Rescuing the Chicago Theatre, Again.
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The partnership’s goals, according to the proposal, would include improving the theater’s programming and management and strengthening its competitive position in the Chicago market. Among the board members named in the proposal are Amy Granat and Jerry Mickelson of Jam, Levy Organization cofounder Larry Levy, Marshall Field’s president Gary Witkin, Nick Pritzker of the Hyatt Corporation, Joseph Gonzales of the architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and Richard Brown of Illinois Bell.
Such a plan would mean the end of the theater’s troubled ownership by Chicago Theatre Restoration Associates, an investor consortium headed by Margery al-Chalibi and Marshall Holleb that oversaw the acquisition and restoration of the theater in 1985. Though the theater ended 1990 with a balance of nearly $200,000, the owners haven’t been bringing in enough money to make payments on the $14 million loan used to buy and restore the theater. Over the past six years at least two promoters have backed out on the long-term management contracts with the theater because they weren’t seeing the profits they expected. Most recently, sources confirm, the group had attempted to cut a deal with Milwaukee-based promoter Joe Balestrieri to manage and book the theater. Last week, Balestrieri, who operates the Alpine Valley Music Theatre and Milwaukee’s Riverside Theatre, was rumored to be in financial difficulty, though he claims his company, Joseph Entertainment, is financially stable.
The Body Politic Starts a File
