Later this year Chopin Theatre will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its building. On this occasion we will also publish “Around Chopin Theatre: A Century in Pictures & Stories”, a commemorative album celebrating the building and the surrounding area from 1918 to 2018.
Unfortunately we could not find much photos/materials from those first few decades of the theater’s existence and could use your help.
What we’ve learned from the Theatre Historical Society of America:
“..we do not have a whole lot in the way of the history of the theatre but hopefully this is something that will be helpful to you. The theatre opened March 11, 1918 and was designed by architects Worthmann & Steinbach. It originally had 546 seats and was operated by Victor Bardonski. I believe it was first opened as a motion picture theatre. In 1923 it was renamed the Harding and the seating capacity was expanded to 987. By 1931 it was called the Chopin again. At some point it was called the Pix”
The second part of the album features photos from some of roughly 2,000 theatrical, literary, musical, social and other events presented since 1990 when the theater was purchased and restored by the Dyrkacz Family.
If you have any photographs/materials from the first few decades of Chopin Theatre or the surrounding area please contact [email protected], 773.278.1500 or personally (before 2 am) at 773.396.2875. We would be happy to pay a reasonable price for published photos.
Chopin Theatre is a Chicago based private, multi-cultural arts center presenting some of Chicago’s best theater companies as well as dozens of international troupes, jazz and classical music, literary lectures, operas and a multitude of social speak-easies. Chopin Theatre Productions has staged over 120 of its own productions including work with artists from 40+ countries.
