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September 26 - November 16, 2018 |
AUDITORIUM THEATRE 2018-19
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After the war, the theatre closed
down entirely. During the 1960s, a
woman named
Beatrice Spachner
led a successful fundraising
campaign that raised the necessary
money to renovate and restore
the theatre. Re-opening night
on October 31, 1967 featured
a performance of
George
Balanchine's
A Midsummer Night's
Dream
by the
New York City Ballet
.
Beginning in the late 1960s, a
host of rock and pop performers
took to the stage, including
Jimi
Hendrix, The Who, Janis Joplin,
Bruce Springsteen, Prince, Aretha
Franklin,
and
James Taylor
, among
others. The Auditorium earned a
reputation as Chicago’s home for
the musical superstars of the day.
Elton John
was quoted as saying he
knew that he “truly made it” when
he stepped onto the Auditorium’s
stage. The theatre is still a stop for
many of today’s high-profile music
acts
—
within the last few years,
David Gilmour
,
Jack White
,
David
Byrne
, and
Mavis Staples
have all
played the Auditorium.
In 1975, the US Department of the
Interior declared the Auditorium
Theatre a
National Historic Landmark
.
The theatre has also hosted some
of the world’s premier dance
companies
—
many of which
continue to perform here today
—
including
The Joªrey Ballet, Alvin
Ailey American Dance Theater,
Bolshoi Ballet,
and
American Ballet
Theatre
. Broadway musicals have
also found appreciative audiences at
the Auditorium, with engagements
of
The Phantom of the Opera
,
Les
Misérables
,
Miss Saigon
,
Show Boat
,
Hello Dolly!, The Color Purple,
Sister Act
, and many more taking
place at the theatre.
In the spring of 2015 and 2016, the
theatre hosted the first three rounds
of the
NFL Draft
, marking the first
time the draft was held outside of
New York in over 50 years. Over 7
million home viewers had the chance
to see inside the beautiful theatre
during the televised event.
To this day, the staff and Board of
the Auditorium Theatre continue to
preserve and restore the National
Historic Landmark. Typically, more
than 250 performances and events
attract over a quarter of a million
people
every year to Chicago’s
landmark theatre, making it a true
staple in Chicago and the rest of the
world.
Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler
PAUL NATKIN
2015 NFL Draft
Prince at the
Auditorium in 1982