La Salle Theater

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Advertisement for the movie "A Child for Sale" at the La Salle Theater in 1920

The La Salle Theater was an influential musical - Vaudeville - and Drama Theater at two locations in Chicago ( USA ). Initially at 137 West Madison Street , until 1902 under the name Orpheon Music Hall . It existed there until 1910. It then moved a few doors down to 110 West Madison Street . Until it was converted into a cinema, it ran successfully as a theater until 1927. It was finally closed at the end of the 1940s and finally demolished in the spring of 1950 for the new St. Peter's Church, which is still there today.

Operator and owner

The original La Salle Theater (French for "The Hall") belonged to Anna Sinton Taft , the wife of Charles Phelps Taft , who in turn was a brother of US President William Howard Taft . The musical producer Mort H. Singer was the tenant of the establishment from 1903 to 1910. After a lengthy legal battle, Harry Askin (1864-1934) and the La Salle Opera House Company took over the house. The latter consisted of Charles Murphy, owner of the Chicago Cubs baseball club , Askin himself, and various other shareholders.

The long legal dispute was sparked by Singer's refusal to acknowledge the termination of his lease and to stop the theater because the house was to be reopened at a different location under the same name and new tenants. Singer referred to an oral promise that he was allowed to run the theater for another five years. Finally, by order of the court, the house had to be evacuated by force, and the furnishings were also deliberately smashed to make further (illegal) theater operations impossible.

In June 1917, Anna Sinton sold La Salle to the real estate company SW Strauss & Co (headed by Albert L. Strauss (1871-1918)). In 1913, the La Salle Theater was one of 36 theaters listed in the Chicago Daily News Almanac and the Yearbook 1914 were listed.

Selected productions

  • 1905: The Umpire , book and text by Will Millan Hough (1882–1962) and Frank Ramsey Adams (1883–1963); Music: Joseph E. Howard; 300 performances
  • 1907: The Girl Question , authors: ditto; over 100 performances
  • 1910: The Sweetest Girl from Paris , book and text: Addison Burkhardt (1879–1937) and Collin Davis; Music: Joseph E. Howard; Duration two years
  • 1912: Louisiana Lou by Addison Burkhardt, Frederick Donaghey and Ben Jerome, 265 performances

Web links

Commons : La Salle Theater (Chicago)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Takes a New Name, Daily Register Gazette ( Rockford, Illinois ), Dec. 22, 1902, page 5, column 4
  2. ^ Official Notice of Corporate Name Change, The National Corporation Reporter, Jan. 1, 1903, Issue 25, No. 19, p. 826
  3. Jump up ↑ Theater Wrecked to Get Rid of Tenant, Los Angeles Herald, July 11, 1910, 7
  4. ^ Obituary: Albert L. Strauss, The Economist , October 26, 1918, Issue 60, No. 17, Page 685
  5. ^ Chicago Daily News Almanac and Year-Book for 1914, compiled by James Langland (1855-1934), page 631 (1913) OCLC 10016097

Coordinates: 41 ° 52 ′ 56.3 "  N , 87 ° 37 ′ 53.3"  W.