Garrick Theater (Chicago)
former theater in Chicago, Illinois, USA
The Schiller Theater Building was designed by Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler of the firm Adler & Sullivan for the German Opera Company. At the time of its construction, it was among the tallest buildings in Chicago. Its centerpiece was a 1,300-seat theater, which is considered by architectural historians to be one of the greatest collaborations between Adler and Sullivan.
History
Establishment
Opened in 1891, the Schiller Theater was originally funded by former Illinois Staats-Zeitung publisher Anton C. Hesing (1823-1895) and other German investors and was projected to be used for German-language operas and cultural events. One of the more tangible references to its German heritage was a series of terra cotta busts of prominent German figures on the second story arcade. A portion of this arcade is now integrated into the façade of The Second City's theater in Chicago.
Name changes
The theater changed its name and duties over the following decades. It was briefly known as the Dearborn Theater from 1898 to 1903, until finally settling on the name Garrick Theater. After German investors backed out of the project in the late 1890s, it ceased its German performances, and exhibited touring stage shows. In the 1930s the theater was acquired by Balaban & Katz who converted it into a movie theater.
“Garrick Theater (Chicago)” enters the record as former theater in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Garrick, Theater and Chicago can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5523989. Authority coordinates are 41.885, -87.631. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1891, 1823, 1895 and 1898.
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This entry incorporates text from “Garrick Theater (Chicago)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.