Auditorium Theater
Auditorium Theatre, 1890
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| Address | 50 Congress Parkway |
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| Location | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Coordinates | 41°52′34″N 87°37′31″W / 41.8760639°N 87.6251856°WCoordinates: 41°52′34″N 87°37′31″W / 41.8760639°N 87.6251856°W |
| Owner | Roosevelt University |
| Capacity | 3,901 seats |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1889 |
| Renovated | 1967 |
| Architect | Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan |
| Tenants | |
| Joffrey Ballet | |
| Website | |
| www |
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Auditorium Theatre is a music and performance venue located inside the Auditorium Building at 50 Congress Parkway in Chicago, Illinois. Inspired by the Richardsonian Romanesque Style of architect Henry Hobson Richardson, the building was designed by Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan and completed in 1889. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra performed in the theatre until 1904 as well as the Chicago Grand Opera Company and its successors the Chicago Opera Association and Chicago Civic Opera until its relocation to the Civic Opera House in 1929. The theatre currently hosts performances by the Joffrey Ballet, in addition to a variety of concerts, musicals, performances and events.
In 1885, Chicago-based businessman and philanthropist Ferdinand Wythe Peck began ambitious plans for the building that would house the Auditorium Theatre. At the time, Chicago was still recovering from the 1871 Great Chicago Fire and was rife with the contentious labor issues that would lead to the 1886 Haymarket Square bombing. Peck was committed to building a state-of-the-art performance venue that would make high culture available to the general public, while also helping to bolster Chicago’s sullied reputation. To subsidize the cost of performances, Peck envisioned a new concept in design: a multi-use structure that would encompass the theatre, as well as a luxury hotel and office space; proceeds from the hotel and offices would fund performances and keep ticket prices affordable. The architecture firm Adler and Sullivan were retained to design the building at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Congress Street. It is considered to be one of their most notable buildings during their partnership together.
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