I think the theatre opened up in about 1964, as the first twin screen theatre in Chicago. I started working there as an usher in 1968. We had 15 ushers, 10 “candy girls”, and 2 managers, Mr. H. and Mr. M. The larger southern theatre (screen 1) seated about 1450 people, and the smaller northern screen (screen 2) seated just over 1000. One of the biggest movies we had was the original Airport. We sold out the 7 pm and 10 pm shows for 2 weeks straight! The starting usher pay was small (less than $1/hour), but we received free movie passes, which our families treasured more than we did. It was sad to see the old place cut up into smaller screens, and then demolished altogether. We used to call it the “M and R”, named after the owners' names. It was my first real job, and a passage for many of us young people into adulthood. And it made a good first date for a lot of us! Does anyone else remember it like I do?
bobstack
I think the theatre opened up in about 1964, as the first twin screen theatre in Chicago. I started working there as an usher in 1968. We had 15 ushers, 10 “candy girls”, and 2 managers, Mr. H. and Mr. M. The larger southern theatre (screen 1) seated about 1450 people, and the smaller northern screen (screen 2) seated just over 1000. One of the biggest movies we had was the original Airport. We sold out the 7 pm and 10 pm shows for 2 weeks straight! The starting usher pay was small (less than $1/hour), but we received free movie passes, which our families treasured more than we did. It was sad to see the old place cut up into smaller screens, and then demolished altogether. We used to call it the “M and R”, named after the owners' names. It was my first real job, and a passage for many of us young people into adulthood. And it made a good first date for a lot of us! Does anyone else remember it like I do?
bobstack