Comments from Life's Too Short

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Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short commented about Congress Theater on Jan 27, 2013 at 11:02 am

New charges. Liquor license in jeopardy:

http://chicagoist.com/2013/01/21/bad_behavior_of_congress_theater_se.php

One of these days Carranza is going to run out of luck.

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short commented about Patio Theatre on Jan 27, 2013 at 6:11 am

Digital projectors are in now from what I understand.

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short commented about Paramount Theatre on Dec 29, 2012 at 11:25 pm

Since its restoration the Paramount has been upgraded significantly. The original lobby was expanded into some kind of ballroom or party space. From what I can see it was tastefully done.

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short commented about Norshore Theatre on Dec 29, 2012 at 10:22 pm

In response to earlier comments: The Norshore Building was not on the site of the bank or the Howard Bowl. It was in between these two. The Norshore was demolished and replaced with an office building while the bank and Howard Bowl remained. The bank, office building that replaced the Norshore and the Howard Bowl were all demolished for the development now situated there.

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short commented about Milford Theatre on Dec 29, 2012 at 5:26 pm

Link to a photo of the Milford Ballroom when it “had seen better days”:

http://chuckmanchicagonostalgia.wordpress.com/2011/12/16/photo-chicago-milford-ballroom-when-it-had-seen-better-days/photo-chicago-milford-ballroom-when-it-had-seen-better-days/

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short commented about Parkway Theatre on Dec 17, 2012 at 6:34 pm

The pastor exorcised the ground? Give me a break. I suppose he asked all parishioners to tithe 15% of their income to the church.

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short commented about Black Rock Bijou on Dec 17, 2012 at 6:25 pm

???????????

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short commented about Brooklyn Paramount on Dec 12, 2012 at 9:36 am

My hunch is that the Paramount will not be restored anytime soon. I think the University will probably continue using it for a variety of purposes. Even if they have a new gymnasium for official basketball games, this one can have other uses. When I was at U. of Illinois in Champaign there were several gyms around campus which were used for all sorts of things.

Aside from the fact that I believe the building is still viable for LIU, unless the Trustees are blind they must be aware of the growing likelihood of the Loews Kings restoration. They must also be aware of the Bronx Paradise recently being leased to a church. While these are not the only considerations with regard to restoration, any governing body with the capacity for thoughtful decision would have to take these things into account.

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short commented about Biograph Theatre on Dec 11, 2012 at 4:23 pm

I took a few photographs of the Biograph in the 80’s. Those photos can now be found at the Theater Historical Society in Elmhurst, IL.

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short commented about Logan Theatre on Nov 29, 2012 at 4:37 pm

Wow! It looks like they did a nice job on the renovation. I was there once when it was still one screen and it was a pit. I went once more after they split it up and it wasn’t half bad. But I’d guess over twenty-five years it was probably well on the way to being a pit again.

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short commented about Nita Theatre on Nov 29, 2012 at 4:21 pm

Back in the 80’s THS was compiling a comprehensive Chicago theater directory. If that American Classic guy was taking pictures of things like the Nita I wonder if he had access to it.

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short commented about Portage Theatre on Nov 29, 2012 at 4:19 pm

Carranza sounds just plain crazy:

http://chicagoist.com/2012/11/29/congress_theater_owner_defaults_on.php

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short commented about Melody Theatre on Nov 13, 2012 at 1:51 am

I love the marquee in the Water Winter Wonderland listing above: “Michigan’s Finest Adult Movies”. What a laugh.

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short commented about Esquire Theatre on Nov 13, 2012 at 12:09 am

Judgement should not be passed until they finish. But to me it looks like this is going to be an extremely clumsy-looking building.

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short commented about Portage Theatre on Nov 13, 2012 at 12:00 am

With respect, I disagree Trolleyguy. For years I’ve been hearing that Portage Park wants to bring life back to Six Corners. Having a concert venue would do that. But it doesn’t seem to be an acceptable option. To me it seems that they want to have their cake and eat it too. Or specifically, it seems that they want to bring back the mid-20th Century glory days which isn’t going to happen.

Security, underage drinking and such are problems that come along with the business. People live near each one of the venues I mentioned above and neighbors have not raised concerns about these things.

My main complaint with this situation is that Dennis and his associates seem to have been treated with disrespect.

My secondary complaint involves building maintenance. I haven’t been to the Congress in a long time. But if Carranza is running it into ground and the Portage is next that is certainly not a good situation.

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short commented about Portage Theatre on Nov 12, 2012 at 11:40 pm

I wouldn’t pay my rent either if I had to shell out to repair the landlord’s building.

This whole situation strikes me as ridiculous five different ways. When all the dust settles I hope the Portage is still being used.

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short commented about Esquire Theatre, Chicago, IL on Oct 20, 2012 at 4:47 pm

That’s awful. Why did they bother to save any of it?

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short commented about Du PAGE Theatre, Lombard, Illinois - demolition. on Oct 20, 2012 at 4:01 pm

It seems like something better should have happened here. Wheaton doesn’t seem to be doing much better, and I don’t understand their decision-making process any better than Lombard’s. They were running successful rock concerts in the Grand and stopped so that a yet to be funded restoration could begin.

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short commented about Belpark Theatre on Sep 30, 2012 at 9:30 am

I wonder if the lobby chandelier is original to the theater, or if it was added by one of the post-warehouse tenants.

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short commented about Portage Theatre on Sep 25, 2012 at 11:14 am

Wow. I haven’t been following the details. But it sounds like Carranza is handing the situation in a very poor, most undiplomatic, manner.

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short commented about De Luxe Theatre on Sep 7, 2012 at 8:15 am

Thanks for posting these. I’ve never seen good photos of the Deluxe before. It looks like the original design was really a dog.

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short commented about Congress Theater on Sep 7, 2012 at 8:08 am

It’s nice to see the building is going to be renovated. Regarding the Portage: I seriously doubt the seats would be kept. Every converted old theater in the city that I am aware of removed them from the main floor.

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short commented about Kenosha Theatre on Aug 22, 2012 at 11:24 am

Hope something happens with this one. Seems like they were making progress six or seven years ago. It would be a shame if that was all for nothing.

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short commented about Portage Theatre on Jul 29, 2012 at 8:58 am

Hopefully Dennis can pull of the financing. But, at the same time, having concerts there doesn’t seem like it would be the worst thing in the world. The obvious issues are there of course. But the Riviera, the Copernicus Center, the Park West, the Vic and others have been successfully dealing with it for years. Certainly the places I mentioned bring people to their respective neighborhoods and certainly those people spend money in nearby businesses while they are there. I can’t really see how it would hurt Six Corners.

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short commented about Lincoln Village 7-9 on Jul 29, 2012 at 8:29 am

Article about the original Lincoln Village Theater:

http://francesarcher.com/the-man-who-put-the-hollywood-in-hollywood-park-part-two/

It contains an exterior rendering.