Fine Arts Theater

Here is a 2006 video tape from CLTV News in Chicago. At the end of the report is footage of the auditorium of the Studebaker Theater a.k.a. Fine Arts Theatre #1.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxJvqOEjbLs

I have an image from the 1980’s out front here
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And a recent image made vintage
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Tim,thanks for the article and your hard work putting it together one has to have worked at a theatre to want to take the time to research and write it up. Thanks.And because you worked in the business it means more to us that did work in a theatre. Has Too.

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http://www.nightatthefab.com/

jwballer, The Studebaker was the original name of the 1200 seat theatre. It was called the Fine Arts Theatre #1 from December, 1982 until November, 2000. The smaller theatre had several different names; it was called the World Playhouse beginning in the early 1930s until December, 1982 when it was known as the Fine Arts #2 until it closed in November, 2000. When M&R Theatres re-opened these two theatres on Christmas Day, 1982, the newspaper ads had the new theatres advertised as “Fine Arts” but underneath that term, in parenthesis, it said “Studebaker/World Playhouse.”

Thanks David

Is the fine arts opening or not?

Website
http://www.fineartsbuilding.tv/

Hello, my name is Tim O'Neill. I worked as usher at the M&R Fine Arts Theatres from 1983-1985. I have to correct some information that is reported on this page. Now keep in mind, I would have to take a leave of abscence from my job in order to conduct a thourough research on the 111 year-old history of the two individual theaters located on the first floor of the Fine Arts Building. This information that I have comes from people who worked at the Fine Arts Building while I was an M&R employee. Okay, what I’ve been told or I have read about: The theater on the left opened as the Studebaker in 1898; the smaller theater on the right opened in 1901, according to THS. The smaller theater had various different names during it’s existence. I can’t remember in which order but the smaller theater has been known as the Fine Arts Theater, Orchestra Hall, the Playhouse Theater, the World Playhouse Theater, the World Theatre, and finally M&R Fine Arts 2 (later Loews, Sony, and Loews Cineplex). The Studebaker orginally opened as a concert hall. In the 1920s the interior was gutted and the auditorium was completely re-done. The only thing that survives from 1898 is the ceiling. The smaller theater has undergone changes as well and became a movie house in 1933. The Studebaker showed some movies during the silent era as well. Throughout the 30s through the 70s, the Studebaker was mainly a live stage house, while the World Playhouse was a movie house. I had heard that the World Playouse was used as a church after it closed as a movie house. In 1982, M&R Amusements took over the Studebaker and World Playhouse and began operating the two theatres as the Fine Arts 1&2. It opened on Christmas Day with MOONLIGHTING in Theatre 1 (Studebaker) and VERONIKA VOSS in Theatre 2 (World Playhouse). One year later, M&R closed Theatre 1 down for a few days and built a wall on the stage. Behind that wall they built Theatre 3 on the Studebaker stage. They converted one of the orginal dressing rooms into a projection booth. In the summer of 1984, M&R literally turned Theatre 3 around by placing the screen on the south end of the auditorium and re-sloping the floor. They built a twin booth and then built Theatre 4 on the stage of the World Playhouse. They had to build a wall on the stage of the World Playhouse. Now the Fine Arts had 4 auditorioums. Theatre 1 approx. 1200 seats; Theatre 2 approx. 550 seats; Theatre 3 240 seats; Theatre 4 158 seats. The theatres remained in business until November 2000.

My guess is that nothing will be happening here for a while, given the economic climate out there.

FYI. There’s a 1983 picture of the Fine Arts facade on the American Classic Images site, should anyone want to post it that is able.