Studebaker Theater & Playhouse Theater

410 S. Michigan Avenue,
Chicago, IL 60605

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gavsygoo
gavsygoo on March 23, 2025 at 12:10 am

https://youtu.be/z331WJwJY3c?si=nqMb8HeNHQ0kzPtL

Watch this video for a rare glimpse inside the Playhouse Theater.

gavsygoo
gavsygoo on March 19, 2025 at 9:10 pm

Bruce! Tim! Thank you for your thoughtful responses, and so quickly after my post too. In my research, I found this: https://afterthefinalcurtain.net/2015/10/01/studebaker-theatre/

I remember seeing Dancer in the Dark three times in a large theater space that was painted all black. I also saw free screenings of Princess Mononoke and Topsy Turvy in that theater. I saw Emmett Otter’s Jug Band Christmas in the Studebaker in winter of 2023. I thought perhaps that was the theater I saw those three movies in, but that doesn’t work with my memory of the geography of the space. Those movies screening in the World Playhouse does. I sat up in the balcony for all of them, and that balcony wasn’t as large as Studebaker’s.

I saw Red Planet advertised on their marquee in 2000, and thought to myself, “well, that’s the beginning of the end.”

I recall the smaller theaters being in the back on the south side of the building, where the Studebaker is now. I can’t reconcile my memories with how the space is now, however. I saw Eve’s Bayou, Way of the Gun, Ice Storm, Sweet Hereafter (I think), Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai, and, like Bruce C., Little Voice in those smaller theaters. I’m sure there are more, but I can’t think of them right now.

I went to Chicago Academy for the Arts for high school from ‘94-'97 on Chicago and Milwaukee, but lived on the South Side, so I took the Metra from LaSalle Street Station. I did not like going home, so I would go to the Artist’s Snack Shop with friends and see a movie. I went to Roosevelt University for college, which is right next door.

I wish we could find an aerial view or a blue print of the space right now vs. the space then. I base my memories partially on where the box office is. Oh gosh. It’s so frustrating, and I know it’s only gonna get worse with age. I’m only 44 but it’s happening.

Tim O'Neill
Tim O'Neill on March 19, 2025 at 2:13 am

I worked at the Fine Arts Theatre from 1983 until 1985. M&R Theatres reopened the old Studebaker and World Playhouse Theatres on Christmas Day 1982. The Studebaker (with around 1000 seats) was branded as Theatre 1. The World Playhouse (with around 500 seats) was branded as Theatre 2. In the Fall of 1983, Theatre 1 was briefly closed for a few days so a wall can be constructed on the stage. Behind that wall, Theatre 3 (about 240 seats) was constructed; with an actors dressing room converted into a projection booth. Theatre 3 opened right before Christmas in 1983. Six months later, a wall went up on the Theatre 2 stage and, hence Theatre 4 was created. At the same time, Theatre 3 was completely reconstructed, with the sloped floor, seats and screen facing the opposite direction, and a twin projection booth was constructed for Theatres 3 and 4. The Fine Arts remained a quadplex until in closed on Thanksgiving Weekend in 2000.

Bruce C.
Bruce C. on March 19, 2025 at 1:15 am

gavsygoo, I am wondering the same thing. I saw many movies there in the 1980s (I attended Columbia Collage and would go after classes) and throughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s. I saw such movies as Parting Glances, Desert Hearts, Drug Store Cowboy, Crimes and Misdemeanors, My Own Private Idaho, Bent, Little Voice, Judy Berlin, and All About My Mother (my first Almodovar movie). I remember seeing these movies in the Studebaker (Desert Hearts, I remember it being a big theater with a balcony) and in a small auditorium that, I believe, was on the stage of the Studebaker. I believe I was also in the Playhouse but I don’t remember anything about the auditorium. I hope someone on here remembers the details of the Fine Arts Theaters better than me. I was not very observant in those days.

gavsygoo
gavsygoo on March 19, 2025 at 12:10 am

I very much want to know how the Fine Art Movie Theater carved up the Studebaker and Playhouse spaces.

gavsygoo
gavsygoo on October 18, 2024 at 9:55 pm

I saw so many art house films here in the late 90s/early 00s including Way of the Gun, Ghost Dog, and Eve’s Bayou. I also saw Topsy Turvy, Princess Mononoke, and Dancer in the Dark (3 times!). The latter three were in the balcony of a larger theater. I was in the Studebaker recently, and initially thought it was there. Now, I think it was in the Playhouse. I’m not clear on how these theaters were carved up into smaller houses. My memory is there were 3 small theater in a rear space and one large one with a balcony.

Larry Wilson
Larry Wilson on July 9, 2024 at 6:32 am

I remember seeing Kenneth Branagh’s “Hamlet” there in 70mm.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on April 1, 2024 at 3:27 pm

Vintage Tribune link with multiple photos.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/01/01/vintage-the-fine-arts-building/

Dplomin
Dplomin on September 5, 2023 at 2:48 am

I saw On Golden Pond with Janet Gaynor there in the…..80’s? Only time I was in that theater. I’ve been in The Studebaker for live theater and later movies. Glad it’s been reopened and opened again! ❤️

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on June 8, 2022 at 3:15 am

Status is now Open. “Skates A New Musical" is running through August 28, 2022. Link about the newly renovated Studebaker Theater below. Same article as the Sun-Times minus the paywall.

https://darik.news/michigan/inside-the-lalit-kala-bhavan-the-125-year-old-studebaker-theater-is-reborn/202205632200.html

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on December 25, 2021 at 7:08 pm

From the Fine Arts Building Facebook page.

Do you have a story about the Fine Arts Building? We want to hear it.

We are collecting memories and personal histories from the visitors, artists, staff and Fine Arts Building aficionados that have made this space shine for more than 100 years. Follow the link to share your memories of the Fine Arts Building, the Studebaker Theater and the last 100 years of this magnificent artistic haven.

https://www.facebook.com/chicagofineartsbuilding/photos/a.108102601704549/119859900528819/

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Hw98R-bpY7j1lL5bmWQ9m1JDy6pdjrytm782xRoZ3cY/viewform?edit_requested=true&fbclid=IwAR3RE3lRX4g4WYS61-fdS-UHHJWUVtz7C5kiSKfyS8f-zwBWEZCmYoprbMY

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on August 2, 2021 at 5:21 pm

Renovation coming.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/chris-jones/ct-ent-studebaker-renovation-chicago-20210802-jlrufjf7wbavxna4fe37nsnal4-story.html?fbclid=IwAR1n-9GSz7w65upgfnYNWsVtVb8ZYHmHCyCybfE-2lB7dxC1PoBj9aRv1rc

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on April 17, 2021 at 2:52 am

Another 1885 photo, enlargeable within Flickr link.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cornelluniversitylibrary/3678911482?fbclid=IwAR03fDKskrPrawiCWO2JzuqmgEqB2kmoMDPYpjEbhKnPqz6lcKzhJ_FwC8E

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on April 29, 2019 at 8:28 pm

Didn’t realize their was a Shorpy link for this 1903 photo I posted previously. Click View Full Size for incredible detail.

https://www.shorpy.com/node/23258

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on April 15, 2019 at 3:44 pm

I looked and saw this never got posted on 2018. Elevator operator in the Fine Arts Building.

https://www.chicagomag.com/city-life/January-2018/The-Last-Manual-Elevator/?fbclid=IwAR0keAbS4fts9Xh3zKNr1B74LPNSdLWfiIxNEjaJbnYYHxbg3ltkOfllbO4

Mister_Comics
Mister_Comics on March 29, 2019 at 10:22 pm

Newspapers from the mid 80’s have the address as 418 S. Michigan Avenue. Phone number at the time as 939-3700. (see ad in “Photo section”) Newspapers have been known to make mistakes.

wschende
wschende on February 21, 2019 at 8:04 am

From the “About” section of the new Studebaker Theater website:

The Studebaker Theater is housed in the historic Fine Arts Building

In 1898, The Fine Arts Building created the historic The Studebaker Theater. Originally built to house vaudevillian performances, but later expanded into large productions in the 1920’s. During the subsequent years, performances by Bob Hope, Peter O’Toole, and Vincent Price graced the stage with their immense theatrical skills. The Studebaker Theater continued on throughout the years for being known as one of the most important live theatrical venues in the City of Chicago.

In the 1970’s, the city underwent a downturn in live theater attendance and The Studebaker was converted into four separate motion picture cinemas. Eventually in the year 2000, The Studebaker was closed entirely. In 2005, The Fine Arts Building, which houses the Studebaker Theater, underwent new ownership. Renovations to restore The Studebaker finally began in 2015.

Today, The Studebaker Theater, which holds 740 seats, reopened for live performances in 2016.

Source: https://www.studebakertheater.com/about

wschende
wschende on February 21, 2019 at 7:21 am

From The Chicago Tribune Koopman returns, and the Studebaker is back in the concert business March 10, 2016

(Discussion of the return of harpsichordist Ton Koopman to Chicago..then the following)

“That said, the event was most notable for being the first major concert to take place in decades at the Studebaker Theater, a historic gem of 1898 vintage that once was a flourishing recital hall (Hermann Prey and Regine Crespin sang here) but has been shuttered for two decades.

The mid-sized venue, modeled after a typical small European opera house, has recently undergone a major renovation by the building’s management and is nearly ready to serve as an additional venue for classical music on the cultural mile of South Michigan Avenue. Such a venue has long been needed, and it’s heartening to know that Chicago classical presenters soon will be setting up shop in this inviting space. From Tony to Chick to Ramsey, a jazzy summer at Ravinia

Audience members were expected to ignore the bare stage house and the lack, as yet, of a functioning air-conditioning system. (Free water bottles were provided.) There was an awkward delay for the stage lighting to be adjusted to enable Mathot to properly see the printed music in front of her. A more serious problem, from the listeners' perspective, was the skimpy program leaflet, devoid as it was of information about the music or the harpsichords on which the Koopmans were performing.

On the positive side, the Studebaker’s clear acoustics, intimate sightlines and comfortable seats made it an appropriately intimate place in which to perform and hear 17th and 18th century keyboard works. It was good to have Koopman back in Chicago, where he last conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2012. His local appearances go back at least as far as 1992 when he brought his famed Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra to town."

wschende
wschende on February 21, 2019 at 7:03 am

Timelapse Video of the Studebaker Theater Rehab here: https://youtu.be/z21K_vRjtT0

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on November 8, 2018 at 2:44 pm

Companion photo to the one I added to the Photos Section. But the year is 1913, not 1910 as the link below states.

https://explore.chicagocollections.org/image/chicagohistory/71/t43jb26/?fbclid=IwAR3yJW1uGyE01l96nKVND9R0xHnWXHqETCJ4Nhn8oaBIeQftLaXYU7pTwP8

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on March 28, 2018 at 11:09 pm

1885 photo as the Studebaker Building added via Raymond Kunst. Also Chicagology link below.

https://chicagology.com/goldenage/goldenage033/

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on December 22, 2017 at 3:36 am

Link about the Fine Arts Building.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/recording-the-sights-and-sounds-of-chicagos-fine-arts-building?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=atlas-page

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on November 15, 2016 at 1:30 am

Rivest266, the Woods article re-posted here.

rivest266
rivest266 on November 15, 2016 at 12:35 am

April 29th, 1933 and December 25th, 1982 grand opening ads in the photo section.