Calo Theatre

Teddy’s comment above is almost correct. Reflections Theater, founded by Michael Ryczek, was in the Calo for several years (80s/90s). I was on the advisory board, did the graphics for the programs and marketing, ran a children’s theater program there for a time, and ran lighting too—as well as anything else that no one else had time to do. We were a happy group, but not terribly business-minded sadly. The theatre’s triumph was probably a fine production of Lanford Wilson’s Talley Trilogy.

Great interior photos posted by supercharger96.

So, WHY don’t they refurbish all those lights???

This is not exactly a photo, but the Calo Theatre recently made a cameo appearance in my webcomic, Multiplex: http://www.multiplexcomic.com/archive.php?name=376

(The next strip, #377, shows a bit of the interior, as well.)

Here is a 1982 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/dyumdu

1986 photo

Hi everyone! I worked at the Calo Theatre from 1954 to 1957. I was
a young teenager. I was there when they installed the Cinemascope
screen. It was reopened by Ray Geraci and Harry Goldsmith. The
Motiograph projectors were rebuilt at this time. The theatre was opened in 1915 as a vauldville house. There was still a full size
stage and a dressing room underneath it when I worked there. They
would have adult and and kid raffles. The stores in the area would
donate the prizes. I would get stuck running the raffle. You could
speak in a normal voice and everyone would hear you. In a room next
to the projection booth is where the organ pipes were.Pipes were
long gone when I was there. The wall was covered by a cheesecloth
type material for the sound to pass through.The admission prices
were Early Bird $.50, $.75 at show time, and $.25 for kids.
I learned how to run the projectors there. I joined the Air Force
1n 1957. I had a part time job running the projectors at the base
thestre. I also worked at the Patio Theatre in Chicago as a part
time projectionst for 5 years till it closed in 2001. So sad!
I am open to any questions you may have about the Calo or Patio.
Thanks, Jack, the “mechanic”

Grand Mogul,

Can I ask where you are accessing these Daily News articles from the 50’s? I’m not finding any in the library databases I have access to.

It appears to be pleading for consideration and renovation.

Thank you, David; your description helps me to recall the interior of the Calo now. It seems I walked through it once out of curiosity but it would have been no later than 1970, or maybe on a trip back but no later than early late ‘70s-early '80s at the latest, and I don’t think it was a theater then.

Today I finally made it into the former Calo Theatre, now the Brown Elephant resale shop.
Truly a unique space with a haunting kind of quality, once you make it back into the old auditorium. Helped along by the eclectic choices of music by the shop’s employees.
The modern yet oddly welcome ceiling lighting, casts an eerie industrial shadow & feel to the room. Like some place the “Clockwork Orange” druges or “Mad Max” drivers might venture into leisurely.
The majestic wall sconces are still visible, but aged & war torn as is what’s left
of the plaster walls & exposed brick. All visible in the previously posted pics to Cinema Treasures.

I’m curious if anyone knows any history of the Essex Theatre listed as being at Sheridan Road & Lake Shore Drive, and re-opening with the Calo and 2 other theatres in 1954?

It’s not listed among the other Essex Theatres on Cinema Treasures. But I’m guessing it may have once been incorporated into the building where Westbound Sheridan Rd. from LSD, meets at Halsted/Broadway between Grace & Irving Park by Clarendon. On the S/E corner (Starbucks), is a building that has a white terra cotta facade & parapit wall across the top, which is reminiscent of other old theater buildings.

Maybe Baliwick Theatre shares some of the old space??

BWChicago – Thank you. I appreciate your information. It is a tricky street to recall as I mainly traveled it on bus and can only recall Clark and Foster, which I think of as Swedentown.

I would have had to pass this building twice a day, Mon-Fri, from Sept. 1959 to June 1963, riding up/down Clark St. to attend Senn H.S. at 5900 Glenwood. I stepped off the Clark St. bus and picked it up again to head south at about 5900 or 6000 Clark St. and I do not recall this theater building as such, but I must have seen it daily. I can’t say I remember the name now either, which evidently means “Spanish Gypsy.” However, the tale of another gangster being shot a la Dillinger at a theater in that neighborhood does rings a bell; another bus rider may have mentioned that. The white terra cotta facade, and the musician or cherub figure above the doorway with musical instruments, does seem faintly familiar. I would think that there was no functioning Calo theater there during this time period though. I don’t recall the bowling alley either. I believe Andersonville was referenced also as the “Little Sweden” neighborhood. And it really was.

This theater has a lovely open Beaux Arts facade. My understanding is that Chicago strongly contributed to the development of Beaux Arts. Is there any record of whether this theater was utilized for vaudeville to any extent in its first 15 years or so (as was the Century further south at Diversey)?