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After 125 years of bringing Chicago audiences world class performances, one must admit that The Auditorium Theatre has to have been doing something right. Home to iconic artists and performers from virtually every genre known to man, the landmark Auditorium Theatre stage has been our window to the a world of culture and performance (from global luminaries to local favorites) since it first opened its doors in 1889. And isn’t it ironic that, like so many other revered Chicago treasures, the Auditorium Theatre owes at least some of its beginnings to the city’s most destructive event, The Great Chicago Fire of 1871? Indeed, the Chicago Fire became the impetus for so
many changes within the city we call home. In the historic aftermath of the devastating blaze, architects from around the world flocked to Chicago to take part in the city’s rebirth. At the same time, massive immigration from Europe created a much-needed labor force for construction. Meanwhile, the vast fortunes made by some during the Left: It's performance night and a capacity crowd sits in The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University; Above: In 1942, The Auditorium Theatre is taken over by the city of Chicago and used as a WWII Servicemen's Center, complete with a bowling alley on the stage; The original planned 1889 Opening Day sketch of The Auditorium Theatre.
Gilded Age expanded the size of Chicago’s upper class, which, in turn, created a demand for more and better cultural experiences. By the late 1800s, Chicago was eager to make its mark on the world. Unfortunately, the deplorable working and living conditions of the equally growing immigrant workforce increased tensions between the working class and the wealthy industrialists, culminating in the Haymarket Square Riot in 1886. What is not commonly known is that both the Chicago Fire and the Haymarket Square Riot were the great precursors in a very real sense to the development of The Auditorium Theatre we know today. But it only makes sense that an institution so vital to Chicago’s rich cultural history has just as rich a history of its own. In 1886, Ferdinand Peck, a wealthy Chicago businessman, conceived an ambitious plan to build the world’s largest and grandest theater. According to Brett Batterson, executive director of Auditorium Theatre, the venue was built for two very distinct reasons: to prove that Chicago could build an opera house on par with those in Europe; and to bring together the city's working class and industrialists through the power of the arts—the latter, a deliberate response to the rising tensions between those two factions. The Chicago architectural firm of Adler and Sullivan was hired to design the building (joining the firm a year later was a young draftsman by the name of Frank Lloyd Wright, who prepared the drawings for the theater). German-born Danmark Adler was widely recognized as an exceptional structural engineer and acoustic genius, and Louis Sullivan was famous for his designs and ornamentation. Both men were instrumental in the rebuilding of Chicago after the fire. The two complemented one another perfectly in creating a theater renowned for its lavishly appointed interior of marble mosaics, art glass, murals and plaster reliefs with acoustics that were ahead of their time. For the stage, Sullivan designed modular panels that can transform its size, and Adler included hydraulic systems for dynamic sets. According to Ashley Wheater, artistic director for the theater’s resident company, The Joffrey Ballet, the design is “very forward thinking…conceived and built 125 years ago with the technology available at that time. The sightlines are excellent, the acoustics are excellent, and the stage can handle all the grandeur of a full-scaled ballet but works equally well for a smaller, abstract work. It allows you to be creative in your dancing.” Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970, given National Historic Landmark status in 1975 and designated a Chicago landmark 1976, the theater was truly ahead of its time in Winter 2015CNCJA•23