Harris and Selwyn Theaters, Twin theaters in Loop District, Chicago, United States
The Harris and Selwyn Theaters are two side-by-side theater buildings on North Dearborn Street in the Loop district of Chicago. One facade draws on Italian Renaissance ornament while the other follows English Classical lines, and both have been kept as part of a larger performing arts complex.
The two buildings opened in 1922, built by New York producers Sam Harris and the Selwyn brothers as live performance venues modeled on Broadway houses. Decades later they were absorbed into the Goodman Theatre, which uses the spaces for spoken-word productions.
The two buildings are now part of the Goodman Theatre, one of the leading spoken-word theater companies in Chicago. Audiences walking through the entrance pass facades that still echo the original role these venues played as major downtown stages.
The buildings sit in the Loop, which is easy to reach by public transit and close to other downtown landmarks. A visit works best when combined with a performance at the Goodman Theatre, the company that now occupies the complex.
Michael Todd bought both buildings and renamed them after himself, turning one into the Michael Todd Theatre and the other into Todd's Cinestage. It is rare for a single producer to rebrand two neighboring venues at once, which made the move widely noticed at the time.
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