Gorilla Tango Skokie Theatre
7924 Lincoln Avenue,
Skokie,
IL
60077
7924 Lincoln Avenue,
Skokie,
IL
60077
4 people
favorited this theater
Originally opened as the 425 seat Niles Center Theatre in 1915 or 1916. In the 1940’s it was re-modeled in a classic Art Moderne style. Renamed the Skokie Theatre, this single-screen movie house with its brown and white checkerboard facade was for many years a first-run house but in the last couple decades, closed and reopened a number of times. The Skokie Theatre was screening a mix of art/foreign film, second-run commercial fare, and Bollywood movies when it closed for the last time in fall of 2004.
The theatre was acquired in spring of 2005 by the Skokie Theatre Music Foundation (then called the Cavalcade of Music Foundation), based in the Chicago suburb of Kenilworth, which has converted the Skokie Theatre into a 148-seat concert venue for various styles of music. Renovations, have included new lighting and sound systems, repairs to the exterior, and making the building handicap accessable. The marquee has also been restored and relit. It was closed on December 31, 2011.
It was reopened in April 2012 as the Skokie branch of the popular Bucktown neighborhood’s Gorilla Tango Theatre, now called the Gorilla Tango Bucktown. In Skokie, the program features sketch, improv comedy, burlesque and other live entertainment.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 53 comments)
Greetings ken mc. Neither link seems to work.
I tried accessing them from a couple different servers, to no avail.
American Classic is having server problems. Try the links later or tomorrow.
This is a nice photo of the Skokie Theater.
A couple more photos of the Skokie Theatre. Click each photo for a larger view.
http://www.agilitynut.com/07/7/skokiet.jpg
http://www.agilitynut.com/07/7/skokiet2.jpg
The Skokie Theater is closing as of December 31, 2011 and the theater is for sale:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-skokie-theatre-closed-20111228,0,7040078.story
I’m sorry to see it close. Al Curtis & his crew did a great job trying to keep it versatile. I don’t know why the bank/owners would think it will look more viable to potential buyers, if it’s completely inactive. Defies logic really. Sell the sizzle, not the steak.
Since they knew they were keeping theater style seating, I think the renovation should have kept the old or newer projectors in place. So it could moonlight an an art house and run films on off nights. Like the old Varsity & Parkway used to.
Once they knew that they weren’t keeping them, the seating design should have been changed to one with tables or standing room by the stage like at Martyrs on Lincoln in the city. And removed the inclined floor. Strictly theater seating limited themselves and the venue to attracting younger acts and their followings. Or older tribute acts with crowds that could move about inside. Martyrs or the Vic is the best examples I can think of.
With a capacity of only 148 people, even at $25 a ticket for sell-outs, there’s not enough left to pay for bigger name talent. Add in virtually zero foot traffic, and you have an even bigger struggle.
I wish them all the best of luck.
I doubt there was room for projectors when it was done. The place is just too small and narrow – only 10 seats wide. As much as I love old theaters, this should have been turned into a store, they could have built a better theater in almost any building and fit more than 148 people in it. How difficult can it be to have “perfect acoustics” in such a tiny space? 1.5 million could have gone a lot farther elsewhere.
The Gorilla Tango theater company, currently located in Bucktown, has purchased the shuttered Skokie Theatre, which plans to reopen it for live theater by April. See more here from today’s Chicago Tribune.
Another article from the Chicagoist regarding the reopening of the Skokie Theatre in April by Gorilla Tango.
And now Gorilla Tango might be selling the theater
http://skokie.patch.com/articles/is-skokie-s-gorilla-tango-theater-for-sale?ncid=newsltuspatc00000001