Maryland Theatre
855 E. 63rd Street,
Chicago,
IL
60637
855 E. 63rd Street,
Chicago,
IL
60637
2 people
favorited this theater
The Maryland Theatre opened in 1928 on the site of the Woodlawn Theatre in the heart of the Woodlawn neighborhood’s E. 63rd Street business and entertainment corridor, standing between S. Drexel Avenue and S. Maryland Avenue. The Maryland Theatre was within blocks of both the palatial Tivoli Theatre and the Trianon Ballroom (sister to the Aragon Ballroom in Uptown), as well as a handful of smaller theatres.
The Maryland Theatre, which originally seated 1,800, was operated by Balaban & Katz from its opening until the 1960’s, when it became part of the ABC Theatres chain. In the 1970’s it hosted African-American performing artists.
The theatre was closed in 1977, and was virtually destroyed by vandals in the 1980’s which led to its demolition in the 1990’s. The site is now a parking lot.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 18 comments)
GOSSIP COLUMN ITEM:
Chicago Tribune, Tuesday, February 25, 1964, s. 1, p. 22, c. 2:
Tower Ticker, by Herb Lyon
“… .In a late rush, B&K’s State Lake, Maryland and now Uptown are sold out for tonight’s Liston-Clay theater TV episode. The Marbro has seats … .”
For Maryland pics contact the Theatre Historical Society. Web address:
http://www.historictheatres.org/
The web site has email and phone contacts. I know for a fact that they have some photos of this building & they would be happy to sell you copies at a very reasonable price.
Hey,
Are these these the photos that you shot in the late 80’s ?
If so, please post them here on the site, or provide a link.
Its kinda difficult to buy photos sight unseen. Please post!
thanks “LTS”
Yes, they do have my photos. But they also have others. I no longer have copies myself. When I was taking photos there were no digital cameras. I got sick of storing Kodak slides as I got older and gave everything to THS. I also figured the collection did more good there than in my basement.
Seriously, give them a call. The prints don’t cost much, and if you can’t make it to the archive they will send you copies for examination with a watermark before you buy.
Thanks….i had no luck searching the archive woth my lack of skills
I’ll keep trying….where there’s a will………..
As noted above, you can see the Maryland Theatre in the movie “MONKEY HUSTLE”. 39 minutes and 38 seconds into the film, the box office, the glass entrance doors,a number of poster cases(J.D.’S REVENGE is on display), and many light bulbs under the marquee can be seen in a great night scene. See it for free at the Internet Movie Database or Hulu.
I just posted above some photos I took around 1980
A book about the Jackson Park Theater antitrust case lists the Maryland as opened in 1918 and acquired by B&K in 1928, showing films 9 weeks after the first-run in the Loop.
The Maryland, the Rhodes, and the McVickers were the IT theaters between 74 and 77. You go in the lobby and walk up an incline. Concessions on one side. Huge propped posters of widely seen films lined the other. Then you walked through the doors to the screen. Tucked away next to the 63rd L train between cottage grove and University ave., this place was the noise of my childhood. Never forget it.
Pretty hard to get a good view of the theatre because of the raised train platform being right in the middle of the street.