Coral Theatre

I spent my younger days working at the coral theater. Work full time and part time off and on 1967-1975. Usher,head usher, doorman,parking lot attendent, janitor. What a time we used to have. small door by the bathrooms opened up to a narrow staircase that led up to the ushers changing room. next to it was the door that led into the film room. I used to hang out in the film room, after making friends with the film operator, and what a site to watch him changing the arc rods in the projectors. I got to change them a few times and change reels and it seems like yesterday. there was a secret passage that led from the projection room to the area above the concession stand and you could come down a set of stairs and end up behind the concession area. We also used to lock up at night and then pick up teams to hide and seek. With all the lights out and no film running, the auditorium was pitch black. Straws and a hand full of popcorn seeds, and let the games begin!!
I still have a piece of carpet from the lobby and a couple bricks from the original part of the building that I took as they were demolishing it. :(:(

This was truly a treasure our new generations dont get to enjoy in todays world.

I was an usher at the Coral in 1976-77. The auditorium sat around 1400, quite large. Single screen. There were 3 aisles, with a double door entrance to each. No balcony. In the summers, we showed Disney movies as matinees for kids out of school, with regular first-run movies at night.

There were no “roadshows”, at least while I was there. We did once have a stretch of playing rock concert movies for 5 straight weeks, including Led Zeppelin’s The Song Remains the Same and Woodstock. We had a number of sell-outs and generally great ticket sales during those 5 weeks, but also had to contend with marijuana smoking and general rowdiness, and had to hire security guards. One night during that stretch I showed up to work, and the glass to the ticket booth had several taped over cracks – the crowd the night before had been so big that it surged forward when tickets went on sale, cracking the glass! And the ticket taker had his arm in a sling, from a confrontation with a patron. I was both glad, and somewhat disappointed, that I had not worked the previous night! I have lots of memories of the place, and I’m so glad this website exists to “memorialize” such places.

The auditorium was great, with the murals of Polynesian island scenes on the walls and all the little architectural details. Going in there was like being transported somewhere else. It had character, it looked like SOMETHING, unlike these bland cookie cutter theaters they have now. I don’t remember the patio. It had the misfortune to be located near the busiest intersection in the southwest suburbs, so it was sold to a shopping center developer.

Another Bryan Krefft masterpiece contribution. What a lovely snazzy cinema.
Late 40s moderne cinemas are always just so groovy.
How’s the management! Imagine seeing THUNDERBIRDDS ARE GO there and meeting any one of those 3 guys in the foyer! a complete experience!