New Britain herald., 1922-02-13
CHICAGO TO LOSE
 4 OLD LAND MARKS
First Of Its Theaters Slated for
 Destruction This Year


 go's theatrical andmarks-monu- song and dance comedian. a medicine show magnate, a minstrel manager and a pair of circus men-are slated for destruction.
 Workmen have already begun sink ing caissons under McVickers, most venerable of the downtown theaters, and the wreckers will take charge in May. George M. Cohan's Grand Opera House, Powers and the Olympic are soon to follow, and with them will dis appear the loops notable reminders of Victorian grandeur. carved walnut and red plush.
 The Grand will probably be the sec- ond of the quarter to go as under the terms of the present lease it must be rebuilt before Jan. 21. 1924. Powers. known to by-gone theater going gen. eration as Hooley's theater, and which for nearly 50 years has held the An- questioned prestige as the theater in which the most illustrious actors pre- ferred to appear, is to give way to an addition to the Hotel Sherman. A new play house may be incorporated in the hotel extension, but this point has not been definitely decided.
 Owners of the Olympic are planning to rebuild that house as soon as con- ditions are favora ble.
 James H. McViclier, founder of the theater which still bears his name, was the song and dance comedian in Chi cago's early quartette of theatrical magnates. A travelling company brought him here in the early days. and in 1857 he built his first theater on the spot where the present play house-now devoted to continuous evile-stands. The theater im- mediately became the most important center of dramatic activity in the mid dle west. Its opening was great event and nightly thereafter crowded omni- buses left its doors after the perform ance for the Bulls Head Tavern and the fashionably outlying suburb of south side.
 McVicker installed a resident stock company which Supported" a not able succession of visiting stars Charlotte Cushman, Edwin Booth, the elder Sothern. J. H. Hackett, Lotta Crabtree, Lawrence Barrett Charles Kean. and many others. Here Ed win Booth met Mary Mcvicker. the managers daughter. whom he after wards married Here. when Lincoln was shot, there was double mourning. for the assassin. J. Wilkes Booth. had played McVicker's often. Here. in 1866, The Black Crook" had it's phenomenal Chicago run of iifty-six nights.
 The theater was destroyed in the great fire of 1871. and was the first playhouse to be rebuilt after the dis aster. In 1890 it was again destroy ed by fire, and the present structure dates from it's restoration in 1892.
 The medicine show magnate was John Hamlin and the minstrel man. ager. Richard NJ. Hooley. Both were identified with the early days of the present Grand Opera House. In 1870 Hooley, who had made fortune with his minstrel troupes, bought Bryan Hall, concert auditorium. rebuilt it and prepared to open Hooey's Opera House. The fire of 1871 destroyed the theater on the very night before it was to be opened and swept his for tune away.
 In 1873 Hamlin, famous throughout the country for his Hamlin's Wizard Oil. built the largest billiard hall in the world on the site of the former opera house. Later he enlarged and turned it into a beer garden. which in turn became Hamin's theater in 1878, and in 1880, after extensive al t"rations, was reopened under the for. ner name of the Grand Opera House. The famboyant announcement Of he opening said
 SPECIAL NOTICE The management beg to present to the i Public some of its many claims to su- premacy in the field it occupies. To | begin at the beginning:
 TT IS The Only Theater with Polished Mar
 b'e Nestibulte.
 The Only Theater with Luxuriously
 Furnished Foyer. The Only Theater with Spacious AL
 cove Lobbies.
 The Only Theater with Carved Wood
 Grand Staircase. he Only Theater with Luxurious Vel
 vet Carpets.
 The Only Theater with Latest Pattern
 Opera Chairs.
 Inc Only Theater with Six Modern
 Proscenium Boxes. he Only Theater with Fashionable