Capturing the magic of the movies and then watching it on the silver screen is truly a special moment in time. But as of lately, modern movies seem to have lost a step in terms of making films looking like films. It’s difficult to describe the missing component in modern movies but there’s something the classic films have that the modern ones don’t, excluding the updated CGI and sound systems, and that something is that modern movie making can’t capture…the look and feel of film. Folks can sometimes find it challenging to see the distinction between the look and feel of modem movies and classic films – Luckly there’s a place in Chicago that can help out with that.
Chicago’s Music Box Theatre features classic films in both 70- and 30-mm formats with new independent and commercial releases, and also featuring a very old fashion way of watching movies that has disappeared with time and technology – theater organs and organists. The Music Box Theatre has become a historic landmark, located in the North Side Lakeview of Chicago. One of the theater managers in the Music Box proclaims the theatre as special because “it’s kind of a meeting place between old and new,” and the Music Box’s organist, Dennis Scott, “is the quintessential example of what goes on here.”
History
The Music Box opened on August 22, 1929, as a single screen theater with a seating capacity of 750. The Music Box was one of the numerous theaters bombed in 1931, there was an ongoing disagreement between the Allied Independent Theaters’ Association and the Motion Picture Operators’ Union as Music Box was employing non-union projectionists. During the years of 1977 through 1983, the Music Box was occasionally used for Spanish language films, Arabic language films, and pornographic films. The theater was briefly closed until 1983 when Robert Chaney, Christopher Carlo, and Stan Hightower created the Music Box Theatre Corporation – they restored and reopened the theater with a format of featuring revival and repertory films. Foreign, independent, and cult films were eventually added to the main roster and performance screenings were moved to the weekend matinee and midnight time slots.
Current Operations
William Schopf took over operations of the theater in 2003, was the building owner since 1986. The theater has been independently owned and operated by the Southport Music Box Corporation ever since. The Southport Music Box Corporation also owns and operates Music Box Films, they are a distributor of foreign and independent films which started in 2007. Recently the Music Box’s biggest project was called “Music Box: Revive at 95” – the project goal was to replace the auditorium seating with brand-new seats, chiefly seats with cup holders which was a feature that the venue has long needed.
Customers watching a movie in the Music Box Garden venue.
Currently, the Music Box Theatre has plenty to offer in the upcoming months – during the month of February, Music Box will host a month-long film series called “Melanin, Roots, and Culture” will feature films by Black artists of on the big screen. Films like Barbershop and The Last Dragon to name a few. During the month of March, Music Box will host their next month-long film series called “Play Ball! A Baseball Series” which will lead up to baseball’s opening season – featuring films like A League of Their Own and Moneyball to name a few. However you enjoy watching movies, make sure to give the old fashion way a chance. It’s truly a unique feeling seeing a film the way our parents and grandparents used to, seeing the magic of motion pictures through their eyes.
For more information and showtime listings, please visit: musicboxtheatre.com
