Studebaker Theater & Playhouse Theater
410 S. Michigan Avenue,
Chicago,
IL
60605
410 S. Michigan Avenue,
Chicago,
IL
60605
20 people
favorited this theater
Showing 76 - 100 of 115 comments
For the two years I lived in Chicago, attending Columbia College (1993-1995), this was my favourite place to watch films. Perhaps it was the fine old building it was in or the romance of its crumbling interior (even then), but I liked it even better than the very fine Music Box. Plus, it was much closer.
Among the films that made an impact on me there, my fondness for them being inextricably tied in with my fondness for the place itself, were Jane Campion’s “The Piano” and Krzysztof KieÅ›lowski’s “Blue.” Whenever I reflect on those films, I also vividly recall the comfort and satisfaction of watching them from my favourite perch in the front row of the balcony. It was just the right distance from the screen for my tastes and allowed plenty of space for all the contortions necessary to sustain good circulation, stave off a bathroom break, and maintain intense focus on the film itself.
Recent nostalgia for the Fine Arts building itself led me to find photographs which suggested that the theatre might be gone and now, tonight, I find that that is sadly the case. Lousy deal.
It may have been a crumbling relic, even in 1993, but it is still my favourite theatre yet.
As far as i know the Artist`s Snack Shop is still open i used to work at the Auditorium Theatre and we would go their all the time.
This place was, in the 1970s, a playhouse and it was called The Studebaker. I remember my parents dragging me to some b-o-r-i-n-g play on Emily Dickinson. When it re-opened as the Fine Arts, M&R had it. It eventually passed thru Sony Theatres (aka M&R Leows, Sony-Loews, et al) and on to Loews.
I attended Columbia College two blocks to the south between 1984 and 1987. I remember when this was Chicago’s “art house.” I and my classmates would go here if we had a few hours between classes (at that time Columbia was a “commuter college”—no dorms). M&R always gave student discounts. I remember such fare as THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET, REPO MAN, METROPOLIS (the 1984 re-release which was restored and had a soundtrack from Georgio Morodor added), THREE MEN AND A CRADLE (the French version of THREE MEN AND A BABY), and CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS. I had graduated by the time that last film was out and that was the last time I ever went there.
And yes, Catherine DiM, I did see STOP MAKING SENSE and TRUE STORIES here. Despite being Chicago’s “art house”, I always thought that this place was a little bit of a dive—it always seemed so musty inside. Still, what great films played here! As a previous poster stated, as time went on, more mainstream movies played here, particularly in the late 90s and early 2000s. I guess I really wasn’t surprised when it closed.
Is Artist’s Snack Shop still in business?
Wow! I did not realize Broadway in Chicago had come so far. My mind was still back in the days they mention at the end of that article. That is exciting!
Give JRS 40 a seegar!
David Byrne was “The Narrator” in TRUE STORIES. Jerry Harrison, Chris Frantz, and Tina Weymouth appeared in the “Wild Wild Life” and “Love For Sale” sequences. They also appeared in various “crowd shots”, I believe. TRUE STORIES also featured John Goodman.
That brings to mind this Tribune article from September 2006, about the Loop potentially running out of good theater space later this year.
One reason it might not reopen is that there is already a ton of theatre capacity in the Loop. The same goes for Chicagoland in general.
However, the fact that it has been sitting there asleep all this time is interesting.
Catherine – Might that be “True Stories?”
Name one Chicagoland Talking Heads fan that didn’t see STOP MAKING SENSE here during that film’s two-year run!
Now, can anybody name the OTHER 1980s film which featured the Talking Heads? It ran here too for quite awhile.
Anyone interested in trying to resurrect this theatre?
I remember seeing the Big Lebowski in the big hall’s balcony. I made the trip to see it BECAUSE it was playing at the fine arts later in it’s run.(I had already seen the film opening weekend)
I needed a LOT of work even in 1998.
There’s no reason why this facility cant reopen, even as a live theatre.
Here is a 1910 postcard view of the then much cleaner Fine Arts Building.
Russell Phillips Photo:
World Playhouse
Actually, the entrances are accessed from the building’s lobby, at either end of the building. The signs saying “world” and “studebker” are still visible, and sometimes you can faintly see into the theaters.
The entrance to the World Playhouse is now the entrance to the cafe that is the bulding.
And it also gives entrance to the bulding.
As the Fine Arts Building, the Playhouse was always there. The Studebaker was the larger house, and the Playhouse or alternately World Playhouse was the smaller. Additionally there would have been performances and recitals throughout the building.
There’s a chapter missing from this history. In the mid 1920’s the building housed a live stage theatre called simply “The Playhouse” and it was run by Lester Bryant. I have a couple of theatre programs attesting to this fact. The Playhouse may have been a smaller thatre than the main one. I’m not sure. But it did have a balcony, according to the seating and fire exit diagram in the back of the programs. Thought I would add this tidbit to your information.
i work at this theater in the mid 90’s as a part time job while in school. having also worked at a run down 70’s suburban box in my home town, i was in love with this theater, and am disgusted that it is left to ruin by the loews/sony people. although it’s 3rd and 4th screens were out of place afterthoughts and the 2nd screen was a sad comparison to the main hall, i just love watching movies from the first or second balcony of the main theater.
there are many great theaters in chicago, but the Fine Arts main hall was just plain BIG. the few times we opened up the balconies for a special event, it really made it feel magical. if i remember right, even in the 90’s it was the largest capacity hall in the city. with the McClurg Court Cinema a close second or about the same, but now i see that is closed too! shame on you Chicago, and shame on you Loews!
i’d say a highlight for me was seeing gene siskel and al pacino do a discussion for some teachers group. i still have a blurry polaroid of them on stage =)
i’ll always remember my cramped little dressing room behind theater 3’s screen plastered with crappy left over movie posters like Escape from LA. watching movies from behind the screen, and making spooky sounds to scare co-workers while they cleaned.
The theater seems to have existed prior to 1917, as contemporary reports say that it was being rebuilt at that time for the Shubert and Erlanger organizations. Architect for the “new main floor, balcony, gallery, stage, and proscenium arch” was A.N. Rebori. The stage was also enlarged, new lighting installed, and it was reseated. Other corrections: Both the Studebaker and Playhouse existed when the building became the Fine Arts in 1899. The Playhouse was the first to become a cinema, for the 1933 Worlds Fair, thus the addition of World to its name. The Studebaker itself did not become a cinema for any long period until 1982. The other 2 screens were created in former stage space.
A while after it had opened in New York in August of 1947, Vittorio De Sica’s film “Shoe Shine” played at the World Playhouse for several weeks. That shattering neo-realist movie about the aftermath of World War II and life in a boys' prison was distributed at the time by Lopert Films, Inc.
I was one of the managers of the Fine Arts Theatre before its demise in 2003. I really loved this theatre and was probably the only one on the staff that did.
I tried to get the company (Loews Cineplex) to put money into the theatre but the best I could do was get them to agree to letting employees collect overtime to help rip down the awful orange carpeting that covered the lobby walls and paint the place.
Unfortunately it was like the proverbial “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.†The problems were way too numerous.
The 1000 seat main theatre had beautiful crystal florets that lit up all around the proscenium. Unfortunately the electrical system was from the 1930s and would constantly blow out the lighting.
The plasterwork on the ceiling, which was done in lovely baroque swirls, would come down in chunks every day. Fortunately there was never any more than one person in the 1000 seater so the law of averages was with us.
The fire doors to the theatre were the old metal doors from the 1920’s and homeless people could easily get in and would fall asleep, have sex etc. in the theatre balcony. Not to mention that they all knew how to get into the theatre through the intricate tunnels and passageways that ran underneath the building. The pickpockets knew these ways as well and crime in the theatre got to be unmanageable.
Lastly were THE RATS. I swear to you, the rats actually mugged a patron and stole their popcorn. We tried everything and knew the exterminator by his first name, how many kids he had and what his dreams and aspirations were and nothing helped.
When the place closed I was invited to a last shebang at the theatre. I managed to get away with the actual number sign for the theatre that caused me the most problems.
Right now it sits dark and it will need a LOT of work to reopen.
The place was a fleapit but I loved it. Oh well.
A comparison of the building’s original facade, as the studebaker building, and after its remodeling as the fine arts building can be seen at http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/F/FineArts2.html
http://patsabin.com/illinois/MichAveBldgs.htm Here is a postcard view of the Fine Arts building shortly after its renovation.
The scant lobby space can be seen here: http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/F/FineArts.html
Also, here’s an interesting quote I came across: “The first American performances of George Bernard Shaw and Henrik Ibsen took place in the Fine Arts Building theater which some claimed was Chicago’s equivalent of Carnegie Hall.”
They were two halls under one roof.
According to the Yahoo uptownadviser list (quoting the Chicago Tribune of March 16), the Fine Arts Building has been sold for $10.4 million to real estate investor Robert Berger. No word on future plans for the building.
The message says that there are two auditoriums in the building. Were the Studebaker Theatre and World Playhouse two names for the same hall, or were they two separate venues under one roof?
In the ‘80s, I attended an Alfred Hitchcock film festival and the Black Film Festival at the Fine Arts.