Ford Center for the Performing Arts Oriental Theatre
24 West Randolph Street,
Chicago,
IL
60601
24 West Randolph Street,
Chicago,
IL
60601
37 people
favorited this theater
Opened in 1926 on the site of the tragic Iroquois (later the Colonial) Theatre, and seating over 3,200, this was Balaban & Katz' first new Loop movie palace since the opening of the Chicago Theatre in 1921. Opening day at the Oriental Theatre included popular bandleader Paul Ash (who moved to the Oriental from B & K’s McVickers) presenting two musical reviews “Insultin' the Sultan” and “Harem-Scarem”. Movies with Joan Crawford and Harry Langdon were the first two to appear on the screen. Originally, ushers and other B & K employees wore costumes inspired by the “Arabian Nights”.
The Oriental Theatre, which stands on Randolph Street between State and Dearborn Streets, was for many years, in addition to live stage shows and movies, also one of Chicago’s premier destinations for live jazz performances by many of the greats of the era, including frequent performer Duke Ellington.
The Oriental Theatre thrived through the 1960’s, but by the late-1970’s, however, the Loop was no longer the entertainment destination of earlier decades, and the Oriental Theatre, like many of the other movie palaces downtown, was reduced to B-grade action and kung-fu films attended for the most part by young people. It was closed on January 3, 1980 (having last been run by the Kohlberg Theatres chain), the Loop and the theater’s fortunes had fallen into disarray. For several years, an electronics store operated in the lobby space of the Oriental Theatre while the remainder of the theater was disued.
Shuttered for over 15 years, the Oriental Theatre was magnificently restored to its original exotic and over-the-top Indian-Indochinese style appearance in 1996 and reopened in 1998 as the Ford Center for the Performing Arts Oriental Theatre. The theater is now host to live Broadway stage productions.
The Oriental Theatre was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Contributed by
Ross Melnick
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Recent comments (view all 214 comments)
I can recall seeing one of the last combination stage/movie performances at the Oriental. Can’t remember the year but i do remember the star singing on the stage was a man named Don Cherry.
A pre-restoration view of the exterior of the Oriental can be seen here.
Here is 1958 view of Randolph Street, with the Oriental in the background and Allgauer’s Heidelberg restaurant in the foreground.
Longtime Oriental Theatre manager Mickey Gold, who ran the place for the last 30+ years as a movie theatre, shared great stories about his work lunches with some of the stage performers (big band leaders and The Three Stooges, for example).
i saw the world premeire of ‘PARIS HOLIDAY’ in 1958 and saw BOB HOPE IN PERSON at the oriental theater
From Getty Images, here is a 1933 night view of Randolph Street from State Street with the vertical signs of the Oriental and United Artists Theaters lit up.
btkreft, there is no photo on that link. Just a grey background.
It works when I clicked upon it.
Hmmm. I’m still getting “Image cannot be displayed because it contains errors” in faint lettering at the top.
When I clicked it, it didn’t work, but displayed after I refreshed it.