THEATER
June 27, 1930 was the opening day for the Jefferson Park's new deluxe motion picture palace. Week long festivities in the area leading up to the opening were capped off by a gargantuan parade sponsored by area businesses. All the Chicago dailies covered the event, and in fact, the Chicago Herald-Examiner put forth a full page spread proclaiming the new theater as "the most acoustically perfect theatre in the world." The reports were not guilty of sensationalism, as the architects indeed had given extra special attention to the acoustics, as talking pictures, a relative newcomer to the entertainment field had found a perfect environment in this new, different theater. Because of the new sound films "talkies" as they were nicknamed, plans to include a stage for vaudeville and stage shows were abandoned. Instead, a small "sound stage" was built to the back of the proscenium opening to house the screen and "new fangled" speakers. If the "talkies" were just a fad, the sound stage could easily be replaced with a full stage house with the usual complement of dressing rooms, proper rooms, fly space for the scenery and the like. Obviously, the talking pictures soon became the norm, and, in 1932, all motion picture studios stopped making silent pictures, thus sounding the death knell for vaudeville and stage shows.
For over 50 years, the Gateway was the direct-from-the-Loop flagship theater for the prolific Balaban & Katz movie theater chain. For decades, images of such Hollywood stars as Astaire and Rogers, Hepburn and Tracy, Bacall and Bogart, Greta Garbo and Betty Davis, James Stewart, Cary Grant and John Wayne, and hundreds of others graced the screen of the Gateway. The theatre had perhaps its wildest days in 1973 when 45,000 patrons packed the old place weekly for an extended run of The Exorcist.
In 1985, the Copernicus Foundation took over the administration of the theatre, opened its doors to the Polish American and other ethnic communities, as well as Jefferson Park civic organizations.
The Gateway Theatre, now part of the Copernicus Cultural and Civic Center, is the sole surviving atmospheric-style theatre in the Chicagoland area. It was designed by architect Mason Rapp of the prestigious firm of Rapp & Rapp, famous for their design of deluxe theaters not only in Chicago (Chicago, Oriental, and soon to be restored Palace Theatres) but throughout the United States.
In 1997 the Theater was rename for one of the Foundation’s founders and longest serving President – Mitchell Kobelinski.
Have a Seat Program
The Copernicus Foundation is in the midst of a fund raising effort to build a new theatrical stage and has completed renovation of the entire lower level of the Mitchell Kobelinski Theater.
You can be a major contributor to this effort to finish the project to build dressing rooms and a back stage. With a contribution of $250, $200 or $150 to the Copernicus Foundation you may have a seat named after you or a loved one in one of the three sections of our theater. A plaque will be engraved and affixed to the armrest with your Name as a dedication.
Please fill out the form and send it along with your check, money order, Visa or Master Card information to:
Copernicus Foundation
5216 West Lawrence Avenue, Chicago, IL 60630
Phone: 773-777-8898
Fax: 773-355-4272 |
