Talk:Theater in Chicago

Chicago Theatre image

The Chicago Theater

I removed the Chicago Theatre image because I feel that it led to confusion between Chicago Theatre, the article on the landmark, and Chicago theatre, this article on the movement. I've added the image to the Chicago Theatre article.

While I don't have such an image, I'd like to see a picture of one of the other theatres put up as an alternative. It might also be nice to see images of actual Chicago performances or playbills. --Mindfrieze 17:22, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

Chicago Theater List

I'm about halfway through a comprehensive update of the list of active & resident theater companies in Chicago, as well as few inactive & historic ones. I found the old classifications of "Theaters" and "Companies" to be unclear, so I tried to refine as best I could... suggestions would be great. -- Nickkeenan (talk) 04:42, 3 February 2008 (UTC)

I've been looking at doing much the same thing for Toronto, and have been grappling with how to categorize the relevant lists. First, there's value in separating venues/stages and companies — the where and the who.

For stages, I'm thinking of a table along the lines of List of concert halls with columns for venue with street address, resident companies, room, and # of seats. I'm also thinking of two such tables, one for stages that are mostly used for professional productions, and another for generally non-professional stages in institutions like universities, public libraries, community centres, etc.

There's also the criteria for inclusion: I'm omitting stages in secondary schools and also studios and rehearsal spaces that are seldom used for public performances.

I don't think I see the usefulness of distinguishing between resident and itinerant companies, and I find in Toronto that there are companies who fall into a grey area that's difficult to resolve. I am thinking that the companies list might be more meaningful as a table with a column giving a few words about the focus of as many companies as possible. This can be sourced from directory-type web sites where companies have listed themselves. This would not count as original research, in my opinion, since it involves paraphrasing other people's words.

I'd be interested in your feedback. – Cheers! Epanalepsis (talk) 04:46, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

Spelling

If most Americans use "theater," shouldn't the article be keyed to what they're likely to search on? Moreover, correct American spelling is "theater" and Chicago is about as American as it gets.

And the list of theaters/companies contains a number of "theatres" that are actually "theaters." In the case of the list, the names ought to be spelled according to what the company uses. 75.57.116.206 (talk) 04:12, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

List of theatres

This list is questionable at best under WP:NOTDIRECTORY, but even if it were to be okay, we need to make sure that any listed theatre company is given more than routine coverage or are only supported by the first party source of the company's website. And then, the references really can't be just plain external links In short, this section needs cleanup. As an aside, the article title uses the -re spelling, which is pretty consistent with the use among live theatre people in the industry, and the signage for the Loop Theatre District actually located along the streets of the area. Either way, the article title and body spelling should be the same, with the obvious exception that proper nouns should use the spelling proper to that venue or company. oknazevad (talk) 23:27, 22 December 2013 (UTC)

Village Theatre?

This place did a lot of 2nd run and midnight shows, are movie theatres included here?

Village Theatre, Chicago

Victor Grigas (talk) 18:20, 3 February 2022 (UTC)

No, this article is about live theatre, not movies. More importantly, it's about the art form first, and the venues secondary; it's called "Theater in Chicago", not "List of theaters in Chicago". oknazevad (talk) 20:36, 2 December 2022 (UTC)

Grand Opera House theatre?

Dear Colleagues,
Does anyone have any information about this theatre? It was located at 119 North Clark Street and was apparently demolished in 1958 as the RKO Palace Theatre. I have just come across an old playbill advertising the play Arsenic and Old lace which opened there on April 6, 1941 for three months, through June 28, and the touring cast included Erich von Stroheim, Laura Hope Crews, Effie Shannon, and Clinton Sundberg. Thank you.
With kindest regards;
Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(become old-fashioned!)} 16:23, 2 December 2022 (UTC)

According to Cinema Treasures (a wonderful website I highly recommend when looking for info on old theaters; many old theatres spent time as cinemas, and so are included), the theatre at 119 North Clark was called the RKO Grand at the end. The Palace was the theatre next door at 127 N Clark, which was known as the Erlanger by the time the "New" Palace (now the still-extant Cadillac Palace Theatre) opened. oknazevad (talk) 21:41, 2 December 2022 (UTC)

Very many thanks, oknazevad; with your help above, I’ve now been able to learn a bit more about this theatre. Thank you once again!
With kindest regards;
Patrick. ツ Pdebee.^{(talk)(become old-fashioned!)} 23:07, 2 December 2022 (UTC)