Theater on the Lake
Park Description
The Chicago Park District's Theater on the Lake is located at Fullerton Avenue and Lake Michigan. This historical building features 8 plays in 8 weeks from Chicago’s edgy, creative and classic off-Loop theatre companies during the summer months.Parking is available along Cannon Drive (after 6 pm) and at the Lincoln Park Zoo Lot until 11pm. For patrons with special needs, please contact the Box Office at 312.742.7994 for valet parking services.
As of August 9, 2009, Theater on the Lake is closed for the season. Thank you to our subscribers and patrons for a successful 2009 theater season! We look forward to once again bringing you the best of Chicago's off-Loop theater in 2010.
History In 1952, Jack Higgins, the drama supervisor for the Chicago Park District, founded what was to become one of the city’s most loved cultural institutions, Theater on the Lake, located at Fullerton and Lake Shore Drive.
Designed in 1913 and constructed in 1920, the Theater on the Lake building was originally built as the Chicago Daily News Fresh Air Fund Sanitarium. Victor Lawson, the Daily News’ longtime editor and publisher, created the breezy building as a recuperation ward for babies suffering from tuberculosis and other diseases. Built on a landfill area, the impressive Prairie style structure was designed by Dwight H. Perkins. The pavilion housed 250 basket baby cribs, nurseries and rooms for older children. Free health services, milk and lunches were provided to more than 30,000 children each summer until 1939, when the sanitarium closed.
Major reconstruction of Lake Shore Drive led to the demolition of the building’s front entrance. During World War II, the structure reopened as a USO Center for soldiers from Fort Sheridan and sailors from the Great Lakes Naval Training Station. After the end of the war, the Chicago Park District used the venue for then-popular barn dances.
Converted into Theater on the Lake performance space in 1952, the theater was originally used as a venue to showcase some of the better productions staged by the Park District’s many community theatre organizations. The open space on the south end of the building was enclosed and productions were staged in the round. Virtually every performance sold out, and the 312 audience members were seated in canvas beach chairs around the actors.
The Chicago Park District operated a full costume shop and scene shop, although technical conditions were far from ideal. Performances could be interrupted by bats and bugs, motorcycles and bad mufflers. One evening, when the power went out, actors performed illuminated only by their cars headlights. Mother Nature also did not always cooperate – actors and audiences alike would sometimes shiver, sometimes swelter.
In 1996, the Chicago Park District, recognizing that the theater industry had changed in Chicago, changed the focus of Theater on the Lake’s programming. In an effort to establish relationships with the cultural community in Chicago, Theater on the Lake began inviting professional theatre companies to remount their best works at the facility. Some of the city’s best loved companies – including Steppenwolf and Second City – and some of the city’s most ambitious and promising companies would be showcased side-by-side at Theater on the Lake.
Today, Theater on the Lake features 8 plays in 8 weeks from Chicago’s edgy, creative and classic off-Loop theatre companies during the summer months.Call the Box Office for scheduling information 312.742.7994.
Sources:
Chicago Park District archives
Chicago Daily News, May 27, 1936
Chicago Daily News, June 5, 1972
Chicago Tribune, May 13, 1984
Interviews with past employees and program participants, including Joe Savino, Richard Sittdown, Wayne Mesmer, Dan Castellaneta
