Lyric Opera of Chicago

50sSNIPES on January 24, 2025 at 7:17 pm

The Civic Opera House opened its doors on November 4, 1929, with the live performance of “Aida”, starring Chase Baromeo and Charles Marshall, just 6 days after the Stock Market crash and the start of the Great Depression.

On November 30, 1948, the Civic Opera House was renamed the Lyric Theatre of Chicago due to Kemper Insurance buying the theater with an estimate $10,700,000. That same year, the Civic was leased to WENR-TV (now WLS-TV) as its main television studio for several local programs.

In 1956, the Lyric Theatre was renamed the Lyric Opera Of Chicago, and the Civic reopened in 1959 as an legitimate playhouse. The Lyric Opera of Chicago once closed in 1967 due to a musicians strike but reopened the following year.

In 1972, a performance by the Moiseyev Dance Company were interrupted by smoke bombs, and in 1973, a stage fire destroyed the entire stage, causing an estimate $23,000 in damages. The famous 7,000 pound hydraulically operating curtain suffered damage but survived the fire.

In May 1983, the Kemper Insurance Building was sold to Dino J. D’Angelo, and the original Civic Opera House name was reinstated. That same exact year, the Civic Center for Performing Arts was founded.