ML - Michigan Avenue

2014 - Issue 8 - December/January

Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!

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photography by chicago history museum A sketch of the Auditorium Theatre's 1889 grand opening by H.F. Farny. In 1889, Chicago was less than 20 years removed from what was then the great- est tragedy this Midwestern metropolis had ever seen: the Great Chicago Fire, which reduced the city to rubble. So it was with a particular sense of triumph that on December 9, Chicagoans celebrated the grand opening of the Loop's new Auditorium Theatre. The brainchild of philanthropist Ferdinand Peck and wealthy Chicago friends like Marshall Field and George Pullman, the expansive theater was constructed of pink Minnesota granite and Indiana limestone cladding over brick, covering a massive 240,000 square feet. Its opening was so anticipated that then-President Benjamin Harrison and Vice President Levi P. Morton left Washington while Congress was still in session (a first for the commander in chief ) to witness the theater's debut at 50 East Congress Parkway with a performance by famed soprano Adelina Patti—the great-grandaunt of Patti LuPone, who will take the Auditorium Theatre's stage for the 125th anniversary gala on December 9. At the time, the Adler and Sullivan – designed building was the tallest in Chicago, the heaviest structure built, the only theater in America with air con- ditioning, and the first multipurpose facility ever created. "When you think about what this theater has seen and how it still functions as well as any theater being built today, it speaks to the genius of the architects," says Auditorium Theatre Executive Director Brett Batterson. Throughout its storied history, the theater has been utilized as a WWII ser- vicemen's center, complete with a bowling alley, and later as one of the city's premier concert halls, welcoming musical legends like The Beach Boys, Jimi Hendrix, and Elton John. Having opened its curtains to Broadway produc- tions like The Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables in the 1980s, the space is now best known as the home of the Joffrey Ballet. As the theater commemorates its 125th anniversary with a celebration chaired by First Lady Michelle Obama, it continues to prove its relevance as a cultural landmark by hosting a multitude of artistic events along with a rather notable sporting occasion in spring 2015: the NFL draft. "The NFL looked at every the- ater in the United States and decided that this theater, built in 1889, was the best theater for the draft," notes Batterson with pride. "Over the past 125 years, [this space] has seen the evolution of the city. The Auditorium Theatre is Chicago." December 9, 50 E. Congress Pkwy., 800-982-2787; auditoriumtheatre.org ma Curtains up For 125 years, the auditorium theatre has placed chicago on the world's stage. by susie moskop 6  michiganavemag.com FRONT RUNNER

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