James M. Nederlander Theatre
24 W. Randolph Street,
Chicago,
IL
60601
24 W. Randolph Street,
Chicago,
IL
60601
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favorited this theater
Showing 151 - 175 of 205 comments
The facade doesn’t look like the Iroquois in any way, shape, or form. View link
Any architect building a theater on the site of the deadliest theater fire (which occured just after it had opened) would have to be an idiot to remind people of the horrible tragedy, lest the audience fear becoming victims themselves.
To echo what was said above, the Oriental theater’s facade was MODELED after the Iriquois, but it IS NOT the one from the Iriqouis, it was demolished when the original building came down in 1921.
Yes, it just did the news reported that the owners of the offices did not want it to be opened for fears that the smell of the popcorn would upset the flow of the work day. And that if the store got the O.K. that no one would be doing their job,that thay would be thinking about the popcorn and not the work. But i think that the County were the ones thet said OK and now the store is opened.
Thank You for the information that is ware i thought it was but i was not sure. Thanks Again!!
I wasn’t aware Garrett’s had opened. It’s ground-floor retail, next to the office buiding entrance.
Can any one explane to me whare the Garrets Popcorn Store is at ?
The news reported that it was in the Orential, my question is…
whare is it, is in the acutal theatre or has it opened in the office part of the Orential Buld.If any one knows please post the answer
Thank you.
Brian is correct. The Iroquois building was torn down.
Imagine how weird it would have been to see a show at Hyde & Beman’s knowing that a disaster took place within the building. Very weird, remodeling or not.
No, it isn’t. There is nothing of the Iroquois. The Iroquois, after the fire, was remodeled into Hyde and Beman’s Music Hall and shortly thereafter became the Colonial Theater, which it remained until the Oriental was built. The Iroquois was not nearly as big as the Oriental.
The internal skeleton of the Oriental is the original Iroquois. Nothing from the facade is from the Iroquois. There was no structural damage from the fire. It was all cosmetic. Which makes the loss of all of those lives even more tragic. The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 claimed much less loss of life than the Iroquois disaster.
I never noticed this before, but the Oriental’s vertical sign is in the background of the Norman Rockwell painting The Clock Mender.
Also, the Oriental was acquired by M&R in about 1967.
Here are a few more photos of the exterior:
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The Oriental Theatre opened on May 8th. 1926.
I thought this caption on an Oriental Theatre photo found on the Internet today says it all:
“There was so much bling inside the theatre I didn’t know what to photograph next.”
The original stage was said to be very innovative; an opening day article in the Tribune says, “A new feature in theater construction is introduced in the revolving stage, which allows one act to be in progress while two others are in preparation behind the scenes, the stage itself moving up, down, or sideways under motor power directed by a controller.” Incidentally, the restoration did not actually retain the original colors, opting instead for a more subdued version; however, the bright, jewel-like colors were consistently touted as one of the more interesting features of the theater upon its original opening.
Thank You, now i understand now it makes sence.
I wish that all of the theatres that were in this area were sitll there. Good thing that we still have the Orential and the palace.
Thank You for your time.
Also, photos of most of these from the THSA archives can be seen at the Corner Bakery location on the site
The Randolph was directly next to the Iroquois. For many years later, it was the site of the Old Heidelberg German restaurant. About 10 years ago, the property was redeveloped and the site is presently an Argo Tea. It had been the Noble Fool Theater for a couple years. The Apollo was the theater directly next to the Garrick. The site was redeveloped in the 1950s into a Greyhound Depot, which, along with the Garrick site, is now part of the Chicago Title and Trust center. The RKO Grand was on the site of Daley Plaza.
Thank You For the information, can you tell me if their were any other theatres by the Garrick on the sight of the Goodman complex.
I know that the Woods was on the corner and the harris/selwyn are in the back and that the Garrick was on Randolph was their another theatre i think the adress is somtihing like 74 w Randolph? Also,the Randolph is their a Boarders book store on the spot now? Thank You for your time.
Before the Heidelberg, there was a theatre called Randolph, besides that, there were the Apollo, RKO Grand, and the Palace.
Can any one tell me what other theatres were around the Orental other then the Chicago Theatre the ones the i recall are : State/Lake
Roosevelt, The UA, Woods,Loop,Selwlyn,Harris,Garrick. Are their any others that i am forgetting? Thank You for your time on this question.
Story passed down through the family about opening night is that they were asked to come up on stage and take a bow. They refused, causing a minor controversy. The story goes that they were unahappy with the design. This rings true, as Rapps tend to do two things: overachieve and suffer from inferiority.
The fire mentioned above is the source for some of the negative comments I have heard about the restoration. The upper lobby in question was not restored (only cleaned up). It could be argued that it doesn’t fit.
I was given a tour of the Oriental (and a hard hat) while the restoration work was in progress. We went up on scaffolds and walked above the auditorium, from the rear of the balcony to the stage opening. I was shown spots on the ceiling where original construction workers wrote their initials.
Thank you for the information that sounds like what i was told.
I used to be part of the FOH staff during “Ragtime” and that was one of the examples that we used in the brefing of the staff before the show.Great job finding the articles to share please keep them comming.
All that i have to say is WOW! great find and thank you for putting it up for us to see. It is hard to envision that happing but it did.
I recall something also about there being a fire in the balc. do you know if the gangs did it or was it just someone not doing their job?
The way that i was told was that their was some one not putting out a cigerett the correct way, and the ash started a big blaze in the balc. that destroyed the upper floors and did some damage to the seating area (the smoke and the water i mean) can you or any one help shed some light on this for me . thank you.
Let me update a couple of things, in the photo of the Masonic Temple Building and the Delaware Building, posted on 11/13/03 by Brian Krefft, the Delaware Building origianlly extended one window bay to the east. The Iroquois theater was then next to the Delaware. The Delaware lost that window bay when the Masonic Temple was built. Second, when the Oriental Theater was renovated in the 1990’s the stagehouse was expanded into the old Oliver Typewriter Building, which was behind the Oriental Theater and just to the north of the Delaware Building. Most of the Oliver Typewriter building was destroyed, the cast-iron facade was retained. Lastly, the chandliers that are currently in the lobby of the Oriental originally hung in front of the organ screens in the auditorium. During the Oriental’s renovation, I was working very near to the theater and used to sneak into the building during my lunch hour. (And usually got caught and ‘asked’ to leave.)
Bryan Krefft: That is a very good pic of the Orential thay did something like that for “Ragtime” also i think that thay are going to do that for any long running show.
Bryan Krefft:Thank you for the information i did not know what happened to them. I was part of the FOH crew that took over when livevent reopened the Oriental i was there when thay were in the middle of it i was there for the first run of “Ragtime”,the uniforms that were worn the “first time Out” did not look like thay do now and thay did not look like the “Arabian Night`s” inspired back when it was opened for the first time. The uniforms that we used oddley enuf looked something like the uniforms that the UA personell wore. There were some better upgrades like the doors to the aisles are now controled by remote control when the show starts if the usher is busy and can not get to the door a controll room operator can close them.Not to mention the very useful intercom system.Thank You for your time and information.