THE AUDITORIUM AND THE NEW GERMAN THEATER.
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Detailed mention of the magnificent opera house in the Auditorium
building has been reserved until now in order that it might take its
proper place in the description of the mighty edifice which is the
wonder and admiration of the United States, and a topic of comment to
some extent in Europe.
The project of the Auditorium, three sides of which face Wabash Avenue,
Congress Street and Michigan Avenue, is said to have emanated from
the brain of Mr. Ferd W. Peck, a capitalist, who, in a speech to the
Commercial Club, outlined the advantages that would be likely to accrue
to the city from the possession of such a building. As the Auditorium
is one of the sights of the city, it deserves a special description.
The Auditorium Hotel, mention of which has been made in a previous
chapter, fronts on Michigan Avenue and occupies the upper floor of
the building, the colossal outlines and massive architecture of
which, rivaling as they do the ancient Coliseum of Rome, strike the
beholder dumb with admiration. The stock company that constructed
the Auditorium was formed at Mr. Peck’s suggestion in the spring of
1886, and in January of the following year work was commenced upon it.
Less than eighteen months afterward the building had progressed to a
stage that made it possible to hold the National Convention of 1888
under the roof of the great theater. On that occasion 12,000 people
cheered the nomination of Harrison as the presidential candidate.
The formal dedication of the great structure took place December 9,
1889. The star of the occasion was Adelina Patti, the world-famous
singer, who, although she had dyed her hair a brilliant red, aroused
a cyclone of enthusiasm by her time-honored rendition of “Home, Sweet
Home.” Speeches were made by Benjamin Harrison, President of the
United States; by DeWitt C. Cregier, then Mayor of Chicago; by Ferd W.
Peck, President of the Auditorium Company, and others. It required an
expenditure of nearly $2,000,000 in hard cash to erect the Auditorium,
and the men who invested their money in the project are drawing a
fair interest on the amount of their wise venture. The building has a
frontage of 187 feet on Michigan Avenue, 361 feet on Congress Street,
and 161 feet on Wabash Avenue. The material used is mostly American
granite from Maine and Minnesota; the ornamentation being largely in
Mexican onyx. To the visitor who stands rapt in admiration at the sight
of this superb edifice, a few figures may not be uninteresting. The
main building is 144 feet in height; the tower on the Congress Street
side, 225 feet, with lateral dimensions of 40 x 71 feet. The building
weighs in its entirety 110,000 tons. There are 17,000,000 brick in the
building and 50,000,000 pieces of marble. The flooring is in Antique
Mosaic.
Now for the theater itself, which is, after all, the main interior
attraction of the Auditorium, the smaller halls and office suites
which are contained in the main structure possessing only a commercial
interest. The theater has a regular seating capacity of 4,000, though
when it is arranged for a convention or a ball it will hold three times
that number. The stage is ninety-eight feet in width and 6,862 square
feet in area. The great lobby with its massive pillars and porticos,
prepares the visitor for the sublime magnificence of the immense
audience chamber. The ceiling, which is decorated in white and gold,
glitters with a myriad of electric lamps and the spectacular effect,
when the house is filled with a fashionable audience, the long tiers
of boxes gleaming with the brilliant costumes and jewels of scores
of handsome women, surpasses description. It must be seen to be
appreciated. The Auditorium theater is equipped, among other things,
with an organ that is said to be the finest and most complete in the
world, possessing as it does, 7,193 pipes.
But without question the tower is a stupendous feature of the
Auditorium and is most popular with strangers; it may be said that no
stranger should leave the city without visiting it. Enter from the
Congress Street side and purchase a ticket at the box office, costing
twenty-five cents. The elevator carries you up at rapid speed to the
top. The final ascent is made by a small flight of iron stairs and
the tower is reached. The splendor of the view from this tower can
be imagined but not described. On a clear day the Michigan shore is
discernible far away over the blue water of the lake, while on the east
side, north and south the eye may penetrate to the furthest limits of
the city. To stand there and look down on the mazes of buildings and
the swarming thousands of your fellowmen produces a strange feeling of
awe and wonderment. The popularity of the tower with sight-seers may be
imagined from the fact that the attendance brings in an average of $120
per day to the company throughout the year.
Preparations are now in progress for the presentation at the Auditorium
during the World’s Fair year of a theatrical spectacle which shall
eclipse anything of the kind ever before seen in any country. The plans
are yet in embryo, but a rough outline has been drawn. The production,
which is to be historical in character, will be under the direction of
Managers Adams, Abbey and Grau. It will open in the spring of 1893, and
run through the World’s Fair season.
The New German Theater on Randolph Street, between Dearborn and
Clark, deserves special mention by reason of the fact that it will be
the youngest of all Chicago first-class theaters, and because great
promises have been made as to the magnificence of its furnishings and
equipment. The structure is fire-proof, nine stories in height with a
large square tower fifteen feet in height surmounted by a cupola. The
main building fronts eighty-four feet on Randolph Street with a depth
of 186½ feet. There will be a covered balcony in front from which
street parades may be advantageously viewed. The cornices, balustrades
and other parts of the building are decorated with rich carvings. The
construction is of steel columns and cross-beams, the outer walls being
in terra cotta. The main entrance leading to the theater is thirty-two
feet wide. All the floors and wainscoting are in polished marble. From
the entrance to the theater foyer will extend two vestibules, in the
inner one of which the box office is located. Four passenger elevators
furnish access to the hotel and club rooms of which the main portion
of the palatial structure will consist. Broad marble stairs lead from
the foyer to the main floor, balcony and gallery of the theater, the
Auditorium plan of seating the people having been decided upon. The
theater will seat 1,300 people. The stage has a superficial area of
3,200 square feet, with a proscenium arch twenty-nine feet wide and
thirty feet high.
Seven stories of the building are devoted to the hotel, which also
deserves a word of description. There are 131 guest chambers, 39 bath
rooms, a dining room 76 feet long by 49 wide, and other features. The
hotel will of course have a separate entrance. Club, billiard, card,
and other rooms occupy the tenth floor. The eleventh is devoted to a
fine ball-room, separate quarters being provided for the servants on
the floors above.
The total cost of this fine structure is estimated at $600,000,
inclusive of the price paid for the ground. The building is erected by
a company of which the following well-known citizens are directors:
A. C. Hesing, Theodore Arnold, Louis Wolff, Edward Eiblein, Franz
Amberg, Charles Wacker, C. P. Dose, Louis Wampold, J. A. Orb, Joseph
Scheurer, William Heineman, George E. Weiss, John M. Krause, C. Herman
Plautz, and Theodore Oehne.
It goes without saying that this will be an attractive place for
strangers to visit.