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35-683: The first Chicago Grand Opera Company produced four seasons of opera in Chicago's Auditorium Theater from the fall of 1910 through January 1914. It was the first resident Chicago opera company, and was formed mostly from an arrangement by the directors of the New York Metropolitan Opera Company (at "the Old Met" on 39th Street ) to acquire the assets of Oscar Hammerstein 's dissolved Manhattan Opera Company . Hammerstein had been producing opera in competition with

70-574: A commercial building, Peck wanted it to be self-sufficient. Revenue from the offices and hotel was meant to allow ticket prices to remain reasonable. In reality, both the hotel and office block became unprofitable within a few years. On October 5, 1887, President Grover Cleveland laid the cornerstone for the Auditorium Building. The 1888 Republican National Convention was held in a partially finished building where Benjamin Harrison

105-413: A floating mat of crisscrossed railroad ties , topped with a double layer of steel rails embedded in concrete, the whole assemblage coated with pitch . The resulting raft distributed the weight of the massive outer walls over a large area. However, the weight of the masonry outer walls in relation to the relatively lightweight interior deformed the raft during the course of a century, and today portions of

140-767: A season with no performances, the company was re-formed as the Chicago Opera Association , which ran from 1915 to 1921, and was re-constituted as the Chicago Civic Opera , which ran from 1921 to 1932. The second Chicago Grand Opera Company was an attempt to keep opera going in Chicago after the collapse of the Chicago Civic Opera in 1932. It produced three seasons of opera at the Civic Opera House from 1933 to 1935 before it too succumbed to financial difficulties. It

175-725: The Chicago Grand Opera Company and the Chicago Opera Association from 1910 to 1922, creating there Léandre in The Love for Three Oranges (in French) by Sergei Prokofiev , in 1921. In 1922, Dufranne returned to Paris where he continued to appear in operas in all the major houses in addition to appearing in other opera houses in France. He also spent a brief time performing in Amsterdam in 1935. In 1923 he created

210-524: The Auditorium Building after their arrest of singer Jim Morrison on June 14, 1969. It was declared a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior in 1975. The building was equipped with the first central air conditioning system and the theater was the first to be entirely lit by incandescent light bulbs . In 2001, a major restoration of the Auditorium Theatre

245-689: The Auditorium Building has been part of Roosevelt University . Ferdinand Peck , a Chicago businessman, incorporated the Chicago Auditorium Association in December 1886 to develop what he wanted to be the world's largest, grandest, most expensive theater that would rival such institutions as the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. He was said to have wanted to make high culture accessible to

280-1196: The Innkeeper in Engelbert Humperdinck 's Königskinder (1912), and Rocco in Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari 's I gioielli della Madonna (1913). Dufranne sang at the Opéra-Comique in Paris from 1900 to 1912, making his first appearance as Thoas. He appeared in several world premieres with the company including creating the roles of Saluces in Griselidis (1901), the title role in Alfred Bruneau 's L' Ouragan (1901), Golaud in Pelléas et Mélisande (1902), Amaury-Ganelon in La Fille de Roland by Henri Rabaud (1904), Koebi in Gustave Doret 's Les Armaillis (1906),

315-533: The Met for a number of years. His opposition, and difficulties arising from its own management disagreements cost the Metropolitan a deficit of close to $ 300,000 for the 1908–9 season; whereas Hammerstein made a profit of $ 229,000. He had opera stars such as Luisa Tetrazzini , Mary Garden , John McCormack and Mario Sammarco at his service. However, he had considerably less success at his Philadelphia Opera House

350-560: The Metropolitan Opera Company, were represented in the affairs of the Chicago group by Andreas Dippel , previously second in charge at the Met under Giulio Gatti-Casazza , and who became General Manager in at the Chicago opera with Cleofonte Campanini as musical director. The company also spent several months each year performing in the city of Philadelphia where it performed at the renamed Philadelphia Metropolitan Opera House (previously owned by Hammerstein) under

385-1081: The United States for the first time to sing with the Manhattan Opera Company in the American premiere of Pelléas et Mélisande . He returned for several more productions through 1910, appearing as le Prieur in Le jongleur de Notre-Dame (1909), Caoudal in Sapho (1909), Rabo in Jan Blockx 's Herbergprinses (performed in Italian as La Princesse d'Auberge , 1909), John the Baptist in Richard Strauss 's Salome (1910), and Saluces in Massenet's Griselidis (1910). He also sang with

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420-468: The accommodation moved to the Civic Opera House in 1929, and the Auditorium Theatre closed during the Great Depression . In 1941, it was taken over by the city of Chicago to be used as a World War II servicemen's center. By 1946, Roosevelt University moved into the Auditorium Building, but the theater was not restored to its former splendor. In 1952, Congress Parkway was widened, bringing

455-406: The building have settled as much as 29 inches. This deflection is clearly visible in the theater lobby, where the mosaic floor takes on a distinct slope as it nears the outer walls. This settlement is not because of poor engineering but the fact the design was changed during construction. The original plan had the exterior covered in lightweight terra-cotta, but this was changed to stone after

490-403: The building is located at the northwest corner of South Michigan Avenue and Ida B. Wells Drive . The building was designed to be a multi-use complex, including offices, a theater, and a hotel. As a young apprentice, Frank Lloyd Wright worked on some of the interior design. The Auditorium Theatre is part of the Auditorium Building and is located at 50 East Ida B. Wells Drive. The theater

525-603: The company included (in alphabetical order) Paul Althouse , Marguerite Bériza , Alfredo Costa , Armand Crabbé , Charles Dalmorès , Dora de Phillippe , Enrica Clay Dillon , Jenny Dufau , Hector Dufranne , Minnie Egener , Amy Evans , Dorothy Follis , Mary Garden , Jeanne Gerville-Réache , Orville Harrold , Gustave Huberdeau , Frances Ingram , Lydia Lipkowska , Vanni Marcoux , Carmen Melis , Lucien Muratore , Giovanni Polese , Albert Reiss , Myrna Sharlow , Tarquinia Tarquini , Luisa Tetrazzini , Carolina White , Alice Zeppilli , and Nicola Zerola among others. After

560-550: The curb to the southern edge of the building. To make room for a sidewalk, some ground-floor rooms and part of the theater lobby were removed and a sidewalk arcade created. On October 31, 1967, the Auditorium Theatre reopened and through 1975, the Auditorium served as a rock venue . Among other notable acts, the Grateful Dead played there ten times from 1971 through 1977. The Doors also played their first concert at

595-421: The details, because of their continuous curvilinear foliate motifs , are among the nearest equivalents to European Art Nouveau architecture. Sullivan and Adler designed a tall structure with load-bearing outer walls, and based the exterior appearance partly on the design of H.H. Richardson 's Marshall Field Warehouse , another Chicago landmark. The Auditorium is a heavy, impressive structure externally, and

630-572: The following season, and on January 1, 1910, he confided to the press : "The operatic war is suicide." Otto Kahn and his associates at the New York Met offered to buy Hammerstein out, and on April 26, 1910, he accepted $ 1,200,000 for his Manhattan and Philadelphia opera houses, plus an agreement that he and his son Arthur Hammerstein would not produce any opera for ten years in New York, Philadelphia, Boston or Chicago. The Chicago company

665-409: The foundations were under construction. Most of the settlement occurred within a decade after construction, and at one time a plan existed to shorten the interior supports to level the floors but this was never carried out. In the center of the building was a 4,300 seat auditorium , originally intended primarily for production of Grand Opera . In keeping with Peck's democratic ideals, the auditorium

700-406: The lake, was the hotel (now Roosevelt University) while the offices were placed to the west on Wabash Avenue. The entrance to the auditorium is on the south side beneath the tall blocky eighteen-story tower. The rest of the building is a uniform ten stories, organized in the same way as Richardson's Marshall Field Wholesale Store. The interior embellishment, however, is wholly Sullivan's, and some of

735-591: The name the Philadelphia-Chicago Grand Opera Company in order to "satisfy the civic pride" of that city. The company notably presented the world premieres of Victor Herbert 's Natoma (1911) and Attilio Parelli 's I dispettosi amanti (1912). The company also mounted the United States premieres of Jean Nouguès 's Quo vadis (1911), Karl Goldmark 's Das Heimchen am Herd (1912), and Alberto Franchetti 's Cristoforo Colombo (1913). Notable performers who sang with

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770-577: The part of Don Quixote in the stage première of El retablo de maese Pedro under the baton of the composer, Manuel de Falla . The performance was for a private audience and was held in the private theatre of Winnaretta Singer, Princess Edmond de Polignac ; he repeated the role in a Falla triple-bill at the Opéra-Comique in 1928. In 1924, he appeared at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in the world premiere of Léon Sachs 's Les Burgraves . With

805-1092: The quality of his voice even into the latter part of his career. His wide vocal range and rich resonant voice enabled him to sing a variety of roles which encompassed French, German, and Italian opera. Dufranne was born in Mons . He studied at the Brussels Conservatory with Désiré Demest before making his professional opera debut in 1896 at La Monnaie as Valentin in Charles Gounod 's Faust . He returned to that opera house several times to sing such roles as Grymping in Vincent d'Indy 's Fervaal (1897), Alberich in Richard Wagner 's Das Rheingold (1898), Thomas in Jan Blockx 's Thyl Uylenspiegel (1900), Thoas in Christoph Willibald Gluck 's Iphigénie en Tauride (1902),

840-733: The role of John the Baptist in their first production of Richard Strauss 's Salome (1910). He also sang at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo in 1907 where he took part in the creation of two world premieres, the role of André Thorel in Jules Massenet 's Thérèse and the title role in Bruneau's Naïs Micoulin . In 1914 he sang the role of Golaud in his only appearance at the Royal Opera , Covent Garden in London . In 1908 Dufranne went to

875-429: The time, a young Frank Lloyd Wright was employed at the firm as draftsman, and he may have contributed to the design. The Auditorium was built for a syndicate of businessmen to house a large civic opera house; to provide an economic base it was decided to wrap the auditorium with a hotel and office block. Hence Adler & Sullivan had to plan a complex multiple-use building. Fronting on Michigan Avenue , overlooking

910-736: The title role in Xavier Leroux 's Le Chemineau , Clavaroche in Fortunio by André Messager (1907), the fiancé in Raoul Laparra 's La Habanéra (1908), and Don Iñigo Gomez in Maurice Ravel 's L'Heure espagnole (1911). He also sang Scarpia in the Opéra-Comique's first production of Giacomo Puccini 's Tosca (1909). Dufranne also appeared periodically at the Paris Opera beginning in 1907. He notably portrayed

945-403: The working classes of Chicago. The building was to include an office block and a first class hotel. Peck persuaded many Chicago business tycoons to go on board with him, including Marshall Field , Edson Keith, Martin A. Ryerson , Charles L. Hutchinson and George Pullman . The association hired the renowned architectural firm of Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan to design the building. At

980-653: Was a Belgian operatic bass-baritone who enjoyed a long career that took him to opera houses throughout Europe and the United States for more than four decades. Admired for both his singing and his acting , Dufranne appeared in a large number of world premieres, most notably the role Golaud in the original Opéra-Comique production of Claude Debussy 's Pelléas et Mélisande at the Salle Favart in Paris in 1902, which he went on to sing 120 times at that house. He had an excellent singing technique which maintained

1015-531: Was begun by Daniel P. Coffey and Associates in conjunction with EverGreene Architectural Arts to return the theater to its original colors and finishes. On April 30, 2015, the National Football League held its 2015 NFL draft in the Auditorium Theatre, the first time the league had held its annual draft in Chicago in more than 50 years. Notes Further reading Hector Dufranne Hector Dufranne (25 October 1870 – 4 May 1951)

1050-517: Was capitalized at a half million dollars subscribed by fourteen men, including: J. Ogden Armour , Martin A. Ryerson , John G. Shedd , J. C. Shaffer (in the elevator and grain business, part-controlled the Chicago Board of Trade ), Samuel Insull , Charles G. Dawes , Julius Rosenwald , Charles L. Hutchinson , A. G. Becker , all of Chicago ; and William K. Vanderbilt , Otto Kahn, and Clarence Mackay . The latter three, all directors of

1085-417: Was designed so that all seats would have good views and acoustics. The original plans had no box seats and when these were added to the plans they did not receive prime locations. Housed in the building around the central space were an 1890 addition of 136 offices and a 400-room hotel, whose purpose was to generate much of the revenue to support the opera. While the Auditorium Building was not intended as

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1120-491: Was more striking in its day when buildings of its scale were less common. When completed, it was the tallest building in the city and largest building in the United States. One of the most innovative features of the building was its massive raft foundation , designed by Adler in conjunction with engineer Paul Mueller. The soil beneath the Auditorium consists of soft blue clay to a depth of over 100 feet, which made conventional foundations impossible. Adler and Mueller designed

1155-476: Was nominated as a presidential candidate. On December 9, 1889, President Benjamin Harrison dedicated the building and opera star Adelina Patti sang "Home Sweet Home" to thunderous applause. Adler & Sullivan had also opened their offices on the 16th and 17th floors of the Auditorium tower. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra debuted on October 16, 1891, and made its home in the Auditorium Theatre until moving to Orchestra Hall in 1904. The opera company renting

1190-656: Was succeeded by the Chicago City Opera Company , 1936–1939, and then the Chicago Opera Company , 1940–1946. There was no resident opera company after that until 1954, when the Lyric Theatre of Chicago was established, and renamed Lyric Opera of Chicago two years later. Auditorium Building The Auditorium Building in Chicago is one of the best-known designs of Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler . Completed in 1889,

1225-697: Was the first home of the Chicago Civic Opera and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra . The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 17, 1970. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1975, and was designated a Chicago Landmark on September 15, 1976. In addition, it is a historic district contributing property for the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan Boulevard District . Since 1947,

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