I don’t have any interior photos of the theatre, because the roll of film was damaged. I do have a number of exterior shots though. The interior is pretty plain.
Here is a view down Dearborn towards Randolph with the Woods visible (as well as the Daley Center, entrance to the Dearborn Subway, and Marina Towers… phew! That’s a lot of Chicago in one photo! And this is that same view now.
View link Here is a picture with a portion of the Peerless from December, 2002. I would take this to indicate that it does in fact still exist, although I cannot personally attest to it.
Actually, the ‘marquee’ you note is a replacement-in the first shot you see the words -Victoria-Theatre- with boards underneath; persumably, this was used billboard-style, and when this had deteriorated enough it was replaced with a smaller, modern billboard and electronic sign, which isn’t really used anymore. The lighter colored brick is where the old billboard was; i’m not really sure why it’s a different color.
That’s odd, the rest of my comment disappeared. The photo is from earlier this year; also, the theater’s entry isn’t entirely correct; the only art deco touches in the theater are the marquee and arguably the lobby; the exterior is best described as Spanish Baroque and the house Atmospheric.
The theater sign isn’t there anymore, and the produce market is now closed. It looks like the space is now used by a church- there is a small sign and entrance off to the side.
Yep, Chcicago Reader’s gonna be your best bet. That said, there’s not many operating ornate theaters besides the Music Box. In the suburbs you have the tivoli, the catlow, the york, the pickwick. In the city, the Vic still shows movies, but it’s rather run down since it operates as a concert venue primarily. Beyond that there are some still operating but not in their original form- the Chicago, Palace, and Oriental are the old palaces that now show live shows, the Biograph just closed for good a few days ago, the Riviera is a live venue, the Lakeshore is legitimate, the Park West was once a neighborhood theater, the Portage is closed, twinned, and modernized, the Central Park, one of the first proper palaces, is a church, the Davis, Village and Logan were quadded, the Admiral is a gentleman’s club, the Esquire had a six-screen built where the original house was, the Century now is a mall featuring 7 new screens showing mainly art and indie movies, the Logan Square is a discount mall/flea market, then there’s the closed ones, like the Uptown, Patio, Ramova, New Regal, or last ‘movie palace’ in the city, the McClurg Court… not too many old theaters still playing movies.
I don’t have any interior photos of the theatre, because the roll of film was damaged. I do have a number of exterior shots though. The interior is pretty plain.
Here’s a link with photos of the theatre. View link
I guess the idea of cleaning up the street for the show really didn’t work out so well.
Here is a view down Dearborn towards Randolph with the Woods visible (as well as the Daley Center, entrance to the Dearborn Subway, and Marina Towers… phew! That’s a lot of Chicago in one photo!
And this is that same view now.
Here are a couple closeup shots from Chicago Uncommon:
View link
View link
I believe this is a 5-screen, not 6.
View link Here is a picture with a portion of the Peerless from December, 2002. I would take this to indicate that it does in fact still exist, although I cannot personally attest to it.
Actually, the ‘marquee’ you note is a replacement-in the first shot you see the words -Victoria-Theatre- with boards underneath; persumably, this was used billboard-style, and when this had deteriorated enough it was replaced with a smaller, modern billboard and electronic sign, which isn’t really used anymore. The lighter colored brick is where the old billboard was; i’m not really sure why it’s a different color.
That’s odd, the rest of my comment disappeared. The photo is from earlier this year; also, the theater’s entry isn’t entirely correct; the only art deco touches in the theater are the marquee and arguably the lobby; the exterior is best described as Spanish Baroque and the house Atmospheric.
View link View link
A nice article on the Marquee re-creation, with pictures, can be seen here: View link
If the above story is accurate, status should be changed to closed/demolished.
The theater sign isn’t there anymore, and the produce market is now closed. It looks like the space is now used by a church- there is a small sign and entrance off to the side.
Here is a quite dramatic picture out of a series of five in the Chicago Daily News collection showing the extent of the damage of the 1907 fire.
Research the Iroquois theater. You’ll find a lot of information about it, I guarantee you. The Oriental was built on the same site.
Glad to help. Check out the Facets and Siskel too, they play the really obscure stuff.
The Chicago Biograph closed last week, perhaps you could contact Village Entertainment and see if they still have the screens
Morton Grove maybe?
Ah, yeah, I knew I was forgetting a couple. I saw Steamboat Bill Jr. there. Wonderful hidden treasure, that one.
Yep, Chcicago Reader’s gonna be your best bet. That said, there’s not many operating ornate theaters besides the Music Box. In the suburbs you have the tivoli, the catlow, the york, the pickwick. In the city, the Vic still shows movies, but it’s rather run down since it operates as a concert venue primarily. Beyond that there are some still operating but not in their original form- the Chicago, Palace, and Oriental are the old palaces that now show live shows, the Biograph just closed for good a few days ago, the Riviera is a live venue, the Lakeshore is legitimate, the Park West was once a neighborhood theater, the Portage is closed, twinned, and modernized, the Central Park, one of the first proper palaces, is a church, the Davis, Village and Logan were quadded, the Admiral is a gentleman’s club, the Esquire had a six-screen built where the original house was, the Century now is a mall featuring 7 new screens showing mainly art and indie movies, the Logan Square is a discount mall/flea market, then there’s the closed ones, like the Uptown, Patio, Ramova, New Regal, or last ‘movie palace’ in the city, the McClurg Court… not too many old theaters still playing movies.
Also, I believe this was a three screen, as there were only three placards and three films booked. But never having been there I can’t confirm this.
The Biograph Theater has now closed. This despite the listings showing it open today. Oh well.
A 1915 Chicago Daily News photo shows The Wide Awake Club in front of the Studebaker Theatre. I’m not sure how to explain that name at that time.
Also here.
The Library of Congress site has this mislabeled as a shot of the Auditorium Theatre, but it clearly is not and matches the above shot.
A 1903 view of the third McVicker’s can be seen here