Garrick Theatre
64 W. Randolph Street,
Chicago,
IL
60601
64 W. Randolph Street,
Chicago,
IL
60601
10 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 78 comments
Great Schiller/Garrick Theatre Visualization Vimeo link below.
https://vimeo.com/658973818?fbclid=IwAR2dp1s3jG574Bd9YNnWz6J-Y0DvtY3w6UEuvek0Ac8RfVKLjSBYqne4AAw
Became a cinema on May 30th, 1934 as it is taken over by Blalban & Katz.
Circa 1915 images added courtesy of Ryerson and Burnham Archive, John Vinci Collection, and Bldg. 51 Archive via Urban Remains Facebook page. Below description credit Urban Remains. “the following pieces of ephemera were found by richard nickel while exploring/photographing adler and sullivan’s garrick (schiller) theater a few months before atlas arrived to begin wrecking it – likely in the winter months of 1960. demolition of the theater wrapped up in june of 1961. the programs mostly date to the early 20th century. the die-cut lithographed cardboard sign dates to the 1890’s, when the building was still known as the schiller.”
Urban Remains article detailing the disposition of ornamental features from the Garrick Theatre.
https://www.urbanremainschicago.com/news-and-events/2019/03/12/tracking-the-distribution-of-salvaged-ornament-after-destruction-of-adler-and-sullivans-garrick-theater/?fbclid=IwAR042cPutCM4pVIbqOcxkpNY3CUZcXkW9rsxOezKXolSoCnrgz3dFHRI7tY
2018 link with additional photos.
https://www.urbanremainschicago.com/news-and-events/2018/05/23/long-forgotten-1915-womans-change-purse-rediscovered-long-after-garrick-theaters-demolition-in-1960?fbclid=IwAR392HznoxdO2R_AKHRE0-FQRjAiSxWe-hvACAwSGR-ToVaOj6jiHoNy1uQ
Facebook post that has 1960 John Vinci photos of Richard Nickel salvaging terra cotta from the Garrick Theatre building roof area.
https://www.facebook.com/ejnordstrom/posts/2008517105825940
1959 photo in below Flickr link.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/98205045@N06/32529944451
Posted some photos of additional Frederick Almenraeder Garrick Theatre heads I ran across. One in a display currently at the Chicago Cultural Center, in the West corridor on the first floor near the restrooms. History and confirmation of the 1961 demolition included. The other two mounted in a brick wall in the 1900 block of North Lincoln Avenue.
Ran across this in the Ryerson Collection. 4 pages. You need to enlarge them to read them. Copy & paste to view.
http://digital-libraries.saic.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/mqc/id/57717/rec/2
Mid `50’s photo added, photo credit John Szarkowski, from his book ‘The Idea of Louis Sullivan’.
Here is a 2011 link with the various places the stone faces from the Garrick ended up, scattered around the city. Copy & Paste to view.
http://chicago-architecture-jyoti.blogspot.com/2011/09/lincoln-park-apartment-1945-n-lincoln.html
The last day of operation was May 19,1960. It’s final features were “Masters of the Congo Jungle” plus “When Comedy Was King.”
The Chicago premiere for the Krupa story was on Friday January 15th 1960. Trib ad mentions Mineo & Krupa would be on hand to sign “fan fotos.” Mineo also appeared at the theatre on Saturday.
i saw the premeire of the GENE KRUPA STORY there and got sal mineo’s autograph
A cornice fragment from the Garrick is at the Springold Theater Arts Center at Brandeis University in Massachusetts.
Great pictures local 311.Mike local 629.
http://img29.imageshack.us/f/img014n.jpg/
View link
View link
Some of the facade from the former Garrick Theatre was re-used on the Second City Building. However, not far away, at the intersection of Lincoln Ave & the former Ogden Avenue, some of the busts from the Garrick showed up at this View link building.
Ogden Ave was removed form this area in the late 1960s.
There is an in-depth research article regarding the history of the Schiller/Garrick theater on the following blog:
View link
The focus of the story is actually on determining the identity of the four terra cotta portrait heads which appear on the façade of The Second City in Chicago â€" but it documents the history of the heads from their origin on the Schiller theater up to the time they made their appearance on the “greatest comedy club in the world.â€
Here is an ad in Boxoffice in July 1949. I actually have this movie on VHS. It’s pretty funny, but I suppose they took it a little more seriously back then.
http://tinyurl.com/yf8l9ns
Go to the Tribune site, and there is a theater gallery. I tried to post the original link, but then you end up with the same photo every time.
http://tinyurl.com/c9b336
Here is a May 1958 photo from the Chicago Tribune:
http://tinyurl.com/ao3j8c
Regarding the last comment that was made (thanks): I did realize that the Garrick was originally called the Schiller, but my thought was that maybe when the new managers took over, the possibility existed that (for whatever reason) they may have decided to name the theater after a different man who was represented among the same relief busts. Just my thought.