Auditorium Theatre 2018-19 Issue 1 The Nightmare Before Christmas

20 | AUDITORIUM THEATRE 2018-19 | September 26 - November 16, 2018 We Live the History: Restoration Never Rests! Here at the Auditorium, we are always working to make improvements to our beautiful theatre to ensure that visitors have the best experience and to keep our National Historic Landmark theatre true to the vision of the theatre’s founders. In 2014, we began to renovate and restore our Dress Circle lobby, now known as The Elissa Lobby. While doing research for this project, theatre historian Bart Swindall discovered photographs from 1890 that showed intricate stencil designs created by one of the theatre's main architects, Louis Sullivan, on the arches, columns, and ceilings that had since been painted over. Over the summer, we began the process of restoring these beautiful designs in our north inglenook, working with our restoration partner Historic Surfaces. Make sure to check out these beautiful restorations before the show, during intermission, or on one of our historic theatre tours! This important restoration work was made possible thanks to the generous support of the Efroymson Family Fund and a grant made by the National Trust for Historic Preservation from the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Fund for Historic Interiors. Restoration and preservation are ongoing efforts. Consider making a gift to our Restoration Fund today to help us continue our work to bring back the original splendor of the National Historic Landmark Auditorium Theatre. For more information, visit AuditoriumTheatre.org! Left: A freshly restored design; Top: A photo from 1890 by the respected photographer JW Taylor showing the original stencil design in the north inglenook. Stencils designed by Louis Sullivan for the arches in the north inglenook.