Chicago Theatre
175 N. State Street,
Chicago,
IL
60601
175 N. State Street,
Chicago,
IL
60601
81 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 309 comments found
Click here for an exterior view of the Chicago Theatre in 1930.
Most, but not all, of this section of stud lighting works. The part around the marquee does not. The upper part does not. It’s rarely turned on.
CSWalczak, that must be an old photo. Thankfully the stud lighting has been restored. I’ve seen it on with a number of bulbs burned out (it must be a pain to replace them) so I’m not sure how often they turn it on.
To see a photo of them on, go above and Click on VIEW ALL 308 COMMENTS, go to the bottom and Click on “Box” 7, go to lostmemory March 1, 2007 that has the photo.
Bob Jensen
Manteno, Illinois
I am sure that that is what they are. I wish they would restore that stud lighting that used to enhance those arches. You can see that many of the bulbs and sockets are broken.
A close up view of the Chicago Theater’s facade can be seen here. I’ve never noticed the faces on the left and right of the window arch before. Drama and comedy maybe?
Thanks Tinseltoes for “The Dolly Sisters” premiere photo. That was some premiere on State st. Enjoyed the street car tracks too.
Here is a photo I took today of the Chicago Theater. You can see the small Chase logo on the marquee, which isn’t as noticeable as the one on the vertical sign, thankfully.
I happened to be downtown Tuesday. It isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I still think it’s cheap to brand a traditional symbol of the city. But that is the way things have been going in the U.S. over the last ten years, and if it gets some cash flow for the theater you can’t complain too much.
“Chase Chicago” can be misinterpreted since “chase” is also a verb.
Newsreel coverage of the 1945 world premiere of “The Dolly Sisters” at the Chicago Theatre can be viewed here: youtube
Years ago when it was showing movies ti had Plitt in the same spot.
This doesn’t bother me that much. Whatever it takes to keep the theatre open. And besides…at least they didn’t change the name of the theatre to the “Chase Theatre”. I think the real travesty was having the Shubert Theater’s name being changed altogether to the Bank of America Theater. Now THAT’S bad!!!
If you look at the picture at the top of the page, the Chase name is in the wavy horizontal part just above the first C. I noticed it walking by the theater just the other day.
It’s still The Chicago Theatre. The masthead on the website reads “The Chicago Theatre presented by Chase” but I don’t see anywhere else using that verbiage. I figured out the date by going through Flickr.
So is this going to be known as the Chase Chicago Theatre? I thought Ford Center for the Performing Arts Oriental Theatre and Bank of America Theatre were bad enough. As far as having the name up at that part of the sign, that’s true, but it was always the operator of the theater, like Balaban & Katz or Plitt, not a corporate sponsor.
The sign was always meant to have a name of some sort up there, though.
That is so bad. It doesn’t bother me on the Oriental or Palace. But this is a symbol of the city.
http://timeoutchicago.com/things-to-do/this-week-in-chicago/15023003/chase-logo-on-chicago-theatre-what%E2%80%99s-up-with-that It was installed about October 3-4, 2011.
A couple pics I took of the Chicago Theater at lunch today here and here. Since when has the vertical sign had the Chase logo on it? I just noticed that today. Is nothing sacred anymore from branding? Thankfully it doesn’t appear on the marquee. I took the second pic from the second floor of the new mega-Walgreens next door in the Joffrey Tower.
That ABC installation was pretty elaborate. Cool post Brian.
This1946 view taken for the theater’s 25th anniversary of the mezzanine lobby can be compared to a similar present-day view here.
http://chicagoist.com/2011/10/26/our_memories_of_the_chicago_theatre.php Here’s a rare photo from when the vertical sign read ABC Great States
This 1951 photo shows the marquees of the Chicago and State-Lake Theaters viewed from Lake Street.
You’re right. I’ll delete it.
broan the nice early view of the audiotrium is of the uptown theatre!