Civic Opera House Seating chart

Civic Opera House
Opened to the public at 20 North Wacker Drive; the major street in Chicago, Illinois, United States, running along Chicago River, on November 4, 1929 was an amazing piece of art infused with the amalgam of popular design movements of Roaring Twenties; Art Deco and Art Nouveau.

It was a 45-story limestone skyscraper bordered by two 22-story wings; the Civic Opera House reveals its beauty diffidently at the street level with the ornate bronze fixtures around its entry doors hidden behind a modest colonnade.

The interior speaks for itself with the breathtaking foyer, Roman travertine marble columns rise to gilded capitals, and the floor and wainscot, of gray and pink Tennessee marble, which glows with the brilliant light shed by Austrian crystal chandeliers.

The building was designed by the architectural firm Graham, Anderson, Probst, & White responsible for the erection of other structures like Merchandise Mart and Field Museum in Chicago, Bryant Building and Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

The architectural sculpture for the building was designed by Henry Hering. The interior of the opera house featuring a lavish lobby and fire curtain are detailed by noted designer Jules Guerin.

Civic Opera House is the home to both Civic Theater and Lyric Opera of Chicago which is one of the leading opera companies in the United States founded in1952.

Due to the fact that the building resembles a gigantic throne when seen from the West, it was mockingly known as "Insull's Throne" for the utility tycoon and then president of the Chicago Civic Opera Association; Samuel Insull.

It has been rumored that Insull designed the building in the shape of a throne for his daughter: who was rejected at New York Metropolitan Opera, to sit on it as star of the opera.

The main auditorium of the Civic Opera House was named the Ardis Krainik Theater in honor of its longtime general director and guiding spirit, Ardis Krainik who was an American mezzo-soprano opera singer and spent her entire career at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, from 1982 until her death in 1997 marking the end of an era.

This auditorium contains one of the largest stages in Chicago, boasting six floors of seating for up to 3,600 occupants making it the second largest auditorium in North America after the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.

It has been the ground of spectacle to numerous Broadway shows including Sunset Boulevard and The Phantom of the Opera, as well as celebrated musical artists ranging from Bj?rk to Frank Sinatra other than the grand private events.

There are Private Salons like Graham Room and Malott Room for private events, corporate meetings and intimate gatherings in Civic Opera House. The opera house underwent a major renovation in 1993 worth $ 100 million, when it was purchased by the Chicago Lyric Opera, which had previously rented the space.

This building is acclaimed as one of the beautiful structures and holds the gaze of passer bys with its unique armchair look. Time-honored classics of the art form are mounted here, as well as new works in daring productions for both experts and novices.