Blackstone Theatre

Merle Reskin Theatre

Blackstone Theatre
The theatre in 2007
Merle Reskin Theatre Location within the Chicago Loop community area.
Address	60 East Balbo Drive Chicago, Illinois United States
Owner	DePaul University
Capacity	1325
Current use	Stage performance
Production	Goodman School of Drama
Construction
Opened	December 31, 1910
Closed	1986–1988
Years active	1910–present
Architect	Marshall and Fox (developed by Tracy C. Drake and John Drake)
Website
http://theatreschool.depaul.edu

The Merle Reskin Theatre is a performing arts venue located in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. Originally named the Blackstone Theatre and now named after Merle Reskin, it was founded in 1910. The Merle Reskin Theatre is now part of DePaul University, although it is still used for events not affiliated with the university. It serves as the home of the Chicago Playworks for Families and Young Audiences series produced by The Theatre School.

The building was designed by Marshall and Fox and developed by Tracy C. Drake and John Drake of Drake Hotel fame on the former site of Timothy Blackstone's mansion. The theatre has a rich history of live performances that have traditionally been touring productions of hit and prize-winning shows.

The architects who designed the new theatre in 1910 were Benjamin Marshall and Charles Fox of the firm Marshall and Fox, who also designed the adjacent Blackstone Hotel in 1909. As with the hotel, the theatre took its name from Timothy Blackstone, whose mansion had previously occupied the site. The original address was on Hubbard Court, which was later renamed Seventh Street, and renamed once again to East Balbo Drive, the current name. The building is six stories tall and built in a French Renaissance style. Constructed only seven years after the Iroquois Theater Fire, the theater was required to be fireproof and the management claimed the auditorium could be cleared in three minutes. Seating capacity was 1,400 people until 1988, when renovations to reinstate the orchestra pit and to create seating for handicapped persons reduced the seat count to 1,325.