Randolph Theatre
14-16 W. Randolph Street,
Chicago,
IL
60601
14-16 W. Randolph Street,
Chicago,
IL
60601
4 people
favorited this theater
Showing 18 comments
Link to Blick Reader article.
https://chicagoreader.com/city-life/blick-art-materials-returns-to-downtown-chicago/?utm_content=bufferd826a&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer&fbclid=IwAR3piB6_tNyW8O5W9slDu1BfnIvJ4JX4Fq-a9SwkkrStBmwRy7Gf_-EGNkw
Blick Art Materials is now the current tenant as of October 2022.
Photo added to gallery credit Nick Digilio via Facebook.
1924 photo of the ticket booth in below Flickr link.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/charmainezoe/11933147143?fbclid=IwAR0uCu1suuixOHUYkgf_GQU71UR_aS7YnXOOd3asFNdqIpTJTwaNvEbWVHI
Upon opening, the Randolph was the biggest theater in the north loop devoted to motion pictures, predating the palaces. Up to then, big pictures were shown at legitimate and vaudeville theaters, and the dedicated movie theaters were small places like the Orpheum, Strand, and Ziegfeld, while palaces were being built in outlying neighborhoods.
Saul Smaizys 1969 pic of Ronny’s Too, former State Street entrance to the Randolph Theatre.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ceebop/24266202305/in/album-72157662523920010/
1998 Reader article that mentions Ronny’s Steak House also had a club inside called AM Funk Factory and a dance hall in the basement. Found this after posting a photo to the Photos Section of Ronny’s Too that utilized the State Street side entrance of the former Randolph Theatre. And used the same kitchen as Ronny’s on Randolph as I recall.
https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/odd-man-out/Content?oid=897881&fbclid=IwAR1HCKDUrvEUX3j-hZAtLELftBH0izpSw44CWhmzvdGskE7Rc2NREWcFue0
In the THSA photo of the State Street entrance posted 01/17/16 by Broan, the film “On The Boulevard” was a German film called “The Girl On The Road”, German: Die Kleine vom Bummel released in Germany December 30, 1925.
When the Oriental Theatre opened next door in May 1926 a problem arose. Variety reported: “The Randolph street entrance of the Randolph Theatre, directly adjoining the Oriental entrance, is causing quite a bit of confusion. Absent-minded customers go to the Randolph, then howl for a money refund, claiming that they mistook it for the Oriental. Because of this the Universal house was forced to place a sign over the box office reading: ‘This is the Randolph Theatre.’”
Here is a THSA photo of the State Street entrance.
For some reason it was very hard to select that URL without getting more characters than I wanted, or fewer. Anyway, here’s a clickable link.
Link doesn’t work. Are there some keywords to help search it?
I worked at the Noble Fool Theater from its move there to the end. It’s a shame the theater couldn’t have made a go of it. It was a cozy main theater, with a smaller one down the hall and a cabaret bar in the basement. And haunted too. I heard strange music and singing one afternoon while locking up when we didn’t have a show that night. No one next store at the Oriental either that might have been rehearsing. Didn’t scare me, but I didn’t stick around to find out if more was coming. The foundation was not current, as they probably just tore down the previous building to build new. That foundation, visible in the crawl space was very old mismatched stonework. Solid, but could it still emanate vibrations from the past as well?
Here is a 1926 view featuring the Randolph’s State Street marquee. In 1920, Jones, Linick, and Shaefer bought out a vacant site on state for a new second lobby cutting through to the Randolph.
Nice item B. That’s what Ronnie’s dining room looked like as well. Only:
1) Remove the fine light fixtures and replace them with plastic models
2) Remove the carpet and put in cheap tile floor
3) Get rid of the tables and linens and put in lunch room furniture
4) Turn the light level down by about half
5) Put an enclosed night club sort of VIP area at the top of the stairs in the rear
It sounds awful. But it was actually pretty cool in a seedy, 70’s, 42nd Street sort of way.
Randolph Street is definitely great today. But despite what some say, I don’t think it is better than it was in the 70’s and 80’s. I think it is just great in a different way now.
Here is the corrected link. That’s right, the facade is all that is left of the Heidelberg, which is somewhat ironic, as it was a new facade for the Randolph Theater, none of which still exists. The Argo Tea is in the former Noble Fool space.
In the book entitled IMAGES OF AMERICA CHICAGO ENTERTAINMENT BETWEEN THE WAR 1919-1939 by Jim and Wynette Edwards ISBN : 0738523305 published by Arcadis an imprint of Tempus Publishing Inc.
On page number 85 there is a very nice picture of the Randolph
The photo is courtesey of The Historical Society of America,Elmhurst,Illinois it is a picture of the marquee and it shows the whole buld.
Bryan Kreft, please e-mail Nick Coston at , would like to talk to talk to you.
Thanks.
Main dining hall of Ronny’s Steakhouse was constructed in the Randolph’s auditorium. When I ate there in the late 90’s auditorium ceiling was still intact. All sorts of strange characters in there. Festive atmosphere in this restaurant, with colored lights and an entrance to some sort of night club at rear…a remainder of what Randolph street was in the 70’s.