jeweled deco was amazing and still stands out in my mind. What I had forgotten until I found this site was the amazing lobby and ceiling. I hope that this theater is saved and can attain landmark status.

Cdundas

I had the pleasure of seeing the inside of the Avalon when it was The Miracle Temple Church. I would guess it was in around 1980, and on a Palm Sunday. The then church was nearly full and although my wife and I were the the only non blacks in attendance, the congregation made us feel extremely welcome. I revisited the theatre on May 23, 2004, only to find it completly boarded up and displaying a for sale sign. Anyone interested? The phone number is 773 721-9640.

I first loooked under the name Avalon--there are many theatres nationwide with this name, but none listed for Chicago. Could not someone cross-reference the Avalon with the Regal?

Unique among Eberson's early atmospherics was the Middle Eastern scheme used in the Avalon Theatre. Bulbous towers somewhat incongruous on Chicago's south side. They dominate the mosque like esterior. The lobby originally contained a mirrored aquarium wuth more than a 1,000 tropical fish.
Eberson's description of the auditorium characterizes its excesses. Richly grilled and toridly embelished palaqce on the left, with the tall walls of Persian rose garden on the right. There was a sacred pilgrim's fountain in the left side niche and a heavily barred and shuttered entrancer to the sacred city courtyard on the right side of the main stage. The women's lounge was designed as a harem parlor and the men's as a caliph's den. The ushers wore French foreign Legions uniforms with plummed hats and white gloves. Eberson's fancy creations were still a welcome alternative to the formal elegance of the traditional palaces. In Eberson's words the atmospherics were designed as places were, "our fancy is free to conjure endless tales of romance."
I have some beautiful color pictures of the Avalon as the Avalon when the Add a Photo is put back online I will submit them.

A 1927 view of the Avalon's auditorium can be seen here.

I have a great idea for the New Regal Theater. An idea that will generate enough revenue to keep the theater running as well as keep Africans Americans employed and their dreams alive. Anyone interested in trying to save the Historical Landmark?

Please contact me!

SDGRANT911@aol.com

Does anyone know who onws the theatre now?

The number which I listed above is still valid. The recording states, "If you're interested in purchasing the theatre, please leave you're name & number.

I last saw the Avalon Theater in the autumn of 1965. I had been just released from active duty in the Pacific, and on returning home found that the neighborhood was changing rapidly. My folks told me there was talk that the theater would be closing soon, so I made a point of going there as soon as possible.

I have no memory of the movie playing then, I really didn't go for the movie. I went to see, for the last time, the beautiful decorations and mosaics that adorned the theater. The balconies were officialy closed, but I climbed over the ropes and made my way up the grand staircase examining all the mosaics and other decoration as I went. It wasn't long before some security guard came looking for me (there were no ushers anymore). I explained what I was doing and why, and they said OK.

I then explored each of the grottoes on each side of the auditorium and marveled for one last time at the artistry of the fountain. Then a trip doen to the basement to view what was left of the decorations in the bathrooms, and I was done. The Avalon did close soon after that, and I married and moved to the west side (Austin). I never saw the interior of the Avalon again.

oldeastsider

Bryan: Your 1927 interior link to the former Avalon weren't available to view.

The exterior photo is really quite beautiful and the Middle Eastern style reminds me of the Fox in Atlanta. After reading the posts here someone in the Chicago area should contact Stephanie Grant who posted LAST October and review her idea!

Not only is this theatre Moorish in style like the Fox in Atlanta, it is an Eberson atmospheric movie palace!!

Here's a fairly recent exterior view of the New Regal/Avalon Theater.

Here is a photo of Mayor Washington presenting a grant to restore the theater in 1987

It is a strange time for preservation: who would've thought that saved movie palaces might need to be saved again?

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/211/

I hope someone comes up with a plan for the Avalon. It is a great building. I saw a P-Funk concert there in the 90's.

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/2266/

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/681/

I wonder if the Lou Rawls Theatre project on the site of the old Regal was a factor in the decision to shutter the New Regal.

Hello:

I am interested in buying the new regal for $2,000,000. My name is Orlando McDowell AT mcdowell_orlando@juno.com

http://www.performink.com/Archives/curtain/2003/7-18Curtain.htm

7/18/2002

New Regal Theatre Shutters Space
BY CHRISTINA BIGGS

The New Regal Theatre, a south-side icon of African-American art, closed up shop on June 30, laying off seven full-time employees and 150 event staff. After shelling out $16 million, owner Edward Gardner feels he can no longer operate the theatre without assistance. “We are discouraged because New Regal Theatre has not been fortunate enough to receive the considerations and major tax incentives and credits that are given to the downtown theatre owners by the municipality and the corporations,” says Gardner. The city did however award the New Regal a $550,000 grant, $45,000 from the Department of Cultural Affairs and a $1 million forgivable loan.
That last item has become the object of Gardner’s greatest discontent. The terms of the loan state that any new owner must continue to use the building as an arts venue, rather than say a church, or the loan comes due with interest. “It has to remain an arts venue,” says managing director Wilma Washington. “We’re holding the new buyer to that condition.” She also said they’re warning potential buyers about the problems they’ve faced with the city so no one goes in with blinders.

The closing has garnered a ton of press so far, and Washington hopes they’ve raised some awareness about the problems non-Loop venues face, such as snow removal and proper street lighting. Despite such problems, Gardner has already had many realistic inquiries on the property, which includes the theatre, a three-flat office building and four parking lots.

Here is a recent photo of the New Regal Theater.

Pearl Jam played here in 1994.

That is interesting. I did not think anyone was booked here unless they were related to black culture (not that there is anything wrong with such a policy).

Russell Phillips Photo:

Lobby

Here is an ad showing a lounge

This 1928 photo from the Chicago Daily News shows the entrance of the Avalon/New Regal. The caption reads "Members of the Avalon Theatre Club standing in front of the Avalon Theatre".

This is a 06/29/2003 article about the closing of the New Regal Theater.

"By Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Jun. 29--When Edward and BettiAnn Gardner, the multimillionaire founders of Soft Sheen Products, stuck $3.5 million of their own money into the renovation of the New Regal Theatre in the late 1980s, they thought that would save a grand tradition of live South Side entertainment and spark an era of economic renewal on and around East 79th Street.

But with the New Regal scheduled to be closed and boarded up Monday, the Gardners have joined a long list of well-meaning philanthropists who have learned a number of tough and expensive lessons.

Grand old movie palaces are popular places to save, but they typically suck up money long after they've been gussied up for their black-tie, gala re-openings. Unless they are run by one of the few groups with deep pockets and clout in the arts and entertainment business, they often sit empty for long stretches.

Neighborhood theaters outside of a downtown area -- especially a downtown area like Chicago's, with its excess of competing venues -- are especially hard to fill. And without extensive, ongoing operating support from public funds or private entities, old theaters usually cannot survive in the long term.

By last week, Edward Gardner estimated he and his wife had sunk $16 million into the New Regal, including at least $500,000 dripping away from their bank accounts every year since the re-opening. The Gardners had decided that enough was enough. "We just cannot continue," he said last week.

As of Monday, the staff was scheduled to be laid off. "We have found we cannot survive," said a clearly emotional Wilma Washington, the New Regal's managing director, "just on ticket sales."

Gardner and Washington argued that some of their problems stemmed from a lack of support from the City of Chicago. "I must be the only theater manager in Chicago," Washington said, "who has to worry about snow removal, sweeping and loiterers."

The city maintains, though, that it did contribute $1 million to the Gardners' renovation costs, and it has made some other contributions to running costs over the years, through the Department of Cultural Affairs and other funds. In 1998, the city paid for $550,000 in emergency repairs.

"We want the New Regal to continue to be a theater," said Arnold Randall, deputy commissioner in the Department of Planning and Development.

But just as the city has partnered with independent operators in the downtown venues, so it doesn't want to pay for the daily running of the New Regal.

Although the Gardners had set up a non-profit entity called the New Regal Theatre Foundation to run the venue following its re-opening, the theater never was very busy and lacked a viable long-term plan.

By 2000, one local publication had dubbed the New Regal the "Best Underused Landmark" in the city.

The reasons for the lack of use are many.

The New Regal never did much presenting (which requires the taking of financial risk and, therefore, considerable funds in reserve), but relied instead on the spotty business of rentals.

It lacked a direct affiliation with, say Clear Channel, Jam Productions or one of the area's other leading bookers of live entertainment. It had no subscription season or resident companies.

And it never really provided an ade...uate enough reason to draw acts away from downtown -- or the competing Arie Crown Theatre, which also presents lots of entertainment aimed at African-American audiences.

The New Regal also never had a stable management -- within the first 12 months following the grand opening, the New Regal went through three executive directors.

Jackie Taylor, head of the Black Ensemble Theatre, briefly ran the New Regal in the 1980s, but she returned to her former post on the North Side.

Plans for a smaller, second stage and an extensive arts series never came to fruition.

There were some bright spots.

A few concerts did well, and some of the jazz bookings got critical acclaim. And when Black Ensemble's "The Jackie Wilson Story" played there early this year, the place was packed.

"We did some great shows there over the years," said Steve Traxler, the president of Jam Theatricals, who co-presented "The Jackie Wilson Story" at the New Regal. "But that venue never really had enough business."

The 2,300-seat New Regal certainly looked like a promising project in the 1980s.

Once known as the Avalon Theatre, the building was constructed with a Moorish theme and included mosaic tiles laid by hand and copious amounts of marble.

It was restored by the same firms responsible for the Egyptian Theatre in DeKalb, the Paramount Arts Center in Aurora and the Rialto in Joliet.

By changing the name of the venue, its backers also hoped to evoke memories of the old Regal Theatre, located at 47th Street and South Park Way (now Martin Luther King Jr. Drive), until that theater was demolished in 1973.

Over the years since its opening in 1928, the marquee at the (old) Regal had displayed the name of virtually every African-American entertainer worth his or her salt -- Cab Calloway, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Dinah Washington.

That beloved theater seated 2,797 and was supposed to evoke "North Africa." The ceiling of the auditorium was designed to suggest a huge tent.

But for its audiences, the theater also represented a community's resilience in the face of segregation.

Artists who could not stay in downtown hotels played to packed crowds at The Regal -- Chicago's version of New York's Apollo Theatre in Harlem. That historic spirit, it was hoped, could be transferred to the Avalon.

Although some distance away, the Avalon had many of the same elements as the Regal, including a ceiling in the lobby designed to represent a huge rug studded with colorful jewels, and murals that featured men, women and elephants.

Although not part of the original design, the restorers created at the Avalon a huge exterior mural (on the building's west side), depicting the history of black entertainment.

From Monday onwards, that mural may be the most action the New Regal sees. The situation has left many people sad.

"The potential of the New Regal," says Abena Joan Brown, president of the nearby ETA Creative Arts Foundation, "is so great. It would be such a loss."

But Brown has her own new building for which she needs to raise money.

Gardner said last week he wants to sell the building -- probably for no more than $2 million or $3 million, including the theater's parking lots. "We just want an amount that will take care of some of our expenses," he said.

But that has put him in conflict with the city, which will insist on the repayment of its $1 million renovation loan (with interest, now at about $700,000), if the New Regal is sold to a church, flea market or anything other than an organization that would keep it a theater.

Gardner considers that position unfair, because it makes the theater much harder to sell.

And he points out that the city has bailed out bankrupt operators at the Chicago Theatre and eaten the restoration costs downtown.

"They don't want to pick up the restoration debt at the New Regal," Gardner says.

But the city argues it's not that simple.

And insisting that the loan should only go for a theater is the only way for the New Regal to have the best chance of surviving as a successor to the illustrious old venue whose mantle it was intended to carry into the 21st Century.

Right now, there seems to be no one with viable plans for the theater's future. And as of Monday, there will be no staff to carry them out".

Just want to understand something is the theatre called " THE NEW REGAL THEATRE" or just the Regal becuse news reporters are calling it the REGAL not the NEW REGAL THEATRE ?

From what i know the FIRST Regal was on MLK Drive .
The New Regal is on East 79th street .

Did someone change the name or am i missing something?

Thank you for you time.

Well, it appears to be poised for another opening, and that's what they're calling it this time around. Avalon never made much sense anyway - a name left over from an earlier English-inspired Eberson design- and Regal is what the marquee has said since 1987. It's supposed to open around October. Operating as a not-for-profit. Exciting! http://www.chicagoregal.com/

HAARGIS has a brief profile including two pictures. The photos will enlarge if you drag them into a browser window. I sort of like the Avalon marquee better... the Regal one is a little understated.

Now that I think about it, I suppose the Avalon name was more about following the Avalon Park neighborhood.

I am SO very great full that some one took it over and it will once more be used for preformances .

In a small way you can understand the Paradise Theatre and the Nortown, and the Ramova, and in a sort a bout way the UA.

What i mean by that is the Atmospheric style like the Paridise,Nortown, and Romova and the Moorish style like the UA

But i am happy that it will be open once more .

Thank you for your time :)

Looks like it is still in excellent shape. I was a little worried that it might not have been properly secured after closing, as is so often the case. What a tragedy it would have been for the building to be vandalized after an expensive restoration.

what is going on with this theater? i've been visiting their "website" and no events are listed, but photos of smokey robinson, the temptations, tyler perry, and ciara keep coming up.

living in chicago, i think it's weird i haven't heard anything about this place reopening other than right here.

anyone have any more current news on the regal?

Interesting double feature in 1965:
http://tinyurl.com/2wlg2x

I would appreciate any update when there is any news on this theatre.
GaryRickert

Here is a recent close-up view of the Regal.

(A good use for the local movie palace)

Obama on the Big Screen

CHICAGO - Presidential candidate Barack Obama loomed larger than
life last night in Chicago, despite his being far away in the center
of Denver's Mile High Stadium.

In fact, he was a hit at the old thee-ay-ter in the neighborhood.
More than 1,500 people gathered in the auditorium of the historic
New Regal Theatre, 1645 E. 79th St., last night, Thursday, August
28, 2008, to watch Barack Obama give his acceptance speech live on
the big screen. Several media outlets covered the event from the
back of the main floor as the crowd cheered and rose to its feet to
show enthusiasm for the individual campaign promises Obama made.

Ron and Regina Evans, the theater's owners invited the public to
watch the broadcast live and for free. Registration was required at
www.mybarackobama.com

The bejeweled lobby hosted several tables of Obama memorabilia and
voter registration opportunities. Popcorn, sodas and other snacks
were available as per custom.

The New Regal's creative marketing of the event read: "If you cannot
make it to Denver, you can get together with your friends at the
Regal Theater (sic) and watch Barack." Also, there was an
opportunity to sign up for the New Regal's mailing list.

Native Chicagoans recall this building was originally the Avalon
Theatre, a fantastic 1927 atmospheric design from architect John
Eberson. Restored in 1985 in a project sponsored by Ed and Bettian
Gardner, of Softsheen Products and backed in part by the City of
Chicago, the New Regal is perhaps the best restoration of a movie
palace in Chicago.

It was renamed to capture the spirit of the lost Regal Theatre, 47th
Street and South Parkway (now MLK). The original Regal was sited in
the second expansion of the Black Metropolis in Chicago's
Bronzeville. It was a movie palace built for African American
audiences and was venue to many important musicians in the decades
before its 1973 demolition.

http://www.chicagoregal.com/

http://www.cityofchicago.org/Landmarks/N/NewRegalTheater.html

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/319/

http://chicago.urban-history.org/sites/theaters/regal.htm

http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/3211.html

http://www.chicagospiedpiper.com/

Story courtesy of Uptown Adviser, www.uptowntheatre.com

Here's a great aerial view of the Avalon/Regal. Note the graffiti on the lower wall next to the parking lot: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/avaregal.jpg

Warren, that actually isn't graffiti, it is a mural depicting famous African-American entertainers added around the time the Avalon reopened as the New Regal in 1987.

Thanks! From that distance, it looked to me ike graffiti. I apologize!

From Boxoffice magazine, January 1938:

CHICAGO-Miss Florence Smith, cashier of the Warner Avalon Theater, was held up and robbed of $27 Saturday night.

Must have been a slow night.

Ouch!! Oh, no, ken mc. What a horrible thing to be robbed. $27.00 isn't exactly peanuts, especially in today's economy.

In 1938, $27 was equivalent to about $407 in 2008. Almost certainly, the $27 was only the cash on hand in the boxoffice at the moment, and should not be taken as indicative of that day's attendance. It was common practice for a manager to come by every hour or so to collect any surplus above the cash needed to make change.

So I guess the smart thing to do when you stick up a theatre is to rob the manager. I'm a little surprised that there would be a robbery on Chicago's South side.

Unfortunately, that's very true. Managers were sometimes followed back to their office. As the manager was unlocking the door, the robber would come up behind and enter with him. The robber would then take all the money available, including that in the safe if the office had one. The manager would be threatened with his life if he tried to call for help. He would then be knocked unconscious or tied up before the robber left.

Thanks for the info Warren. I was wondering what the procedure was for knocking over a theatre in the good old days.

Ohhhhhhh! Scary, indeed!

It's horrible that this sort of stuff still goes on, in a supposedly modernized and civilized society.

That's not at all surprising, Scott.

I guess my sarcasm wasn't apparent.

1973 Photo

1973 Close-up

1983 Photo

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=35641&seenIt=1 - Facing foreclosure

On The Watch List
http://www.landmarks.org/chicago_watch_2004_6.htm