Arcada Theater Building facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Arcada Theatre
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| Location | Main Street (North Avenue), St Charles, Kane County, Illinois, United States |
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| Built | 1926 |
| Architect | Behrns, Elmer F. |
| Architectural style | Mission/Spanish Revival, Moderne |
| NRHP reference No. | 94000977 |
| Added to NRHP | August 16, 1994 |
The Arcada Theatre Building is a famous theater in St. Charles, Illinois. You can find it on Main Street. This amazing theater first opened its doors on Labor Day, September 6, 1926. It showed silent movies and hosted live vaudeville shows. The Arcada Theatre has been open almost continuously since then. It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which means it's a very important historical building.
Contents
A Look Back at the Arcada Theatre
How the Arcada Theatre Began
The Arcada Theatre was built in 1926 by two local millionaires, Dellora A. and Lester J. Norris. Mr. Norris, who was an artist and cartoonist for the Chicago Tribune newspaper, designed the inside of the theater. The outside was designed by Elmer Behrns. It is a great example of the Spanish Colonial Revival Style. Elmer Behrns also designed another famous building, The Egyptian Theatre in DeKalb.
Building the Arcada Theatre cost $500,000, which was a huge amount of money back then! This showed how much the Norris family believed in the future of St. Charles. Even though the town only had about 5,000 residents, they installed more than 1,009 seats.
The Big Opening Day
When the Arcada Theatre first opened, so many people wanted to see it that hundreds couldn't even get inside! People from Chicago even came by a special train car. They came to watch the main movie, "The Last Frontier." They also enjoyed live vaudeville acts, including Fibber McGee and Molly. Guests also heard a special performance on the famous pipe organ. This organ cost $25,000 and was later made even bigger.
Famous Faces at the Arcada
The Arcada quickly became known as one of the best vaudeville theaters in the Fox River Valley. Many legendary stars performed on its stage. Some of these famous people include George Burns and Gracie Allen, Judy Garland, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Liberace, and the Von Trapp Family Singers. Other stars like Vincent Price, Carol Channing, and Jeanette MacDonald also performed there.
The Arcada Today: Still Shining Bright
In May 2005, Ron Onesti, who is the president of The Onesti Entertainment Corporation (OEC), started managing the theater's shows. He doesn't own the building itself. His company is known for producing big entertainment shows across the United States. Because of this, the Arcada Theatre began hosting major performers, just like theaters in big cities.
Today, the Arcada Theatre has 897 seats. It still has its original pipe organ, which can rise up from the stage floor! Many well-known performers have recently played there. These include The B-52's, 38 Special, Kenny Rogers, Pat Benatar, Wayne Newton, and Howie Mandel. The theater is also used by local community groups and performers when there aren't big shows happening.
Comedian Andrew Dice Clay even recorded his TV special "Indestructable" at the theater in August 2012.
