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Grand Opera House

Chicago, Italy

Grand Opera House

The Grand Opera House was a theatre located at 119 North Clark Street in Chicago, Illinois. Established by Chicago impresario John A. Hamlin, the theatre originally opened as the Coliseum in 1875 and was later rebranded as Hamlin's Theatre in 1878. Initially a disreputable variety theatre catering t

o lowbrow tastes, the theatre was completely reinvented after an extensive and expensive remodel and reconstruction led by architect Dankmar Adler. It reopened in 1880 as the Grand Opera House; now under the management of Harry L. Hamlin who ran the theatre for the next 32 years under that name. Under his tenure the venue became a respectable theatre which featured mainly performances of light operas and musical comedies; although some plays were also performed. In 1888 the well known painter and scenic designer Ernest Albert re-designed the interior of the opera house. In 1912 the theatre was renamed George M. Cohan's Grand Opera House when George M. Cohan and Sam H. Harris took over the lease of the theatre. They operated the theatre into the early 1920s. The theatre then went through another extensive remodel and construction under architect Andrew Rebori before re-opening as the Four...

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