Part 590: The Cort Theatre in Chicago
In 1908, Thomas G. Moses write, “I did several shows for H. H. Frazee.” At this time, Harry H. Frazee Harry H. Frazee was involved in the construction of the Cort Theatre in Chicago. Frazee’s later success. Seattle architect Edwin Walker Houghton designed Chicago’s Cort Theatre as a counterpart to his Seattle-based version. The theater was located at 126-132 North Dearborn Street.
Looking at the namesake for Frazee’s Chicago theater, John Cort, provides some context to Frazee’s tale. Born in New York, Cort started his career as part of a comedy duo called “Cort and Murphy.” Cort briefly managed a theatre in Cairo, Illinois, before heading west to Seattle, Washington, where he managed the Standard Theater. Cort was considered one of the pioneers for theater circuits under Cort’s management. Cort booked the same act successively into multiple cities, making it worthwhile for an acting company or any performance troupe to tour to remote locations. By 1903, Cort’s circuit controlled 37 theaters throughout the American West. This allowed him to compete with some success against the Eastern entertainment establishment. He even signed an agreement with Marcus Klaw and Abraham Erlanger who were leading booking agents and Cort’s theatres became part of the Klaw and Erlanger Circuit.
However, Klaw and Erlanger’s power continued to spread, negatively impacting many other theatre circuit owners such as that ran by Cort. By 1910, Cort helped organize the Independent National Theatre Owner’s Association. This was a group of circuits that attempted a break with the New York-based theatre syndicates, such as Klaw and Erlanger. They allied with the independent Shubert Organization and eventually forced many theatre that were controlled by eastern syndicates to book other productions. In retaliation for Cort’s participation with this movement, Klaw and Erlanger backed the construction of Seattle’s Metropolitan Theatre. In turn, Cort headed to New York where he became a notable producer and manager. Frazee would follow Cort to New York, constructing another theater in 1913. Designed by architect Henry Beaumont Herts in 1912, Frazee’s new theatre was named for Longacre Square, the original name for Times Square. The Longacre’s first show was a production of the William Hurlbut–Frances Whitehouse comedy Are You a Crook?, which opened on May 1, 1913.
Moses also painted scenery for Cort’s Seattle Theatre, twenty years prior to the construction of Cort Theatre in Chicago. In 1888, Moses traveled to Seattle where he closed a deal with Cort (ca. 1861– November 17, 1929). The scenery was painted in Chicago and shipped to Cort in Seattle. Frazee worked closely with John Cort during the planning and construction of Chicago’s Cort Theatre. On the books in Chicago for the Cort Theater, Cort was listed as president of the firm, with H. H. Frazee as the vice president and U. J. Herrmann as both the secretary and treasurer. Cort was a key factor in Frazee’s success.
The planning began for the Cort Theatre began in 1907, with its official opening on October 25, 1909.
In 1910, the Cort Theatre in Chicago had a seating capacity of 1,344. Admission prices ranged from $1.50-$2.00 in the orchestra to 50c. and 75c. in the gallery. The proscenium measured 38 feet wide by 33 feet high. The depth from the footlights to the back wall was 24 feet and the distance from the curtain line to the footlights was 1 foot. The height to the rigging loft was 69 feet and the height to the fly gallery was 36 feet. The depth under the stage floor was 12 feet.
Sadly, like many other theaters, it was razed in the name of progress. The Cort Theatre was demolished in 1964 to make way for a new thirty-one-story building in 1966 – the Richard J. Daley Center.
To be continued…
