Mike, this is nice to know, especially if we can confirm it. That may be possible next summer if you can go to the Theatre Historical Society’s convention in Milw.; see details to appear on their site at: www.historictheatres.org The former ZENITH will be toured at that time, but my health does not permit me to go, so we all will have to rely upon you to investigate then.
Did you know that Larry Widen’s long-awaited sequel to his 1986 Milwaukee Movie Palaces is now out at: http://tinyurl.com/jlvmu ? I haven’t seen the book yet, but I doubt he will mention a Violano Virtuoso unit even if he knew about it, but that would have made a nice tidbit for his book. I have only seen one such Virtuoso unit playing: at the House-On-The-Rock west of Madison many years ago, and found it and the music it was playing fascinating!
If you are in the So. Wis. area and would like me to put you on my Local Theatres Buffs list for the occasional bulletins I send out, click on my name in blue below and find my address under CONTACT and e-mail me your address.
Not only is a Wikipedia-like board difficult to impliment, but it makes for a plethora of contradiction and even deliberate misinformation. We flatter ourselves that all participants are equally informed and of equal intelligence and integrity. Sad to say, nothing could be further from the truth. As this site is, the Comments already provide a “self-correcting” structure with a Comment stating one thing, and then another modifies its contensions. Some groups such as THSA refused for some years to link to Treasures for precisely this reason of misinformed ‘contributions,’ but now the site has grown such that a greater number of informed individuals are present to write concrete messages that dispell speculation. I applaud the vision of the founders who realized that the present structure would work over time without the expensive structure and monitoring that a ‘wiki’ operation would involve. Legitimate differences of opinion as to fact can be voiced here without someone finding his hours of labor erased by someone doing their ‘editing’ with perhaps much less background and knowledge than the contributor. Hence a ‘theatres wikipedia’ would not be authorative nor informative, but only another thing to correct and police for the owners of this site.
Would making it a ‘pay’ site help? I think not. Money always brings problems and fogs integrity. Bookeeping, payment clearances, requests for refunds, renewals, etc., etc. would soon bedarken their days out of all proportion to the benefits of revenue received. It would no longer be a Not-For-Profit entity, and the tax laws would apply, which means hiring accountants for audits, etc. Yes, it is easy for some to speculate that such a fee-based structure would help, but they don’t have to do the work involved. Kind readers, content yourselves, please, with what they have given you here, and do not bite the hands that have fed you. If your satisfaction comes only from argumentation, please take such elsewhere where civilization is not highly prized.
I understand the need to gab, and some people are rather good at it, but the original purpose of these sites was to share information, NOT personal opinions or gripes. Now, this discussion is turning to criticism of Cinema Tour. It’s time to restrain ourselves, fellows, else put a burden on Treasure’s staff to do it for us! Patrick seemed to be mostly incensed at the ‘flaming’ that was going on, and you can’t blame him for that. Unrestrained passions —especially when they take the form of attacks upon people— can quickly destroy the tenor and usefulness of a site, and the honchos here have gone to a lot of effort to establish their site as a respected authority in the field. There is no reason for them to turn it over to gossip mongers for the tittilation of such ones.
As to an “Open Forum”: we must be reasonable as to the problems such an un-moderated space would bring: intense flaming, sheer gossip unrelated to theatres, and then thinly veiled ads for some things better not mentioned in polite society. And that is just what the fellows wanted to create: a Polite Society of keen observers who would delight to share their memories of theatres, NOT impressions of other people born more of someone’s “passion” than good taste. If you disagree with a FACT that someone states, give your version with stated proofs, but then consider that you have reached an impasse, and leave it at that. I applaud their ‘get tough’ policy, but pity their added time needed to police the Comments of any such a forum if moderated (and isn’t an un-moderated forum just a cess pool that would blight this entire site?!). When we are rude in our language we require editing which takes away from their time and their lives as well. Have a caution, all; other sites have disappeared from our screens for lesser reasons than this!
You don’t mention dimensions (portal size and amount of overlap desired/possible), but your best bet to get a curtain as a freebie is to visit the managers of local Theatre suppliers and Scenic Studios (in the Business-to-Business Yellow Pages) and ask if they have something suitable to donate to your group: have a tax credit form in your hand ready to fill out. Be sure to know the dimensions I mentioned when you go there and what, if any, rigging is already available on your stage. If your place has no suitable rigging, it may be best not to ask for it from the same vendor that may already be giving you the drapery. After you get the curtain, go elsewhere to beg for rigging.
Note that rigging a large curtain requires experience, since it can rip easily if misinstalled, and should it fall, it will be hundreds of pounds on top of someone, and such mere cloth HAS killed people in the past. If you are hanging much more than a bed sheet, it requires professional installation! Sources of such large curtains may be more willing to donate if you can manage to at least pay them for their safe installation at your location.
Contact Steve Markham in care of the L.A. ORPHEUM; he may well know whats available there since he lives there and provides and repairs curtains throught So. California. If you can get a donation, but don’t like the color, or it needs repairs, Steve can help you with that too. He is a member of www.historictheatres.org and they also can put you in touch with him.
Being in Hollywood it is also possible that one or more of the film studios has long-unused curtains in one of their warehouses. Possibly a polite letter ON YOUR GROUP’S LETTERHEAD (to show that you are formally existing with your state sales tax exemption number and your 501c3 Fed. Number), and the head of a studio may direct his senior Properties Manager to locate something for you.
Miss Kari, I will privately E-mail you the E-mail address of Paul Bielik, the principal owner of the land under the theatre and he may possibly be willing to mail you a copy of his photo CD with some 30 images associated with the Warner/Grand. Note that he is a busy man and may not be able to respond to your request for a copy of the disc. But, he may also be able to put you in touch with someone at Marcus Theatres, which still owns the building, as to other images and data and possibly a tour.
Larry Widen may be reached in care of his web site: www.widenonline.com The 1980 Marquee article about the theatre is photographed on Mr. Bielik’s disc, but my article about the grillework is not on-line, but is available via the Back Issues link on the THSA’s web site: www.historictheatres.org where they sell it for $5 plus shipping; likely you can afford this small amount. My health is getting quite difficult where it is now impossible for me to walk to the mail box and I must sleep about 14 hours daily, so I hope that these others can provide the help I cannot. You might also contact Joeseph DuciBella who is supposedly doing a book about the Rapp brothers and their works, in care of THSA. A Master’s thesis was done about converting the theatre to new use, at the Univ. of Wis.-Milw. a few years back and you might find its 100 pages of some interest, though the author made many mistakes, not being a native Milwaukeean. He resides in New Jersey now and shows no interest in the subject now.
As to photos on Yahoo!, please read their Terms Of Service (a link in fine print at thge bottom of every page on their site) and allow me to direct your attention to Sections 10 and 13 where they make clear that they have the right to delete content that has long terms of inactivity. Thus they are no more gracious than the others who at least have the decency to explicitly state just how long a “period of inactivity” is that will result in deletion. Allow me to point out that any contract (TOS, Privacy Rules, and the like are “tacit contracts by default”) is only as good as your ability to enforce it, and very few people are willing and able to travel to California courts to sue for Breach of Contract. All business know this and so write these glowing ‘contracts’ on their sites. Yahoo! is no different from any other business: they will do ANYTHING, fair or foul to increase profits, and if my photos and others should take up space more profitably taken by others, they will not hesistate to delete such items and are completely guiltless in doing so, as their ‘contract’ makes clear. These are the ‘terms’ one agrees to upon using their site. Therefore I know of no site which guarantees that one’s efforts will be preserved for years, much less in perpetuity, and as soon as they delete my photos for their convenience, all the links to them that I have scattered about become worthless, and in sites such as CT, there is not even a means to change them.
“Sam_e” is quite right about Stud Lighting. The CHICAGO did/does have a wonderful display of it, and it is so called regardless of the material they are set into. As everyone surmises, they are very difficult and expensive to maintain, since not only is relamping access difficult, but in many cases the insulation on the wires has decayed and was threaded through or behind terra cotta castings and has now corroded away and must be replaced to keep new bulbs lit. In many cases this means chipping the terra cotta or brick away and removing it for access — one hopes with few pieces broken in the process! The costs for this are very high, as you can imagine! Sometimes the use of modern electronic LED cluster bulbs will allow them to use the original copper or brass sockets, if the metal is not too badly corroded, but even so, such LED bulbs with very long lifespan can apoproach $20 EACH in price, not to mention labor.
The CHICAGO’s Stud Lighting has always been there, and close observation will reveal it on many a theatre — if only as plastered over blobs as was once the case on Milwaukee’s long gone EAST Theatre. With today’s technology, many new buildings are going for ribbons or bands of color-changing LEDs for their theoritical multi-hundred year life, but others are using new, modern Neon with long lifespan to achieve a greater brilliance, but it is doubtful that such provisions would bring back the glitter of our movie palaces, sad to say. There is some hope of rewiring with new Low Voltage systems that do not require the removal of the original mains voltage (~115 volt) wiring (which is then disconnected), but such installations are quite expensive, so don’t look for routine restoration of stud lighting when some can barely afford to keep the marquee lit.
See my comment of April 28, 2004 above for the source of many very decent photos of the SOUTHTOWN, still available as a Back Issue of their “Marquee” magazine for a mere $5 plus S&H. This is less than the price of one 8x10 print today!
In its 1981 ANNUAL, titled “The Chicago Theatre” there is an article on page 5 “The name Chicago” wherein is acknowledged that various working drawings and renderings did bear both the names Capitol as well as Ambassador and explains the common practice of changing planned names for a theatre before opening day. There is also a brief history of the previous theatres that bore or were to bear the name CHICAGO. Unfortunately, that ANNUAL is out-of-print, but it may be within the collections of those libraries which have their “Marquee” magazine that far back. (see: www.historictheatres.org )
“Life” is right, IF their intentions are really just cosmetic changes, BUT if they have a secret agenda to define ‘cosmetic changes’ as wholesale demolition of the plasterwork too, then they might as well start building that demolition crane out front, sad to say. To some developers, the “architecture” is really only the steel superstructure. The ‘devil’ will, as usual, be in the details of contracts, assuming that the city has any intention of enforcing any preservation clauses in such contracts; otherwise, they are just words on paper.
Contact Paul Dorobialsky, a former tech who did it all, via his web site: http://www.prnovelty.com/index.html or he can be reached via the Milw. Public Museum’s maintenance department.
Yes, sad to say, the island box office as well as the name sign were removed by the previous owner. He was determined to let residents know that he was going to convert the theatre to office space if the city continued to refuse his applications for liquor and cabaret licenses(he never got the licenses). He had large plackards mounted over the attraction boards of the marquee advertising “Office Space For Rent” but it appears that there was no progress to such conversion indoors at the time of sale to the current owner. No doubt ticket sales, when they resume, will be handeled from a table in the ticket lobby as they have been for over 20 years now, though it is possible to reconstruct the box office. The MODJESKA did just that about ten years ago.
Ken may graciously say that he is sorry the photo could not be better focused on the Warner on 2nd St. from this photo looking east from sixth street on Wis. avenue, but he really needn’t be. The sad fact is that in history if we want to see something, we must often put up with less than perfect views, and this nightime winter scene is a case in point. True, it tells us little about the Warner, and better photos do exist; I have a number of them. But in many cases across the country, such as this is all there is, and I applaud the men who bring them to us nonetheless.
Someday when CT has a new PHOTOS arrangement for permanent retention, I will take the great effort in time to upload my images, but until then there remain only the commercial photo exhibit sites, but for all one’s time and effort, they do not guarantee that one’s images will remain without a continual rental fee, and a rich man I am not. It would be too painful to leave a link to them here only to find in a year or so that they were deleted “Due to infrequent viewing.”
A PS to DavidH’s item about Miss Sell is that she played a number of Milw. theatres at the piano of the ‘pit band’. It is not clear whether she began her singing career here, but there is a biography of her with a publicity photo of her in her pro days here: http://backwhen.com/whereare.asp?WhereID=25 . She was 97 years at that time, but died about a year ago. Larry Widen has a more recent publicity shot of her in his 1986 “Milwaukee Movie Palaces” which is to be reprinted next year, enlarged, as “Silver Screens.”
Here is DavidH’s comment which had been posted on the VARSITY’s page:
Re: THE STATE THEATER
In the 1920s' silent movie days Hildegarde Sell who went on to be THE INCOMPARABLE HILDEGARDE played the piano at the State. Hildegarde who was billed as the ultimate chanteuse had a popular national radio program THE RALIEGH ROOM in the 1940s and because of her affected mannerism was the butt of many jokes. She also wrote the best seller Over 50 So What?
posted by DavidH on Aug 11, 2006 at 6:56am
Since State St. is an East/West street, I am going to think that you meant East of 27th St., and therefore what you probably saw was the former STATE, once a 900-seater on one level from 1915 through 1955, according to Larry Widen’s “Milwaukee Movie Palaces” (to be reissued, enlarged, as “Silver Screens” next year). It is unusual that you recognized it since it never had a stagehouse, and inside, virtually no decor to speak of. It was designed by local man Frank Andree and once had a small Kimball pipe organ of unknown specs. It would have been on your right (the north side of the street) as you drove west. It is at 2616 W. State St. Feel free to add it if you like.
Just to make it clear, the photo linked to above by “Ken MC” shows the original Modjeska somewhat on the left; it is not the same building mentioned by “exModjeskaTech” in the comment above.
It takes a real squint to see the Princess in the extreme lower left bottom of that photo. The captioner here must have had high power magnification — or outside help!
The photo angle does make it appear that they are in the same block, but in actuality, there are two streets intersecting Wisconsin Ave. there between the theatres: Plankinton Ave (equivalent to 1st St.) and S. 2nd St. The Warner/Centre/Grand is therefore actually 2 blocks west of the Riverside, as their addresses indicate. The Pabst theater is only two blocks north of the Riverside which is why they will all be on the same walking tour on the Theatre Historical Soc. convention next summer of ‘07.
Hello, TheatreBuff1 and all others: I am sorry if it seemed as though I was “jumping on you” in my comment above. The comment was not directed to you or anyone else specifically. It was a Warning to all, and the reader is free to accept or reject it as he sees fit. I stand by the Biblical basis of what I said, the example of King Saul conjuring up the “spirit” of Samuel not withstanding, since this was an example of DIS-obedience to God’s Law and is a negative example not involving any supposedly immortal soul, but that is beyond the scope of this forum, and I will E-mail you privately about that.
My comment said nothing about awards, and if they choose to give such in a former manager’s name, more power to them. As to seeing supposed “tongue-in-cheek humor” in the ornamentation, that is the privilage of any observer, for beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as we have all been told since childhood. The particular image posted by ‘agilitynut’ that you refer to is not of creatures “pawing” something, but is a formalized representation of an idealized Coat-of-Arms according to the art and traditions of Hearaldry. Books on the subject of Heraldry are at libraries and would explain that the two fantastical creatures are “Chimeras” shown in what is called the “rampant” position, figuratively supporting the “Escutcheon” in the center. Far from being a jibe at European history, the artists were trying to convey the regal traditions they sought to adduce to the handsome STATE. (Other elements in that design —the vegetable pendants and the two flaming urns— are artists' liberties and not true to Heraldry.) Heraldric forms have often been used in theatre ornamentation, especially in Spanish or ‘Mediterranean’-themed buildings. I find that polychromed spandrel panel a handsome ornament there.
In life, one step often leads to another, and while I doubt that anyone at the STATE will seek to communicate with the “ghost”, there is the danger that the naive and beguiled will conclude that showing interest in such “jokes” is harmless when in fact it may be construed as an invitation to dangerous demons. Some “jokes” can exact a price far higher than one intends!
All this talk about “ghosts” in theatrs may make it seem ‘cool’ to speak of one, but do read my WARNING in my comment at the link below, please, so as to save yourself possible pain! View link
Mike, this is nice to know, especially if we can confirm it. That may be possible next summer if you can go to the Theatre Historical Society’s convention in Milw.; see details to appear on their site at: www.historictheatres.org The former ZENITH will be toured at that time, but my health does not permit me to go, so we all will have to rely upon you to investigate then.
Did you know that Larry Widen’s long-awaited sequel to his 1986 Milwaukee Movie Palaces is now out at: http://tinyurl.com/jlvmu ? I haven’t seen the book yet, but I doubt he will mention a Violano Virtuoso unit even if he knew about it, but that would have made a nice tidbit for his book. I have only seen one such Virtuoso unit playing: at the House-On-The-Rock west of Madison many years ago, and found it and the music it was playing fascinating!
If you are in the So. Wis. area and would like me to put you on my Local Theatres Buffs list for the occasional bulletins I send out, click on my name in blue below and find my address under CONTACT and e-mail me your address.
Not only is a Wikipedia-like board difficult to impliment, but it makes for a plethora of contradiction and even deliberate misinformation. We flatter ourselves that all participants are equally informed and of equal intelligence and integrity. Sad to say, nothing could be further from the truth. As this site is, the Comments already provide a “self-correcting” structure with a Comment stating one thing, and then another modifies its contensions. Some groups such as THSA refused for some years to link to Treasures for precisely this reason of misinformed ‘contributions,’ but now the site has grown such that a greater number of informed individuals are present to write concrete messages that dispell speculation. I applaud the vision of the founders who realized that the present structure would work over time without the expensive structure and monitoring that a ‘wiki’ operation would involve. Legitimate differences of opinion as to fact can be voiced here without someone finding his hours of labor erased by someone doing their ‘editing’ with perhaps much less background and knowledge than the contributor. Hence a ‘theatres wikipedia’ would not be authorative nor informative, but only another thing to correct and police for the owners of this site.
Would making it a ‘pay’ site help? I think not. Money always brings problems and fogs integrity. Bookeeping, payment clearances, requests for refunds, renewals, etc., etc. would soon bedarken their days out of all proportion to the benefits of revenue received. It would no longer be a Not-For-Profit entity, and the tax laws would apply, which means hiring accountants for audits, etc. Yes, it is easy for some to speculate that such a fee-based structure would help, but they don’t have to do the work involved. Kind readers, content yourselves, please, with what they have given you here, and do not bite the hands that have fed you. If your satisfaction comes only from argumentation, please take such elsewhere where civilization is not highly prized.
I understand the need to gab, and some people are rather good at it, but the original purpose of these sites was to share information, NOT personal opinions or gripes. Now, this discussion is turning to criticism of Cinema Tour. It’s time to restrain ourselves, fellows, else put a burden on Treasure’s staff to do it for us! Patrick seemed to be mostly incensed at the ‘flaming’ that was going on, and you can’t blame him for that. Unrestrained passions —especially when they take the form of attacks upon people— can quickly destroy the tenor and usefulness of a site, and the honchos here have gone to a lot of effort to establish their site as a respected authority in the field. There is no reason for them to turn it over to gossip mongers for the tittilation of such ones.
As to an “Open Forum”: we must be reasonable as to the problems such an un-moderated space would bring: intense flaming, sheer gossip unrelated to theatres, and then thinly veiled ads for some things better not mentioned in polite society. And that is just what the fellows wanted to create: a Polite Society of keen observers who would delight to share their memories of theatres, NOT impressions of other people born more of someone’s “passion” than good taste. If you disagree with a FACT that someone states, give your version with stated proofs, but then consider that you have reached an impasse, and leave it at that. I applaud their ‘get tough’ policy, but pity their added time needed to police the Comments of any such a forum if moderated (and isn’t an un-moderated forum just a cess pool that would blight this entire site?!). When we are rude in our language we require editing which takes away from their time and their lives as well. Have a caution, all; other sites have disappeared from our screens for lesser reasons than this!
That last photo appeared to be something about a “Freedom Float.” Did I miss the theatre somehow?
You don’t mention dimensions (portal size and amount of overlap desired/possible), but your best bet to get a curtain as a freebie is to visit the managers of local Theatre suppliers and Scenic Studios (in the Business-to-Business Yellow Pages) and ask if they have something suitable to donate to your group: have a tax credit form in your hand ready to fill out. Be sure to know the dimensions I mentioned when you go there and what, if any, rigging is already available on your stage. If your place has no suitable rigging, it may be best not to ask for it from the same vendor that may already be giving you the drapery. After you get the curtain, go elsewhere to beg for rigging.
Note that rigging a large curtain requires experience, since it can rip easily if misinstalled, and should it fall, it will be hundreds of pounds on top of someone, and such mere cloth HAS killed people in the past. If you are hanging much more than a bed sheet, it requires professional installation! Sources of such large curtains may be more willing to donate if you can manage to at least pay them for their safe installation at your location.
Contact Steve Markham in care of the L.A. ORPHEUM; he may well know whats available there since he lives there and provides and repairs curtains throught So. California. If you can get a donation, but don’t like the color, or it needs repairs, Steve can help you with that too. He is a member of www.historictheatres.org and they also can put you in touch with him.
Being in Hollywood it is also possible that one or more of the film studios has long-unused curtains in one of their warehouses. Possibly a polite letter ON YOUR GROUP’S LETTERHEAD (to show that you are formally existing with your state sales tax exemption number and your 501c3 Fed. Number), and the head of a studio may direct his senior Properties Manager to locate something for you.
Miss Kari, I will privately E-mail you the E-mail address of Paul Bielik, the principal owner of the land under the theatre and he may possibly be willing to mail you a copy of his photo CD with some 30 images associated with the Warner/Grand. Note that he is a busy man and may not be able to respond to your request for a copy of the disc. But, he may also be able to put you in touch with someone at Marcus Theatres, which still owns the building, as to other images and data and possibly a tour.
Larry Widen may be reached in care of his web site: www.widenonline.com The 1980 Marquee article about the theatre is photographed on Mr. Bielik’s disc, but my article about the grillework is not on-line, but is available via the Back Issues link on the THSA’s web site: www.historictheatres.org where they sell it for $5 plus shipping; likely you can afford this small amount. My health is getting quite difficult where it is now impossible for me to walk to the mail box and I must sleep about 14 hours daily, so I hope that these others can provide the help I cannot. You might also contact Joeseph DuciBella who is supposedly doing a book about the Rapp brothers and their works, in care of THSA. A Master’s thesis was done about converting the theatre to new use, at the Univ. of Wis.-Milw. a few years back and you might find its 100 pages of some interest, though the author made many mistakes, not being a native Milwaukeean. He resides in New Jersey now and shows no interest in the subject now.
As to photos on Yahoo!, please read their Terms Of Service (a link in fine print at thge bottom of every page on their site) and allow me to direct your attention to Sections 10 and 13 where they make clear that they have the right to delete content that has long terms of inactivity. Thus they are no more gracious than the others who at least have the decency to explicitly state just how long a “period of inactivity” is that will result in deletion. Allow me to point out that any contract (TOS, Privacy Rules, and the like are “tacit contracts by default”) is only as good as your ability to enforce it, and very few people are willing and able to travel to California courts to sue for Breach of Contract. All business know this and so write these glowing ‘contracts’ on their sites. Yahoo! is no different from any other business: they will do ANYTHING, fair or foul to increase profits, and if my photos and others should take up space more profitably taken by others, they will not hesistate to delete such items and are completely guiltless in doing so, as their ‘contract’ makes clear. These are the ‘terms’ one agrees to upon using their site. Therefore I know of no site which guarantees that one’s efforts will be preserved for years, much less in perpetuity, and as soon as they delete my photos for their convenience, all the links to them that I have scattered about become worthless, and in sites such as CT, there is not even a means to change them.
“Sam_e” is quite right about Stud Lighting. The CHICAGO did/does have a wonderful display of it, and it is so called regardless of the material they are set into. As everyone surmises, they are very difficult and expensive to maintain, since not only is relamping access difficult, but in many cases the insulation on the wires has decayed and was threaded through or behind terra cotta castings and has now corroded away and must be replaced to keep new bulbs lit. In many cases this means chipping the terra cotta or brick away and removing it for access — one hopes with few pieces broken in the process! The costs for this are very high, as you can imagine! Sometimes the use of modern electronic LED cluster bulbs will allow them to use the original copper or brass sockets, if the metal is not too badly corroded, but even so, such LED bulbs with very long lifespan can apoproach $20 EACH in price, not to mention labor.
The CHICAGO’s Stud Lighting has always been there, and close observation will reveal it on many a theatre — if only as plastered over blobs as was once the case on Milwaukee’s long gone EAST Theatre. With today’s technology, many new buildings are going for ribbons or bands of color-changing LEDs for their theoritical multi-hundred year life, but others are using new, modern Neon with long lifespan to achieve a greater brilliance, but it is doubtful that such provisions would bring back the glitter of our movie palaces, sad to say. There is some hope of rewiring with new Low Voltage systems that do not require the removal of the original mains voltage (~115 volt) wiring (which is then disconnected), but such installations are quite expensive, so don’t look for routine restoration of stud lighting when some can barely afford to keep the marquee lit.
See my comment of April 28, 2004 above for the source of many very decent photos of the SOUTHTOWN, still available as a Back Issue of their “Marquee” magazine for a mere $5 plus S&H. This is less than the price of one 8x10 print today!
In its 1981 ANNUAL, titled “The Chicago Theatre” there is an article on page 5 “The name Chicago” wherein is acknowledged that various working drawings and renderings did bear both the names Capitol as well as Ambassador and explains the common practice of changing planned names for a theatre before opening day. There is also a brief history of the previous theatres that bore or were to bear the name CHICAGO. Unfortunately, that ANNUAL is out-of-print, but it may be within the collections of those libraries which have their “Marquee” magazine that far back. (see: www.historictheatres.org )
It is a wonderful photo! You can almost make out the ‘pot 'o gold’ at the end of the rainbow. May the future be golden for the SUNSET too.
“Life” is right, IF their intentions are really just cosmetic changes, BUT if they have a secret agenda to define ‘cosmetic changes’ as wholesale demolition of the plasterwork too, then they might as well start building that demolition crane out front, sad to say. To some developers, the “architecture” is really only the steel superstructure. The ‘devil’ will, as usual, be in the details of contracts, assuming that the city has any intention of enforcing any preservation clauses in such contracts; otherwise, they are just words on paper.
Contact Paul Dorobialsky, a former tech who did it all, via his web site: http://www.prnovelty.com/index.html or he can be reached via the Milw. Public Museum’s maintenance department.
Yes, sad to say, the island box office as well as the name sign were removed by the previous owner. He was determined to let residents know that he was going to convert the theatre to office space if the city continued to refuse his applications for liquor and cabaret licenses(he never got the licenses). He had large plackards mounted over the attraction boards of the marquee advertising “Office Space For Rent” but it appears that there was no progress to such conversion indoors at the time of sale to the current owner. No doubt ticket sales, when they resume, will be handeled from a table in the ticket lobby as they have been for over 20 years now, though it is possible to reconstruct the box office. The MODJESKA did just that about ten years ago.
Ken may graciously say that he is sorry the photo could not be better focused on the Warner on 2nd St. from this photo looking east from sixth street on Wis. avenue, but he really needn’t be. The sad fact is that in history if we want to see something, we must often put up with less than perfect views, and this nightime winter scene is a case in point. True, it tells us little about the Warner, and better photos do exist; I have a number of them. But in many cases across the country, such as this is all there is, and I applaud the men who bring them to us nonetheless.
Someday when CT has a new PHOTOS arrangement for permanent retention, I will take the great effort in time to upload my images, but until then there remain only the commercial photo exhibit sites, but for all one’s time and effort, they do not guarantee that one’s images will remain without a continual rental fee, and a rich man I am not. It would be too painful to leave a link to them here only to find in a year or so that they were deleted “Due to infrequent viewing.”
A PS to DavidH’s item about Miss Sell is that she played a number of Milw. theatres at the piano of the ‘pit band’. It is not clear whether she began her singing career here, but there is a biography of her with a publicity photo of her in her pro days here:
http://backwhen.com/whereare.asp?WhereID=25 . She was 97 years at that time, but died about a year ago. Larry Widen has a more recent publicity shot of her in his 1986 “Milwaukee Movie Palaces” which is to be reprinted next year, enlarged, as “Silver Screens.”
Here is DavidH’s comment which had been posted on the VARSITY’s page:
Re: THE STATE THEATER
In the 1920s' silent movie days Hildegarde Sell who went on to be THE INCOMPARABLE HILDEGARDE played the piano at the State. Hildegarde who was billed as the ultimate chanteuse had a popular national radio program THE RALIEGH ROOM in the 1940s and because of her affected mannerism was the butt of many jokes. She also wrote the best seller Over 50 So What?
posted by DavidH on Aug 11, 2006 at 6:56am
Re: STATE THEATRE: Guess my memory is failing me, since I had completely forgotten that the STATE has been listed here at: /theaters/10874/
With DavidH’s permission, I will copy his Comment over there.
So do I !!
Since I assume you want to contact him regarding our theatres, here it is: His name is Tom Barrett.
Since State St. is an East/West street, I am going to think that you meant East of 27th St., and therefore what you probably saw was the former STATE, once a 900-seater on one level from 1915 through 1955, according to Larry Widen’s “Milwaukee Movie Palaces” (to be reissued, enlarged, as “Silver Screens” next year). It is unusual that you recognized it since it never had a stagehouse, and inside, virtually no decor to speak of. It was designed by local man Frank Andree and once had a small Kimball pipe organ of unknown specs. It would have been on your right (the north side of the street) as you drove west. It is at 2616 W. State St. Feel free to add it if you like.
Just to make it clear, the photo linked to above by “Ken MC” shows the original Modjeska somewhat on the left; it is not the same building mentioned by “exModjeskaTech” in the comment above.
It takes a real squint to see the Princess in the extreme lower left bottom of that photo. The captioner here must have had high power magnification — or outside help!
The photo angle does make it appear that they are in the same block, but in actuality, there are two streets intersecting Wisconsin Ave. there between the theatres: Plankinton Ave (equivalent to 1st St.) and S. 2nd St. The Warner/Centre/Grand is therefore actually 2 blocks west of the Riverside, as their addresses indicate. The Pabst theater is only two blocks north of the Riverside which is why they will all be on the same walking tour on the Theatre Historical Soc. convention next summer of ‘07.
Hello, TheatreBuff1 and all others: I am sorry if it seemed as though I was “jumping on you” in my comment above. The comment was not directed to you or anyone else specifically. It was a Warning to all, and the reader is free to accept or reject it as he sees fit. I stand by the Biblical basis of what I said, the example of King Saul conjuring up the “spirit” of Samuel not withstanding, since this was an example of DIS-obedience to God’s Law and is a negative example not involving any supposedly immortal soul, but that is beyond the scope of this forum, and I will E-mail you privately about that.
My comment said nothing about awards, and if they choose to give such in a former manager’s name, more power to them. As to seeing supposed “tongue-in-cheek humor” in the ornamentation, that is the privilage of any observer, for beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as we have all been told since childhood. The particular image posted by ‘agilitynut’ that you refer to is not of creatures “pawing” something, but is a formalized representation of an idealized Coat-of-Arms according to the art and traditions of Hearaldry. Books on the subject of Heraldry are at libraries and would explain that the two fantastical creatures are “Chimeras” shown in what is called the “rampant” position, figuratively supporting the “Escutcheon” in the center. Far from being a jibe at European history, the artists were trying to convey the regal traditions they sought to adduce to the handsome STATE. (Other elements in that design —the vegetable pendants and the two flaming urns— are artists' liberties and not true to Heraldry.) Heraldric forms have often been used in theatre ornamentation, especially in Spanish or ‘Mediterranean’-themed buildings. I find that polychromed spandrel panel a handsome ornament there.
In life, one step often leads to another, and while I doubt that anyone at the STATE will seek to communicate with the “ghost”, there is the danger that the naive and beguiled will conclude that showing interest in such “jokes” is harmless when in fact it may be construed as an invitation to dangerous demons. Some “jokes” can exact a price far higher than one intends!
All this talk about “ghosts” in theatrs may make it seem ‘cool’ to speak of one, but do read my WARNING in my comment at the link below, please, so as to save yourself possible pain!
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