Happy Valentines Day
February 14, 2013
By Lois Nemeth


Richard Christiansen's Book Continued Views

Randolph Street Iroquios Theater, " Two Barrels of Slippers" "A Glimpse of That Order and Beauty"

What a tragedy and a pleasure. 

A life of a new theater that "at about 3:15 p.m." could end right before the performance of "Mr. Blue Beard," "to end its Chicago run."  A short lived theater to end with the "Some six hundred lives" really grabs my heart-strings and pulls at them like nothing else could.  The mindless need to open a theater before insuring the safety of anyone walking through the doors. 

The Iroquis Theater history, that is in Christiansen's book, speaks about the great fire on December 30, 1903 that destroyed the theater. The flames started from a backstage spotlight that short-circuited, told by Christainsen. He states the "carelessness, cost cutting, and stupidity" were the cause of the fire.

The Titanic the unsinkable ship, in 1912,  fell subject to the carelessness and  tragedy, with about 1500 lives lost. 

Stories like these take presidency over any beautifully built building or ship for that matter, just to make a buck. The Iroquios was a grand theater that could seat 1,300, as Christiansen tells us on that dreadful night it ended it's life in December. But as in the Titanic disaster, a valuable lesson was learned. Put safety standards first. This wasn't always the case however. The Hull House was a pleasure to behold.

"For A Better Vision Of Chicago's Spirit" as told by Christiansen. The Hull House Theater was "founded by Jane Adams and her friend Ellen Gates on Star,r September 18, 1889." " On the "darkest corner of Chicago" (quoted by writer Richard Linberg on page 45 in Christiansen's book) the Hull House held a history of  bringing a "beacon of goodwill", and "symbol of social reform." The Hull House is known to have grown to serve many theater groups through the years and is still remembered. 

I find history like this very pleasurable. People that seemed unlikely to attend theater, the immigrants and their families, could attend, learn, and work in theater that was converted from an old mansion,on "Halsted." Theater wasn't just for the rich, it was for anyone who had the mind to enjoy the wondrous creativity of the fine arts.

Ultimately, theater has gone through some growing pains from tragedy, to life that continues to inspire. Learning curves? Perhaps. Somehow we sometimes forget the importance of the treasure. The stored up historical incidences that can plague or pleasure our lives. So I say.  My heart strings are being tugged once more. What a tragedy and a pleasure.